Quinn had replaced her Cheerios uniform with loose sweaters, flowy shirts and bigger pants. She had been about three months along and she was beginning to show physically. Word had gone around school and everyone knew; even the teachers. Santana had graciously taken the captain position and replaced Quinn, but only after making sure Quinn was alright with it. They both came to a conclusion that it was for the best and it would only protect both of them in the end. And in fact, Santana made sure she used her power for good as she glared at every student or teacher that she caught giving funny looks to Quinn. Her snarky remarks were just as sharp as her piercing angry looks. Quinn was getting bigger, and the days were getting darker... It was only a matter of time until she would have to tell her parents.
"Quinn," Quinn blinked hard out of her thoughts and realized that Santana and Brittany were standing right in front of her in the cafeteria.
"Did you forget to wear your underwear today too?" Brittany asked.
Quinn smiled at her question. It was always nice to have Brittany around for random smiles and soft laughs, "No," she shook her head, "but thanks for asking."
"We miss you, Quinn," Brittany sat next to Quinn and Santana sat across from the two at the cafeteria table, "You know, if I was Coach Sylvester, I would've totally just made you a Cheerios tent to wear, so you could stay on the team."
"Um, thanks?" sometimes Brittany's quips were more insulting than funny, but Quinn never found it in her heart to actually ever be mad at her blonde friend.
"Hey BrittBritt, don't you have your Unicorn Club meeting today?" Santana reminded.
"Oh shoot," Brittany replied, "Thanks for the reminder Santana!" Brittany swiftly got up from where she was sitting and hurried along to where her meeting was supposed to take place.
Santana shook her head and giggled at her friend, "So, how have you been holding up?" Santana turned her attention to Quinn, "Anyone giving you a hard time? Do I need to go all-Lima-Heights on anybody?" she leered around the cafeteria making sure nobody was staring at them.
Quinn gave her a half smile, "It's better here than home, most of the time," Quinn sighed, "at least I have you here."
Santana reached across the table and gave Quinn's hands a light squeeze, "You know you have Brittany too. And you know you can spend the night at my place any time you want. Mi casa es su casa," she gave her a reassuring smile.
"Thanks Santana," she paused and looked down for a moment, "Would you mind if - " her mind searched for the right way to ask, "could you - " she bit her lip in slight embarrassment.
Santana kept her hands on Quinn's, but cocked an eyebrow, "Look Quinn, I don't mind a little girl-on-girl action now and then, and I know I'm known as Santana-Never-Say-Nopez, but you're preggers, and that's just kind of weird, honestly."
"What?" Quinn replied, "No - that's not what I was -" Quinn's eyes widened as she realized what Santana thought she was going to ask her. She shook her head, "I don't want that," she explained bashfully.
"Oh," Santana answered, turning a bit red herself, "What was the question then?"
Quinn took a deep breath, "I was wondering if you would mind being there when I told my parents about my situation," Quinn looked down, referring to the baby that was growing inside of her. "I'd just feel more comfortable with you there, and I have to do it soon, and I just feel like if you were there, they wouldn't be as mad, or at least they wouldn't throw me out on my ass right then and there, and if you were there, you could - " Quinn tended to babble when she was nervous. Santana cut her mid-rant, with a hand in her face to motion her to just stop.
"Say no more, I'm there. Just tell me when and where."
Two weeks had passed since Quinn had asked Santana to be her security guard against her parents' wrath that was to come. Quinn was at Santana's house picking out an appropriate outfit for the night.
"No, too tight," Quinn shook her head.
"Are you kidding me?!" Santana put her hands on her hips, in dismay. She had gone through at least three other outfits and was already wearing a black turtle neck to conceal her too-big-cleavage and a pencil black skirt with the length below her knees.
"Yes, and it's too dark, I don't want my parents thinking you're a goth." Quinn added.
Santana let out a frustrated grunt, "Look Prego, your parents know me. They've seen me before and I've gone to dinners and birthdays with them before." She took off the turtle neck.
"Yea, but that was under different circumstances. Besides, most of the time we were in our Cheerios uniform."
Santana rolled her eyes, not wanting to argue with the already nervous pregnant teen and searched her closet in her bra. "How about this?" She chose a striped button up that was light blue and white and held it up to her torso. Quinn gave her deadpanned look as her response. "What's wrong with this?" Santana questioned, sincerely confused.
"It'll show your cleavage!" Quinn argued.
"Quinn Fabray, I am going to choke you!" Santana threw her shirt in a random direction, only to turn around to her closet again and rifle through her clothes. She threw her hands up in the air, "I give up," she shook her head in frustration. She turned to face Quinn, "You choose my top, Heidi Klum" she crossed her arms.
Quinn gladly got up from Santana's bed and switched places with Santana in front of her closet. She searched rummaged through her friend's clothes in hopes of finding something suitable and appropriate for the news she was going to deliver with her friend. "Here!" She took off an off-white cashmere sweater from a hanger and tossed it to Santana.
Santana caught it before it could hit her face, and as she put it on she grumbled something under her breath, "Crazy pregnant lady."
Quinn crossed her arms, "What was that?"
"Nothing."
Santana arrived ten minutes before six, just like Quinn had told her to. Right after she rung the doorbell, Mrs. Fabray answered the door. "Santana!" She greeted the young girl with a hug, "It's always so nice to see you, sweetheart. I'm glad you could join us tonight," Santana caught a whiff of Mrs. Fabray's perfume blended in with the scent of alcohol. Nonetheless, she hugged back politely.
"Thank you for having me."
Mrs. Fabray motioned for Santana to come inside, "Quinn will be down shortly. Sit down make yourself at home, dear," Santana did as she was told, "Would you like anything to drink?"
"Vodka and cranberry juice," Santana thought secretly as her nerves began to tense up. "Um, some water would be nice," she said out loud and gave an artificial smile to Mrs. Fabray.
Before Mrs. Fabray headed into the kitchen to get Santana a glass of water, she called out to her daughter, "Quinn, honey, your best friend Santana is here!" and she left Santana alone in the living room.
Santana heard gentle footsteps coming down the steps and turned her attention to the staircase. Quinn came down elegantly with her hand on the banister, in a long sleeved vintage white lace dress that was slightly above her knees. Her eyes fluttered with her long lashes, and her painted red lips formed a slight curve as she made eye contact with Santana, feeling warmth and safety that she usually felt around her. Santana got up from her seat and met Quinn at the bottom of the stairs to hug her. "You look perfect, Q," Santana beamed.
Quinn gave a shy grin, "Thanks."
Santana grabbed Quinn's hand with both of hers, "You got this," she winked at her bestie, "And I got you."
Mr. and Mrs. Fabray sat at one end of the dining table and Santana and Quinn sat on the opposite side. They ate in silence for the most part, with a few small-talk questions and answers in between. Quinn mostly stared at her food than ate it. Her throat felt dry, her palms were sweaty and her feet were restless as she kept tapping her foot silently on the carpet. Her teeth were clenched and when she tried to eat, she chewed slowly and bit down hard. Every time she looked up, sure that she was going to begin her confession to her parents, her stomach felt like it was turned inside out and she immediately looked down again, trying to regulate and silence her heavy breathing.
Of course Santana could sense Quinn's nervousness and fear. She took a quick glance at Quinn's parents and realized that they were paying attention more on their drinks than their own daughter having a slight mini-panic attack at the table. "You know, Quinn's an amazing girl," Santana started. She squeezed Quinn's knee under the table, trying to give her confidence and trying to calm her nerves, "She's a great friend and a hard-working student," Santana smiled sweetly as she gave a quick look to her friend.
"Yes, Santana, we're well aware of the greatness our Quinnie bear is," Mr. Fabray replied in a gruff voice before taking another swig of his whiskey on the rocks.
"Really?" Santana snapped back, naturally (not meaning to sound rude) "How would you know when - "
"- Santana," Quinn piped up quietly and stared down her friend next to her, motioning her to stop talking.
Santana cleared her throat, "When the school doesn't give her as much recognition as she deserves," she saved herself with a quick change of words.
Quinn let out a breath of relief and looked down on her plate. Mrs. Fabray finally noticed Quinn's subtle distress, "Quinn honey, is there something wrong?"
Quinn knew she couldn't run from it anymore. She knew that this was the moment to do it. There was no way around it. Quinn threw her fork and knife onto her plate, making an unpleasant clanging noise, "Everything is wrong!" she cried out, her voice shaking as well as her hands. She looked up at her parents and tears began to form in her eyes, "I'm not your little girl anymore," she choked out. It became difficult to breathe again. She was gasping for air through her tears and she cupped her forehead to shield her face from her parents.
"Quinn, what's all this about?" her father asked in a deeply concerned tone.
Santana rubbed her back, trying to calm her friend down and trying to regulate her breathing. Quinn's cries were still dominating her breaths, "I - I - I'm -" she stuttered. She didn't have it in her to say the words out loud.
"Quinn," her mother called out. Mr. and Mrs. Fabray now held stern faces and had anger and worry settle in their eyes.
"I'm pregnant!" Quinn shivered and shook as the words came spilling out of her mouth. Like bricks, the words fell out, and like bricks, they shattered each person's heart in that room as if they were windows. Quinn's heart sunk down into her stomach, her ribs felt like they were collapsing in on her lungs and her lips trembled as if she was laying in ice in her bare skin. She felt like needles were piercing her flesh and her tears felt like acid falling from her face, down to her neck. This pain was unbearable. Then she felt Santana's hand hold hers, and allowed her to slow down her erratic breathing.
Silence filled the room for a moment and they sat around the table, unable to look at each other. They all stared down blankly, still allowing everything to sink in. "Get out," were the words that finally broke the eerie quietness. It was Quinn's father's heavy voice that had literally tore her heart apart.
"But Daddy - " Quinn cried out.
"I said get out!" His voice made Quinn, Santana and even Mrs. Fabray flinch. He gave his daughter an icy look.
"Daddy, I'm still your little girl! I still love you, Daddy!" Quinn managed to cry out through her physical and emotional pain.
"God damn it!" Mr. Fabray slammed two fist on the table, making everyone shake, "I will not have a whore as my daughter! I am no longer your Daddy," his eyes were filled with hate and disgust, "Now I want you out of this house before the end of tonight," he said harshly as he got up the table, of course grabbing his glass of whiskey and walked away.
Quinn looked at him with hurt eyes as he turned away and she let out a painful cry as if a child's soul was being crushed right then and there. She held onto her chest as she sobbed uncontrollably. Santana had gotten up from her seat as soon as Mr. Fabray left the room and hugged Quinn from the side, resting her her chin on her friend's trembling shoulders. She squeezed tight, hoping to calm Quinn down with warmth and affection.
Mrs. Fabray quietly got up shortly after her husband and was about to leave with her glass of wine. Her face was pale and pasty, with her eyes still wide from the news. "Mom?" Quinn cried out looking up to her mother, still crying heavily, tears cascading down her soft cheeks.
Her mother shook her head in disapproval, "No, don't come to me seeking refuge," she a held a cold look on her face as well.
"But you knew all this time!" Quinn shouted, "You knew all this time and you never said anything. I needed you," she broke down as her voice cracked and quivered. Santana still hung onto her like a blanket, on her knees, for once praying to a higher-power to give her friend the strength to make it through the night. Mrs. Fabray stared at her daughter with a shocked look on her face. Quinn got up, escaping from Santana's embrace and walked up to her mom, "You're so concerned with being the perfect wife and Christian that you don't think to be a mother first!"
Smack.The sound of Mrs. Fabray's hand slapping across Quinn's face was the only audible sound that rang throughout the entire house. Even Quinn's sobs had been silence by this startling action. Quinn's mom had a hard time catching her breath as she staggered away from the scene and her daughter. Quinn stayed frozen for a few seconds, and as Santana approached her, she had the sudden reflex to flee. Quinn ran up the stairs with sudden speed, and locked herself in the bathroom. Santana quickly chased after her, but the door slammed in her face before she could fight Quinn to let her in.
Santana banged on the door, "Quinn let me in!" She knocked on the door with a balled fist again, "Quinn!"
Quinn could not hear the commotion outside, everything was still and silent to her. Even her cries and sobs were inaudible and she stared at her ugly whimpering reflection. She gripped onto the sink as she felt a pressure in her stomach that rose to her throat and out of her mouth. The acid stung her throat and she heaved one last time before letting the sink run to wash it away. She left the water on, and looked up slowly to face her reflection again. Quinn felt repulsed by the pathetic face that was staring back at her. She stared angrily at her own self and felt anger boil under her skin. She felt hate form in heart towards the person that she was looking at. She rested her balled first on the cold sink and with a sudden jolt, she punched the face looking right back at her, bursting the mirror into shards of sharp glass. The blow had caused her hand to bleed and she eyed her cut flesh with numbness. She sunk down onto the floor, and backed away from the door, with the pieces of glass surrounding her. Quinn hugged her knees, while still staring at her injured hand. The pain and adrenaline combined, allowed her to forget what was actually happening and gave her a sense of control; control she had been craving, but could never conjure.
Just then Santana came bursting through the bathroom door. She looked down at her blonde friend and screamed as she saw the bloody broken scene, "Quinn!" She immediately crouched down on her knees and put her arms around her friend. Santana sunk her face into Quinn's shoulder, gripped onto her friend's back and began weeping.
Quinn tucked her face into the corner between Santana's neck and her shoulder. She clenched onto Santana's sweater with her cut hand and strained her lungs with heavy cries of grief. Her world was being ripped apart one by one, by one stupid mistake that had corrupted her built perfection. Quinn's life crumbled into tears and blood. And if it wasn't for Santana being her lifesaver, she would have perished in her sadness and drowned herself in her darkness and sorrows. Blood stained Santana's shirt, and tears stained both of their hearts. Once again, Quinn did not feel alone.
A/N: Didn't really have time to check for minor errors, so sorry if you run into any of those. My Mac won't charge and it's at 9% right now. Was desperate to finish this chapter and post it up! Hope all you had a great Thanksgiving break (for those in the US). xx