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Chapter 7

"Are you ready San?" Brittany asked, peeking around the bedroom door. Santana was standing in front of the mirror, inspecting the dark bruises on her abdomen. She whirled around when she heard Brittany's voice and quickly wiped the tears from her eyes. She nodded silently and pulled on her jumper. She approached Brittany and, putting her hands on the blonde's shoulders, looked straight into her eyes.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Santana asked doubtfully.

"Of course San. I want to help you." Brittany smiled sadly at her best friend. "I want to keep you safe." Santana felt a tear run down her face as she pulled the blonde into a hug.

She took a deep breath and wiped away her tears. "Okay, let's go."

xXx

10 minutes later, the girls pulled up outside Santana's house. The Latina froze as she noticed her father's car parked in the driveway. She turned to Brittany and asked one last time. "Are you sure?" Brittany nodded and both girls slowly got out of the car and walked to the front door. They opened it silently and stepped inside.

"Okay, here goes" Santana breathed.

They headed for the stairs and made their way quietly to Santana's bedroom. They opened the door and gasped as they nearly fell over a huge heap on the floor. It was Mr Lopez. Santana nudged him gently with her foot but he didn't stir. He had been drinking a lot, then. Santana had been in this situation before and she knew that they only had a short amount of time before he came around.

The two girls frantically began opening drawers and flinging all of Santana's belongings into bags. They moved swiftly and silently and soon they had packed everything away. Then they began bringing the bags downstairs and putting them into the car. Mr Lopez had begun to stir and Santana knew that they were running out of time. She sprinted back upstairs to retrieve the last bag and stared in horror as she saw her father getting slowly up to his feet. He turned around and spotted his daughter.

"You." He said simply. He smirked at the look of pure terror on the girl's face. He stepped slowly towards her, backing her into a corner. He could see that she was trembling and tears had formed in her brown eyes. She continued to retreat until she felt the hard wall at her back. This was it. He had vowed that he would kill her and there was no doubt in her mind that he would. He stood close to her and Santana could smell the alcohol off his breath. She began to sob as he grabbed her wrist tightly.

"You killed her," he whispered, "And now, I'll kill you." He punched her hard in the gut, knocking the breath out of her. Then he grabbed her around the neck and pinned her to the wall, blocking her windpipe. She began to struggle, gasping for breath as his grip tightened. This was it, she thought, her life was over. As her vision began to blur, she saw a flash of blonde hair and her father went down, releasing her as he did so. She collapsed to the floor, coughing and spluttering. She looked over to her father, who was lying face down on the floor, out cold.

"Santana!" Brittany exclaimed, dropping the now broken lamp she was holding and pulling her best friend into a hug. "Santana, come on! We have to get out of here!"

Brittany put her arm around the brunette, who was sobbing uncontrollably, and pulled her up, supporting her. They stepped around the body on the floor and made their way to the door. Santana suddenly stopped and pulled out her cellphone.

"I have to call an ambulance!" she exclaimed, as she punched in the numbers. He may have just tried to kill her, but he was still her father. When she hung up, they left the house, deciding it best not to stick around waiting for him to wake up.

They flopped into the car and Santana broke down. Sobs racked her body, which was weak from all the physical and emotional pain she had suffered, not only over the past few days, but her whole life. All Brittany could do was hold her and tell her it was going to be alright, even though she knew it wouldn't. Santana had come close to being killed this time and she knew that Mr Lopez would be out for revenge. She shuddered as she contemplated what was more than likely to come.

She quickly shook these thoughts from her mind. Her best friend was still crying and all that mattered to Brittany was keeping her safe. She stroked her hair comfortingly until the Latina had cried herself to sleep. Then, she put her foot on the gas and headed for home. In the silence, she thought about what had just happened. Santana had nearly died, at the hands of her own father. What would have happened if Brittany had walked in even a minute later? It didn't bear thinking about. All that mattered was that her best friend was alive and safe. For now.