The blonde swallowed as she saw a tan girl stalk inside the room, swaying her hips, a smirk playing on her face.

Then the girl registered who was sitting on the bed.

"Q-Quinn?"

Santana froze in shock, standing just outside the narrow passageway to the door. Her smirk had completely disappeared from her face, and she just stood stock still, her mind obviously having trouble processing the situation.

Quinn was staring at her from the bed as well. Santana was wearing the same flimsy dress the blonde had seen her in the day before, inclusive an excessive amount of make-up and dark red lipstick.

The Latina looked hot, that was sure, but for someone like Quinn, who knew that the girl could look so much better when she looked natural (and happy), Santana looked awful.

In the too bright light of the hotel room, the blonde could see now how skinny the girl had become, how her face looked so lifeless, how she just looked… so un-schoolgirl like.

In this context, she looked like someone who'd seen some serious troubles in her life, like someone who was kicked out of her house and had to work as a… an escort to survive.

Quinn was finally the first one to speak up. She swallowed to get some feeling in her dry throat again, and stood up to move toward the brunette.

"San…", she hoarsely said, reaching out for the smaller girl.

It was then that Santana sprung to life again. She quickly jumped backwards, this time not even daring to look anywhere near Quinn's eyes, keeping her own eyes on the floor.

The blonde followed her movements closely, and Santana kept backing up until she was against the wall.

The Latina was obviously in shock, and even though Quinn was distressed to see her in this way, she also kind of saw it as a good sign. The cracks in the other girl's mask were becoming very clear.

"Q-Quinn… How… Wh-… I don't…. Don't… Why… Why?" Santana kept murmuring disconnected words, and the blonde wanted to wait until she calmed down, but when the girl also started banging her head against the wall harder and harder, in sync with whatever she was saying, Quinn decided it was enough.

She reached out and grabbed the girl's head with both hands, to stop her from hitting the wall, and tried to force her to look up.

"San…", she said in a soft, low voice, attempting to look the girl straight in the eyes. "San, please, calm down. It's okay… I'm here now, it's okay…"

She continued trying to reassure the girl, and was glad when at some point the Latina's murmuring stopped and she stopped struggling to get her head against the wall again.

Quinn was stroking patterns on the girl's cheek with her thumb, still refusing to let go, when Santana finally calmed down enough to say something.

"Quinn, how… Why are you here? You're not supposed to be here. This is my job-time, you're not supposed to be here. You should only be at school, not here. You're not supposed to be here."

The blonde sighed. "I told you, didn't I, San? I know. About the house. About your new house in Adjacent. And about your job… Stop trying to hide everything, San. I care about you. I want to help you."

Santana faintly shook her head. "No… You don't care. You can't know. You're not supposed to find out."

Quinn was starting to get frustrated add the girl's answers, but she knew that even these short and vague answers were more than anyone had gotten out of her the past months. So she stuck through.

"But I do care. And I did find out. And I am supposed to know. You're my best friend, Santana, I care about you, so…" she felt a swell of emotion as she tried to make sure the girl knew she cared, "so freaking much, you have no idea. So please, San, please!" Quinn was full-out pleading now, still trying to get the girl to look her in the eyes. "Please, let me help you! Let go!"

This was becoming too much for Santana. She started to struggle to get out of Quinn's grasp, but the blonde only held on tighter.

Her gaze still focused on the floor, Santana started to shake her head and tried to move towards the door.

"No, no, no, no, no, no-", she murmured constantly, struggling harder and harder, but Quinn refused to let go.

Instead, she made a quick decision like she had done in the auditorium, and moved closer to Santana, throwing her arms around the girl's neck, clutching her to her chest.

Santana continued to struggle, her protests becoming louder as well.

"NO! NO! Let go! Let me go! I can't do this! I can't-!"

She tried to push the blonde away, clawing roughly at her sides, scratching her as she did so, anything to make the blonde let go.

But Quinn did not let go. Santana struggled and fought, but Quinn just kept holding her tight to her gently, her eyes closed, waiting for the storm to die down.

It was only when Santana took a short breather from all her shouting, that Quinn softly whispered in her ear.

"No, San… You let go… I'll be here to catch you…"

In that moment, she felt Santana's body tense against hers, before it broke down completely.

First her hands stopped clawing.

Then her shoulders sagged.

Then she just buried her face even deeper into Quinn's chest, sobbing uncontrollably.

She was shaking all over, and in no time her legs gave in as she broke down even further, apparently letting everything she had been feeling those past months, everything she had bottled up inside behind those masks of hers.

She let it all out, holding onto Quinn for dear life, both of them sitting on the floor against the wall.

Quinn just let her cry, she herself had tears running across her cheeks, just at the sight of Santana.

If it was up to her, she'd never let the girl go again.

At least an hour alter, they were still sitting in the same position against the wall.

Quinn had her arms around her friend, stroking the girl's hairs as she quietly sobbed. She wanted to talk about everything that had happened, but she knew Santana wouldn't want that right now.

And she really didn't think she could stand taking one step forward and two steps back, so she waited. Waited until the girl calmed down. Waited until the girl had let everything out.

Unfortunately, she didn't get that time, because suddenly Santana's phone started ringing.

Quinn could feel the Latina tense up, so she held her tight with one arm and took her phone in her stead. She had a pretty good idea who would be calling, judging by the Latina's reaction, and she refused to let the girl be taken away from her.

So she took the phone from Santana's purse, and before the girl could protest she picked up.

"Yes, hello?"

"Um, who are you? Where's Little Devil?"

Quinn put her HBIC mask on, even though the man on the phone would never be able to see her, it was what she needed to confidently continue the conversation.

"I'm Santana's friend. She's quitting this job."

The blonde had said it sternly, and was prepared for a bad reaction from the guy, especially after hearing Santana gasp loudly. The extreme yelling she was getting through the phone, though, were worse than she had expected.

"QUITTING? THERE IS NO QUITTING THIS JOB, YOU BITCH! THAT LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT WILL WORK FOR US! SHE ISN'T WORTH JACK SHIT ANYWHERE ELSE! SHE'S LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE US FOR A BIT OF MONEY! GIVE ME THAT FUCKING WHORE RIGHT NOW! SHE-

Wow, Russell is nothing compared to this guy, she thought bitterly, before tightening her hold on the obviously frightened and shocked Latina and interrupting him.

"Now listen here, sir!" she said loudly, trying to get over his shouting, but without yelling herself. She kept repeating the last word until she finally got his attention.

"I would like to tell you right now that you should be ashamed of yourself for taking advantage of an insecure girl like Santana right now, but I won't. I'm just going to tell you one thing: either you let her quit and you never bother her again, o-"

"HA! Or what? She came to us for a job, and in our business it's blood in, blood out, and there's nothing some self-assured bitch like you can do about it!"

Quinn took a deep breath and quickly checked on the girl that was cowering in her arms. She gave her a reassuring smile, even though Santana was still keeping focus on the ground.

"Like I said, it's easy. You either let her go and stay away from her, or I'll go to the police and have them force you to leave her alone."

She heard the man let out a sick laugh on the other end, and quickly continued before he could interject.

"And before you interrupt me saying that it was her own choice, I'll just tell you one thing: Santana's a minor. Even if she begged you to give her a job, you and your freaking service are still the ones in the wrong."

The silence on the other line told her that those guys didn't know about this. Eventually, the man started talking again.

"That's… That's impossible, she told us-"

"She lied. San's still in high school. I could just simply sue you right now, for child prostitution. Or…"

She paused, and was glad when the guy answered again.

"Fine… The bitch is yours now. Enjoy, and tell her we never want to see her again."

Quinn started answering with a 'likewise', but the man had already hung up.

She took a deep breath and started to smile. She did it. Santana would be alright now.

It was then that she noticed Santana was shaking heavily.

"San? Santana, what's wrong? I did it, you don't have to work for them again, everything's okay!"

Santana was covering her head with her hands now, curling herself up in a ball underneath Quinn. The blonde leaned closer to her, and was able to make out some words she was mumbling.

"No… No… I need the job, I need the money, I can't survive! … I have to work! … I need my house! … I need food! … Cheerios! … No!"

Her breathing was getting ragged, and Quinn could see she was having a panic attack.

Santana was hyperventilating. She started scratching herself on her upper arms and neck, leaving red welts and drawing blood.

Quinn was starting to get really worried now.

"No, no San, this is good news! Calm down! You don't need their money anymore, you have me! Please, San, calm down, I'm here! You'll have me! You'll have my money! Please, stop!"

She had tears streaming down her cheeks, and had her hands on the girl's shoulders, shaking her, trying to get her to look her in the eyes, but nothing worked.

"San, please stop!"

The girl just continued hurting herself.

"San, please, I love you!"