"Well that was a waste," Quinn started as they walked out of the theatre. They ended up watching Scary Movie 5, much to both girls' dismay.
"No kidding…" Santana agreed, still at awe.
Quinn pulled out her phone to check for messages, and as expected she received one from Rachel as well as Kurt.
20:21 RACHEL: So when are you gonna tell us more about what's going on? Seriously you guys just left!
20:45 KURT: You can't ignore us!
Santana watched Quinn read her texts. "Let me guess, it's either Berry or Hummel."
Quinn looked up to face Santana. "Both, actually. And you can't really blame them for being confused."
She quickly sent a text back to Kurt.
23:02 Sorry, we were at the movies so I had to turn off my phone.
Santana stopped to think about their rather awkward conversation earlier, but then quickly shrugged it off. "Whatever… You were the one who helped me get out in the first place, why'd you do it?"
"Because you would've walked off either way."
"I was n–" Santana was about to argue before Quinn interrupted her again.
"Oh please. Tell me you were gonna sit and stay there while they find out you work at a strip club. You wouldn't even have told me if I hadn't run into you there that night."
"I… ugh," Santana scoffed as she swallowed back her words, Quinn was right and she knew it.
"Damn right," Quinn stated almost proudly.
Santana arched an eyebrow. "You think you got me all figured out don't ya?"
"I would like to think so, yeah. But the truth is, I still don't know that much aside from the fact that you work at a strip club," Quinn replied, hinting for an answer.
"You're not gonna let this go, are you?"
"Not anytime soon, you know that."
"I'm starting to believe that…" Santana answered with a sigh.
Quinn caught a slight hint of defeat in her voice, and quickly tried to make use of it. "Santana, I just want to help. Look, I care about you and… I know you care about me too. Why does there have to be such a distance between us?"
Santana smiled at this. "What makes you so sure I even give two craps about you?"
"Well, you did hang out with me all week," Quinn replied casually.
"I'd prefer to call it you stalking me."
Quinn shook her head. "Hey you didn't kick me out, and I never forced you to come with me for lunch, dinner, all of that. You know what, I think you actually like hanging out with me," Quinn teased as a smirk gradually appeared on her face, making it Santana's turn to shake her head.
"Maybe I was just being polite."
This caused Quinn to laugh. "I doubt that, since when is Santana Lopez ever polite?"
Annoyed, Santana furrowed her eyebrows. "Since when are you miss know-it-all?"
Quinn just couldn't help herself. "Are you implying that I'm right?"
"I am this close to slapping you again."
"I know you won't. Just admit it S, you like spending time with me."
To Quinn's surprise Santana's usual clever remark took longer than she expected. Suddenly she noticed Santana had halted her movement.
"Santana?"
Quinn's eyes followed Santana's line of sight, and she quickly found that Santana was looking at a group of guys. They looked older, from what Quinn could tell. Before she could ask who they were Santana suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her into a side street.
"Santana wha –"
Just as she tried to say something Santana hushed her, leaving her confused, and slightly offended. She didn't get the time to question or scold the girl, because soon enough Santana continued to walk away in a quick pace, still firmly grabbing onto Quinn's hand.
When they stopped at the end of an alley Quinn couldn't hold it in any longer. "What the hell was that about? Who were those guys?"
Santana shook her head. "It's just that one guy. You don't wanna run into him."
Quinn couldn't help but feel like this was a little strange. Santana didn't seem scared of any of the creeps in her own neighborhood, so why hide from this one?
"What about him? Santana what's going on?"
Santana ran a hand through her hair, trying to figure out what to say. She didn't want to involve Quinn in this, but after dragging her down the street like that Quinn was definitely going to need some answers.
"Don't you dare tell me it was nothing!" Quinn continued, still waiting for an explanation.
"He was a customer at the strip club… And I guess you could say I owe him some money," Santana confessed reluctantly.
"What? Why would you borrow money from someone like that? No, why would you borrow money at all?!" Quinn asked in disbelief.
"I… I just needed it. I can pay him back as soon as I start working again. Don't worry about it."
"No, you can't say that. You just dragged me down this alley to avoid that guy, and that tells me he could be dangerous. What the hell did you need that kind of money for?"
Santana let out a sigh as she tried to get it together, but Quinn was far from ready to drop this.
"Does this have to do something with… her?"
Quinn had been toying around with the question of who this person is all week. She didn't want to bring it up because Santana would've found out she'd been listening to her talking on the phone, but right now, she didn't feel like holding back. She needed answers. Santana shot up at hearing Quinn's last words, and Quinn knew she'd caught Santana off guard.
"What are you talking about?"
Before Quinn could answer, Santana filled in the blanks herself. "Have you been eavesdropping on my phone calls?!" Santana asked, now clearly agitated.
"Well it's not like I did it on purpose! I was standing in front of your door and your walls aren't exactly soundproof!" Quinn tried to defend.
Santana shook her head. "I can't believe you."
Even though Quinn had expected this reaction, Santana's response was frustrating nonetheless. "I didn't hear much okay? And you can't blame me for accidentally walking in on one of your secret conversations!"
"Well you could've knocked, but instead you decided to stay and listen!"
Just like Santana, Quinn was getting all fired up now. "I wouldn't have done it if you weren't acting so damn mysterious! And that was like a week ago, damn it Santana, when are you gonna start trusting me and tell me who you're doing this for?"
Santana looked at Quinn in disbelief. "Do you even realize how hypocritical that sounds right now?! You know what, I'm gonna take the cab home by myself, and don't you dare follow me."
Just as Santana was about to walk out the alley she was stopped in her movements. A tall man stepped in front of her. Quinn's face fell as she noticed this was the man Santana tried to avoid. She didn't know much – or anything, really – about this guy, yet she couldn't help this eerie feeling in her gut.
"Lopez, I thought I recognized you… You weren't trying to run away were you?" the man asked, his gaze lingering over Santana.
"I… I didn't see you," Santana answered, trying to keep herself composed.
The man let out a small laugh. "Right…"
Santana took a step back. "We were just on our way to meet someone, we should g –"
"Who's your friend?" the man asked as he pointed at Quinn, who frozenly stood a few steps behind Santana.
He watched Quinn with a smug grin, causing Santana to clench her fists. "Leave her out of this."
The man shook his head. "Well aren't you sweet."
Santana shot Quinn a quick glance, trying to see if she was okay. Even with their fresh argument, she didn't want anything to happen to her. She noticed Quinn tried to pretend she wasn't intimidated, yet she looked scared, mostly. Santana cursed herself for what she had gotten them into, this was her fault. She turned back to face the man, hoping to minimize the consequences.
"Please just… I'll get you the money okay?"
"And when would that be? You know what, I like you, therefore I have been quite patient with you…" he stepped closer, his hand slowly hovering upwards to touch Santana's cheek. "…But you know I'm not gonna play nice guy forever."
Santana stood still as her muscles tensed, she tried not to show her disgust at the man's touch. You'd think she'd be good at it, considering her experience as a stripper… Yet her temper was a bitch, so holding back a punch was hard to say the least.
"I don't have it right now, but I start working on Monday again… Just give me a month." Santana wasn't sure if she could actually manage that, but she had to say something to get this guy away from her, away from Quinn.
His mouth curved into a sly smile as he ran a hand through Santana's hair. "Don't play with me girl… Or I might have to take some… measures."
He moved over to Quinn, taking in the sight in front of him. Quinn gave him her best glare but it didn't seem to have any effect. He didn't budge, he simply continued to move closer. "So… is this your girlfriend?" the man asked.
Santana quickly snapped her head back to keep an eye on Quinn. "She's not. She's got nothing to do with this, so if you dare lay a finger on her –"
The man laughed as he turned back to face Santana. "Then what?"
She couldn't help but grit her teeth. She knew she shouldn't push his buttons, but what else was she supposed to do? She could never forgive herself if anyone were to get hurt because of her stupid mistakes. "I swear to God I will –"
Before she could finish the man pushed his hand up against her throat forcefully, making it nearly impossible for the air to escape from her lungs. "You can't touch me. I can break you like a goddamn twig," he growled.
This shook Quinn out of her trance. "Santana!"
"Quinn…" Santana managed to breathe out. "G – Go…"
"Forget it!"
Santana was in trouble and there was no way Quinn could just walk away like Santana had asked her to. She quickly approached the man in an attempt to… what, exactly? She was a just a little blonde girl trying to beat up an over two hundred pound man. This was a lose/lose situation, but it didn't matter, she had to help Santana, because that's what she promised to do. Before she could take a swing however, the man suddenly let go of Santana. Her breathing was still ragged, but Quinn was relieved to find that she at least was alive.
"Easy there blondie. I'm not going to kill her, now that would be… stupid. I still haven't got my money," the man spoke with a laugh.
He turned back to Santana who was still coughing as she tried to catch her breath. He approached her and whispered, "Next time, you might want to watch your temper… And don't you try and run away, because I will find you. See you in a month."
And with that he walked away, whistling like he did nothing at all.
Quinn quickly raced to Santana's side, putting her hands up to the girls' cheeks as she tried to see if she was okay.
"Santana are you –"
"I can't have you around anymore," Santana broke Quinn off, as soon as she'd gained the breath to say the words.
"What? Santana you're crazy if you think –"
Santana looked up at Quinn, staring right into Quinn's eyes as she pleaded for the girl to listen.
"You need to go."
Three months ago
It's been a month since Santana started working at the strip club. She still hated showing up there, but she needed the money. It was hard for her not to show her worries, though she knew she had to keep it together. Still, even though she had made enough money so far, Puck's latest update had thrown her off. And it became clear that it wasn't enough anymore.
"A raise?"
"Please, I need the money. I can work harder, or something."
"Santana, you already get more tips than most girls around here. I'm not going to give you a raise, you've only been working here for a month."
"Come on, just –"
"The answer is no, Santana. We're done here."
Defeated, Santana watched her boss walk away. Now what? Even with tips she couldn't get together the amount of money she needed in time. And there was nobody to help her out. She'd been trying to get a loan at the bank but it got declined within days. Despite her reasonable salary she only just got started, and her bank account wasn't exactly filled. She sat at the bar during her break. Just as she was about to order a shot, she was greeted by a man.
"Excuse me. Can I buy you a drink?"
"I'm on a break," Santana answered coldly. "So you can get lost now." She was in no mood for customers.
The man let out a little laugh, seemingly amused by Santana's attitude.
"Feisty. I like that."
Santana simply shook her head, refusing to look at him.
"I overheard you talking to your boss earlier," he continued.
This caused Santana to look up. "So?"
"I couldn't help but notice, you seem to be in need of some extra money."
Santana let out a huff in response. "I'm not having sex with you, if that's what you were going to ask."
"Tempting, but… no, I just want to… help."
"Yeah? Well I don't need your help."
"Are you sure? You seemed to be quite desperate."
"Wha – Who the hell are you anyway?"
"Just a guy that can offer you some money."
The man subtly shoved a cheque towards her.
Santana looked down at the piece of paper and swallowed as soon as she saw the amount of money written on it. "Why would you offer this kind of money to strangers?"
"Maybe I'm just a nice guy."
"Or maybe you're just some creep who thinks he can win over girls with his shiny wallet."
"Does it matter? Money is money."
Santana narrowed her eyes at the man. There was something off about him, yet she couldn't quite place it. Creep or no creep, for a moment she considered taking the money. She really did need it… And her boss made it rather clear he wasn't planning on giving her a raise. But she'd be owing this guy a huge favor, and she knew absolutely nothing about him…
"Consider it a loan."
Santana didn't know what to say, and the internal struggle showed on her face.
"You can pay me back as soon as you've earned the money."
Santana kept watching the cheque, and she knew this was exactly what she needed. Yet, she couldn't – or shouldn't – be stupid enough to take it right? For all she knew, this man could be dangerous. This was New York, you can never really tell. And what normal person would hand out cheques like that? Then again… This money could save her life. Was there even a choice?
Song / Chapter Title: Day 'N' Nite by Kid Cudi