I do not own Glee or any of the original characters, It all belongs to RIB and Fox. Any characters you don't recognise are my own creations.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed - only 2 chapters plus an epilogue to go!

Flashbacks are in italics.

R&R please.

Chapter 35

Santana watches carefully as Quinn sits on the swing with Beth on her lap, using her feet to gently sway them back and forth. Puck hovers next to them for a few moments, his hands deep inside his pockets and his eyes never leaving Beth. It's as though he is unsure as to how to handle this situation. Santana can't blame him. She continues watching as Puck finally sits down on the swing next to Quinn and Beth, awkwardly swinging himself backwards and forwards and talking to Quinn. Santana stiffens when Shelby sits down next to her on the bench, unsure of what to say to her and wondering if Shelby is against her being here.

"How's she doing?" Shelby asks quietly, her eyes never leaving the swings.

"Better," Santana sighs, "she's trying." Santana doesn't want to go into details with Shelby. Sure, parts of Quinn's breakdown is her business but Santana feels like she shouldn't be discussing Quinn's progress with anyone who isn't directly involved in their lives.

"Good," Shelby nods, glancing at the younger woman beside her. "It's good that you came. Quinn's lucky to have you by her side."

"We're both lucky," Santana shrugs.

"I would never have allowed Quinn to have access to Beth if I had known that this would have been the outcome," Shelby murmurs, "but I think this is for the best. I honestly thought Quinn was okay, I thought that being around Beth would be a good thing for her. It turns out it was the worst thing or her," she sighs.

"It was the timing more than anything," Santana mutters, "everything just seemed to happen at once." Shelby nods, not knowing what to say to the younger woman. They both watch as Puck and Quinn interact with Beth, Shelby standing up when she sees Beth's pacifier fall to the ground. She wanders over there and pulls a spare from her purse.

"Here," Shelby murmurs kindly to Puck, handing the pacifier to him. "You guys okay over here?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Puck replies gruffly, passing the clean pacifier to Quinn without making eye contact with anyone. He glances up as Shelby makes her way back over to the bench and catches Santana's gaze, nodding when she jerks her head in Quinn's direction..encouraging him to try and work things out with her. He sighs and looks in Quinn's direction, easily spotting the anxiety on her face. Up until now, they had been making pointless small talk and awkwardly laughing together over Beth's little quirks. They need to talk, really talk, not just avoid things. "How are you doing?" Puck eventually asks, gazing at Beth rather than Quinn.

"You already know the answer to that," Quinn remarks quietly, "you've been asking Santana every day instead of talking to me."

"I'm allowed to be mad at you," Puck retorts with a scoff.

"I know," Quinn murmurs, her gaze dropping to the ground as she tightens her hold on Beth.

"What you did was dumb," Puck plainly states. "The skanks are bad news, they always have been. Why would you go to them instead of us?" he questions.

"I don't know," Quinn replies honestly, "I really don't know why I did what I did. If I could take it all back, I would, but I can't. I wish I knew why it seemed like a good idea to take her, or why I felt like I needed to hurt myself..I guess I was trying to punish myself or something," she mumbles.

"Do you still feel like that?" Puck asks, and Quinn sighs. She doesn't feel like that anymore, but she can't explain why. Only she and Santana know the answer to that.

"No," she states simply and Puck searches her face, as though looking for any signs of lying. Eventually, he nods; satisfied.

"Good. You're more than your mistakes, Quinn. Don't let them hold you back," Noah softly states. "From what Santana has told me, you're making a huge effort, that is what's important. You keep making an effort, and I'll have your back. Hell, even if you stop making an effort I'm gonna be there," he says gruffly.

"Thank you. I'm sorry" Puck gazes at Quinn for a moment before nodding and holding his arms out for Beth.

"Come on, Beth, we can go way faster than Quinn," he animatedly says. "Quinn sucks on the swing, doesn't she?" Quinn smiles softly and glances across at Santana, Santana waving at her and smiling warmly. She raises her hand and waves back, not missing the fact that Santana's smile widens at this, and turns her attention back to Puck and Beth. He may not have said so, but Quinn knows Noah Puckerman well enough to know that he has forgiven her.

0-00-0

Quinn squirms as Santana pokes her in the ribs, attemping, and failing miserably, to roll away from her wife. Santana grins victoriously when Quinn gets tangled in their bedsheets, leaning over her and pressing a scorching kiss to Quinn's lips. Santana can taste herself on her wife's tongue and she grins into the kiss, thank god they told Puck to go stay with Mike and Tina tonight.

"I didn't know you had that in you," Santana breathes out, her mouth latching onto Quinn's ear and her teeth scraping against the sensitive skin.

"I could say the same to you," Quinn smirks, her back arching as Santana's talented mouth trails down to her breasts, full lips wrapping around an erect nipple. "Don't you have to work?" Quinn asks.

"Nope," Santana smiles, "I told them you were sick and I had to take care of you," she explains, rolling off of Quinn and laying on her side, propping herself up with her elbow.

"Naughty," Quinn remarks with a raised brow, chuckling when Santana shrugs cockily. "What exactly is wrong with me?" she questions as Santana's fingers dance across her stomach, teasingly dropping lower for a second before dancing back up to Quinn's abs.

"I told them it was coming out of both ends," Santana shrugs.

"You didn't!" Quinn cries out, reaching forward and slapping her wife's bare ass. She freezes as soon as she does so, staring at Santana warily. Quinn is surprised to see that Santana looks even more turned on, the only reason she isn't jumping Quinn right this second is the sheer anxiety on Quinn's face.

"What is it, babe?" Santana questions, cocking her head to the side and gazing curiously at her wife.

"That was...weird...I've never thought of doing that for fun," Quinn murmurs, her eyes flitting around the room, looking everywhere but at Santana.

"Does it matter?" Santana asks bluntly, shocking Quinn. "I thought it was hot," she shrugs. "It was just a slap on the ass, Quinn, " Santana murmurs softly, crawling over to Quinn and placing her hand on Quinn's hip.

"I'm sorry, I'm just being dumb," Quinn attempts to laugh it off, "I got a little confused..no big deal," she states with a weak laugh.

"Talk to me," Santana urges gently.

"When you...when you spank me, it's never fun or enjoyable," Quinn whispers shyly, "for either of us, right?" Santana hums her agreement and patiently waits for Quinn to continue. "But that...well, it kinda was."

"Quinn, when I spank you it's for punishment," Santana states seriously. "That slap on the ass was just playing around...there's a difference between play and punishment. So what if it turned you on...it turned me on too," Santana shrugs. "It doesn't turn me on when you're over my lap."

"Me neither," Quinn says honestly.

"So...what's the problem?" Santana asks lightly. "As long as we're always able to seperate punishment and playing around, it's not a big deal."

"It's different, though," Quinn whispers.

"How?"

"Well, I don't spank you," Quinn explains.

"You just did," Santana jokes, keeping the mood light. She holds her hands up in apology when Quinn huffs. "I know what you're saying, babe. I spank you for punishment, and you just spanked me for fun. Quinn, you could take, like, twenty different implements to my ass if you wanted to...just for fun...it's not gonna change how we feel about the punishments," Santana swears to her wife.

"You're right," Quinn sighs, shaking her head at herself, "I'm sorry I just..."

"Why are you apologising? For talking to me about your feelings? Oh, that's so awful, I don't think our marriage will survive...honesty!" Santana gasps dramatically, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"Don't be mean," Quinn scolds, slapping Santana's ass again and smiling shyly at her. Santana grins at her and wiggles her eyebrows before lurching forward, landing on top of Quinn, their naked breasts pressing against each other. Santana smirks, slowly sliding down her wife's body and disappearing beneath the sheets with a cocky smile.

"Let me make it up to you."

Santana curls herself around Quinn's body from behind, spooning the softly crying blonde while murmuring loving, and calming, words into her ear. Santana also feels like crying. Just watching Quinn say goodbye to Olivia had been hard enough, she can't imagine how hard it was for Quinn. Santana had seen it as soon as Shelby had driven away with Beth, the anguish in the hazel eyes of the woman she loves. For a split second, Santana had been convinced that Quinn would run...run and do something stupid, and, in that split second, Santana had been sure that her heart had stopped.

"Stop feeling so guilty," Quinn sniffles.

"What?"

"I know you were worried that I'd do something to hurt myself," Quinn whispers. "Stop feeling guilty, because I thought I was going too, too."

"You did?" Santana asks sadly.

"Yeah, but then I told myself I wouldn't..I made myself think about everything that's good in my life," Quinn murmurs. "I reminded myself of everything I love..everyone I love, and what it does to them when I hurt myself. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologise for how you feel, Quinn," Santana gently chastises her. "Thank you for being honest with me, you have no idea how much I appreciate that. That's all I ever ask.. that you're honest with me about you're feeling because that's the only way I can help you."

"Can we leave?" Quinn asks in a small voice. "After graduation, I mean. Can we go somewhere, anywhere that isn't Lima?"

"I think that would be a great idea," Santana smiles.

"Good," Quinn nods. They fall back into silence, Santana holding Quinn as she processes everything that has happened today. Santana's fingers firmly hook into the flesh of Quinn's hip, not painfully or suggestively...just reminding her that she's there. "Do you think that, maybe, you could come with me to therapy sometime?" Quinn breaks their peaceful silence with a timid voice. "My therapist thinks it'd be a good idea to bring someone I trust with me for one session."

"Of course! You just tell me when, and I'll be there," Santana promises. Santana feels Quinn stiffen for a second, and feels her heavy sigh. "You can speak to me about anything, Quinn."

"Shelby will look after her, right?" Quinn asks in a whisper.

"Yeah," Santana responds immediately, "I don't doubt it for a second." She feels Quinn nod and let out a sigh of relief.

"I did the right thing," Quinn murmurs.

"I think so, too," Santana replies gently.

"Good." Neither of them break the silence again, both of them content just to lie there together. Both dressed in pajamas and snuggled under Santana's duvet, and Quinn thinks this has been the most special night she has shared with Santana. They hadn't done anything apart from spoon and talk, but it's a night that will always stick in Quinn's memory, Santana's too. Quinn's safe place is with Santana. There are no judgements, no grudges; just love, and endless support. With Santana, she's safe. To Santana, she is perfect.

To be continued.. Feedback would be greatly appreciated.