"How's she doing?" Sam asks her that night when he drops by, holding a bag and putting it down the kitchen counter. "I brought some ice cream and movies. I just thought she'll want to spend some time cooped up with you in that room."
"Thanks Sam," Quinn says quietly, taking the bag and sorting through it. "She's…I don't know. It's like a time bomb. I'm just waiting for her to really explode and tear Finn to pieces."
Sam nods, looking at the stairs.
"And I made some dinner. For you and your mom and Santana," Sam adds awkwardly. "I figured no one will have the time to cook."
Quinn smiles at the spaghetti and chicken packed in the Tupperware. She looks at him and gives him a smile.
"Come here, you big goof," She says, holding her arms out. Sam gives her a confused look but hugs her nonetheless.
"I wish I could help though," Sam says sadly when they break apart. "She must be so pissed. She needs to take it out on something. And not with a baseball bat."
Quinn nods, trying to think of something.
"I have an idea."
"San?" Quinn calls out quietly, feeling weird that she's cautiously entering her own room.
"Hmm?" Santana says, her voice coming from the other side of the bed. She's sitting on the floor with her back against Quinn's bed. Quinn sits down next to her, not saying anything in particular.
"You hungry?"
"Nah," Santana mumbles.
"Not even ice cream?" Quinn offers.
Santana doesn't say anything.
"Or we could watch a mo—"
"Q, I don't really wanna be around anyone right now," Santana cuts her off, slightly bitter tone not going unnoticed.
Quinn purses her lips, getting up after a second.
"Wait," Santana sighs. "Sorry, I'm being a massive bitch right now. I just—"
"No, you have to want to talk about this," Quinn says firmly, not looking at her. "We're not having this conversation until you're ready."
"Okay, hold the fuck up," Santana responds, getting up to meet her eye to eye. "Don't be throwing a hissy fit. You don't know what it's like."
"You're right, I don't," Quinn says back, facing her and looking directly at her. "But I want to listen. And I want to help. And I can't do that if you won't let me."
Santana clamps her mouth shut and looks down at her feet.
"Hey," Quinn says softly, her expression softening. She knows Santana's scared and angry and anxious and at a complete loss. And if there's anyone she can take it out on, it's her. "I get that you need some time to process your thoughts. When you're ready, come down and grab some food. And then shoot as many 'noobs' as you want because Sam brought his Xbox and a bunch of games for you. Your friends are going to be downstairs waiting for you."
"Do you know how much money this industry is worth?" Sam starts rambling, plugging his Xbox into Quinn's TV.
"Nope," Quinn responds, flipping through her wireless router's manual to find the passkey.
"Who gives a shit Justin Bieber? As long as Q over here has internet that's fast enough to keep up with me while I destroy bitches like a boss."
They both look up at Santana, who's standing at the bottom of the stairs, holding a plate of spaghetti.
Sam laughs.
"There you go again with all this 'ownage' you talk about," He calls out.
Quinn looks at Santana and the other girl gives her a small smile. Quinn smiles back, because sometimes their friendship really is beyond words.
Sam momentarily leaves to pick up his mom from work and Santana and Quinn kind of just sink into the couch. Santana puts the video game on pause and they just sit there in silence, cups of hot chocolate in their hands.
They're talking about something stupid—Jersey Shore or some other form of trashy television—when Santana quietly leans in to Quinn's shoulder.
"Everything's going to change," She whispers and Quinn can hear the fear and anxiety behind her words. And at the end of the day, Quinn realizes that this is what scares Santana the most: There is no going back to her life before all of this happened.
"Yeah…" she trails off with a sigh.
"People will be looking at me differently and saying things behind my back. They'll be saying things about my family," Santana continues, not really panicking. Just grief stricken. "They're going to say bad things about you too. And Sam."
Quinn nods quietly. Because she's not going to lie, no matter how sucky the entire thing is. She's scared and she's only a friend. She can only imagine what Santana's feeling.
"Well, I can tell you right now that Sam and I aren't going anywhere," Quinn starts slowly. "He once told me that we're like the fellowship of the ring, whatever that means."
Santana actually laughs. And then she falls silent again.
"Hey," Quinn says, leaning in to Santana's head. "We'll figure it out."
She feels Santana nod against her shoulder.
"At least you got to kick Finn Hudson square in the balls," Quinn adds as an afterthought and Santana bursts out laughing.
"Santana?" Quinn's mom calls from upstairs. Sam and Santana momentarily stop attacking the Xbox controls and Quinn mutes the television. "There's someone here who wants to see you."
Quinn immediately looks at Santana, who makes no attempts to move. Her grasp is tight around the controller and she looks at Quinn.
"I can go see who it is," Quinn says. She gets up and is about to go up the stairs when Santana calls out to her.
"It's fine. I'll go," She says after some hesitation. "Just come with me."
Quinn watches her put the controller down and watches as Sam smiles as he tells her he'll destroy her when she comes back. Santana scoffs and makes her way over to Quinn, who steps aside and follows up the stairs. Quinn's mom is at the top of the stairs and she gives the two girls a small smile.
Sitting on the kitchen stool with a cup of coffee is Sue Sylvester, still clad in today's sweat suit. She's watching the steaming hot chocolate quietly and she looks up when the three of them enter the room.
"Coach," Santana trails off. She hasn't seen Sue since the whole thing exploded. "I'm so sorr—"
"Don't apologize," Sue says quietly. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have been involved in this."
Santana purses her lips and Quinn can see that she's tearing up a little. The phone rings and Judy excuses herself to answer it.
Quinn begins to feel awkward, like she has no place in this conversation, but then Sue opens her mouth to speak.
"Blondie over there's right," She says with pursed lips. "This might be a dent on my campaign, but this is your life we're talking about."
Santana looks at her with a surprised face and Quinn just manages to half smile.
"Santana," Judy says softly as she walks into the kitchen. "Your parents are on the line."
Quinn sees her friend visibly stiffen and instinctively moves closer. After a second of silence, Quinn's mom continues to speak.
"They want to see you," She says with a small parental smile that somehow gets the message through: her parents aren't mad at her.
Santana nods slowly, processing what's happening.
"Can they come over?" She asks, her voice hoarse and the question coming out as a whisper.
"Of course."
Quinn's sitting out in the porch when she hears the front door open. Sam just left for home and Santana is in the kitchen, sharing some of Quinn's mom's famous hot chocolate with her parents and honestly talking about who she is for the first time. Her own mom is probably resting up after such a hectic day.
"You know, there's still room for you on the squad," Sue Sylvester says off handedly as she steps out of the house. Quinn stands up and turns around. Her former coach had been in their kitchen for more than an hour now, first talking to Santana and then talking to her and her parents.
"Coach," She replies with a little surprised tone. She thought she'd already left.
"What do you say Fabray?"Sue continues.
Quinn opens her mouth to speak, thinking about donning a Cheerios uniform again.
A part of her misses it. She misses the discipline and the rigorous training and the structure and her ability to just be inherently good at something. It's not that bad of an idea, and it would definitely help with college applications, but…
There's also the fact that she would miss her weekend trips to Morris with her mom for training and competitions. And that she would have to stop volunteering at the hospital (and Rachel would kill her). And quit her job at the retirement home.
She licks her lips and looks up at her former coach.
"I'm going to have to pass, coach," She says, hoping the older woman doesn't suddenly throw a tantrum like she has in the past.
And she doesn't. Sue purses her lips and nods. There's a half smile somewhere in there.
"Suit yourself," Sue says with a shrug. She tells Quinn to thank her mom and then she starts walking to her car. Quinn's still within earshot when Sue says something else
"Just one step at the time, Fabray. You'll get there."
Sue drives off and Quinn stands there for a couple of minutes before heading back inside.
Santana hugs her tight before she leaves with her parents and Quinn waves goodbye as the drive away.
In the kitchen, her mom's cleaning up and washing dishes in the sink. She wordlessly hugs her mom from the back and rests her head on her shoulder.
"Hi Quinnie," Her mom says softly, craning her neck to look at her.
"Thanks mom," She tells her quietly, not really sure of what she's thanking her for either.
But her mom has been nothing but kind this entire time and Quinn knows her mom was raised surrounded by the same closed minded beliefs that she's been forced to believe in.
She didn't ask any questions when she came home to Santana crying in the bathroom. She heated the food Sam brought and gathered everyone to sit around the island and talk about something else while they ate (She decided reimagining Santana as a blond would be a good topic since everyone else around her at that moment was and that managed to lighten up the mood). She also opened her doors to coach Sylvester and Santana's parents and made everyone her famous hot chocolate.
Her mom provided Santana a safe place to hide from the world. And she was there for Quinn so that Quinn could be there for Santana. That's actually why Quinn is thankful.
The doorbell rings thirty minutes later and Quinn thinks Santana probably forgot something of hers in the house.
"Hey, did yo—" She stops midsentence when she opens the door and finds Finn Hudson awkwardly standing at her doorstep.