A/N: Thank you to those of you who reviewed. They are so so so appreciated. Enjoy the next chapter!

Chapter 2

Santana and Quinn walked down the hallway in their Cheerio's uniform with long strides as they made their way to their lockers to get their books for their first period. The hallways were always obnoxiously packed with kids in the morning; people bumped into people, others were shoved out of the way while others stood with their backs glued to the lockers to stay out of harms way or watch and laugh at those who were hassled.

One of the perks of being a Cheerio was the title that it came with. People moved out of their way thanks to the hierarchy. It made Quinn smile. Her smile instantly fell from her face as her breath froze in her chest when she saw Finn round the corner and make his way towards her and Santana. She immediately cast her eyes downward as he got closer, trying her best to act like she hadn't seen the extremely tall teenage boy in the letterman jacket. However as they kept walking, her eyes trained on the dirty tile, she realized that the hallway wasn't that long. She would have already ran into Finn by this point, or should have at least. Her brows furrowed as she looked up at the crowded hall again. Finn was nowhere to be seen. She quickly glanced over her shoulder and felt a pang in her chest as she noticed that Finn had already passed. She scolded herself, what was she expecting? Did she really think after last night that he would finally approach her in the hallway and acknowledge that she existed? He never did, why would he start now? She frowned at herself. Did she even want that? Quinn turned her head forward again as she started to chew on her lip nervously. She turned her head nonchalantly to glance at Santana to make sure that her friend hadn't seen how awkward she had just gotten. Unfortunately Santana was already staring at her with creased eyebrows. Of course she had seen.

"What gives?" Santana asked as they stopped at their locker. She looked over Quinn's shoulder towards the tall quarterback who was standing at the other end of the hallway laughing with his other jock friends. Her mouth curled up in disgust. She hated that tall monkey like boy.

Quinn rolled her eyes at her friend. "Nothing."

Santana sighed. "I know that I've said this a hundred times...I probably sound like a broken record...but I wish that you would stop messing around with him. He is such a jerk. He just point blank avoided you just now. He literally looked the other way to avoid your eyes, but you were too busy studying the tiled floors to even notice." She let out a sarcastic laugh. "The least he could do is say 'hello', I mean seriously." She stepped closer to her best friend as she continued with her rant, not caring that Quinn was rolling her eyes yet again at the topic. "I hate that he avoids you at school and pretends that you don't exist, but will sneak in through your window three or four times a week. He has no problem sleeping with you and isn't shy about calling you up for a booty call but he can't even manage a 'hi'? Seriously? He's just gross. I wish I could deliver one solid punch to his tubby gut-"

The blonde cut off her friend. "San, don't you dare."

Santana sighed. "I won't... you know I wouldn't. I just..." she groaned. "I wish you would leave him and find someone else."

"I'm not with him."

Santana put her hands up in front of her. "Oh I know. I am well aware. 'He doesn't want a label.' I have listened to you cry too many times because of that ogre refusing to take you seriously."

Quinn hung her head suddenly embarrassed of all of the times that she had cried over Finn to Santana. "I'm sorry..."

"No, Quinn. Don't apologize." Santana shook her head. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm your person, you are ALWAYS allowed to come crying to me when you need it." The brunette sighed heavily as she looked at her best friend. "I just hate the fact that Fucktard over there," Santana pointed in the direction that Finn was standing at the end of the hall before continuing, "has made you cry on so many occasions. He is a prick. You could do IMMENSELY better than him."

Quinn gave her friend a small smile, thankful to have her care so much, but this conversation was too hard to have on a normal day, not to mention the day after she found out that she was... Quinn shook her head. She couldn't let her brain or thoughts go there. This conversation was hard because she had daddy issues and that was it, she tried to convince herself. Sure she had liked Finn, sure she wanted more than what they previously had been but none of that mattered because he didn't want more. It was purely physical, and she had to be okay with that because feeling the physical at least let her feel something. Not being wanted by her father had been something that she constantly battled with in her own head. It was so easy for him to treat her like shit and to kick her out, and while yes, life now was a lot easier and better without living in his house, it was still confusing and complicated. Finn made her feel wanted, even if it was just for sex. The sex was fun. It is purely physical, or at least it was. Now it was nothing.

Quinn opened her mouth to change the subject just as Mike Chang walked up to the two girls, saving her from the conversation. "Hi Santana," he smiled at the brunette before looking over at Quinn and nodding his head politely at her.

Quinn smiled and nodded her head back as a greeting and then watched as Mike changed his gaze back to Santana. A big smile filled his face as his eyes met hers, it was adorable. Quinn turned towards her locker to pull her textbooks from it and to give the two a little bit of privacy.

"Hey Mike," Santana said simply back to the boy, her eyes were reluctant to leave Quinn's. They were not even near being done with that conversation, but of course they couldn't talk about it with Mike standing right here. She smiled at the boy.

Mike shoved his hands into his pockets nervously as an awkward silence enveloped the trio. He shrugged his shoulders. "So uh... are you having a good day so far?"

Santana shrugged her shoulders. "I guess? I mean as good as I can while still being forced to attend this lovely hell hole." She let out a small laugh. "The day just kind of started, we just got here."

Mike nodded his head. "Right..." he shifted his weight. "I guess it would be a better day if we didn't have to be here huh?"

Santana smiled. "Definitely."

"Did uh...did you have a good weekend?" Mike asked with a smile.

The brunette shrugged her shoulders. "It was fine, nothing fancy. How about you?"

Mike chuckled at Santana's answer. "My weekend was nice, went by too quickly though."

"Always does."

Another awkward silence forced Mike to run his fingers through his hair nervously. "Well..." he trailed off as he looked over at Quinn who had turned to face them again. "Alright ladies, I'm going to go...I need to uh...go to my locker before the first bell rings." He felt like his face was flushing and he was hating every second of it. He gave a small smile at Quinn.

Quinn smiled kindly back at the teenage sweetheart. "Bye Mike."

Mike turned to look at Santana again. "Well, I'll see ya in history then, Santana?"

Santana nodded her head. "Yep, definitely. See ya there."

With that the girls watched as the cute asian pulled his letterman jacket tighter over his shoulders and turned on his heel walking away from the duo down the hallway. Once he was out of earshot Quinn looked at her best friend with a large smile on her face. "San!" She squealed playfully.

Santana rolled her eyes at her friend already knowing where this conversation was going. She shook her head as she closed her locker.

"He likes you!" Quinn continued despite her friend's less than enthusiastic response.

The brunette scoffed, "Nah..." She began walking down the hallway again in the direction of their first class. "He is just nice. We have math and history together."

Quinn had to quicken her pace to keep up with her friend. The blonde couldn't get rid of the smile that covered her face. She couldn't help but feel giddy for her best friend. Mike Chang was a great guy, and totally adorable and sweet. He would be perfect for Santana, now all she had to do was convince Santana that he totally was into her. She looked directly at Santana as she walked next to her. "No. He definitely likes you, he is so sweet! Why don't you go on a date with him?"

Silence was Santana's response. She squeezed her textbook into her chest as her eyes cast downward. She looked down at the floor as her steps continued their quick pace. "I don't know..." she mumbled just above a whisper.

Quinn watched as her friend's demeanor changed instantly. Santana's face had paled and her eyes had glossed over. When Quinn looked down at her friend's arms she could see the death grip she had on her textbook and it all clicked together in that moment. Quinn felt a pang in her chest. She took a few larger strides so she could place herself in front of her best friend, effectively stopping Santana to a halt. The blonde gently placed her hand on Santana's upper arm, trying her best to pretend that she didn't notice the brunette's flinch, and she guided her over to the side alcove for a little bit of privacy. She knew that this was about Santana's rape. She could tell by her best friend's instant change in body language that Santana's mind was being occupied with Guillermo Chavez rather than Mike Chang. Quinn had to address it without wandering ears.

Once Quinn was satisfied that they were out of earshot of other's Quinn looked at her friend with a sad smile. "Santana..." she trailed off until the brunette met her gaze. "Mike is a good guy. You can go with him to Breadsticks or somewhere else public... somewhere with lots of people. It can be during the daytime..." Quinn shrugged her shoulders. "You have your pepper spray on your keychain now for when you walk to your car. -"

Santana quickly shook her head, cutting off the blonde. "I know what my triggers are Quinn, thank you very much." she huffed.

A look of hurt covered Quinn's face. "San, I'm just trying to help..." She lowered her voice, "I wasn't...I wasn't trying to be rude or hurtful or anything...I -"

Santana sighed heavily as she pinched the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut. "I know. Sorry... that was rude." She lowered her hand and looked at her best friend. "I know you are trying to help me... I just..." she shook her head. "I don't know if I can date right now." She lowered her gaze. "I don't know about him."

Quinn was trying really hard to follow where Santana was leading the conversation but she felt like she wasn't understanding completely. She looked at her friend. "Do you not think he is cute?"

Santana looked up at the blonde. "It's not that. I mean yea, I think he is good looking. And he is nice and funny..." she felt herself smile a little as she went on. "Our conversations during history and math are always easy and fun..."

Quinn smiled at her friend as she shrugged her shoulders. "See? Then what's the problem? I haven't ever heard anything bad about him. He is super sweet."

The brunette felt her face drop. She paused trying to form the words she wanted to say. This was the part of the conversation she was dreading. This was what she was dreading in general. This was her point. Santana looked up at Quinn but then quickly averted her gaze down at her own hands, unable to hold her best friend's gaze as she said the words. "I just...I know that...once you are 'official' with someone..." Santana trailed off she willed the tears that suddenly surfaced in her eyes to disappear before clearing her throat and continuing. "the next thing is sex..."

Quinn felt like someone punched her in the stomach at her friend's words. "Oh San..." she breathed. She looked at her friend's body language and noted that Santana was avoiding her gaze, it broke her heart.

Santana blinked her eyes rapidly in order to ensure that no tears spilled over her cheeks. She couldn't cry at school. She looked up towards Quinn's face but continued to avoid her eyes. Her voice was quiet when she spoke again. "I mean... what if he asks if I am a virgin? You know?" She looked into Quinn's eyes but when she saw the sadness for her that lived behind them she averted her gaze again. "It's just so complicated that I would rather not. It would be too much for him to deal with. Besides...he doesn't like me like that."

Quinn pulled herself together for her friend. It wasn't very often that Santana would talk about her rape or anything related to it, so when she did Quinn always made sure that she was 100% there for her best friend. She wouldn't let her emotions get the best of her. At least not right now, not in front of Santana when she needed her to be strong. Quinn shook her head. "He definitely is crushing on you. His face always lights up when he sees you, it is really sweet and adorable." She let herself smile as she thought about how the teenage boy acted when he was around Santana. "Plus he gets all nervous... it is cute." The blonde looked at her friend gently as she grabbed Santana's hand forcing her friend to look into her eyes. "San, you can't decide what is too much for other people. If you know he is a good guy and if you have good conversations with him during class...then why not go to Breadsticks for lunch one Saturday? Just take one step at a time."

"I don't know," Santana sighed. She felt Quinn squeeze her hand warningly causing her to roll her eyes at her friend, a tiny smile tugged at the corner of her lips. Quinn never let her be hard on herself. Santana knew that the blonde wouldn't let the subject go unless she showed that she had actually listened to her words. "Maybe..." Quinn raised her eyebrows at the brunette. Santana corrected herself a third time. "We'll see." she let out a sigh and shrugged her shoulders as she wiped her face to ensure that there were no tears that fell. "I mean...he would have to ask me out first, and since he hasn't done that yet..."

Quinn scoffed. "We live in the 21st century Santana Maree."

"Did you just middle name me?" she laughed.

Quinn nodded her head as her smile grew wider. She linked arms with her friend and walked with her out of the alcove and back into the bustling hallway as they neared their classrooms. "You can ask him to lunch. Girl power and all that jazz."

Santana rolled her eyes at her friend again, but couldn't get rid of her smile. "Yea yea…alright. I'll see you after class." Santana pulled her arm free from her best friend and winked at her playfully. She was so grateful to have Quinn as her best friend. The blonde always knew exactly what to say, and was the best listener.

Quinn shouted after her best friend as the brunette entered her classroom. "Love ya!" She continued her walk towards her class, the door at the end of the hall. Her smile slowly melted from her face. Quinn's heart ached for Santana, she hated how much of a struggle things were for her best friend and would continue to be as different things came forward in life. That one horrible man had changed so much for the brunette. It wasn't just something that happened, it was something that Santana would have to live with for the rest of her life. It was easy to forget about sometimes. Santana had gotten so much better thanks to her therapist; those sessions really have helped her come a long way. But then a utensil would drop or a doorbell would sound and her best friend's flinch would remind Quinn that it wasn't over for Santana. It was instances like this that would happen that would remind Quinn that it wouldn't ever be over for her. She hadn't even thought about the reasons why Santana wouldn't be interested in going on a date. Now it made sense, but Quinn hated that it made sense. Dating, trusting, sex, being independent, sharing information... all of these things that everyone takes for granted have now been tainted by the monster, Guillermo Chavez.

Brittany bouncing up to her side brought Quinn out of her thoughts abruptly, which she couldn't help but be thankful for. The tall blonde smiled. "Hey Q!"

"Hey Britt."

"Did you by any chance finish that English paper?" Brittany asked with raised eyebrows.

Quinn shook her head and gave a small laugh. "Brittany, for the hundredth time, I don't have your English class. I'm in AP Lang remember?"

Brittany brought the palm of her hand to her forehead. "Oh yea! Duh! I don't know why I keep forgetting that. I get you confused with the other blonde in my class."

"Thanks?"

Brittany shrugged her shoulders waving her hand at her friend. "Well dang. I need to find that blonde somewhere before 5th period and get that paper from her then." She turned on her heel and walked away like she was on a mission.

Quinn watched as Brittany started to walk away from her but in that moment she instantly remembered something she had to talk to the blonde about without Santana present: that stupid book. "Britt!" she called out after her friend.

Brittany stopped mid step and quickly made her way back to Quinn. Quinn pulled the taller blonde to the side of the hallway so they wouldn't get trampled by the crowds. "Hey uh… Do you still have that Twilight book by any chance?"

Brittany's brows furrowed, like Quinn was asking her the dumbest question that has ever been asked. "Of course I do." she said bluntly.

Quinn rolled her eyes at herself. She hated that she was about to ask this question, but unfortunately she had to in order to keep Santana and Rachel off of her back. "Is there uh..." the blonde cleared her throat and took a second to look around Brittany to make sure that Santana wasn't there for some reason. "Is there anyway I can maybe borrow it?"

Brittany's jaw dropped dramatically. A few seconds of silence passed... a little too long of an uncomfortable silence. Quinn was about to wave her hand in front of her friend's face in order to make sure she wasn't having a stroke or something when a huge smile suddenly flashed across the tall blonde's face.

"Yes!" Brittany yelled as she pumped her fist in the air happily. The tall blonde took the next few seconds to do a happy dance to a song that only she could hear in her head.

Quinn looked around herself a little embarrassed as she noticed that there were a few students that had stopped walking or stopped talking and were frozen in place as they gawked at the two blondes. The expressions on their faces told Quinn that they were clearly eavesdropping to figure out what all the commotion was about. Brittany was doing a happy dance for crying out loud. Quinn quickly refocused back on her friend and grabbed Brittany's wrist, bringing it back down. "Don't make a scene," she hushed as she looked over her shoulders once more. Quinn let out a breath of relief as she noticed the students continuing to walk, giving up on their eavesdropping.

Brittany shrugged her shoulders. "Quinn, this is like a huge deal."

Quinn shook her head with another eye roll. "It is not."

"It is." Brittany countered.

"It is just a book." the blonde shook her head.

Brittany shot her hand over her heart dramatically. "You say that now! But once you get into this book then you will be whistling a different tune!"

Quinn stared at her friend with a blank face. "uh huh…" she seriously didn't understand everyone's obsession with these stupid books and movies. Why did she have to tell the family that she was reading Twilight? Of all the books that have ever been written...she would pick that one. Clearly she liked to torture herself. She rolled her eyes at herself. A distraction is a distraction. She needed them she reminded herself. "Anyway so when can I get that from you?"

"I have it in my locker!"

Quinn's eyebrows rose. "You STILL have it in your locker?"

"Yup," Brittany popped the 'p' at the end of the word for emphasis. "I've been waiting for this day. I KNEW that eventually you and Santana would join me!"

Quin released a nervous laugh. The warning bell sounded, signifying that the students had one minute to get to class before the tardy bell would ring. She looked at Brittany. "Alright, I'll get that from you later. I gotta go I have Ms. Decker."

Brittany scrunched her face up. "Ew. Grumpy old lady."

The shorter blonde nodded her head. "Exactly." She started to walk away from Brittany but shouted over her shoulder as she did, "I'll talk to you later!"

Brittany yelled back, "Team Jacob!"

Quinn cringed at the ridiculousness. Distractions, she reminded herself. She needed distractions. Quinn shook her head as she entered her classroom. Anatomy. Written on the front board of the room were the words: 'Reproductive system'. Quinn let out a heavy sigh as her stomach felt like it hit the ground. Did the world seriously hate her this much? She forced herself to take a few deep breaths in order to keep from running from the room and throwing up in the nearest bathroom. Distractions, she repeated to herself, she would be needing more than just that lousy book to keep her mind busy.

...

Santana was rushing down the hallway towards the cafeteria. She was late to lunch because she and Mike got caught up in a conversation about aliens after geometry had ended. For the first time in her life she was thankful for Quinn's weird obsession, and that awful show that always seemed to be on when she was around: Ancient Aliens. Apparently Mike was a closet alien nerd. Who knew? Santana smirked as she continued her brisk pace. It was kind of adorable. She didn't realize how long they had been talking until she happened to glance up at the clock and see that lunch was more than halfway over. She had waved bye to him and started on her walk down the ridiculously long hallway to the noisy lunch room. About halfway down the hall was when her anxiety kicked in. She hated walking anywhere alone since that night. Even though in the back of her mind she knew that she was at school, it was the middle of the day and she wasn't REALLY alone, she couldn't stop the tightness she felt in her chest. She knew that as soon as she got into the crowded room she would feel much better; she just needed to see her friends.

Almost there. She turned the corner sharply and just missed completely colliding with someone. Her shoulder had slammed into theirs, sending her stumbling forward a little until she was able to regain her footing. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." Santana realized who the letterman jacket was that she was talking to and instantly frowned. She straightened out her clothes and took a step closer towards Finn who was readjusting his jacket.

"God, you could have thrown out my arm, Santana." he huffed. "Where the hell are you running to? There isn't a fire."

Santana frowned. She really couldn't stand this kid. "Your arm is fine." She took a step closer to him."Stop being such a baby."

Finn shook his head angrily. "I am really not interested in talking to you, Santana."

Santana threw her head back in disgust. "Like I would want to talk to you, sasquach."

The brunette watched as the tall jock got defensive really quickly. The look on his face was a mixture between annoyance and anger which Santana couldn't really understand because she had used that nicknames plenty of times before only to have him laugh it off with his annoying ass smirk that said, 'I'm fucking your best friend and using her and there is nothing you can do about it.' Finn took a step closer to Santana, making her feel slightly uncomfortable. She held her ground as he opened his mouth to speak again, pointing a finger at the brunette. "Whatever. You can't be a bitch to me about this." his voice was low. "You don't have any moral high ground to stand on. You dumped your boyfriend by straight up ignoring him for over a week. That is fucked up."

Bringing up her last relationship was a punch to the gut that caught her off guard. Santana couldn't help but feel like she was caught off guard a lot since... She shook her head. Even though Finn had absolutely no idea about the events that happened on Puck's birthday...by bringing up Puck he also was bringing up her rape, only he didn't know it. She certainly did though. She had ignored Puck because she didn't know what to say to him. She had ignored him because her rapist threatened to come back for more and then kill her if she had told anyone. She couldn't tell him, so she just ignored him. Santana shook her head forcing herself to focus on the present and to breathe, like her therapist always told her to do.

She looked at the lanky teenage boy as she tried to regain her strength. "That was...that was half a year ago. Jeez. Get over it, I get that he is your best friend but it wasn't exactly like Puck was broken up over it. He was with a new girl not even a week after... so... whatever."

Finn waved his hand at her. "Don't get an attitude with me. I'm just doing the same thing you are trying to do right now."

What? Now Santana was really confused. She shook her head. "And what is that?"

"Protect my best friend."

The brunette scrunched up her face in confusion. How had this conversation turned from her apologizing for running the loser over to him being all defensive. What was she missing? His words rang in her ear causing her stomach to clench. She felt a fire begin to burn under her skin. She took a step closer to the boy, putting them so close that their fronts were almost touching. "What exactly am I protecting my best friend from?"

"Shut up Santana. I know that you know. That is why you rammed into me."

The confusion didn't leave her face. He wasn't making any sense. "I didn't even mean to bump into you, jackass. That is why I said sorry." She shook her head before looking the giant oaf in the eyes again. "I have no idea what you are talking about. What am I supposed to know?"

Finn took a step away from her as he waves his hands in front of himself. "I'm not having this conversation."

Santana squinted her eyes at him. She was completely unsure of what the hell he was talking about. Something was up, but she had no idea what it was. She was trying to piece together the random tidbits of information that he had revealed but she was quickly realizing that it was nothing. The giant wasn't making any sense. Just as she was about to open her mouth with a comeback Quinn suddenly appeared at her side.

"San?" Quinn's voice cracked from beside Santana.

The fiery brunette looked over at her best friend prepared to question her about what the hell Finn was talking about but the sight of Quinn made her freeze. Quinn was shifting her weight back and forth between her feet and had her arms folded tightly over her chest. She looked completely uncomfortable and worried. Santana noticed that the blonde's eyes were darting from Finn to Santana back and forth as if she was trying to assess what was happening. Her complexion was paler than normal and her breathing was quicker than it should be. She was nervous? Why? Santana took a moment to look at Finn. His eyes were suddenly glued to the ceiling. He was staring at it so intently it seemed as if there was a reason to believe it might fall. Santana looked back at her best friend with a completely baffled look on her face. What the hell was she missing?

Quinn cleared her throat. It felt like it was so dry that she wasn't sure any words would even come out. "What's...um...w-what is going on?" She squeezed her arms tighter into her chest nervously. She looked over at Finn again but then quickly refocused on her best friend. She tried to read Santana's facial expressions to figure out what they were talking about. Had Finn told Santana? She could feel her heart beating in her chest. Coming out of the cafeteria to find her best friend and her...Finn... standing close to each other with angry scowls on their faces wouldn't bode well for her. Finn was so annoyed last night when she had told him about the...news. He had closed the door in her face and said he wasn't interested, and then he made it that much clearer by avoiding her at school all day today. So what was he doing talking to Santana? How much had he said? Santana looked pissed.

Santana pointed at Finn. "That is what I am trying to figure out. I accidentally bumped into jolly green over here and then suddenly he is talking about how I did it on purpose because I was 'protecting you from him' and all this shit..."

Quinn felt the color drain from her face. "W-what?" She suddenly felt nauseous again. Finn had assumed that she had told Santana the same news that she told him the previous night. It would typically be the right assumption to make since they told each other everything...but not when Quinn had decided that she was going to be able to walk away from this problem like Finn was planning on doing. There wasn't any reason to tell her, since there wasn't anything wrong. Yet here they were...Finn and his big mouth. How much had he said?

Santana took in her friend's body language. "What am I missing?"

Quinn snapped out of her thoughts and reached for her friend's hand. "San, let's...let's go over here." The blonde tried to pull Santana away from Finn but the brunette quickly shrugged off her grasp. Before Santana could object she was cut off.

"I'm gonna go." Finn said bluntly, still avoiding Quinn's eyes, which didn't go unnoticed by Santana.

Santana shook her head. "The hell you are." she snapped back fiercely.

"Santana!" Quinn attempted to scold her friend but was cut off by Finn again.

"Fuck you, Santana," he snarled back before he pushed past the two girls and walked briskly back into the cafeteria that he had just exited from.

Santana shook her head in angry disgust. She turned towards Quinn with a baffled look on her face. "I can't fucking believe that you sleep with him!"

Quinn shook her head slowly as she continued to look in the direction Finn had just exited. "Please stop." Tears started to fill her eyes without warning. The blonde quickly looked at her friend in hopes that she didn't see the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes, but unfortunately Santana was staring right at her.

The brunette stopped huffing immediately at the sight of her person's tears. Her heart felt like it stopped beating. Finn had said something about Quinn needing to be protected from him. That was what he had said...right? She didn't want to ask this question but she had to. "Quinn... did he...did he hurt you?"

"What? No! No... I promise. It's...it is nothing like that. Santana I swear."

Santana attempted to understand the situation by absorbing every detail about what Quinn was doing and saying and how she was acting. "You are crying..."

It was like Quinn just realized that she was in fact crying. She wiped furiously at her eyes. "I'm just emotional right now." She wasn't lying. It seemed like everything was either pissing her off or making her want to cry. Fuck these fucking hormones.

Santana eyed her friend suspiciously. "Are you on your period or something?"

Quinn let out a short laugh as she rubbed her cloudy eyes. Period? If only. The 'or something' was more like it. As Quinn wiped the rest of the tears from her eyes her mind began to work a mile a minute. She couldn't tell Santana about this. She didn't want to. She wanted to pretend that there was no problem...and by not telling a single soul it kept it nonexistant. Finn wanted to be out of her life, and as long as no one else knew then none of it would matter. She looked at her friend. Not only did she feel like she had to keep this secret for herself but Quinn couldn't bare to burden Santana with this load. She didn't want to do that to her best friend. It would just demonstrate to Santana that no man is good, and that was something that the family and her therapist had been working SO hard to prove wrong for the brunette. Starting with her father's sudden death, any guy that Santana has come across has hurt her or the people she loved one way or another: Mama Lopez's ex-boyfriend Ryan, Puck, Guillermo Chavez...even Quinn's own father, Russell. They have all been sorry excuses for men. Quinn didn't want to be responsible for adding the shit head, Finn Hudson to that list.

Quinn forced herself to focus on the present so that her friend wouldn't get too suspicious and begin to ask more questions. The blonde remembered Santana's last question and realized that Santana had given her the perfect out. "Yea... I am. You know how I get."

Santana nodded her head in understanding. Quinn was a crier when she was PMSing. It was something she'd known about the blonde for years now. Santana looked at her friend carefully. "So he isn't hurting you?"

Quinn quickly shook her head as she stood up straighter. "I pinky swear on our friendship." She didn't want Santana's mind going there. San obviously knew everything about what happened under the Fabray roof, because of that she was always protective. Quinn had a feeling she always would be, since her best friend knew how little Quinn thought of herself. Quinn frowned inwardly... she was sure that she wasn't anything important, and most of the time she had deserved the treatment her Father had given her but...that was a different subject. Another one that the blonde tried really hard to erase from her memory bank. Santana brought Quinn out of her thoughts.

The brunette nodded her head. "Then.. then what was all that about?" She nodded in the direction that her and Finn had just been bickering. "What did he mean?"

Quinn rolled her eyes. "We just got into another dumb fight... it's fine." She wasn't lying completely.

Her best friend shook her head. "It's not...but..." Santana chose to trail off instead of pursuing this argument again. She knew she wasn't going to convince her friend that she deserved better right now in the school hallway minutes before lunch ended. She looked at Quinn and straightened her posture. "If he talks to me like that ever again I will punch his lights out. He better not talk to you like that." She pointed at the blonde.

She shook her head wishing that that was the only problem that she had with the boy. "He doesn't."

Santana paused, a silence passed between the two friends. "So...all his huffing and puffing and the weird looks... was because of a small fight you two had?"

A voice in Quinn's head answered her best friend silently. Small? No. Somehow Quinn managed to nod her head. "Yes."

The brunette eyed her friend suspiciously. She was trying so hard to read Quinn's facial expressions in this moment but she wasn't able to tell one way or the other if the blonde was telling the truth or not. "I don't know if I believe you," she said bluntly.

"San," Quinn sighed as she rolled her eyes. "You've yelled at him before because of his whole lack of wanting to be a boyfriend thing."

"That is what it was about again? Well yea, because it is ridiculous and completely-"

Quinn put her hand up in front of her friend, effectively stopping Santana mid rant. "Need I say more?" She raised her eyebrows at her, showing her best friend that she had just proved her point for her. "I mean you know how he gets about it... so just...drop it okay?"

"Well excuse me for caring." Santana said sarcastically; although both of the girls knew it wasn't just sarcasm behind that statement. The brunette waved off her friend as the two begun to make their way towards their classrooms. Lunch period would be over soon, there was no point in them even attempting to go back into the crazy crowded lunchroom.

...

Quinn and Santana were leaning against the lockers after school as they waited for Brittany to meet them. The three girls always walked to Cheerios practice together; their final classes for the day were all in the same hallway so meeting up to walk to practice was always quick and easy. However, today for some reason Brittany was straggling.

"How was Marine Bio with Mike?" Quinn asked nonchalantly as they waited.

Santana squinted her eyes at her friend, knowing exactly what she was doing. "First of all I have Geometry with Mike, not Marine Bio. Second of all, why are you suddenly SO interested in me and Mike? I mean, he has talked to me before. So why today are you all 'go jump his bones'."

Quinn shook her head with a small laugh. "Alright Ms. Attitude. First of all," she mocked her friend, "I never said to go 'jump his bones', no one says that these days and I wouldn't ever say that to you." Quinn noticed Santana's eyes dart to the floor as the conversation suddenly felt too heavy for the brunette. The blonde decided to keep it light instead as she continued, "Second of all, we have nothing else to talk about right now so why not talk about him?"

Santana shrugged her shoulders with a small smile. "I mean... I don't know. He is just Mike. We talk."

"So are all the conversations you have as awkward as the one this morning was?" Quinn joked with her friend.

The brunette rolled her eyes. "No, thank you very much. We always have something to talk about."

"Like?"

Santana glared at her friend playfully. "Well today we did a lot of talking about aliens..."

"Aliens?!" Quinn basically jumped up and down with enthusiasm.

Santana laughed at her friend's excitement at the mere mention of the subject. "Yea," she laughed again, rolling her eyes at her best friend's weird obsession. "Who would have thought your silly Ancient Aliens show would have helped me with a boy."

"Oh my gosh. He is so perfect. San, if he likes aliens then he already has my permission to take you to lunch."

"Oh, because I need your permission to go to lunch with anyone?" Santana couldn't help but smile.

Quinn winked at her best friend. "Obviously, Hoes before bros."

Santana scrunched her face up. "I don't think that is how the saying goes -"

The girl's laughter was cut off by Brittany suddenly joining them at the lockers. The tall blonde skipped up to the duo with a big smile on her face as she held something behind her back, out of eyesight from the friends. "Hi guys!"

"Hey Britt, what do you have there?" Santana asked lightly.

Instead of answering the question with words, Brittany dramatically pulled her arm from behind her back and revealed that she was holding a book in her hand. Not just any book, but Twilight. "Tadaa!" Brittany shouted happily. "Just for you Q!" Brittany smiled brightly at the blonde.

Santana's brows furrowed in confusion. She instantly looked up at Brittany who still had a ridiculous smile on her face before she quickly darted her eyes at Quinn. The blonde was already looking at Santana with wide eyes. As soon as their eyes met, Quinn averted her gaze back towards Brittany. Santana watched as her best friend started chewing her lip nervously. What the hell was happening?

Santana looked back at Brittany. "Is that the second book or something?"

Brittany rolled her eyes at her friend. "No San. The first one is Twilight," she shook the book in her hands causing the brunette to eye it suspiciously before the tall blonde shoved it into Quinn's shaking hands. "Then it goes: New Moon, Eclipse and then Breaking Dawn," Brittany continued listing off the titles in order on her fingers. "Stephanie Meyer, that's the author, also wrote another book that's related to the saga called The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner too...but you read that one after you finish all the other ones. So Quinn will have to start with this one." She finished with a smile.

Santana was only halfway listening to Brittany. She was more focused on watching her best friend become more and more on edge as the conversation went on. Quinn was refusing to meet her eyes as she now clenched the book tightly to her chest. Santana's eyes were now squinted in accusation as she continued to stare at the shorter blonde. None of this made sense. Quinn had lied? Why? Why would she say she was reading a book if she hadn't even gotten it yet? Santana watched Quinn chew feverishly on her bottom lip. It was a nervous habit that Quinn hadn't been able to kick. Why was she so nervous? Was it because she knows that she was caught in a lie? Santana shook her head. Why did she lie? She asked herself again. This wasn't adding up. Quinn's guilty demeanor was adding to her suspicion and worry.

Brittany's voice broke through the awkward silence. "Am I missing something?"

"No." Quinn answered almost too quickly. She refused to look at Santana. She couldn't look her friend in the eyes right now because she didn't have a plan. She couldn't look at Santana because she didn't want to see the hurt that she knew covered her friend's face. The entire lie that she had built last night was now in pieces all over the floor thanks to the stupid book that was currently clutched into her chest.

Brittany saw the tension between the two girls but decided to ignore it. She shrugged her shoulders. A smile spread on her face as she looked at the brunette. "San, now that Quinn has 'joined the dark side' as you call it...you really should read them too! They are great books. I'm team Jacob all the way."

Santana didn't even answer the tall blonde, her eyes hadn't left Quinn's nervous form since the book was first brought to her attention. She raised her eyebrows at her friend. "What team did you say you were Quinn?" Santana was pissed. They were each other's persons. They didn't keep secrets from each other. Quinn had promised that nothing was wrong, yet here she was caught in this huge stupid lie.

Brittany gently and playfully pushed Santana with her hand. "She hasn't started reading it yet silly...but when she does she should totally be on team Jake. That Taylor Lautner kid is a hottie..." Brittany didn't notice that as she talked Santana was too busy glaring at Quinn and Quinn was too busy avoiding Santana's eyes for either of them to hear what she was talking about.

Quinn had had enough. The inside of her mouth felt dry, she felt nauseous and it felt like her eyes might start to water if she remained here with the book in her arms. If she stayed under the scrutiny of Santana much longer she knew her dam would burst and she would break down into a puddle on the floor. She shook her head. She didn't want that. She didn't want any of this. Quinn had to get out of here. "Um alright well thanks Britt..." the shorter blonde suddenly started backing away from the other two girls. She still refused to look over at her best friend as she took a few more steps backwards.

Brittany scrunched her eyebrows, beating Santana to the punch, "Where are you going? Practice is this way?" The blonde pointed over her shoulder, the opposite direction Quinn was heading.

"I'm...um... gonna stop by the yearbook room really quick."

"Why?" Santana asked harshly. "You quit that club like half a year ago."

Quinn looked in the direction that her best friend was standing in but didn't really quite look at her. She finally acknowledged Santana as she pointed over her shoulder in the direction she was trying to disappear in. "Yea...I...I just want to see if they need extra help finalizing the layout and stuff."

Santana continued to glare at her friend. Of course she would bail instead of explaining what the hell was going on. "Why now?"

Brittany nudged Santana gently. "Well because this is their busiest time of the year San, duh. Yearbooks!"

Santana's eyes hadn't left Quinn's. The blonde finally let her's meet the brunette's. She could see how angry Santana was, she was all but shooting steam from her ears. It made Quinn's heart ache. She hated that she had made her that mad. She hated it even more because behind Santana's apparent anger were many insecurities, hurt and betrayal. The blonde couldn't look at her friend anymore, she looked back down towards the brunette's feet and shrugged her shoulders. "I've been thinking about it...I don't know... I just think it might be something I might want to pick up again. I love taking pictures and whatnot."

"Awesome," Brittany smiled. "I wish I was good at that stuff."

Quinn just nodded her head simply as she turned away from her friends. "I'll see you guys later for practice." She began walking down the hallway slowly with the book still clutched tightly in her hand. She just needed to get to the yearbook room. She wasn't really lying about that. She really did want to join yearbook again. Anything to keep her mind busy. She needed it.

Santana's voice suddenly shouted down the hallway at her friend. "Don't lose that book!" she sneered as she watched Quinn continue to walk, pretending that she hadn't heard her last comment at all. Santana shook her head angrily. She caught Quinn in a lie point blank and here she was just running away from it instead of owning up to whatever it was she is lying about. It didn't make sense. Santana wanted to kick herself, she should have pushed to see the book more last night. She had had a feeling that the blonde was lying...she should have followed her gut. But then Quinn had made a promise...and so Santana had chosen to drop it. The brunette felt like a fire was being lit in her chest. Quinn had made her feel silly for even thinking that something was wrong, and yet she was lying, the WHOLE time. As much as Santana wanted to be purely angry, she couldn't help but feel worry and dread. Why had Quinn lied about something so trivial? Santana thought back to where the lie first started. Rachel.

Boo had said something about Quinn taking forever in the bathroom, and that is when Quinn said it was because she was reading that stupid vampire book. Clearly that couldn't have been true, Santana scoffed at herself. She had just seen the exchange of the book right before her eyes in the hallway minutes ago. Santana squinted her eyes as she tried to piece everything together as her and Brittany began to walk to Cheerios practice in silence. If Quinn wasn't reading in the bathroom then what was she doing? Why was Rachel concerned with how long Quinn had spent in the bathroom? Was it really that long of a time? What was happening? What was Quinn hiding? She was missing something.

Santana felt the confusing mixture of anger and worry fire within her with every step she took away from her best friend towards the practice field. She was missing something, but she sure as hell was going to figure it out.

...

A/N: Thank you all again for your continued support. I will try my best to update as soon as I am able to. With the holidays coming up I'm not sure if I will get to post or not before so HAPPY HOLIDAYS everyone! I absolutely LOVE when you leave your thoughts...so please review!