Author's Note: Hello there! Here is the sixth chapter which turned out to be the second longest chapter that I have written :P I'm not overly happy with this chapter but I didn't want to make you all wait any longer so I am uploading it. First off though I have people that I need to thank.

Firstly to the lovely person who sent me a review - Thank you! You're my first review and thank you for the very kind words :) In relation to your question about Quinntana - yes, Quinntana will be happening in this story.

That leads me to the second person that I must thank - Sylverkubus who has been amazing at helping me so far with the Quinntana in this story and was wonderful enough to give me the awesome idea of how Quinntana will work in my fic so I hope I can do it justice :)

And finally - thank you to all of you who have been reading, favouriting, and following this story. It truly does mean a lot to me and keeps me inspired to continue with this story.

Anyways, this has been a long author's note so I shall let you get on with the reading now. Enjoy Chapter Six!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters.

Chapter Six:

It's been weeks since the whole Josh Coleman incident and Santana's all but pushed the memory out of her head, the night not meaning anything to her. The only reason she's even thinking about it is because currently another member of the sophomore rugby team is propositioning her. Apparently Josh had been going around telling his friends about him and Santana and now they think she'll do the same for them.

"Come on, you did it for Josh"

Santana narrows her eyes, taking a step back from the rugby player who's currently leering at her. She doesn't think she even knows his name.

"Two things" she hisses, "One? No. And two? Josh was a onetime thing and a mistake".

Santana hopes that he'll just drop the matter because she is definitely not in the mood for this but this rugby player seems determined to get what he wants.

"Well I'm not Josh. I'll make it worth your while"

Santana's just about to respond to and possibly slap this guy when an unexpected but familiar voice speaks up from behind her.

"I think it's best you run along" Santana hears Quinn say and honestly what is it with Quinn and showing up when Santana's either just talked to or is talking to rugby players? Girl must have a sixth sense or something.

The rugby player opens his mouth to respond but Quinn's quick to cut him off.

"Now"

Her tone leaves no room for argument and the rugby player shoots her a dirty look before stalking off down the hallway. Santana turns to Quinn, giving her a mildly impressed look.

"We need to talk" Quinn says quietly, her expression serious.

Santana's impressed look switches to one of confusion as Quinn grabs her hand and leads her to the girl's bathroom just around the corner from Santana's locker.

"Q?" Santana asks but Quinn doesn't respond as she checks to make sure they're alone.

When she's determined that they're the only two in there, Quinn turns to Santana who still feels highly confused.

"What's going on with you and the sophomore rugby team?" she asks and Santana's surprised at the anger she can hear in Quinn's voice. It's not a lot but it's there.

"Nothing" Santana replies wearily.

Quinn doesn't look like she believes her and Santana lets out a sigh.

"Quinn, I swear, there's nothing going on"

"Then what was that at your locker just before and with Josh Coleman a few weeks ago? I know you slept with him but you never did tell me why" It comes out practically as a demand and it makes Santana feel defensive, as though she's being backed into a corner.

"Josh Coleman was a onetime thing because I was feeling like shit and now apparently the whole rugby team thinks I'll sleep with them" Santana shoots back, crossing her arms over her chest.

The door opens and Santana turns her head to glare at the freshman who's just walked in. The girl takes one look at Santana, lets out a terrified squeak and flees the bathroom. Santana turns back to Quinn who's looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" Santana snaps.

"That wasn't very nice" Quinn replies and she sounds a little amused which does nothing for Santana's newly sour mood.

"I'm not known for being nice" Santana retorts.

Quinn doesn't say anything in response to that. Instead she draws their conversation back to what they were originally talking about which Santana had hoped she would just leave alone.

"Why would you sleep with Josh Coleman if you were feeling like shit?" she no longer sounds like she's demanding an answer, just like she's honestly curious.

"Everything just felt like too much and sex was something that felt easy. He asked, I said yes, and for a while I got to forget. I wish I hadn't done it but it happened" Santana tells her, suddenly feeling tired.

"What were you trying to forget?" Quinn inquires, her voice soft.

"It doesn't matter" Santana sighs, too tired to try and explain how she was trying to forget how she feels like everyone's going to end up leaving her. It's not like it actually matters anyway. She still feels that way.

"It matters to me" Quinn says quietly but Santana ignores it.

"Why did you get so angry when you were asking me about all this?" Santana asks.

"I wasn't angry" Quinn replies in a confused tone, "I was just worried".

"Don't worry about me, Q. I'll be fine" Santana assures her though she doesn't really believe it or that Quinn wasn't angry.

Quinn looks a little dubious, like she can see straight through Santana, but she doesn't comment on it. Santana wraps her arms around her in a hug, feeling like they both need the comfort, and gives Quinn a gentle squeeze before pulling away.

"Wanna ditch and go smoke under the bleachers?" she asks, causing Quinn to laugh.

"I would love to"

After school Santana invites Blaine over to her house, feeling like they haven't really talked all that much lately and something about talking to Quinn making her feel like she should make sure he's alright. Blaine agrees so Santana instructs him to come over after dinner. She needs some time to herself to unwind. She heads home, collapses onto her bed, and just lets herself for a while. She ends up dozing for a while before being awoken by her mother knocking softly on her door to tell her that it's time for dinner.

When Blaine does arrive, Santana's been spending the time from dinner until then thinking about her conversation with Quinn. She can't help but feel like while they did get somewhere, in terms of Santana opening up a little, but she also feels like it made things more confusing. She still doesn't really understand why Quinn had seemed so angry or what she'd meant when she'd said that what Santana was trying to forget matters to her. It's like they took one step forward and three steps back.

"You've saved me from an evening of working on my Chemistry project so thank you"

Those are the first words that Blaine says when they're alone in Santana's room and it makes Santana laugh.

"You're welcome" she replies with a smile as she sits down cross-legged on her bed and invites Blaine to do the same, "but I thought that project wasn't due for another couple of weeks?"

Blaine shrugs, arranging himself so he's facing Santana.

"The sooner it's out of the way the sooner I don't have to worry about it" is his answer and Santana can't argue with that.

Santana shuffles backwards so that she's leaning back against the pillows and pats the empty space next to her as an invitation for Blaine to join her.

"So how've you been, B?" she asks once he's settled next to her.

It's a simple question but it takes Blaine a while to answer. Santana wonders what's going through his mind.

"Fine" Blaine finally responds but Santana can tell that's not actually true. Suddenly she feels extra glad she decided to check in with Blaine.

"You're lying" she says causing Blaine to stiffen beside her.

"I'm not lying" he insists, "I really am fine".

His words do nothing to actually make Santana think he is and she shakes her head.

"No, see, this is something we both do. We say we're fine when we're actually really not because it's easier to bottle up our problems and pretend they don't exist than deal with them" Blaine looks down at his hands at that so Santana knows she's right as she continues, "Something's really bothering you, B, so spill".

Blaine opens his mouth to say something but then he closes it again and shakes his head instead.

"It's nothing" he says and Santana bites back a frustrated groan.

"It doesn't seem like nothing" she huffs, "Come on, you can tell me".

Santana knows that Blaine knows this but she feels like it bears repeating.

"I can't" he replies, expression torn, and Santana would be lying if she said it didn't hurt a little to hear him say that.

"Blaine –"she starts to say but Blaine's cutting her off.

"Santana, please, just drop it" he says, expression changing from torn to pleading.

She's tempted to keep trying but his expression makes her stop. Instead she just narrows her eyes at him.

"Someday, Blaine, you're gonna tell me whatever it is you're hiding" she tells him.

"It's not my secret to tell" he replies and damn it, now Santana really wants to know what it is that he won't tell her. She tells him as much and he just gives her an apologetic smile.

"What about you?" Blaine asks, elaborating when Santana looks at him in confusion, "How've you been?"

"Oh no, if you're not gonna talk then neither am I" Blaine frowns at her but she merely shrugs, "It's only fair".

Blaine looks like he wants to argue but then he seems to decide against it and just lets out a deep sigh instead.

"We suck at talking about our feelings" he mumbles, leaning further against the pillows.

"Yeah we do" Santana sighs, following Blaine's lead and leaning further against her pillows.

They sit there in silence for a little bit just collecting their thoughts when suddenly Santana gets an idea that she thinks will let them just forget about their problems for a night. It'll probably benefit Blaine more than her but she figures he could use it. She sits bolt upright and her sudden movement startles Blaine.

"Santana?" he asks wearily, sitting up slowly beside her.

She turns her body to face Blaine, an excited grin on her face.

"You and me, tomorrow night, Scandals" she says.

"Scandals" Blaine says the word slowly as though he's testing it out, "As in the gay bar in West Lima?"

Santana nods her head.

"Why do you even know about that place? Isn't it meant to be a total dive?" he inquires.

"I know things and besides I could ask you the same question" Santana bites back a laugh at the huff she gets from Blaine at that before continuing, "Besides, who cares if it's a dive? It'll be fun".

Blaine still doesn't look convinced.

"How are we supposed to get in? We're not old enough" Blaine asks.

"Fake ids" Santana replies.

"I don't have one" Blaine says and Santana gets the feeling that he's just searching for reasons not to go.

"That's okay, I can get you one" Santana tells him and punctuates it with a bright smile.

Blaine's lack of response tells Santana he's actually considering it.

"Fine" he sighs and Santana grins like the cat that got the cream.

Blaine shakes his head but he laughs and Santana feels like she's made the right decision.

Standing by his car in the parking lot at Scandals waiting for Santana, Blaine's really starting to wonder if saying yes to coming here was a good idea after all. He briefly considers sending Santana an apology text, getting back into his car, and going home but he figures that since he's already here he may as well stay.

Santana arrives a few minutes later, pulling into the empty parking spot beside Blaine's car. She steps out of her car in dark blue jeans and a white off-shoulder top and her outfit makes Blaine feel better for only wearing a red polo shirt and a pair of black jeans.

"You're here" Santana says in greeting, sounding vaguely surprised.

"I told you I would be" Blaine replies with a raised eyebrow.

"I know but I half expected you to bail on me"

Blaine doesn't mention the fact that he'd considered doing just that and instead motions towards the building.

"Shall we?" he asks.

Santana digs into the back pocket of her jeans, producing two cards and hands one to Blaine before answering.

"We shall"

As they walk Blaine inspects the card Santana's just given him and finds out that it's his fake id that Santana told him she'd get for him. He's not really sure he wants to know where she got it. He notes that his last name is different and that he's now 25. He really hopes it works. Santana must notice his unease because she loops her arm around one of Blaine's and gives it a comforting squeeze.

"Relax, B. Everything's gonna be fine" she murmurs as they reach the doors.

They step inside and Santana drags him over to a guy sitting at a small wooden desk by the door who looks like he'd rather be anywhere but there.

"Ids?" he asks in a monotone voice and Santana and Blaine respond by showing their ids to him.

He looks at each of their ids then them in turn before giving them a slightly strange look and then letting out a deep sigh and handing their ids back to them.

"Enjoy" he says in that same monotone voice and Santana and Blaine thank him before moving further inside.

Blaine supposes that it's not quite as bad as he was expecting and he's glad for that. The music's not awful but it's not the type of stuff that Blaine would generally listen to. There are quite a few people there, but they're all a lot older than Santana and Blaine.

"It's...uh..." Santana trails off, looking like she's struggling to think of a word.

"Quaint?" Blaine offers, stepping closer to Santana to let a couple of guys pass by them.

"I was gonna go with nice but quaint will do" she replies before leading Blaine to the bar.

"Two beers please" she says to the bartender, a gruff looking man, holding up her id to show him. She elbows Blaine sharply in the ribs and he holds his up as well.

The bartender barely gives their ids a glance before he's getting them their beers and sliding them across the bar to Santana who in turn hands the bartender the money to pay for them. The man gives her a nod before moving on to serve the next person.

"I like him" she tells Blaine before taking a sip of her beer.

Blaine nods before taking a sip of his own beer, looking over at the man.

The two stand there at the bar for a while, just watching the people out on the dance floor and talking as they sip their beers before Santana's smirking over Blaine's shoulder.

"You've got a fan" she tells Blaine, amusement clear in her tone and it makes Blaine worried.

He turns to see who she's talking about and sees a guy further down the bar that he hadn't noticed before watching him. The guy looks about the same age as Santana and Blaine, with short brown hair and a smirk on his face. Blaine will admit he's quite attractive. All of a sudden the guy is getting up and walking towards Blaine and Santana and Blaine whirls around and shoots Santana a terrified look which only makes her laugh and give his arm a squeeze. He supposes it was meant to be comforting but he doesn't actually feel all that comforted.

Blaine hears someone clear their throat behind him and turns around to find the quite attractive guy standing there.

"Sebastian Smythe" he says, holding out a hand for Blaine to shake.

"Blaine Anderson" Blaine replies, shaking Sebastian's hand before letting go and gesturing to Santana, "and this is my friend Santana Lopez".

"Pleasure" Sebastian says, shaking Santana's hand.

Silence falls between the three of them and Blaine's focus goes to his beer bottle as he starts picking at the label. He can feel Santana and Sebastian watching him but he ignores them both and tries not to think about how awkward this has become all of a sudden.

"Buy you another drink?" Sebastian asks and Blaine's head shoots up to look at him. He's just about to answer but Santana beats him to it.

"He can't, he has to drive" she says and Sebastian nods his head in what seems to be understanding, "but I'm sure he wouldn't say no to a dance".

Blaine shoots her a murderous look as Sebastian's eyes light up but she merely smiles sweetly back at him before taking a large swig of her beer.

"What do you say?" Sebastian asks, inclining his head in the direction of the dance floor, "One dance?"

"Sure" Blaine replies, figuring one dance can't hurt.

"Atta boy" Santana murmurs, taking his beer from him and giving him a light shove.

Blaine shoots her another look before following Sebastian out to the floor. He's keenly aware of Santana's eyes on them as Sebastian places his hands on Blaine's hips, drawing him close and Blaine places his hands on Sebastian's shoulders in response.

"Is this alright?" Sebastian asks, leaning down to whisper it into Blaine's ear.

Blaine nods, not trusting himself to speak as he realises how close their faces have become. Sebastian laughs lightly, moving his face back away from Blaine's as though he'd seen Blaine's sudden realisation, and Blaine is thankful for the space.

They dance close together through one song and then another, their bodies moving together to the music and Blaine finds that it feels good and that he's enjoying himself.

As the next song starts he wonders how Santana's faring and pulls away from Sebastian slightly and looks over to the bar. She's still standing there at the bar and she smiles at Blaine when she sees him looking and gives him a wave.

"Wanna invite her to join?" he hears Sebastian ask and he nods in response, feeling guilty for just leaving her there.

"I'll go get her" Blaine says, making to move towards the bar but Sebastian stops him.

"Allow me" he murmur, brushing past Blaine and walking over to Santana.

Blaine watches from his spot on the dance floor as Sebastian offers a hand to Santana who at first shakes her head but then something Sebastian says to her makes her laugh and accept. Sebastian leads her over to Blaine, who leans close to her to talk quietly in her ear.

"Sorry for leaving you at the bar"

Santana shakes her head and smiles warmly at him.

"Don't worry about it. You looked like you were having fun" she replies.

"Are we gonna dance or what?" Sebastian asks, smirking lightly when Santana and Blaine laugh before the three of them lose themselves in the music.

When Santana declares that it's time for her and Blaine to leave a couple of hours later, Sebastian, who's spent the night hanging out and dancing with them, looks rather disappointed. He asks Blaine for his number which Blaine gives to him and in turn Sebastian gives him his. Santana watches the exchange with a smirk on her face that Blaine chooses to ignore. They say their goodbyes to Sebastian before leaving the bar and making their out into the cool night air.

"Thanks San" Blaine says as they make their way across the car park to their cars.

"For what?" Santana asks.

"Suggesting we come here" Blaine replies, "I had a really good time".

"Me too" Santana says with a smile as they reach their cars.

She pulls Blaine into a hug which he happily returns and then she's pulling back and getting into her car, telling Blaine to text her when he gets home so she knows he got there okay. Blaine tells her he will, watching her go before getting into his own car and heading home, feeling lighter than he has in a while.

Ever since her and Santana's conversation in the girls' bathroom the other day, Quinn's been worried about Santana. Well, truthfully, she's always worried about Santana but now more so than usual. They've gone back to normal since then but Quinn still feels unsettled and she doesn't like feeling this way. She knows she's not going to get anything from Santana, she'll just tell Quinn she's fine, so instead she decides to ask the two other people who know Santana well enough to help her figure this out.

Waiting in the empty Astronomy classroom after school, Quinn looks up at the planets strung up from the roof and wishes that she could just transport her problems to one of them and never have to worry about them again.

"Quinn?"

Quinn snaps back to the present and sees Blaine and Tina standing in the doorway with confused expressions on their faces.

"You asked us to meet you here?" Tina says though her voice raises at the end and it comes out as more of a question.

"Yes" Quinn replies as Blaine and Tina enter the room, "I need to talk to you guys".

Blaine shuts the door behind him and Tina before moving to sit on a desk close to Quinn. Tina follows suit.

"Is everything okay?" Blaine asks and Quinn lets out a sigh in response.

"I have no idea" she says, wishing desperately that she did.

She sees Tina and Blaine exchange concerned glances so she elaborates.

"It's Santana" Tina shifts a little uncomfortably at this, "I'm worried about her".

Tina looks down at her hands but she nods her head like she knows what Quinn means. Quinn guesses she does. Santana's been acting off with Tina for a while now. Blaine also looks like he knows what Quinn means and she's glad they all seem to be on the same page.

"I am too" Tina sighs and both Quinn and Blaine look to her, "She's been acting weird around me for almost a week and a half now. At first it pissed me off but now I'm just getting worried".

Quinn nods her head and then Blaine starts talking and her and Tina's attention shifts to him.

"She seemed fine when I was hanging out with her these past two days but she's always been an expert at hiding how she actually feels and I know she's not really as fine as she claims to be"

Quinn sinks a little further into herself, wrapping her arms around herself.

"There's something she won't tell me and I don't want to keep trying to ask her and have her push me away" she says quietly, voice shaking slightly.

Tina looks conflicted, like she wants to say something but can't bring herself to but Quinn doesn't have time to dwell on it because Blaine's sliding off his desk and coming over to Quinn. He places a comforting hand on her elbow and gives her a warm smile.

"I'll talk to her" he says and Quinn places a hand over his in a silent thank you.

It's the day after Blaine promised Quinn that he'll talk to Santana when he finds her that lunch time sitting under the bleachers as usual with a cigarette dangling from her fingers. It looks like she's alone, Quinn and Tina nowhere to be seen, so Blaine decides that this is as good a time as any to make good on his promise.

"Fancy meeting you here" he says in greeting and Santana's eyes flick to him before she huffs out a laugh.

"Yes, this is quite unexpected" she replies, settling further back into the couch and taking a drag of her cigarette.

As Blaine takes a seat next to Santana on the couch, he has the sneaking suspicion that Quinn and Tina's dual absence was planned; that they both chose not to show up because it would give Blaine and Santana some alone time to talk. Blaine shakes his head slightly before turning his attention to Santana.

"So, how're you Santana?" he asks in as casual tone as he can muster.

Obviously not casual enough because Santana's narrowing her eyes at him and looking at him with suspicion.

"We've already had one of these conversations this week. One's enough, I'm fine" she replies, tone hard.

"Can I be honest?" she makes a hand gesture that Blaine takes to means that he should continue so he does, "I'm not really asking for me".

"Oh?" is Santana's response, accompanied by a raised eyebrow.

"I'm asking for Quinn"

This makes Santana freeze, cigarette hanging limply from her fingers.

"Did she tell you to ask for her?" she asks, voice quiet and losing its harshness from earlier as she keeps her gaze fixed on the concrete.

"No, I offered" Blaine tells her, "She said there's something you're not telling her".

Santana lets out a sigh, expression troubled.

"It's because I can't. I'm not ready yet" she sounds tired and Blaine knows what that's like.

"Is it something you could tell me?" he ventures, slightly expecting her to say no.

Instead she finally looks away from the concrete to look at Blaine. She looks conflicted and her eyes seem to be searching his face for something. She must find whatever it was she was looking for because after a while she nods her head. She drops her cigarette to the concrete, stamping it out with the heel of her boot before angling her body to face Blaine.

"It sort of has to do with Brittany" Santana says and Blaine's mind flicks back to a scene from a few weeks ago that's similar to this one but with a different topic of conversation.

Blaine nods his head to indicate that he knows what Santana's talking about and then motions for her to continue.

"Well it's less about her and more about what she's sort of made me realise about myself. She's great and whenever she sees me around school she smiles and waves or talks to me and at first I thought I liked her in that way and somewhere in the far corner of my mind I imagined what it would be like if we were together but..."

"But?" Blaine prompts her gently when she doesn't continue.

"But the more I got to know her, the more I realised that that's all we'd ever be – just that distant fantasy. We'd never really work out and I'm okay with that. It did make me realise something else though".

Santana pauses again but Blaine doesn't say anything this time around. He just lets her think. She takes a deep breath and it seems to Blaine like she's almost forcing herself to keep making eye contact with Blaine.

"It made me realise that while I may not like her in that way, I could see myself liking other girls in that way. And I've spent so much of my life thinking that I liked guys that it's scary to think that that's not actually true anymore".

Blaine has to take a minute to process all of what Santana's just told him because it's quite a bit to process. She's just come out to Blaine and he honestly doesn't think he's ever been prouder of her than in this moment. This is no small feat considering how much Blaine knows Santana hates talking about stuff this personal.

"Thank you for telling me" Blaine says quietly.

"You're the only one who can relate" she replies with a shrug and, though there are still remnants of her troubled expression on her face, she looks like a weight's been lifted off her shoulders.

"You know that Quinn wouldn't judge you if you told her, right?" Blaine asks, "She'd still love you".

"I know" Santana says with a nod of her head, "I'm just not there yet".

Blaine nods his head in response, not pushing the issue any further. There's one more thing Blaine wants to ask Santana even though he feels like he's asked enough. He figures that if Santana think he's overstepping she'll more than happily let him know.

"I have one more question" he says and Santana lets out a little huff.

"Shoot" she replies.

"I mean, I know we all worry about each other – you, me, Quinn, and Tina – but when I offered to talk to you for Quinn she seemed more worried than usual like something was really bothering her and I'm just wondering why that was? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to"

Santana lets out a deep sigh, looking out across the football field before returning her attention to Blaine.

"It was nothing; just a little incident with the sophomore rugby team" she tells him.

Blaine can tell she doesn't want to talk about it any further and he respects that so he leaves the subject be. He's surprised she told him what little information she did.

"God, I need another cigarette" Santana mutters to herself, beginning the search for her cigarette packet.

Blaine makes a mental note to tell Quinn that Santana's fine and that she's just going through some personal stuff at the moment. He just hopes she accepts that answer.

When the weekend arrives Santana doesn't think she's ever been happier. This week takes the cake, in her opinion, for being the most emotionally draining week she's ever experienced. Between Quinn and Blaine she's spilled a few of her secrets and she hates how vulnerable that had made her feel.

Surprisingly she does feel lighter though. Telling Quinn the reasons behind the Josh Coleman incident, or at least most of them, and basically coming out to Blaine had lifted weights off her shoulders that she was getting tired of carrying around and have left her feeling less trapped.

There are still things that none of them know – not Tina, not Blaine, not Quinn - things that Santana just can't tell them yet but with what she has told them she's starting to feel like she isn't alone.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter and see you all soon with another chapter :) As always, feedback is always welcome.