A/N – Thanks for all the reviews and alerts, you guys are awesome!

In this chapter we meet the Berry men and get a little insight into Santana's home life. There is a lot more backstory and reasoning to Santana's thought-process and behaviour regarding her Dad, but that's coming up in later chapters.

Chapter Two

When Rachel woke up the next morning the first thing she noticed was the empty space next to her, that and the blood-stained pillow Santana had slept on the previous night. As she heaved herself out of bed the singer let out a frustrated sigh, she had been so caught off guard with everything that had happened that she hadn't thought to properly deal with the Latina's injuries and now the other girl had probably run off somewhere while still in need of first aid.

Cursing herself internally Rachel padded her way across the room stopping short when she noticed an overnight bag stuffed by her desk, with a tilt of her head she paused and heard the unmistakable sound of someone moving around in the bathroom.

"Santana?" the petite girl called hesitantly as she lingered outside the door, "Are you okay?"

When there was no reply Rachel edged slightly closer, she could see the door wasn't closed and took that as a sign to continue, as she gently pushed the door open she couldn't contain the gasp that escaped her. Santana was stood in the middle of the small bathroom, her body bent awkwardly over the sink as she stared into the mirror examining her battered face.

Hearing the gasp Santana turned quickly from the mirror, her face contorting in pain as she clutched her stomach, "Joder, ¿Qué estás haciendo aqui?"

Rachel blinked as she tried to translate the angry words, she might not have known what was being said but it didn't take a genius to get the gist of it, "Sorry, I woke up and you weren't there and I was worried. I…San…that looks pretty bad I think-"

"It's fine." Santana barked as she tried in vain to hide herself from the smaller girls gaze.

Shaking her head Rachel sighed, she could practically see the Latina hastily rebuilding her well-worn defences and she knew she only had a small window of time in which to act. She had a feeling that Santana would act like this having bared so much of herself the previous night, Rachel was all to familiar with the need to be in control.

"It's not fine." Rachel said calmly as she strode into the room and opened one of the cupboards and began hunting around for supplies.

"What are you doing?" Santana tried, her words sounding weak as she tried to supress the pain she could feel throbbing through her.

Choosing to stay quiet Rachel pulled a few items from the cupboard and set them down on the closed lid of the toilet. The truth was she had no idea what she was doing, not really. She knew the basics of first aid, that wasn't the problem; she simply had no idea how to deal with the broken girl standing before her. A few minutes ticked by before Rachel came to a decision, raising her eyes she was about to speak when she noticed the other girl begin to waver. It was only by chance that Rachel reacted quick enough to catch Santana as her legs gave way. Easing the other girl so she was sitting on the edge of the bath tub Rachel closed her eyes as she felt Santana flinch away from her.

Reaching behind her Rachel managed to grab a bottle of painkillers and popping two from the bottle she handed them to Santana who gulped them down quickly. Staring at the Latina she whispered, "Where does it hurt?"

Santana seemed to contemplate the question for a moment, not because she was unsure of what hurt but because her stubborn brain seemed stuck on the notion of not accepting any help. In the end the need for pain relief won and gluing her eyes to the floor Santana mumbled, "I took a few kicks and…and my stomach hurts."

"Okay. I need you to take off your shirt so I can see." Rachel replied calmly, as though it was an everyday request.

Santana nodded, before shifting awkwardly "Can you…"

Rachel frowned as the other girl gestured downwards, it took her a moment to realise the Latina needed help undressing, "Oh. Right. Of course."

Between the two of them they managed to as delicately as possible rid the darker girl of her tank top, and after folding it up and placing it on the floor Rachel bit her lip as Santana crossed her arms loosely over her bruised body.

"You need to let me see, okay?" Rachel asked as she grabbed one of the instant ice-packs she had kept from one of her dance injuries, and snapped it open. Looking up she barely contained her gasp as her eyes fell on the dark bruises covering the girl's torso, reaching out a hand she carefully traced her fingertips over the skin her own eyes tearing up as Santana refused to raise her stare from the floor.

"The swelling isn't too bad." Rachel whispered, her words catching in her throat as she swallowed back her tears and gently pressed the ice pack to her stomach, "I don't think anything's broken but this should help with the swelling."

Santana nodded as she allowed the diva to take care of her injuries. She kept her eyes lowered as Rachel set about cleaning the cuts on the Latina's face, her tense body only relaxing slightly as she listen to the delicate humming that filled the room. Her mind had never been in such disarray, on one hand it felt like every thought was storming around at a light speed as a never ending line of questions plagued her, but on the other hand she was numb. As though everything else was moving and she was getting left behind.

"I think I'm done." Rachel said quietly, breaking the Latina from her thoughts, "If you want, you're more than welcome to go back to bed and get some rest."

"No. I don't want-" the Latina shook her head quickly catching herself before she appeared too pathetic, she couldn't let Rachel know she didn't want to be alone. She had already destroyed a lot of her reputation she couldn't bare letting her guard down much more, "I can't sleep, y'know...bruises and all."

If Rachel noticed the Latina's back-tracking she didn't show it, instead she simply nodded and pulled herself up off the floor, offering a hand to Santana she was grateful when the Latina took it and allowed herself to be led back into the bedroom. While Rachel swiftly sought out her own sweatshirt Santana began pouring through her own things to find a top. Letting out a growl of frustration the Latina realised everything in her bag was still soaked through.

"Here." Rachel said, seeing the Latina's frustration and passing her one of her own hoodies, "You can borrow this."

Santana smiled and took the offered clothing, a frown passing over her features as she recognised it, "Really? You're giving me your Wicked hoodie? You love this thing, when you thought Quinn spilt juice on it that time at sectionals; you practically had a panic attack."

"I know, but I want you to have it" Rachel smiled, her eyes dropping bashfully as she added "I know it sounds stupid, it's just a piece of clothing but well…it always makes me feel better."

Santana blinked as she took in the kind words, the fact the singer was willingly to trust her with something that was obviously so special meant a lot to her and she didn't miss the underlying message behind the offer. She was more than grateful that Rachel was trying to let her know she was there for her without having to go through the whole 'feelings-talk', Santana was exhausted enough without delving into another emotion heart-to heart. "I…Thank you"

"You're welcome." The smaller girl beamed, before turning and heading to the door, "But now on to the more important matter of breakfast. I'm afraid I can't offer you a lot in the way of animal by-products but I do have some delicious vegan-alternatives."

"Sounds good to me." Santana said as she followed the other girl downstairs.

As they made their way into the kitchen Santana took a seat at the breakfast bar and watched Rachel busy herself around the kitchen producing various foods from various cupboards like magic. As the mass of food began mounting on the table Santana felt her eyes bulge, and she was just about to say something when the diva spun around with a smile and sunk into the seat opposite the Latina, "Let's eat!"

With that the two delved into the food, each helping themselves to the mountain of goodies. As Santana watched Rachel tucked away another slice of toast she chuckled playfully, "For someone so tiny, you sure can eat."

"I could say the same thing about you." The diva giggled as she watched Santana pour herself a bowl of cereal, "You know I think my Dad might have left some milk if you want? I know soya isn't to everyone's taste."

With a shake of her head, Santana dismissed the offer with a slight wave "Actually, unless you want me to spend the next day or so hurling in your bathroom then soya is good."

"Huh?"

"I'm lactose intolerant." Santana explained with a shrug, "So, this breakfast totally gets the thumbs up from me."

"I didn't know that." Rachel stated with a frown.

"Well, there's a lot you don't know about me." The Latina stated, her tone dropping as she added, "I didn't exactly want you to find out that my Dad knocks me about either but I guess I'm just full of surprises lately."

Dropping her knife to her plate, Rachel sighed "San-"

"Sorry." The other girl muttered, "Nice one Lopez, had to go and ruin a perfectly good morning."

Rachel hesitated as she watched the Latina, her shoulders slumped as she stared at her cereal. It only took a second for her to make a decision, and sliding out of her chair she made her way around the counter and took the seat next to her friend. She was glad when the other girl didn't turn away and reaching out a hand she linked their fingers together on the table, "You didn't ruin anything, okay?"

Santana shrugged half-heartedly, her eyes fixed downward she was about to reply when the sound of the front door opening drew both girl's attentions. Turning in her seat to look at Rachel the Latina couldn't contain the panic in her eyes.

"It's okay." Rachel tried as she moved to stand, "It's my Dads, they normally have Saturday brunch with the next door neighbours. They're living the suburban dream."

Santana simply nodded as she too made to stand up, her voice gruff as she tried to mask her worry with a casual indifference she didn't possess "Right, I should go then."

"What?" the singer half-shouted, her voice ringing loudly through the hallway as she shook her head quickly, "No look-"

"Rachel? Sweetie?" A loud male voice boomed through the house as the sound of footsteps approached the kitchen.

Rachel felt Santana tense, her hand shaking slightly in the singers grasp she gave a reassuring squeeze, "Everything's going to be fine San. Trust me."

The Latina nodded, her eyes flicking to the doorway as they waited for the two Berry men to enter the kitchen. Santana desperately wanted to believe the kind words but a voice in her head couldn't help but point out that she was one of the people who had made Rachel's life a misery for years and undoubtedly the two men would know all about it. What would they do when they found her in their kitchen?

"Rachel, there you are!" a cheerful voice rang through the kitchen as Santana watched the smaller of the two men enter, "And you have company."

The cheerful edge that the man Santana remembered as Hiram had started with halted as soon as he laid eyes on the Latina. Shrinking away from the gaze the former cheerleader let her hair fall gently around her face, effectively obscuring his view of her battered features.

"Rachel, what's going on?" a second voice queried as Leroy Berry joined his husband, "Is everything okay?"

Even though Santana couldn't see Rachel she could imagine the conflicted look that was passing between her parents and her friend, as a small voice started Santana closed her eyes as she tried to ignore the tears that sprang from nowhere, "Actually…Dad, Daddy…I think you might want to sit down."

Santana tensed as she felt the two men hesitantly slide into the seats opposite where she and Rachel had now returned to. Part of her wanted to get up from the table and bolt straight out the door; no confrontations and no horrible recollections of the events with her Dad, just a basic run for the hills tactic. But she was so exhausted from everything it was all she could do to raise her stare and offer the two fathers an apologetic look. She hadn't meant for them to get dragged into her shit but here they were.

Realising Rachel still had a hold of her hand Santana turned to looked at the smaller girl. For her part Rachel bit her lip nervously and the Latina knew she was asking for permission to tell her parents.

Unaware of the silent conversation between the two girls Leroy broke the silence that had fallen, "Rachel? What's going on?"

The worry in the question made Santana sigh, she hated that she was the cause of all this drama and briefly wished she had gone to the shelter instead, at least there was no risk of anyone there getting dragged down with her.

"Santana stayed here last night." Rachel began, her eyes flicking awkwardly from her Dad to the Latina, "Something happened and she needed a place to stay."

"Something happened?" Leroy echoed, as he took in the bruising on the young girls face, "I can see that but, if you don't mind me asking. What exactly?"

Rachel opened her mouth to speak but quickly snapped it shut instead, her option to stay quiet shocking the Berry men but Santana knew it was because she was the one who should be telling the story, not Rachel.

With a heavy sigh Santana looked up at the confused, and strangely concerned, men in front of her. She couldn't help but compare them to her own father, her mind quickly clamping down on the comparison as her heart began to ache, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude or whatever I…I didn't have anywhere else to go after…"

Her voice faltered as she tried to think of a way to explain everything that didn't make it all sound so utterly fucked up, with a shake of her head Santana continued, "My Dad kicked me out last night."

Both men nodded, but it was Hiram who spoke next his voice soft as he asked a question he had probably already worked out the answer to, "Who did that to your face Santana?"

The sadness in his voice hit the Latina hard and swallowing the lump in her throat she closed her eyes in a bid to hold back the tears. She knew she couldn't lie to him, she also knew that it didn't take a genius to put two and two together but her voice was so quiet when she spoke next that she was surprised it carried across the room, "My Dad. He's not exactly an open-minded guy and he just lost it."

"What do you mean, 'he's not an open-minded guy'?" Leroy asked, his hands clamped tightly together as he leaned forward searching for some kind of an explanation as to how any parent could do something like this to their own child.

Santana was at a loss for words, she figured Rachel would have gossiped at least a little bit with her parents. She knew that even if she wasn't ready to come out to the glee club that most of them had heard the rumours and that of all people Rachel would have talk about it with her two gay Dads but one quick look at the diva told her otherwise. A tense silence hung over the four as Santana bit her lip, she had never said the words out loud and she never imagined saying the words to the people she was about to, "He found out that…I'm…I'm gay."

Santana found her eyes glued to the two men as the words tumbled from her mouth, her voice wavering as she felt her confidence vanish.

The reactions her declaration received were very different. Leroy clenched his jaw tightly, his eyes flashing dangerously as a wave of anger swept over him. Hiram on the other hand seemed to sink back in his chair, his body slumping sadly as he tried to wrap his mind around what he was being told. While Rachel only squeezed her hand again, a supportive smile on her face as she waited for her Dads to recover.

Leroy seemed to pick himself up first, but in doing so slammed his fists down on the table in anger his shoulders hunched as he shook his head angrily, "Have you called the police?"

Santana shook her head, "No. I…I don't want them involved."

Hiram piped up at this point, "I know this is your decision Santana and I am not going to try and pressure you into changing your mind but I think you should give this some more thought."

"He's still my Dad." Santana whispered as she ducked her head to avoid the stares that were coming from all sides, "I know it sounds stupid but I can't do that to him."

"Even after what he's done to you?" Rachel questioned, unable to wrap her mind around the situation. "Santana he has to know he can't get away with this."

"Yeah, right." The Latina laughed bitterly as she turned to stare out the window, "He's been getting away with it for years and no-one ever stopped him. No-one said a fucking word about it they all just ignored it and hoped it would stay behind closed doors, so that is exactly where it's going to stay. I don't need people calling me a liar or telling me I probably deserved it anyway."

"San…"

"No Rachel." The taller girl snapped, swinging round in her seat slightly to look at her friend, "I know what people think about me, for god sake the glee club is supposed to be one big happy family and you all went out of your way to make sure I know I'm a complete bitch. I scheme and I cheat and fuck pretty much everyone's lives up so why the hell would anyone suddenly believe a word I say over my perfect law-abiding Dad? They never have before so you know what, I'd rather not put myself through that."

Before Rachel could respond her Dad spoke, "Who did you tell before?"

"I never told anyone much because as soon as anyone saw the bruises, as soon as anyone thought something bad might be going on they pretty much got as far away from me as possible. No-one wanted to get involved." the Latina shrugged, her voice cracking slightly as she continued "I told my cousin once. We were at a family party and my Dad had spent the whole morning yelling at me about some broken clock or something and I had this huge black eye, that he told everyone was a cheerleading accident, and my older cousin Manny asked me about it so I told him. I was so angry at my Dad that I just blurted it out without thinking, as soon as I said it I regretted it. I knew he'd laugh it off, and he did. He told me I shouldn't have been messing around with my Dad's stuff and that if had been him he would have given me two matching ones."

"That's awful." Rachel whispered "But it doesn't mean everyone is going to be like that. I believe you. My Dad's believe you and the police will too."

Santana sighed as she shifted in her seat, it was true she realised that the Berrys' were on her side but she still couldn't face the idea of potentially putting her Dad behind bars or putting herself through all the drama, "I know and I appreciate it, I do, but I can't call the police on him."

Rachel looked like she wanted to argue but managed to bite her tongue as she turned instead to face her parents hoping one of them would put a little more pressure on her friend. Instead the two mean simply nodded, and it was Hiram who spoke "Okay. It's your decision and we have to respect that, but if you change your mind then that's okay too. In the meantime, I think that it would be best if you stayed with us for a little while."

Santana felt her eyes widen as she looked between the two men in surprise, "I…I really appreciate the offer but-"

"No buts." Leroy interrupted, "We may not be pressuring you to report your father but I think I speak for my husband and myself when I say we are adamant that you stay here. You need to be somewhere safe."

"I don't want to get in your way." The Latina tried.

"Nonsense." Hiram said with a smile, his eyes more serious as he looked at the young girl "You said yourself that you didn't know where else to go and we have a perfectly empty guest room upstairs that my husband spent a lot of time decorating and has never been used."

"It's my masterpiece." Leroy grinned a little at this, "And I insist you use it."

Santana hesitated, she couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the Berry's generosity and a familiar feeling of unworthiness crept in as she sighed, "I…I don't deserve this, I can't suddenly invade your house and started dragging you down with all my drama and issues especially when Rachel and I aren't even friends."

"You're both in glee aren't you?" Hiram questioned in confusion.

It hit the Latina then how little Rachel had apparently told her parents, with a sideways look at the smaller girl Santana shrugged, "Yeah but I'm kind of a bitch to her, to everyone really."

"So, we've heard." Hiram continued with a frown as he stared at Santana, "Rachel does tell us about what goes on at that school, not everything I'm sure, but enough. I'm not saying we're sweeping everything under the rug here, but in these circumstances and considering Rachel seems happy for you to be here then our offer stands."

Santana fell temporarily speechless as she contemplated the older man's words. As it turned out he did know about her and Rachel's history but he was still willing to help her, "You know this would all make so much more sense if you would just…yell at me or some shit."

"That might be what you're used to but it's not how we do things around here." Leroy stated, shaking his head sadly as he leant back in his chair to observe the girl, "I believe in second chances Santana, I believe in helping people and god knows it seems like you need it right now."

Santana nodded, her throat tightening as she willed herself to stay in control of her emotions.

"Good." Hiram intervened, clapping his hands together resolutely to break the tension that had fallen over the room "Then that's settled, so we will leave you to your…extensive breakfast. Rachel, your Dad and I have to go visit Cal and the kids but we will be back tonight for dinner if you have recovered from eating everything in the cupboards maybe we could order in some Breadsticks and introduce Santana to the wonderful world of the Berry DVD collection."

Rachel laughed and nodded, "Sure Daddy, if you call on your way back Santana and I can swing by and pick some food up for us?"

"Okay kiddo." The older man grinned as he ruffled his daughters hair playfully, only to be swotted away, "Now come on Leroy we need to get over to Cal's before he thinks it's a good idea to attempt to bake more welcome cookies, my stomach has only just recovered from the last batch of cement-based nightmares!"

"They weren't that bad." Leroy chuckled and got up to follow Hiram, who was already half-way up the stairs, turning to the two girls he added, "They were much, much worse."

With that he swiftly exited the kitchen leaving the two girl's alone once more. As Rachel finished off what was left of her food Santana let her own spoon fall back to her bowl. She still couldn't comprehend why the Berry's were helping her but she was quickly planning ways to limit the amount of damage the Lopez-tornado was about to bring to the family home.