This rewrite is actually pretty fun.

-RCV

"Lopez and Fabray, Coach Sylvester wants to see you both. Now."

Santana and Quinn stood up from their chairs, equally confused as to why they were being summoned out of math class, but neither complained about missing out on a pop quiz. They held hands as they left the room and continued to hold hands even as they walked into the office. Sue had a weird look on her face and told them to close and lock the door behind them.

"Fabray, why are you limping?"

"I ran into a desk."

"Do I want to know how or why that happened?"

"I'm not sure, Coach," Quinn said.

"Just sit down," she ordered tiredly.

"What's wrong, Coach?" Santana asked. "Did we do something wrong?"

"Not Quinn. You."

"Me?"

"I know you didn't do this, but Figgins is under the impression you did. Kurt showed up in the nurse's office last period with a busted lip. He said that you punched him in the face," Sue said to Santana.

"He what?!"

"Listen, there are no cameras and no witnesses other than Mercedes, and we both know the two of them are as thick as thieves. Figgins believes Kurt and is drawing up suspension papers for you. I asked him to let me be the one to deliver the news. He said I could give you a heads up, but that he would be calling you into the office at lunch to tell you what will happen for this week."

It took a moment for the news to settle, but once it did, Sue winced as Santana shot up from her seat and exploded, "WHAT!"

Sue held up a hand and continued, "I know, I know, but there's nothing I can do. You have a reputation here, Santana. We both know that the idea of you punching Kurt isn't far-fetched, regardless of whether you did it or not."

"She's been with me all day!" Quinn exclaimed.

"And that would fly with me and maybe a competent principal, but we both know he will see this as you two ganging up on him."

"This is so fucking stupid," Santana said. "You can't possibly be okay with this, Coach."

"No one said I'm okay with this," Sue corrected wearily. "But I don't have a choice. My hands are tied on this. There is literally nothing but he say - she say, and his word holds more weight. Unfortunately."

Santana sat back down in her chair. "I can't be suspended. My Dad will kill me."

"I'm so sorry, Santana," Sue said. "I will try my best to keep this from spreading, but-

"I know, Coach," Santana said.

"Why did you call me in here?" Quinn asked, her hand on Santana's shoulder.

"Because I knew she would want you in here."

Santana had tears in her eyes. "I've never been suspended. Detention, sure, but this? Fuck man. I'm never going to hear the end of this. And this is going to mess up my chances for a fucking scholarship!"

"No, I will not let that happen. You know I have friends at schools with great programs for you," Sue said.

"I wanted to do it on my own, not depend on someone else. Mami-" Santana paused and swallowed, "Mami would've wanted me to do it on my own."

Sue had nothing to say to that. Santana leaned to the side and cried into Quinn's chest. Sue rubbed her temples. She had no idea what Kurt and the Idiot Brigade was up to, but she knew it was something serious if they were resorting to lying and violence.

"Look," Sue sighed. "Just wait this out, okay? Don't talk to anyone on your way back to class. Avoid Kurt for as long as possible. Don't let anyone know this is happening. If I can work this out, it'll be this week and there won't be any police involvement."

Santana sat up and wiped at her face. "This is so fucking stupid!"

Quinn reached up, cupping her cheeks, and whispered, "Enough, San."

Santana flopped back down in the seat. She bounced her leg and chewed hard on her bottom lip. There was so much she wanted to say, but she knew there was nothing Sue could do.

At lunch, Rachel wondered where Santana and Quinn disappeared off to. She hadn't seen them since that morning. Puck had no idea, and LJ and Tori said they saw Santana packing a bag during the break, but nothing else. She walked down the hallway and stopped curiously at the bulletin board. She squinted at the small print of the closest flyer, but her mood soured when she saw Mercedes coming up beside her.

"Did you hear about what happened to Kurt?"

Rachel asked warily, "What are you talking about?"

"Santana punched him in the face when he tried apologizing to her. Can you believe that?"

"She punched him?" Rachel repeated. "Are you sure about that, Mercedes?"

"Yes, I was there. I saw the whole thing."

"Wow."

Deep down, red flags immediately popped up all over the place. Why would Santana punch Kurt for apologizing? There had to be more than that to the story. She decided not to jump on the bandwagon without knowing the facts. Even if Santana did punch him, she wouldn't turn her back on her. Kurt probably deserved it.

"I'm sorry. I thought you knew. Honestly, it seemed like she had changed. Guess she hasn't changed much after all, least not in the way you probably hoped."

Rachel kept the annoyance off her face as she said, "I don't know what you mean by that."

"Sure. But I really came over here to see if you wanted to get dinner with us tonight?" Mercedes asked.

"Who is us?" Rachel asked.

"Me, Mike, Kurt, Finn, Tina, and Puck. We're meeting up at the Chinese restaurant around eight."

Rachel hesitated. Mercedes did say Puck was going. She screwed up her face.

"Please? At least stay for the egg rolls. After that, if you want to leave, you're free to go."

Rachel tried fighting that smaller part of her that wanted those friendships back, but she failed. She nodded slowly and said, "Sure. I'll be there."

"Great!" Mercedes said excitedly. "See you then!"

Rachel nodded and watched her walk off before she went back to staring at the informational flyer on the new club at McKinley, but she was far too distracted to put any thought into joining. She groaned and shuffled away, her mind moving a million miles per hour.

"A week? Sue, that's a long time for a punch only one other person saw," Emma said.

"I know that. Hell, I argued that. But Figgins was dead set on the week. Santana won't be able to come back on campus until next Tuesday, ironically missing the pep rally she's supposed to be leading but that's not important."

"Santana has a temper, sure, but she wouldn't hit someone for no reason. Kurt had to do something," Emma said.

"If she even hit him at all," Sue said.

"You think he's lying?"

"Oh absolutely. I think he got someone to punch him in the face and blamed Santana. But why, I have no idea."

"No witnesses other than Mercedes, at a time where Santana could've been out of the class going to the restroom or something. This was planned," Emma said.

"But the question still remains. Why? Why do this to her?" Sue asked.

"I don't know, baby. But we'll keep an eye on Quinn. I have a feeling this is about them both."

Santana sniffed as she sat on her bed. Her father tore her a new one once he got the call. He even took her car keys. What made it worse was that someone called Russell, and Quinn told her that he called a family meeting that evening. Family meetings only meant one thing. Santana was stuck in an empty house with no ride while Quinn was probably hurt or in trouble. She screamed into her elbow and punched the mattress a few times. Every time she tried calling Quinn, it went to voicemail. She sent texts, emails, and even Skyped her a few times, but nothing. She had no way of contacting her or going to make sure that-

"I'm an idiot," she groaned.

Santana scrambled to her phone and dialed the only other number she could think of, hoping the other person answered.

Puck yawned, already bored of watching Mike try and feed Tina a dumpling, and glanced at Rachel from the corner of his eye. At first, he was shocked to see her there, but then again, Kurt and Mercedes were some of her first friends, and throwing those friendships away would be a challenge. Kurt was animatedly describing something to half the table, his black eye on full display, and Puck refrained from getting upset all over again. He knew Kurt was lying. He was with Santana and Quinn when the boy said it happened. But he also knew Figgins would discredit him just like he would discredit Quinn. It made him sick. Puck saw Rachel smile, but he could tell it was strained. He was ready to settle in for a long night of boredom when his phone vibrated in his pocket. Digging it out, he hid it from Finn and was glad he did when he saw Santana's name flash across the screen. He bent down after answering, whispering into the receiver.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Where are you?"

"At the Chinese restaurant with some of the Glee Club. I'm only here for Rachel."

"Can you duck out? I haven't heard from Quinn. Someone called Russell about me getting suspended and he called a family meeting. You know what happens at those meetings. But my Dad took my car and I have no way of going over there to check on her."

Puck cursed and he pushed back from the table. "Shit, yeah, I got you. Don't worry. We'll go check, alright?" he said.

There was a hiccup on the other end and a sniff. "Please hurry, Puck, I-

"Yeah, babe, I know," he said. "I got you."

Puck hung up the call and caught Rachel's eye. He cleared his throat and said, "We gotta go."

Rachel gave him a weird look and said slowly, "Okay?"

"Just come on. I'll tell you in the car."

She pushed back from the seat and stood up. Puck dropped a twenty on the table, apologized for their sudden departure, and practically dragged Rachel out of the restaurant.

"What's going on?" Rachel asked once they got to the parking lot.

"That was San. She can't get a hold of Quinn, and she's afraid that she's hurt. There was a family meeting at the Fabray house tonight, and it is a well known fact that family meetings end up with someone getting hurt."

"I see," Rachel finished, her voice colder than he'd ever remembered hearing. "Let's get over there then."