Right guys, sorry to leave you hanging again but hopefully you'll be pleasantly surprised by this next chapter! Thank you for reading!

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or anything to do with it. This is entirely fictional and in no way part of the show Glee. But if I did I would totally rock that show.

Chapter Twenty Five: Faint

"Um, that'll be $24.95 all together."

Q handed over three ten dollar bills before taking the bag out the delivery guys hands.

"Well that was awkward."

She giggled; before scrunching her nose at Berry. Urgh.

"C'mon guys? At least let me eat something if I'm gonna have to throw up later."

I murmured under my breath, rolling my eyes. Q caught my whisper and shot me a narrowed look. Finn and I were sitting side by side in front of the coffee table while the dwarf and Quinn were sat on the sofa, leaning over and emptying the bags of chinese food. Several boxes spread across the table and I grabbed a few, peeking inside until I found my ginger chicken. As I shuffled the food in with chopsticks; Berry caught my eye.

"Despite having many other talents, I've never mastered the art of chopsticks."

Q looked at her adoringly, her puppy dog eyes gleamed at Berry with such love - I almost felt like I had to leave the room in order to create enough space for their cringyness. I gobbled up another piece of chicken before Finn spoke.

"So, have you seen…"

Q coughed violently, and when my eyes darted to her it had obviously been a forced cough. I furrowed my eyebrows and Finn did his deer-in-the-headlights look before his cheeks reddened and he stuttered something.

"Umm-I-I-have… Errr… Chang? Babies. Asian babies?"

"What?"

What the fuck was that about?

"Have you seen Tina and Mike's new addition to the Chang family? Baby girl Chang?"

"No. I haven't had time. You know how long I've been here."

I added suspiciously; Quinn was now scoffing her mouth as if she was trying to withold something. Finn was giving her a curious look and she shook her head subtley. However when she flicked her eyes to me she realised it hadn't been as inconspicuous as she'd wished.

"Seriously what the fuck is going on guys?"

I slammed down my chopsticks, crossing my arms awaiting their answer.

"Nothing. I think I just have indigestion."

She slammed her balled up fist against her chest several times and giving me a fake smile. As if on queue, the doorbell rang. Quinn's eyes widened even more so than before and shot up, almost sprinting to the door. She swung the door open and greeted the stranger with a handshake.

"Rachel! She's here!"

My heart started pounding once more and the itch formed in the back of my neck again, basically forcing my head to turn to the picture of Q with the unknown figure underneath the table lamp. My eyes darted from the frame to the door as the shadowed outline stepped inside the door.

"MARIA!" I screamed, throwing myself towards the door.

"Mija! Long time no speak!"

I wrapped my arms around her, squeezing her tightly. She'd aged quite a bit since I'd seen her, her dark olive skin was wrinkled a little deeper than before, the bags underneath her eyes had increased but her hair was full of volume. She wasn't in her nurse outfit which was strange because I'd never seen her in anything else, she was sporting a grey trenchcoat with a white blouse underneath and black, baggy trousers.

It was a strange friendship that had formed between us two, but she like a motherly figure despite only knowing her for a few weeks. If it wasn't for this woman I probably wouldn't be where I was today, she'd held my shit together when no-one else had. She'd tailored to my every need whilst I was hospitalized, and for that I was forever greatful.

"Q? How did you?"

I uttered, releasing Maria and turning to Q.

"I have my sources."

She tapped her nose and I shrugged it off, knowing she wouldn't be telling me anytime soon how she'd gotten hold of Maria. We spent the night chatting about various things, mostly me as she wondered how I'd become famous after leaving the hospital in Green Valley with only a little bag of clothes and a car to my name. When it got to the early hours of the morning it was time for her to leave, we hugged and she left, just like that.

It kind of hurt seeing her leaving; she'd done so much for me and I'd barely repaid her. I mean sure it was her job but surely I could do something.

"Maria?" I yelled down the pitpath, she turned to meet my eyes.

"Senorita?" I ran up to her, unclipping my bracelet on the way. It was the bracelet my mother had given me years ago, and I'd worn in throughout high school. Tiffany's with a heart, engraved on the little heart was 'mi angelito'. I placed it in her palm and wrapped her fingers around it. A warm smile plastered her face and I smiled back.

"I'd better not see it on eBay." I giggled, hugging her one more time before she climbed into her car and drove off. I headed back towards the house, closing the front door behind me as I entered.

"Thanks Q. That meant a lot." I said, awkwardly standing behind the couch.

"No problem San. Now, we've made your room up. Upstairs and to the left. The bathroom is just across the hall."

Ah, they want you to go to bed. You know what that means. Eurgh.

"Thanks, I'm going to bed now. It's been great being back."

I smiled, before sheepishly waving and walking up the stairs. Before I reached the bedroom I heard a few muffled giggled echo up the stairs and I shut the door, blocking out the sound. After unpacking, which took longer than I'd expected, I changed out of my leggings and into an oversized Disneyland t-shirt. I clambered into bed and lay there, listening to the music flowing from downstairs and the giggles that escaped through the lyrics at every pause.

My whole body ached, memories raced through my brain playing over and over like a video that I just couldn't stop. The whispers in my head told me that I shouldn't be back here, that it wasn't healthy to return to a place that held so many painful, yet happy memories. And they were right, I was sad. I couldn't let anyone see it because I couldn't let anyone see me at my weakest. Only one person had ever seen that and look what happened. It wasn't the kind of sadness where I could just cry it out, because truth bet told I hadn't cried in a while - it was as if my body ran out of its lifetime supply of tears. It was more like the sadness where my whole body was overwhelmed by it, my heart ached and my stomach felt empty. I felt so tired, so weak. And yet I couldn't sleep, because the sadness chased me into my subconscience, my dreams. It was the sadness that I couldn't escape.

I laid there, listening to my breathing, wishing that tears would fall as that would release some of the pressure that crushed my chest. My eyes closed in order to do so but nothing came of it. I just couldn't cry. I hadn't been able to for years, and I hated it. Everytime I looked in the mirror I could see the tears forming behind my shiny eyes, the sadness that glazed my dark chocolate orbs. I could see it and there was nothing I could do about it, I just had to endure it.

I heard a creek and light shone into the darkness, causing me to flinch slightly at the contrast. I saw a head and a voice spoke;

"S? It's Quinn. I'm just checking to see if you're alright."

I sighed heavily before answering;

"Yeah, I'm fine Q." I managed to force a smile, not knowing whether she could see my face or not.

"No you're not." She approached the bed, tucking one leg underneath her as she perched on the side. "You're upset." Her hand covered mine and I dipped my head. As if I could escape it, she'd known me since I was tiny, she knew how I was really feeling. "Why?"

"I just…" I started before sucking in a huge gulp of air. "I just don't understand why destiny allowed two people to meet, to connect and to share the greatest love of all - when there was never a way for them to be together in the end."

"Santana, you're going to get your happy ending. I know you are. Have a little faith, don't think everything is lost."

"But everything is lost. She's gone and I'm alone." The words managed to sucker punch me straight in the stomach, causing my breath to hitch in my chest and me to double over. My face now pressed into Quinn's chest and I sobbed, without any tears falling.

"She's not gone. She's here, she always will be, waiting for you. There's still hope ."

What the fuck? Is she insane?"

"I know people try to use inspirational words when someone they love dies, but really Q, that shit just doesn't work on me. I know what's real and I really fucking hate it when people try to sugar coat me the truth. I don't want that, I want it raw and uncut. Then there's no confusion and no mixed messages."

"Whoah. What? No Santana I think you may have misunderstood…"

"Quinn. Spare the bullshit." I cut her off, grimacing at her previous words. "I'm tired, I need to go to sleep. Night" I turned over, my back facing her and I felt my teeth grit as my inner walls sprung up, immediately defending anything that tried to give me even the littlest bit of hope. She'd obviously heard the dismissive tone and huffed before exiting, shutting the door a little harder than necessary.

Well tomorrow morning's going to be awkward. Well done Santana. Famous and still a bitch, at least your old characteristics.

*ring ring*

"Um.. Hello?" I coughed, trying to erase my morning voice.

"Miss Lopez, it's Jen here. Just to a check up call. Is everything going well?"

"Yeah. Everything's fine." I squinted, the sunlight beat through the window and felt like it was burning my corneas. "Jheeze, what's the time?"

"It's 9:07am. Enjoy the rest of your weekend Miss Lopez. Goodbye."

"Thanks, bye."

I pressed the 'end call' button and threw my phone down the bed. It hit my foot and caused my body to flinch as it left a slight sting. My hands ran through my hair before tying it up into a high ponytail. I managed to shrug on a pair of pajama shorts before wandering out into the hall and downstairs.

You're going to have to apologise.

"Q?" I said, craning my neck to see into the rooms I could see. No answer. A few giggles echoed throughout the house from the kitchen so I wandered in.

"Q, I just wanted... WHOAH GUYS!"

I smacked myself in the forehead as I brought my hand up to my face, blinding myself from the sight that I really didn't want to see. Berry was perched on the counter in the corner with her legs hanging over the edge in a short frilly nightgown. Q was standing in between her legs with her palms running up Berry's bare thigh. They were heavily making out and obviously getting a little too heated.

"Jesús cristo - guess you won't be needing breakfast then."

"Shut up S." Q murmured, momentarily removing her lips from the hobbits. "There's pancakes over there."

She flicked her finger towards a plate that was stacked with warm steamy pancakes before returning her lips to its original place. I took a few and stacked them onto a fresh plate before sitting down at the breakfast island. Loud wet noises erupted from the two of them as well as a few giggles and I felt the bile rising in the back of my throat;

"Seriously? I'm trying to eat here!"

"Go eat somewhere else then." Berry whispered into Quinns mouth, obviously it wasn't meant to be heard. I grabbed my plate and huffed as I exited the room, before I could sit down I heard three rapid knocks at the front door. Knowing they were a little preoccupied I yelled to them;

"I guess I'll be getting that then?"

Nothing was said in response so I shoved my plate on the coffee table and walked to the front door. I paused momentarily to glance at myself in the mirror and I just hoped to God it wasn't paparazzi. I looked like shit. My hair was up in a rough ponytail, I was wearing an oversized t shirt which covered the miniscule pajama shorts that I were underneath so it looked like I wasn't wearing them. My eyes were still surrounded by my day old mascara and I really didn't know what I smelt like.

The mouthful that I had taken before getting up was still being chewed as I reached for the handle, and another few raps were made against the door.

"Alright alright!" I said in a grouchy tone before opening the door. My blood ran cold and I stood there, in front of the figure that had been rapping at the door. I could feel the blood draining out of my face and I coughed, choking on a piece of grinded up pancake. After a few minutes of standing there, Q shouted from the kitchen;

"San! Who is it?" She wandered in and I turned to look at her. She examined my face and shot me a curious look. "Jesus San, you look like you've just seen a ghost."

I dropped my arm, which was connected to the door. I couldn't feel anything, my body was literally in a state of shock. My mouth felt like I'd been chewing on cotton wool and my head suddenly felt very heavy. My feet lead me in to the living room where Q was standing and she craned her neck to look over my shoulder at the figure at the door.

"Finally girl!" She yelled, pushing past me and wrapping the other blonde into a tight embrace.

"Hey Q." The soft voice spoke, it still sent shivers down my spine.

I stood with my back to her just staring into nothing, my heart was pounding heavily but I didn't feel like I was living. I could feel how wide my eyes were and Berry walked in, waving her hand frantically in front of my face as if it would snap me out of this trance.

"Santana? What's going on?"

She mimicked Q's head movement and craned her neck to look passed my shoulder; her eyes widened as she saw her and a warm smile plastered the brunettes face as she glided over to the blonde, hugging her.

"Brittany, you finally got here. Took you long enough." A giggle erupted from all three of their mouths and I jumped at her name.

I felt an arm press on the crease of my elbow, it sent a spark shooting through my veins and straight into my heart.

"San?"

My body turned and flinched away at the contact instinctively. Piercing blue eyes met mine and the same toothy grin pasted her beautiful face like it always had. Before I could speak my legs buckled underneath me and I felt my forehead connect with the hard wood floor as I faded into the blackness.

And apologies for the shortness of this chapter, I wanted to end with a little cliffhanger!

Thank you for all your reviews on my previous chapters! But please lead me some feedback for this chapter!