Santana held Aislin in her arms as the little girl slept. They were finishing having the cake at Santana's parents house, everyone was taking around them; but Santana had shut down and put walls around herself and the little girl.
"So, Santana when are you coming home?" Maria asked. The young Latina wasn't pay attention, her eyes were fixated on the little girl in her arms. After a moment, when Santana did not answer, Quinn elbowed her gently causing her to stir.
"What?" Santana asked.
"When are you coming home? I know it's fun living with your friend, but it's time to come back. Let Quinn alone." Maria stated, playing it off like Santana was at Quinn's because she wanted to spend time with her friend, not because a horrific attack happened in her parents house.
"Oh," Santana whisper, "um." She looked up and to Emma, her eyes pleading.
"I think that Santana has progressed very will in her recovery at Quinn's house." Emma interjected, her hands folding in her lap.
"But, she's 16 she needs to be at home. With her family, as much as we love Quinn; she's not her family." Maria stated, Santana put the baby back into the car seat and stood up. She walked out of the living room and shuffled down the hall. Quinn looked at the adults in the room.
"I'll go talk to her." Quinn stated, as she stood up and went to find the other girl. She looked on the bottom floor before traversing the stairs to Santana's bedroom. She walked through the open door and saw Santana staring at the bed. Quinn's eyes surveyed the room, noticing the ware on the headboard from the binding that we're attached to them. She walked over to Santana and stood next to her.
"You okay?" Quinn asked, Santana looked up from the ground. She shrugged. Quinn sat on the end of the bed.
"Don't sit there." Santana stated, Quinn looked confused, "That's where he sat."
"Oh," Quinn replied, "Why are you in here?"
"I don't know. I wanted to see if I could stand being in this room." Santana said, "Everything in here makes me feel like he's on me. He's screwed up everything. Everywhere in this room makes me this about it, everywhere in the house. The couch, where he first started touching my thighs as we watched TV. Basement when he first raped me, the Kitchen where he threatened to kill me if I told anyone. Here, where he tied me to the bed for three days and tried to convince me that I'm no good that no one will ever love me, that I deserved to get the hell beaten out of me and raped. Quinn, I can't live here. They don't understand. They think everything is okay all the time." Quinn placed her hands on the other girls knees.
"I know, but they love you," Quinn reiterated, "I can't possibly understand what you went through in here. You shouldn't write off your family this quickly."
"Do you… Do you not want me to stay with you anymore?" Santana asked dejectedly. Quinn automatically wrapped her arms around the girl.
"That's not it at all. I love having you stay with me," Quinn assured her, pressing her lips to Santana's neck. "I want you to stay with me."
"Okay." Santana replied, as she allowed Quinn to help her up. They walked down together and Santana looked at her parents. "I can't move home."
"Why not, Mija?" Carlos asked, "I mean we can get you new furniture."
"I can't be here without thinking about it." Santana cried, her strength breaking. Her hands balled into fists and she was shaking. Quinn ran her hand up and down the girls back.
"We'll move! Santana we just want you back." Maria cried, her hand clutched with her husbands.
"I know. I love you both, but it's too hard." Santana admitted, her voice cracking with emotion. "I'm sorry." She whispered before leaving the house and going to sit in Quinn's car. Quinn left Will and Emma to talk with Santana's parents and took her girlfriend and her daughter back to the apartment. Santana shuffled silently into the bedroom while Quinn put Aislin to bed. After twenty or so minutes she returned and shucked off her clothing and into sweatpants and a tank top. She pulled a similar outfit out for Santana, Quinn crawled onto the bed and over to the girl.
"Sit up." She whispered, and the Latina did as she was asked. She pulled off the shirt then the underarmour and threw them off the bed. She unclasped Santana's bra and it joined the pile on the floor. Quinn pulled the sweatshirt over the tanned girls head and pulled it down over her torso before she unfastened the belt of her jeans. She quickly pulled them and her panties off, Santana tried to hide the cuts on her thigh before Quinn saw them.
"San..." She whispered, her eyes welling up with tears. Santana's head fell forward. "It's going to get better."
"I'm sorry." Santana whispered, causing Quinn's heart to break. She leaned down and pressed her lips against the torn flesh before she helped her on with the pajama pants. They laid back with Quinn spooning Santana from behind their limbs wrapped together. "I'm sorry that i'm broken."
"I'll put you back together piece by piece." Quinn whispered into the girls neck, pressing gentle kisses on the exposed skin.
The next morning Santana rolled off the bed from a sleepless night. She hadn't been sleeping as of late, her brain was fried and her emotions were so out of whack she didn't know what to do. She went about her morning routine, making coffee, picking up the dishes from the previous night and settling into the couch. She never bothered to turn on the lights, so she just sat in the dark while she waited for the rest of the house to wake up. She flexed her muscles in her arm, cringing from the strain. She sighed. Her body was so close to returning to normal. Her bruises were gone, her stitches in her wrist had been taken out, her cast was off, and all that was left was the tenderness of her formerly broken bones. Santana curled into herself and waited.
Quinn rolled over and saw that the bed was empty, she crawled out dragging the comforter with her. She slid onto the couch with Santana and pulled the girl back against her body and wrapped them into the blanket.
"What do you want to do after high school?" Quinn asked, her chin resting on the girls shoulder.
"I'm not sure." Santana replied, "What about you?"
"I don't know. I know that I can go to college if I want, but what about Aislin?"
"It's gonna be hard. She'll be two."
"I know," Quinn sighed, "If I could I'd become a teacher."
"You'd be good at that." Santana replied, tangling their fingers together. "I'm thinking about being a cop."
"Really?" Quinn asked.
"Yeah." Santana said, "I know it's dangerous, but I think i'd be good at it. Before all of this happened Puck and I were going to go to the academy together."
"Then he got arrested?"
"Yep. But I want to be a cop in a city. Like New York."
"Yeah, I want to get Aislin as far from here as possible." Quinn replied, her lips brushing against the girls neck.
"Thank you for letting me stay with you." Santana whispered.
"Anytime baby," Quinn whispered, "I love you." Santana curled up in her girlfriends body.
"I love you, too." Santana whispered back. "You are the best thing that ever happened to me."