Hi,

Sorry for the wait for this one it has been months! I'm sorry! I met Idina and Kristin last month so I have been busy. I'd also like to take a moment and hope that all gleeks are ok after the sad loss of Cory Monteith :(

I'm ending this story with a closure, I may do a sequel once Shelby is in NY. I also have FF that I am working on Chenzel & Gelphie ones so it'll depend on time but I want to thank everyone for reading and reviewing. Much love! xx

Santana

Santana stood outside the door clearly marked Ms S. Corcoran. She tightened her skirt and pulled on her ponytail before confidently knocking on the door. A smirk played on her lips recounting the amount of times they had made out in that very same office.

"Come in" Santana rolled her eyes at the professional tone in Shelby's voice. It was 8am and no one else was at the school she had to have known who was at the door. 'Ugh please'

"Ms Corcoran you wanted to see me" Santana smirked at being asked to address her as any other student would. It was actually really hot to have to call her Ms, it reminded her of the woman's authoritative position.

"Santana" she stood from behind her desk and quickly walked towards the younger girl who could now see the plain look of panic on the other woman's face and instantly knew she wasn't being called in to talk about them. "What is it?" She barely got her words out before Shelby blurted, "Who did you tell?"

"What?" her eyebrows scrunched together. "Who did you tell about us?" The girl was a gossip queen but she'd never tell anyone about her and Shelby...well other than who she'd already told but NO ONE ELSE.

"Social services came to my home and said someone had told them I was seeing someone...a woman" Shelby turned away slightly at the last statement. 'I can't believe she's still embarrassed about being with me'

She swore her eyes rolled all on their own this time, "What did they say? You are allowed to see other people what's the big deal if its a man or a woman?"

"She seemed like she knew something Santana. Like she had been tipped off by someone about us" tears formed in her eyes thinking about Beth being taken away from her. She couldn't care less about her job or her reputation as a teacher or god even a human being she only cared about keeping Beth in her life.

"That's impossible the only people I've told are Brittany and ...Quinn" Quinn wouldn't, would she?

Even though they hadn't been together lately or even on speaking terms looking at Shelby now, Santana still felt the need to hold her and let her know that she'd never let anyone take Beth away from her...them.

"Quinn! Santana I asked you not to tell anyone, I thought you were mature enough for what we were doing!" Shelby paced her office as Santana fought with the temptation of stopping her.

"I'm sorry, I'll talk to her, maybe it wasn't even her..." Shelby glared at the other girl. 'Yeah you're right' Santana thought. With a heavy sigh Shelby sat leaning against her desk with her head in her hands. The sight was almost too much for Santana to bare.

"Don't hate me but come here" Santana opened her arms to invite her into a comforting embrace. Shelby rested her forehead in the crock the younger girls neck, from the seated position Santana had full control of the hug but knew now wasn't the time for anything other than reassuring the woman that her world wouldn't be ripped away from her.

"I promise I won't let anyone touch a precious piece of hair on that beautiful blonde head. I promise Shelby" she stroked her back as she felt Shelby release the hold she'd had on the other girl. A warm hand stroked away the tears that had soaked her face and Shelby let her head full into the palm that was confronting her. Caught up in the moment she leaned forward to be mere inches away from the Latina's lips but Santana pulled away, "I've got to talk to Quinn before classes start" she fumbled with her bag looking for a quick exit.

"Oh ok" Shelby was disappointed at the missed opportunity of kissing those soft full lips that she could only dream of lately but also all the progress she'd made at not needing those soft lips. "Santana...thank you" the girl smiled before leaving in search of a blonde that was going to get her ass beat.

Is she crazy? She's actually thanking me for this? Ok it was probably for comforting or stopping her from doing something she'll most likely regret...which i stopped, WHY?! I've been dying trying to contain myself from pushing her against every classroom wall and kissing her whilst begging for forgiveness and now I'm stopping myself of having her again.

She leant against the wall outside of Shelby's office for a brief moment to take in what had just nearly happened until she saw the blonde beside her locker picking out the books she needed for her next lesson.

"Quinn!" Santana stormed over slamming the locker shut to get the blondes full attention. "Santana what the-"

"Shut it! Stop whatever plan you've come up with in that tiny little head of yours. Beth isn't yours, she belongs to Shelby, Shelby is her mother" Santana tried to keep her voice down but she was gathering a few stares from students walking to halls.

"I screwed up ok. I never should have given her up, I want to make things right. It's our senior year, I will be able to look after now that school is almost over" there was a quiver in the blondes voice that made what she was saying real rather than vindictive. "If framing Shelby as a pedophile will win me my daughter back I'll do it"

"Quinn you are talking about sending her to jail here, you get that?" Santana was fuming on the inside but kept her composure to try and reason with her. "Q I still care about her, think about what you are going to do to not only her but to me" At this point she was willing to plead to the blonde to drop whatever game she was playing with her head.

"Stay out of this Santana" the blonde warned with a glare to match the seriousness of her voice.

Santana couldn't concentrate all day she'd been scribbling down ideas of how they could spin this around to make Quinn look crazy and desperate or hire a lawyer to fight their case. In the back of her mind there was a sliver of hope that Shelby would see how much she cared for her that she'd just forgive her. She brushed away that thought as she packed up and headed home for the day not before sending a quick message to Shelby.

'I've come up with a few idea's. I'll come by tomorrow morning' - Santana

'I can't lose her' - Shelby

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

By 7am Santana was dressed and heading to Shelby's apartment. She stopped by the mall on the way home from school to buy a stuffed giraffe for Beth as a way of apologizing to the girl for not being around. Beth was quite observant for a 4 year old she would have noticed Santana's absence from the past month.

She knocked quietly on the wooden door but was greeted by a man in a shirt and pant suit. "Can I help you?" he asked eyeing the girl up and down.

"No. Where is Shelby?" Santana crossed her arms defensively. Who was this man? Had Shelby moved on?

"Who?" He stood taller to make himself appear bigger.

"The woman who owns the apartment you are standing in" Why was he here if he didn't know who Shelby was?

"Oh the woman with the baby?" Santana nodded. "She left I'm moving in here" Without an invitation Santana pushed passed him nudging him slightly. "Hey!" he growled as the girl voluntarily walked into his apartment.

"Shelby?" She called out as if someone would respond. "She doesn't live here anymore, I already told you I do"

She continued to ignore the man as she searched for her phone frantically calling Shelby's number leaving her a frantic message.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"It's ok baby we're nearly there" Shelby reached behind to place the fallen blanket over her daughter in the back seat. She looked back up to see the route sign reading "New York 5 Miles"

"Not long now" Shelby sighed to herself.