Charlie grunts as he worked on the underside of his car. He had no idea what Quinton had done with it but he had clearly taken it out for more than a spin. His car hadn't been ready for a long drive like that and Quinton was a fucking asshat for taking it without his permission. Now his face hurt and his eye was swollen shut and he just wanted to work on his car but everything seemed to be going to shit.

He groans when Santana's familiar scent overcomes the sweaty greasy grimey smell of the garage. He pushes himself out from underneath the car, mentally preparing himself for their next fight. He softens when Santana turns the corner, looking a little lost and for a brief minute he almost thinks she looks vulnerable before he dismisses that thought. Santana has never been vulnerable a day in her life. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to say goodbye." She forces her voice to stay normal.

"Goodbye—" He stops. "Are you breaking up with me?"

"No." She insists quickly, suddenly hardening a little when she remembers she's supposed to be mad at him. "No—I just—I thought you wanted to break up."

Charlie winces but refuses to back down. He folds his arms over his chest. "Oh."

Santana gulps. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Regardless, if she's being smuggled out of the country like some dirty secret, she's not going to do it without saying goodbye. "I got grounded."

"Well you know they can't enforce that—"

"So my parents are sending me to Puerto Rico." She finishes for him.

"Already? But we just had Spring Break." He's starting to panic now. Santana can't leave, not when they're fighting like this. "Wait—what did you do?" For Santana's parents to be sending her to Puerto Rico, she must have done something. Her parents threatened it all the time especially given the times they'd been caught in compromising positions.

"Skipping class."

"You do that all the time."

"My mom knows I forge her signature," Santana adds and looks away. "Getting caught trying to get a boob job."

"What?" Charlie stands up. "You were trying to get a boob job? Why the hell were you doing something like that? Did Sue want you to do it—?"

"Why does everyone keep blaming Sue? No, I wanted to get a boob job so you'd notice me. So that we'd stop fighting and you'd fucking pay attention to me and you'd be too distracted to fight me all the damn time."

"Have you listened to a word I've said? I didn't need you to get a boob job—I needed you to stop trying to protect me all the time. I needed you to let me fall down, I don't mind you helping me back up but let me fall down. Let me get into a fight with my brother and maybe knock a few teeth out. You don't see anyone else at school having an alpha all over them." He shakes his head as suddenly the pieces fall together. "Is that why you were with him today?"

"I was with him because I needed a ride to the doctor's office." Santana pauses for a second. "Ew, gross you don't think Quinn and I—" Charlie looks away. "Is that why you got into a fight with him today?"

"I got into a fight with him because he stole my car."

"Oh." She's not sure why she's disappointed. "That death trap is yours. I thought Quinton just stole it off some freshman footballer. It smells like cheetos."

"She's a classic, I fixed her myself." Charlie defends, bristling defensively.

"It smells like cheetos." Santana repeated with a shrug a smile tugging on the corner of her lips.

"It doesn't!" Charlie insists immediately. "If anything she smells like paint and gasoline, you know manly smells."

"She? Should I be worried about that?" She's joking mostly.

"Well, she doesn't try and protect me from everything. Or making mistakes or just being me." Charlie responds and shrugs. "You don't listen to me, and lately it's been all about what you want to do and—"

"What I want to do?" Santana snaps. "You mean how I want to mate with you, dumbass? Or do you mean when I say just one thing and you do exactly the opposite?" Santana takes a deep breath. "Do you know how difficult it is for me? To make sure that the other alpha's aren't harassing you? I want everyone to know that you're mine."

Charlie rolled his eyes, "I am yours, I've been yours since we were three. But I don't want to mate with you just because you want to mark me as your property."

All Santana heard was that he didn't want to mate with her. Those words alone sent her entire world crashing down around her. "I guess that's it then."

Charlie crinkled his nose studying Santana carefully, "You really don't listen to a word I say do you?"

"You just said you didn't want to me with me! What else is there?"

"I qualified it, I don't want to mate with you just because you want to mark me as your property. I never said I never ever want to mate with you. I just don't want to do it because you want to mark me."

Santana goes to dispute that, but stops herself. When had she ever said that she wanted Charlie to be her property? Or that she just wanted to mark him? She wants everything with him and he just—doesn't care. "You accuse me of never listening to you, have you ever listened to me?"

"Of course I have." He dismissed. "You want to mate. I get it."

That's all he thinks she wants? She swallows down on the rising lump in her throat. "I don't want to mate with you. I want to be your mate. Fuck. You know what, this was a bad idea. I'll just—I'll see you around I guess. Maybe when I get back."

"Santana—" He calls, but she's already turned her back to him. He frowns and quickly wraps his arms around her holding her in place. "That's what it feels like, since we went through puberty, it's felt like all you want to do is leave your mark on me to let everyone know to stay away."

"And you don't want that." She concludes. She should have figured that out earlier. Fuck, she had been so stupid. He doesn't want her mark, maybe he doesn't even want people to stay away from him. It hurts more than she expected it to, the thought that he doesn't want to be hers the way that she wants to be his.

"I know I want you. I'm not sure if I'm ready to mate, I know I want to do it with you but not if you think of me as property. I never saw what the rush was, we're mates. You know it, I know it. There isn't going to be another alpha for me."

"The rush is that I've known you were it for me since we were three. Every day that we don't spend together seems like a waste. I thought you got that. That you understood. But maybe my parents are right and we do need space."

"We've been together since we were three," Charlie sighs. "I don't even know who I am when you're not around and that scares me. You've got it all figured out and I just don't. I don't have it figured out. I don't know what my plans are, I don't know what I want to do with the rest of my life and I don't even know if there is a Charlie without Santana. So when you stop me from experiencing something because you're trying to protect me it bothers me because I don't even know if I'll like it. I like playing football, and yeah I might break my arm again even though I'm the kicker, but I like doing it."

"You think I don't get insecure? Every summer I get shipped off to a damn island without any internet and I have to wonder if you'll have found someone better while I was away. I don't know who I am without you either but that never bothered me because I thought that as long as we were together we could figure it out." She still hasn't turned around and she'll be damned if he sees her starting to cry about this. She's an alpha and she really should be better than being some baby.

"Santana, I—"

This time, she forcibly pushes him away. "I'd better pack. I'll see you when I get back." She mumbles and practically sprints away.

He watches her go sadly, feeling a pang of hurt that she doesn't even offer a backward glance.

~O~

Quinton glanced over at the clock. They had been going at it for nearly an hour and a half. He knew he was going to be in trouble when he stole Charlie's car but he didn't think he'd be in this much trouble. He scratches his head when he realizes both his parents are staring at him, waiting for him to answer. Shit. He should have been paying better attention. "Sorry?" He tries.

"Sorry? Did you see Charlie's face?" Judy insists, her baby boy had brushed her aside when she had tried to get him to put a bag of frozen peas against his face.

"He punched me first!" Quinn insists. "I'm an alpha, he challenged me! If he couldn't handle it he probably shouldn't have fucking gotten into it with me. It's hardly my fault that he's not very good at punching. I told him to give me the keys and he wouldn't so I just—"

Russell's brow twitched and he held up his hand. "Your brother fought for what belonged to him, it was primal and you went and you claimed what was his for yourself. All because your brother doesn't like to fight does not give you the right to take what was his."

"What about the fact that he started it? He's being an asshole to everybody."

"Started what? From what I'm sitting you caused the situation by stealing your brother's car. You are incredibly lucky your mother convinced me not to report the car as stolen." Russell grumbled, he should have done it, but Judy had insisted that they would handle this like civilized people.

"Your father's right Quinton, your brother shouldn't have attacked you. I agree with you, violence is never the answer and he's going to be punished for that, but you started it. What did you think was going to happen to openly mock him in such a public way? And what's this about wanting to put him in his place? Do you truly think that omega's are lower than you? I'm your mother, am I beneath you?"

The question is enough to cause Quinn to look away slightly ashamed, "No of course not but—"

"That's what you keep telling Charlie, that he's beneath you. It didn't help that your brother basically did everything you told him to which made it slightly difficult to prove a point, but he's growing up Quinn. He's allowed to say no. Or do you mean to tell me that if Rachel said no to you, that you'd force the issue and hurt her feelings or worse?" Judy prods watching as Quinn's face turns a shade of purple.

"Of course not—"

"Then why would you think it's okay to do to your brother? He might have hit you, but I know you're physically stronger than him, you could have disabled him without beating on him, without losing your temper."

The question silences Quinn who doesn't have any sort of excuse. His mom was right and he hated it. But he wasn't about to let Charlie get off this easily. "I know and it's not the same. I get it. But Charlie's been running his mouth, he told the whole school that Santana was a shitty alpha and then he challenged me in the middle of the lunch room. He was asking for someone to make him submit and it was better me than some other random alpha."

"He said what—?" Judy asks, shocked.

But Russell's heard at least part of this before. "We're talking about you son, and your choices. Not your brother."

But Judy frowns at the thought of her younger son disgracing his alpha. "That doesn't sound like Charlie." She murmurs.

"I was there. And the only reason I stole Charlie's car is because Santana thought she needed to get a boob job in order to get him to stop being such an asshole." Quinn declares. It may not be the entire truth, but he could definitely spin this. "I was going to tell him when he sucker punched me."

Russell narrows his eyes, "Isn't Santana your best friend? You mean to tell me when she told you this plan of hers you didn't turn the car around and head straight back home?" He pauses for a moment and turns to Judy, "I think we need to inform Maribel and Carlos what their daughter has planned, and you're going to apologize to them for facilitating it."

"But—"

Judy turned to Russell, "We're going to need to talk to Charlie as well and—" The sound of the door leading to the garage slamming shut interrupts her and Charlie slinks into the living room.

"Santana's parents are shipping her off to Puerto Rico for the week and—and—" Charlie sniffles and he rubs his face. "I just wanted her to listen to me and stop smelling like all those stupid desperate omega Cheerios. I didn't want to hurt her though, just make her listen."

Quinn watched as both his parents went to go comfort Charlie and took that at his cue to leave. Charlie always was such a crybaby, that this wasn't a surprise. However, he was definitely going to use this to his advantage and while his parents dealt with the crybaby he was going to hide out in his room until they forgot about his little transgression. He makes it upstairs and closes the door behind him gently. Hopefully they wouldn't notice and he was in the clear. He sighs as he flops down onto his bed. Today had sucked majorly and he did feel a little bad for hurting his brother and stealing his car.

Especially since his father had been about to buy him his own, one that didn't even need fixing up. It sucked that he was going to be stuck with public transportation for a while but he didn't even want to deal with Charlie right now. He sighs as his phone begins to buzz in his pocket and he pulls it out, if it was Santana he was going to let it go straight to voicemail. His eyes widen and he quickly picks up when he sees that it's Rachel. "Hey!" He winced at his voice cracking a bit and smiles hoping that she doesn't notice. They had texted a bit, he usually did it a bit more than she did but this was the first time that Rachel was calling him.

'Hey Quinton,' Rachel's voice came through the other end.

"Hi." He winced at how lame he sounded. "What—I mean, is everything okay?"

"I just had a bad day is all and Brittany is uh—busy with Mike and doesn't want to talk about it."

"Oh." Quinn didn't bother hiding his pleased smile. Rachel had called him. That had to mean something. "What happened?"

"My dance teacher—" Rachel's voice wavers. "This was a stupid idea."

"No." Quinn rushes. "No, it's cool. I'm sorry you had a bad day. I've seen you dance and I think it was the best thing I've ever seen." He hopes that doesn't make him sound like too much of a loser.

Rachel hesitated. "You're only fifteen."

"Sixteen." Quinn corrects.

She groans on the other end of the phone. "Still. You're still a child—"

"Stop." Quinn barks. He's not going to let her continue to ignore the fact that they are destined to be together. He grins when her rant stops and takes the chance to assert himself. "Yeah, it's probably not what you envisioned, but I am your mate. I may only be sixteen, but I care about you. I know you don't want to—you won't—uh—do stuff until I'm a little older. But it doesn't change the fact that you had a bad day. Is there anything I can do to make it better?"

Rachel sniffs a little, but Quinn's grin widens when she clears her throat. "Maybe just talk to me."

Quinn pumps his fists in the air quietly, he was totally in. "I can do that."