A/N: I'M BACK, BITCHES! Okay, so I didn't move, I started school again, and I got a job which means I work 35 hours a week to pay rent, which means I have no time for school, and the time I do have is used for school, but I have written and rewritten this chapter so many times. It was originally going to have more of a meet-and-greet thing, but I wrote so much already that I decided to split it into two chapters. There is a trigger warning for domestic abuse in this chapter, so I will put the warning just before the paragraph starts. I love you all so much, my little darlings, and I will never abandon you.

Disclaimer: If I owned Glee, you would know it. I would hire myself.

Chapter Four: Makeup

"Hey, I gotta go," Quinn says, looking up from her phone where she had received a new text, then frantically packing up her things and racing to the doorway. She stops and turns around to face a confused looking Santana. "Can I give your clothes back tomorrow?"

Santana nods. "Uh, sure, but what just happened?"

Quinn's phone goes off again, and she looks down at the new text. "Uh, nothing. I-I have to go, I'll see you tomorrow!" Quinn shouts as she's halfway down the stairs, leaving a flustered girl back in her room.

Santana figures it wouldn't hurt to text the blonde asking what's up instead of getting half-assed answers from Quinn. She pulls out her phone and sends a quick text.

Quinn yanks the car door open and quickly throws her backpack in the backseat before plopping in the passenger seat of her sister's car. Frannie doesn't even wait until the door is fully closed before taking off down the street.

"He's super pissed, Quinn," Frannie states with an unsteady voice.

Quinn rubs her face hard, hoping that it won't be as bad as she thinks. "I know, I just lost track of time." Quinn's phone goes off, signaling a new text, but Quinn is too afraid to check it.

Frannie taps the steering wheel rapidly with the tips of her fingers, trying to think of an idea. "Did you get the cartwheel down?"

The younger girl slowly removes her hands from her face, an idea forming in her head. "Yeah, yeah I did! Now he won't be as mad! I even finished all of my homework!"

Frannie releases a deep breath that she didn't realize she was holding. "Okay, okay that's good. Just make sure you show it to them first thing."

Quinn nods and picks up her phone to check the message she had received earlier, sighing in relief when she sees Santana's name on her screen instead of her father's. She slides over the message, and the full conversation pops up.

Santana: 'So what was that all about?'

The younger Fabray's fingers hover over the keypad, debating on how to explain the situation to Santana. She can't say too much - she knows that - so she has to be vague, but not vague enough to arouse suspicion. She spends so much time debating on what to say, that by the time she thinks of something, they are pulling into the Fabray driveway. She quickly types a simple message to hold Santana off for a short time while she confronts her parents, namely her father.

Quinn: 'I'll tell you later, brb'

Great, Quinn thinks to herself, that wasn't vague and mysterious at all... Quinn reaches into the back seat to grab her backpack, and she slowly opens the car door. The blonde takes small hesitant steps up the walkway towards the door, and she is just about to turn the handle when the door is yanked open by none other than Russell Fabray. He towers over her like a giant, his arms crossed and a very stern expression on his face.

"Lucy Quinn Fabray, do you have any semblance of a brain? Did it not occur to you that you have a curfew after that shit you pulled in middle school?" Russell's voice seems to get louder with every word. Quinn slowly shrinks within herself, and she tries to speak, but only manages a small squeak. Russell peaks his head out and looks around at the other houses. "Get inside the fucking house before the neighbors see you."

Quinn steps inside the house, followed by Frannie before the door is slammed shut behind her. After taking a deep breath, she begins to speak. "Daddy, I'm sorry I lost track of time."

"So, now you're too stupid to watch the time?" The rest of the family can tell that Russell is about to go ballistic and the other two women take a hesitant step back. Frannie can't protect her sister this time, and it breaks her heart to see her younger sister so terrified at the man who calls himself their father.

"N-No, daddy." The fourteen year old can feel her arms start to shake as she tries to defend herself. "I was p-practicing my cartwheels with Santana and I was so c-caught up in perfecting them that I didn't notice the time."

"And have you perfected your cartwheels, Lucy?" Quinn flinches at the use of her first name, and nods her head slightly. "Let's see, then."

Quinn backs towards the front door, and heads out to the front yard where she has more give for her landing. She stands at the edge of the grass and makes up her mind to incorporate different tumbles in her short routine. Her feet take a couple of steps as she launches herself into a perfect cartwheel, and then immediately into a back handspring, and she finishes with a perfect backflip, landing with bent legs, she straightens up and holds her arms above her head.

She quickly heads back into the house, stopping in front of Russell, waiting for his response. His arms are crossed and he is chewing the inside of his cheek, presumably trying to think of something to criticize her on. He looks her over, and settles on one thing. "You disobeyed the curfew I set after 'the situation'." He shoots a glare at the other two women who have been observing the conversation, and they quickly scamper away. "How will you learn if I just let you go without a punishment?"

Quinn looks down towards her shoes, eager to hide her face from her father, easily suspecting what will come next. "I-I don't know, daddy."

Trigger Warning for Domestic Abuse is here

"Lucy Fabray, you look at me when I am speaking to you!" He roughly lifts her chin, and grips her cheeks between his fingers so he has her undivided attention, and boy did he have it. "You are to spend the rest of the night in your room, no dinner. Do you understand?" Quinn struggles to nod with the vice grip her father has on her face. He lets her go and she turns to head up the stairs. "Oh, and Quinn?" She turns around only to be met with the back of Russell's left hand and a hard slap resonates in the foyer. "Don't disobey me again."

Trigger Warning Ends

Quinn's hand flies to her cheek and she can feel the heat emanating from the portion of her cheek that was hit. Tears form in her eyes, but she's adamant to keep them at bay. The blonde nods her head and speaks softly, "Yes, daddy." She turns around again and takes to the steps two at a time, careful not to put so much pressure on her cheek. She reaches her bedroom and after she closes the door, she lets her tears fall freely as she quietly whimpers to herself.

She doesn't let herself cry for long more she takes a deep breath through her mouth and sniffs a few times to clear her sinuses. She makes her way over to her mirror and carefully wipes her tears away from her cheeks, wincing as she wipes the tears away from her left side. She examines the damaged cheek and notices the bruise starting to form, along with a small scratch. She figures it must have been from the wedding band on his left hand.

After giving her cheek the needed attention, Quinn feels around her backpack for her cell phone; remembering her last text to Santana. She unlocks her phone and sees that Santana had texted her twice since the blonde told her friend she would 'be right back'.

Santana: 'Okay, lemme know how it goes.'

Santana: 'You okay?'

The screen starts to dim as Quinn is still looking at the conversation, paranoid that Santana suspects something about her family. She quickly brushes it off and composes herself in order to type a message back.

Quinn: 'Hey, sorry, my dad was just worried about me.'

The phone in her hands starts to vibrate, and when Quinn looks down, she sees Santana's name over the little green 'answer' button. She breathes deep and presses the button, automatically holding it to her left cheek. "Ouch, hello?"

"Ouch? What'd you do, fall on your ass again?" Is all she gets as a response from Santana.

Quinn narrows her eyes, as she switches sides with her phone in order to avoid her injured cheek. "I'm sorry, who's the one that's been on the ground three times today?" she asks as she examines her cheek once more in the mirror. The bruise is getting more prominent as more time passes by.

"Touche, Blondie, touche." Santana is quiet for a moment and then she asks, "But seriously, what happened?"

"Well," Quinn starts as she turns away from the mirror, quickly coming up with a seemingly believable lie, "My dad wasn't too hard on me."

"Really? Why?"

The blonde smirks slightly to herself, hoping for that response from her friend. "I ran too fast up the porch steps and tripped, so they were too sympathetic to be mad."

The other end of the line is quiet for what seems like hours, and the knot in Quinn's stomach grows tighter the longer it is silent. And then, "So are you okay?" comes through the line in almost a whisper, or so it seems to Quinn.

Quinn comes back into focus as she answers the question. "Yeah, but there's this scratch on my face and I think there's going to be a bruise from smacking the pavement. I can cover it up with makeup though so our crazy Cheerio coach doesn't lose her mind."

A chuckle comes through the line and Quinn lets out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "I'm pretty good with makeup if you want me to help you cover it up, I mean have you seen me?"

Hums of agreement come from Quinn's end, and she opens her mouth to say something, but before she can utter a sound, a quiet knock comes from the door. Quinn whispers a quick 'one sec' to Santana and mutes the microphone before letting her arm go limp at her side. Her hand reaches for the door knob to let in whoever was knocking, but before she has a chance to twist it, the door opens revealing Frannie.

Her older sister's hand flies to her mouth as she gasps when seeing the bruise forming on her sister's face along with the scratch. At the same time, Quinn's shoulders slump in relief and she once again raises her arm to take the microphone off of mute so she can say a quick goodbye to Santana. "I have to go, my sister needs to talk to me. Can I text you later?"

Santana responds quickly with, "Yeah, sure," then they both hang up.

Turning around, Quinn walks to the bed and quietly sits down leaning her back against the headboard, and cradling a pillow to her chest. Frannie quickly closes the door but makes sure it doesn't make a sound. Making her way over to sit by her sister; she can't help but look at the bruise forming on the younger girl's face.

"It looks worse than how it feels..." Quinn says no louder than a whisper.

Frannie reaches a hand out and can't keep her heart from breaking when Quinn flinches and turns away from her hand. "I'm so sorry Lu-Quinn… Quinn. I'm so sorry he hit you, Quinn, I should have done something to stop him."

Quinn puts out her hand for Frannie to hold. "There's nothing you could have done. I'm old enough and not pregnant anymore, so I guess it's just that time."

Squeezing the small pale hand in hers, Frannie can't help but let out a choked sob and shake her head. "It shouldn't be that time. It should never be that time. You're his daughter."

The younger Fabray scoffs. "No, we're his prized possessions."

Frannie tentatively raises her hand again to lightly trace the bruise. "I always tried to protect you."

Finally, Quinn lets a tear fall, but she keeps a straight face before saying, "I know, but we have to protect Beth now."

"Want to go check on her?" Frannie whispers, afraid that anyone else might hear. Quinn nods and they both slowly get up from their spots on the bed to make their way out the door and down the hallway.

The doorknob twists slowly, and Quinn pushes open the door to the nursery to find Beth sleeping soundly in her crib. Surprisingly, Beth is an amazing sleeper, and she doesn't really cry all that much during the night. The small blonde hesitantly walks over to the side of Beth's crib with Frannie flanking the other side.

"Hey, baby girl," Quinn says softly, careful not to wake up her child.

Frannie looks from the baby to her sister, and then reaches out to comfort Quinn. "Your mommy is a very strong young woman." Quinn looks up and smiles at her sister, wincing when the muscles in her cheek are used. "I know she will never let anything happen to you."

Quinn looks back down at her child. "We won't let anything happen to you. Ever." In the darkness, Frannie can hear a slight sniffle from her sister before the next words are uttered. "I love you so much." Quinn feels a squeeze on her hand, and she knows its Frannie trying to comfort her. Leaning down to plant a small, soft kiss on her child, Quinn stands up and her and Frannie quietly walk towards to door, careful not to make any noise that would alert their mom or dad; particularly their dad.

As soon as the two sisters get back into Quinn's room, the younger girl's phone goes off, signaling a new text. She reaches her phone, and an automatic smile comes to her face when she reads the text.

Santana: 'Everything cool with your sister?'

"Who's that?" Quinn almost jumps when she hears Frannie's voice, and she spins around to face her sister. "Is it a boy?" Frannie smirks and then lunges for her sister's phone to read the most recent text. "Santana? That cheerleader girl, right?" Quinn nods as Frannie gives her phone back to her sister. "Seems really worried about you."

Quinn can't help the smile that appears on her face when she realizes her sister is right; Santana does care in her own weird way of trying not to care. "Yeah, she does." Quinn types a reply back to Santana.

Quinn: 'Yeah(: She's pretty much my best friend.'

"Awww, I'm your best friend?" Frannie asks from over Quinn's shoulder. The younger girl shrugs her shoulders to keep Frannie from breathing down her neck.

"Yes, and you already knew that." Quinn fiddles her fingers for a few seconds before asking, "Hey, will you drive me to Santana's in the morning? She said she can cover my bruise and scratch up."

Frannie's eyes go wide and she opens her mouth but words don't come out. Finally, she manages to get a sentence out. "You told her?!" she hisses.

The younger Fabray looks shocked. "Of course I didn't! I told her I fell…" Her sentence dies down slightly at the end as she realizes how stereotypical she sounds.

"You fell? Seriously, you think she'll buy that?"

"Well, I haven't exactly lied to her before."

Frannie sighs, raising her fingers to rest on the bridge of her nose. "Okay, we'll drive over there in the morning. At least dad will be gone for work by then." Her eyes raise up to meet her sister's. "What's the whole story?"

"I told her I was nervous about getting home, so I tripped on the front porch steps and smacked my face into the pavement," Quinn explains.

The older sister nods along. "Well, it does make sense. It's believable."

The phone in Quinn's hands goes off again and she looks down to see the most recent message from Santana.

Santana: 'Hey, what about lil ole me?'

Once again, Quinn fights the smile that threatens to appear on her lips as she types out a response.

Quinn: 'Lol shuddup you know you're a close second (; Hey, so what time should I come over to get ready? My sister will have to drive me.'

"Geez, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were talking to a boy," Frannie says with one of her eyebrows cocked.

Quinn waves it off as if it's nothing. "Nah, I haven't given my number to the quarterback yet."

"Oh, really?"

The phone buzzes again.

Santana: 'Just come over about an hour before school starts. It might take a while with the makeup.'

Quinn: 'Okay(: See you tomorrow'

Santana: 'Trying to get rid of me?'

Quinn: 'Noooooo, I'm just tired.'

Santana: 'Ugh, boo you whore lol :p Goodnight, Q'

Quinn: 'Night, S'

Finally, Quinn looks up from her phone to see her sister has taken the liberty of laying on her bed. Frannie pats the space next to her, gesturing for Quinn to lay in the bed with her. Too tired to change, Quinn lays down in the bed and allows herself to snuggle into her sister's side as she does when she has had a bad day, and this definitely qualifies.

"Quinn?" Frannie gently shakes her sister awake. "Come on, bunny, we have to get moving to meet your friend."

Quinn slowly gets up and immediately goes to rub the sleep out of her eyes. "Ow!" All of the sudden, the girl remembers the events from the night before, and before her sister can put a comforting arm around her, Quinn shoots out of the bed and examines her face in the mirror. The bruise has gotten darker, and slightly bigger as it circles around her left eye, and if looked at closely, she can see the slight pattern of a finger or two on her cheek. "Oh my god." Quinn finally turns around so her sister can see the bruise as well. "How am I supposed to explain this to Santana? She'll see the finger marks."

Tears fall down Quinn's face, and Frannie rushes to cup her little sister's face gently. "It's okay, they aren't that noticeable, maybe we can cover the marks up a little bit before we head over there so she won't know."

The little girl nods and heads to the bathroom to brush her teeth and hair and apply a small amount of makeup, enough to cover the finger marks. Her Cheerio outfit is now laying on her bed, all nice and neat, so she peels off her clothes and puts the outfit on, ready to go.

Meanwhile, Frannie is packing up her own makeup and Quinn's so Santana will have the right skin color to cover up the bruises. The older sister heads downstairs to scout out the area, making sure their dad is gone and their mom is nowhere in sight. Frannie isn't surprised to see their mom passed out on the couch with a bottle of vodka and a glass on the end table. Waving Quinn down the stairs, the two girls grab something to eat from the kitchen and they are out the door in a matter of moments. Quinn pulls out her phone to warn Santana that they are on their way.

Quinn: 'Hey we are coming over.'

Santana: 'Okay'

It isn't very long until they pull up outside of Santana's house and Santana meets them both in the driveway, fully dressed, but lacking make up. Even without make up, the Latina looks gorgeous, Quinn finds herself thinking. Santana ushers them inside and the up the stairs when she sits Quinn in a chair and is finally able to get a good look of her face.

"Damn, Quinn, what'd you do, head-butt the fucking pavement?" Santana examines the bruise carefully. "I see you started without me, but this is never going to blend. We have to start over."

Turning around, Santana grabs a makeup remover wipe and turns back to face Quinn. It's almost as if time stands still as the blonde stares at the remover wipe in Santana's hand and chocolate eyes stare at hazel. Taking a small step to close the distance between them, Santana gently puts a hand under Quinn's chin and angles the blonde's head so she can get a better look at her work space. Santana makes quick glance into the blonde's direction and she can't help but notice the fear playing in the eyes looking back.

Quinn, sensing the long pause in the room, flashes a quick, yet uneasy, smile to dissuade Santana from seeing Lucy hiding in her body instead of the Quinn she wanted her to see. Santana tilts her head in slight confusion then, as quickly as it came, she releases Quinn from her stare and instead, focuses on the task at hand.

The brunette gently wipes the makeup off of the cheerleader's cheek and her eyes slowly narrow at what comes to view in front of her. The faint marks of fingers start to appear and Santana glances at Quinn's eyes once more, but quickly looks away when she sees the vulnerability she isn't used to seeing. "Uhm, do you have your makeup with you?"

Quinn points to a spot on the ground next to her backpack, and Santana scrambles to find the right foundation to start with and then she puts a drop onto a foundation sponge and she, very gently, spreads the make up on the bruised area and then onto the rest of Quinn's face and neck, making sure there are no obvious lines showing. Next, Santana starts on the scratch on the other girl's cheek by putting a green primer over the scratch and then blending the foundation onto the primer. The bruise looks nonexistent and the scratch is almost covered up. The last thing the brunette needs to do is the powder foundation to cover up the rest of the scratch, and voila, Quinn's face has never taken any damage.

Santana nods her head towards the bathroom. "Go take a look at how awesome I am."

Quinn scrambles out of her seat and towards the bathroom to survey the Latina's handiwork. Meanwhile, Santana sighs and turns towards Frannie with a questioning look in her eyes, but she is cut short when she sees the look Frannie is giving back to her. The older Fabray has the 'Don't you ever mention this to anyone, or I'll kill you' look on her face and Santana makes the decision to not ask Quinn about it until she's ready to talk about it. Everyone has their own secrets after all…

Quinn pops her head out of the bathroom and says, "Wanna do the rest?"

Frannie, Santana, and Quinn pull up outside of the school and all three of them get out of the car to head into the building. The doors open and Quinn gives Frannie a quick hug before parting ways with Santana by her side. It isn't long before they feel another body fall in step beside them.

"Hey, guys. Ready for the captain competition?" The two girls turn to see Brittany with a giant smile on her face. Her perky attitude makes the other two girls smile and Santana doesn't miss the wince Quinn makes as she smiles.

"Oh yeah, but I have a feeling that Blondie over here is gonna pull it off," Santana says.

Brittany looks over to Quinn, almost sizing her up. "Yeah, she's an awesome unicorn."

Quinn blushes at the compliment and then resets her face into the unemotional setting she usually wears in school. Santana makes a note to ask about that later when they are alone. It's so alien to the emotions the brunette saw swimming it Quinn's eyes earlier. All of the sudden, Quinn stops walking and Santana follows her line of sight to rest on Rachel Berry. The blonde seems to be staring daggers at the small girl, so Santana steps up next to Quinn, along with Brittany.

As Rachel passes by, Quinn says, "Have a nice trip yesterday, Berry?"

Rachel reels around to confront Quinn, but Santana butts in. "Keep moving, hobbit."

The small singer looks from Quinn to Santana and then scampers away towards her first class, meanwhile, the two cheerleaders spin around in the other direction with Brittany in tow. Faintly, they hear Brittany murmur, "Can't we all just get along?" And unbeknownst to each other, both of the girls' stomachs drop at how mean they were towards Rachel, but they push it down and part ways to their first class.

As it turns out, Brittany and Quinn are in Geometry together. "Why are we always trying to find his 'x'? It obviously doesn't want to talk to him." Quinn stifles a laugh, instead chuckling at her eccentric blonde friend, then she leans over to help Brittany with the Pythagorean Therom.

It isn't too long until lunch roles around and Quinn finds herself looking for her Latina friend, and she quickly spots her at a different table, but with the same people as yesterday. "Hey, Q!" she yells over the voices in the cafeteria. Quinn makes her way over to Santana, sitting down between her and the football quarterback known as Finn.

"Hey, Quinn," he says as soon as she sits down.

"Hi," she replies as she forks a small amount of salad in to her mouth. She's always been self-conscious of the way she eats, so she eats in small amounts in public, when in reality, she is so hungry she just wants to vacuum the salad into her mouth.

"How did tryouts go for you yesterday?" It is so obvious that Finn is trying to make conversation with one of the most beautiful girls in school.

"Good." Well, it doesn't look like it's working so well for him right now.

"So, I was wondering if, uhm, maybe you wanted to, uh, hang out or something sometime?"

Quinn instantly stop eating and swallows the last bit of salad she had put in her mouth prior to him asking the question. She sizes him up. He's the quarterback of the freshman football team, and chances are, Quinn will be the head Cheerio of the freshman squad. This could be the perfect foothold for her, she would be untouchable for once in her life.

"Okay, give me your number and I'll call you," Quinn says, always to be the one in control.

Finn reaches into his back pack and comes back with a torn piece of paper in his hand. He scribbles the number and Quinn puts it in her backpack without even looking at it and resumes eating the rest of her salad.

Meanwhile, Santana is focused on the 'Puckasaurus' as he liked to call himself. "Come on, babe, let me take you out," Puck says to the Latina as the Cheerio drinks a smoothie for her lunch.

Santana glances over at Quinn to see her blonde friend talking to Finn and she looks back at Puck. She leans in close to him and whispers, "Well, what's in it for me?"

Puck, never one to back down, leans toward Santana as well and smirks. "Well… It really depends on what you're into, baby. I'm hot, you're hot; we'd be hot together. Power couple of the school, and you can take the Puckasaurus for a ride anytime you want."

Santana nods her head as if she's really thinking about it, even though she has already come to a conclusion. "Okay," she smiles and hands him a piece of paper with her number on it, "text me later." It wasn't a request, that much was obvious, and as soon a Puckerman gets the paper, he studies it and slips it into his pocket.

It's been a long school day and Quinn, Santana, and Brittany are all walking out onto the field together for the captain competition. It isn't long until all three of the girls hear a loud, booming voice. "Okay, ladies. We are going to start with flexibility. Show me you aren't worthless in this squad."

Brittany easily extends her leg and lifts it into the air for a vertical split, and then she goes as far as to sit on the ground and put her legs behind her head while Quinn and Santana stare at her in amazement. As soon as Brittany gets up, Santana shoots her a look that goes unnoticed by Quinn and Sue. The blonde walks up to stand in front of Sue, and she kind of just jumps and lands into the splits, and then gets back up without using any hands, causing Sue to raise her eyebrows. Santana then goes into the splits and then curls her back so her feet touch the back of her head, and then she gets up and returns to where the others are standing.

Sue makes a couple marks on her clipboard and then she says, "Okay, front flip and back flip. Go." Brittany executes a perfect back flip, but she falters on the front flip, almost landing on her butt. Sue shakes her head and nods for Quinn's turn. Quinn walks up and does a perfect back flip, and she isn't on the ground for more than two seconds before she executes a perfect front flip as well. Santana is completely positive that she has never seen someone go from a back flip to a front flip so quickly before. Santana does a back flip, and then she has to balance herself before doing her front flip.

Once again Sue writes some notes and then she speaks again, "Handsprings." Brittany, Quinn and Santana all do a front handspring and then a back handspring perfectly all at once, and Sue quickly writes her notes.

The coach walks over to the girls and without any warning, she shoves each of them with Brittany falling to the ground and Santana and Quinn stay up like a rock. They all look at her like she is crazy. "Balance test," is all she says.

Sue studies her clipboard and then lowers it to her side and marches back and forth across a section of the field. "Quinn, Santana get over here." The girls start to walk over. "HUSTLE!" They break into a run and get to Sue in a matter of seconds. "We have a tie between you two. I could make you co-captains, but that doesn't fly with me, so best cartwheel is the tie breaker."

Quinn steps over a couple of feet so no one is in her way. She extends her arms and executes a nearly perfect cartwheel. Next, Santana takes a deep breath and as soon as she does her own cartwheel, Quinn knows something is up. Her legs were bent and her toes weren't even pointed.

"Congratulations, Fabray." Quinn turns to see Sue looking at her. "Practice is over."

The three girls make their way back to the locker rooms and Brittany is the first to get changed. "I have to go feed my unicorn, I'll see you tomorrow!" Santana and Quinn exchange a look of amusement at their friend and burst into laughter.

"So," Quinn says coming down from her laughter, "how is it that my cartwheel was better than yours?"

Santana stares at Quinn's face, remembering the bruise she covered up only that morning. She shakes her head. "Don't apply logic to Lopez."

Quinn narrows her eyes at her friend but just decides to pack her clothes into her backpack and hoists it over her shoulder. "Wanna come over? I'm just gonna change at home."

The brunette does the same with her clothes and then picks up her bag. "Sure."

Quinn starts to walk out of the locker room but then pauses. "Don't you need to ask your parents?"

Santana shrugs and just keeps walking. "They won't mind."

The now-head-Cheerio doesn't keep moving, instead she pulls out her cell phone. "I should, um, ask my parents first actually." She dials her mom's cell phone number and holds it up to her left cheek. Santana doesn't miss the wince on Quinn's face and the blonde switches to the right side. "Hey, mom? Can my friend come over so we can study? Yeah. No, I know." Quinn looks at Santana for a second and then back at the ground and turns her back to her friend. "Yeah, I know I haven't had anyone over before," she whispers, yet Santana can still make out what she's saying. "Mom, I told you to stop calling me that," Quinn continues to whisper into the phone. She turns back to Santana and speaks clearly, "Can she come over, or not? Okay, I'll see you soon." Quinn locks her phone and walks towards the doors that lead to the parking lot, no doubt where Frannie is waiting. "She said 'yes'." As confused as Santana is, she follows her captain anyway and slides into the idling car waiting for them.

"So, what did you guys do today?" Frannie asks. She twists around to look at Santana in the back seat. "Anything interesting?" There's that look again. Santana subtly shakes her head.

"Actually, yeah." The two girls look at the smaller blonde sitting in the front seat. "The quarterback gave me his number, and I'm pretty sure Santana gave hers to the wide receiver," Quinn says.

Frannie breathes out a breath of relief and turns to face the front of the car. She slips the car into gear and drives towards the Fabray residence. As they are on their way, Frannie glances into the rearview mirror to find Santana staring out of the window, her brows furrowed. Frannie then glances towards her younger sister, seeing how Quinn seems to be, for once, genuinely happy. The younger Fabray finally gets to have a friend over to the house, finally. Fran remembers all of the lonely Friday nights that her sister has ever had, remembering that while she got to go out with her friends, her sister was stuck inside the dysfunctional household.

It is this moment when Frannie decides that she will do everything in her power to keep Santana around for her sister. The older girl glances into the rearview mirror again to see the almost captain looking out of the window again, but this time she notices that the girl's eyes are trained on the passenger side mirror, and in turn, Quinn's face. Santana has the same facial expression on her; confused, worried, and maybe even slightly afraid. Frannie's eyes train themselves back onto the road, and as her mind is focused on this train of thought, they make their way to the house in silence.

A/N: How was it? I hope I did good by you all and I appreciate all of your support. I love reviews, I read them each and I would love to hear more about what you all think. Any ideas are welcome, and if you need to talk about anything, I'm here for that too. Until next time, my little darlings. Xx