Author's Note: Been a busy few days, had my first two of my Master's classes which were pretty good and I'm really rather excited about! Already been told the ridiculous amount of assignments that will be required before the end of this year so nervous and already stressed now too XD but I can't wait to get stuck in. I've missed being around creative folks!
Anywho, I wanted to get this chapter posted for you as soon as it was done but I was absolutely shattered after pretty much doing a fifteen hour day yesterday between work and Uni. So by the time I got home I was just dead to the world. But here it is... although I have a feeling you might wish I hadn't posted it after you read it =S
Thank you to all you awesome folks for reviewing, I adore you all and it means a lot to have some feedback about my work and my ideas. If only you guys were in my writing group at Uni, we'd get along swimmingly!
Disclaimer: Don't own a damn thing, except this crappy flesh suit of a body that just keeps getting hurtier and hurtier every day *sigh*
Content Warning: This chapter contains scenes of violence, assault, bullying, verbal and physical abuse, suggestions of sexual assault, blood, brief mention of death/suicide, mental health issues. THIS IS NOT A HAPPY CHAPTER AND IS QUITE VIOLENT. Please look after yourselves and do not read if you think it might be a trigger for you - if you still want to keep up with the story PM me and I shall give you the cliff notes version.
Chapter Seventeen
The slushie hit Santana full in the face while she was mid-sentence. The ice slipped down her throat, filling her mouth, as it blinded her. She choked on her words, inhaling a lungful of the frozen drink and coughed, spluttering loudly as Brittany darted to her side. The dancer smacked her hard on the back to try and dislodge the chunk of ice. After a long minute of pained rasping and horrible retching, Santana finally spat a mouthful of red liquid out and sucked in a much-needed breath. She straightened and leant back against her locker, anger starting to course through her replacing the fear of almost choking.
"Let me go after him, San, please! This is the second time today and it's only just lunch!" Brittany begged, her eyes glued to the direction that the Football player had gone.
Santana wrapped a hand around Brittany's wrist and tugged until the blonde looked at her. She shook her head firmly, her throat too raw and numb to get out words yet. Brittany sighed, annoyance and helplessness etched on her face as she slipped her free hand into Santana's and led the girl down the hallway to the nearest bathroom to get her cleaned up.
They pushed the door open to find Quinn and Rachel already in there. Santana frowned when she saw Quinn's silky blonde hair and alabaster skin tinted blue, her t-shirt soaked through and sticking to her, also with a blue tinge to it. Rachel stood before the blonde, a handful of paper towels and her slushie kit at the ready as she cleaned Quinn up as best she could. The two girls' heads whipped around when they heard someone enter – their faces fell upon discovering their girlfriends in a similar state.
"This is getting ridiculous!" Rachel threw her arms in the air as she took in Santana's soaked shirt, her shivering and her bloodshot eyes.
The diva crossed to the Latina and the dancer and pressed a kiss to both their cheeks before leading Santana over to join Quinn at the sinks. Rachel handed some paper towels to Brittany and the two of them set about cleaning their girls up.
"Who was it this time?" Rachel glanced over at Santana.
"Azimio." Brittany answered as she carefully unbuttoned the Latina's shirt to get as much of the ice off her as she could. "I'm guessing Karofsky got Quinn?"
Quinn grumbled at the mention of the hulking boy. Santana leant across to the blue-tinted blonde and nuzzled into her neck, dropping little kisses on her skin until she heard Quinn chuckle and felt her turn to capture Santana's lips, hand coming up to cup her sticky jaw.
"It's a good thing cherry and blueberry go so well together," Quinn smirked as she pulled away. Her tongue darted out to swipe Santana's bottom lip. "Mm delicious."
Santana could only shake her head with a grin.
Quinn frowned at her girlfriend's lack of a comeback. "S? What's wrong?"
The Latina gave a half shrug and pointed to her throat.
"Azimio caught her mid-sentence and she almost choked to death on the slushie," Brittany clarified – anger and concern creeping into her voice.
"What?" Rachel's head jerked around to stare at Brittany then at Santana. "Okay, Santana, I know you're trying this whole turn-the-other-cheek, be-the-bigger-person thing, and I'm so proud of you for that! But this is getting dangerous now." The diva stepped towards the Latina and took her hands. "I can't just stand by while you get targeted and abused like this." Rachel held up her hand to stop Santana as she opened her mouth. "And don't you dare say 'it's fine' again because I know for a fact it isn't! You, Quinn and Brittany have been getting slushied all week. You've had slurs and abuse and hate thrown at you by most of the school. I've heard the rumours and the gossip going around, so I know you all have too." She turned her head to look at the blondes, daring them to deny it, but they wouldn't make eye contact with her. "We know why this is happening. We know how to stop it. Just let me go and talk-"
"No." Santana cut Rachel off, her voice strained and a little raspy as she swallowed heavily. "That's exactly what he wants, Rach, and I would rather die than let him anywhere near you again."
Rachel's face fell at the Latina's choice of words. Fear clenched at her heart. She found herself with a handful of Santana's shirt, her other hand curling around the back of her neck firmly. She brought their mouths together in a searing kiss for only an instant before she tore herself away, hands still keeping Santana close, her eyes wild and serious. "Please do not say things like that, Santana. I beg of you. I cannot bear the thought…"
Santana wrapped her arms around the trembling diva and pulled her firmly against her. "I'm sorry, Rach. I didn't think. I'm not going anywhere, okay? Not ever." She pressed a kiss to the girl's temple. "And I know you're annoyed. And frustrated. And pissed off about everything. We are too. But out of the limited options we have, this is the best one. I will never take that fucking deal, not in a million years!"
"But-"
"We just have to ride this out. He'll get bored eventually, or the Jocks and Cheerios definitely will. We can do this, Rach. We have each other so the rest of those small-minded pricks can go fuck themselves. We already won." Santana shrugged, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as Rachel looked up at her with such happiness shimmering in her eyes.
"I know. I wouldn't give any of you up for the world." The diva cupped Santana's face – thumb stroking her cheek so lovingly. "I just don't know how much more of this – of seeing you all hurting and beaten down – my heart can take."
"We will gladly take a slushie every day for the rest of our lives if it meant you didn't have to. And that you were safe." Quinn tugged on Rachel's sleeve, a soft, sincere look on her face.
Rachel felt her heart melt as Quinn dipped her head and bestowed a gentle kiss to her lips before resting their foreheads together.
"You are so important to us, Rach. You're our family and we always protect our family. So just trust us. Just let us look after you." Brittany encircled the diva with her arms and smiled into the warm skin of her neck as she dropped a kiss there.
Rachel shivered at the contact. They had been together for almost a week and Rachel still couldn't quite believe these three beautiful, incredible girls were hers. And she was still getting used to being part of the casual intimacy they shared: the touches, the kisses, the hugging, the hand holding, even the little inside jokes and the way the three were so relaxed and at peace with each other. It was so overwhelming, but Rachel refused to run away this time. She would never run from them again. Not when she knew how it felt to be a part of their little family now, how it felt to fall asleep between them every night, how it felt to kiss them and touch them and… and love them.
She knew it was much too early to say it. But she did. Rachel Berry loved her girls with all her big, romantic, dramatic, diva heart. Sometimes it scared her how much she loved them all, but mostly it just made her giddy with happiness and speechless with thoughts of their future together… But first they had to survive high school. Something that was looking less and less likely as the week had gone on!
Rachel looked back up at Santana, round at Quinn and then over her shoulder at Brittany. "Are you sure?"
Santana held her gaze. "We're sure, mi estrella."
Santana was trying to remain positive, trying to just get them all through this, but every day things got worse and worse. Monday: the rumours and whispers started. Everyone knew about them by lunch. Tuesday: the first slushie happened… followed very quickly by the second and third. One for each of the Unholy Trinity - conveniently missing out Rachel, no doubt at Finn's request. Wednesday: verbal abuse, name-calling, outright homophobia with a side of slushies. Thursday: most of the Football team had followed them around all day. Just staring and leering and making lewd comments. They even followed them into the girls' bathroom – if it hadn't been for Coach Sylvester catching them Santana was sure things would have gotten even worse right then. Oh yeah, and even more slushies!
And now… Friday. It was only lunch time and Santana and Quinn had already been hit twice by slushies, and Brittany had taken one for her girls when she saw one of the Hockey douchebags aiming for them. She had stepped in the way and made sure to 'accidentally' trip him over into the puddle of rapidly melting ice and food colouring on the hallway floor in the process. Santana was genuinely worried what else was coming their way today - especially as she had noticed a group of Cheerios watching them from a distance all day…
The only silver lining to all this was that Rachel hadn't been targeted so far. She figured Finn still thought he had a chance with the diva, so he was ensuring she wasn't caught up in it… except he had no chance AT ALL with Rachel. A fact Rachel wanted to march over to his house and tell him. But Santana was scared that if she did that then Finn would have no reason not to go after Rachel the way he was going after the Unholy Trinity. And Rachel had suffered more than her fair share of abuse the year before, so the girls would do anything to stop that from happening again.
"Fine." Rachel gave in. "But at least let me go and get your jacket from your car, your shirt is soaked, and you have nothing under it."
Santana rolled her eyes but handed the diva her car keys. "You worry too much, Rach."
The diva only flashed her a smile and blew her a kiss before she had the bathroom door open and was gone.
"Britt?"
"I'm right behind her." The dancer was already half way to the door before Santana had even spoken.
Brittany didn't manage to get to the door before it slammed open and Cheerios poured into the bathroom, blocking the Unholy Trinity in. Santana and Quinn went on high alert, the blonde reaching for the dancer as she backed up towards them again and was shoved by one of the Cheerios – a tall redhead they recognised, by the name of Ashley.
"Hey!" Santana inserted herself between Brittany and the Cheerio and stared her down. "Keep your fucking hands to yourself."
Ashley smirked and came to a halt before the three girls, cockily folding her arms across her chest and watching them with calculating eyes. "Don't worry, she's not my type. I prefer my prey foul-mouthed, feisty and, uh," The girl flicked her eyes up and down Santana as she licked her lips. "Wounded."
Quinn growled under her breath beside Santana, her body coiling – ready to strike this girl down. Santana slipped an arm around the blonde's waist and held her into her side with as much strength as she dared.
"Oh, don't worry, Fabray. We're not all here for your bitchy girlfriend. You have some admirers too." Ashley jerked her head to her right where four Cheerios stood glaring daggers at Quinn. "They are particularly interested in how you got your body back after your, uh, mistake last year. Or, y'know, if you even did!"
All the Cheerios laughed as if on cue. Quinn recognised one of the ones glaring at her – a short blonde with a nasty sneer by the name of Louise. She had almost dropped out of the Cheerios last year when Quinn had been Head Cheerleader, driving them hard all the time to ensure they won Nationals. Clearly, she still held onto some anger and resentment!
Ashley smirked again. "Oh and last, but certainly not least! Brittany S. Pierce. You have no idea how many of us were riddled with envy over your moves, your flexibility… not to mention your aptitude for getting away with pretty much anything. I mean, that stupid make-out-with-the-whole-school thing of yours? Please! Some of the girls wanna see just how bendy you really are… if you catch my drift!"
This time a growl ripped out of both Quinn and Santana - the latter looped her free arm about Brittany's waist. The Latina pushed both blondes behind her and held them there.
"I don't know who the fuck you think you are, coming in here chatting shit, but if you don't leave right-the-fuck-now, I'ma go all Lima Heights on your ass!" Santana's voice came out steady and dangerous – not betraying the pure terror gripping her whole body as she saw no way out of this save for violence or by pure fucking luck. But since when did they have much luck?
Ashley's eyes darkened and she dropped her arms to her sides, fingers flexing. "I love when my prey fights back. Makes it much more interesting, don't you think? Foreplay is everything."
Quinn lunged at the girl from behind Santana, breaking free - her hands just missing, clawing at the air in front of Ashley. Before Santana could pull the blonde back, there was a flurry of movement as the roomful of Cheerios suddenly leapt into action. In the blink of an eye, three had dragged Brittany over to the door and shoved her in the corner, leering at her menacingly. Three more had Santana physically pinned to the wall beside the sinks - Ashley still stood, eyes hooded and intense, observing her as if she were her next meal… While the last four had wrenched Quinn over to the stalls, two of them had her arms restrained so she couldn't move, couldn't lash out at them as they laughed ominously.
"Get the fuck off them!" Santana snarled at the Cheerios, struggling against the three that held her immovably to the wall. "I swear to fucking God, if you lay one finger on either of them, I will rip you all apart with my bare hands! Consequences be damned!"
There was a reason Santana had been trying to 'turn the other cheek', as Rachel had put it. She knew that if she let her anger get the better of her, let herself be goaded and lash out, she would be reported to Figgins and suspended in a heartbeat. Finn had driven them into a corner – either they give in and accept his deal or get pushed to the point where one of them snaps and retaliates and thus is suspended thanks to the Zero Tolerance Policy that Santana had pushed so hard for when it came to Finn. But they had a third option: just take it until the sheep that blindly followed Finn got bored and moved onto other hobbies. She had hoped it wouldn't take too long, but Santana recognised this Ashley chick. She had been vying for the second-in-command spot when Quinn had been kicked off and Santana had made Head Cheerio. But obviously, as their best gymnast and dancer, Brittany had been made Santana's second, which had thoroughly pissed Ashley off! From what the Latina could remember, this girl was a devious, vindictive, determined bitch. Which did not bode well for them…
Ashley grinned wickedly as she sauntered towards Santana. "Oh, I don't think you will, Lopez. See, a little birdie told me that you've been tamed, been declawed and broken. Word is," the redhead stopped just in front of a stony-faced, straining Latina and bent to whisper in her ear. "You're weak." Ashley bit Santana's earlobe hard making the brunette jerk her head away from her with a grunt.
"S! Get the fuck away from her, you shitty excuse of a Cheerio!" Quinn struggled against the girls holding her, her eyes fixed on her girlfriend's face as it contorted in pain. She couldn't bear to see Santana get hurt again. The girl had suffered so fucking badly and she still wasn't healed from her bout with Finn, this was too fucking much even for the stubborn, seemingly-indestructible Latina to take!
Brittany made a move too, trying to get past her Cheerio guards, desperate to keep her girlfriend safe like she'd promised… but they were ready for her and slammed her backwards into the corner again. The girls drove their palms into her chest with enough force to empty her lungs and leave her gasping. The pained exhale reached Santana and blocked all else from her mind.
"It's okay, Britt, I'm fine. Just stay there, don't give them an excuse to hurt you, okay?" The Latina tried to look towards the dancer, but Ashley shoved her head roughly to the side, nails digging into Santana's jaw.
"Fine, huh? Well, we can't have that, can we, girls?" She glanced over her shoulder at the other Cheerios. "Perhaps it's time these Unholy bitches finally paid the long overdue price for thinking they are better than us and abandoning the Cheerios. Shall we show them what it is?"
The cheer that rose up around the Unholy Trinity made their hearts sink and go into overdrive at the same time. If they had thought their former teammates were going to go easy on them, then clearly loyalty meant something completely different to the opposing parties.
Brittany was grabbed roughly by the three girls; her limbs bent and twisted and wrenched in all directions until tears streamed down her cheeks and it was all she could do to let her body relax and go limp to minimise the damage as much as she possibly could. The pain was so excruciating she could hardly think never mind fight back - it radiated from her joints, her muscles, her entire body screaming out for it to stop…
"Let's see how far you can really bend!" One of the Cheerios sneered at the dancer as she grabbed one of Brittany's legs.
Quinn was restrained whilst Louise grinned manically and started yanking viciously at her clothing, trying to strip her where she stood. When Quinn fought back with all her strength – kicking, struggling, flexing until she almost had an arm free – Louise slapped Quinn hard in the face, shocking her into halting her movements just long enough for another Cheerio to grab her feet and hold her still. She was at the mercy of Louise then and could only watch and curse her out, thrashing wildly, as the Cheerio went back to undressing her – her favourite t-shirt ripping before her very eyes as it was torn from her body.
"Come on, Fabray, let's see what that screaming brat did to your body!" Louise leered at her. "I'm very interested in the damage it did downstairs."
Ashley held sway over Santana – she forced the Latina to watch as her girlfriends were tormented and humiliated and abused – the redhead's sharp nails drew blood she was holding Santana's jaw with so much force.
"No! Don't fucking touch her! Quinn! Get your filthy fucking hands off her now! And get the fuck off me, you asshole, I will fucking kill you all if- Britt! Stop it, you're hurting her! You're gonna break her, please stop!" Santana fought against the tears that threatened to obscure her vision, her voice verging on hysterical as she saw the girls she loved brutally, viciously assaulted.
It took all three Cheerios and Ashley to keep Santana trapped and immobile as the Latina threw everything she had at them - every curse word and insult, every ounce of strength she possessed in her body; she strained against them so fiercely that she felt her muscles burning, her joints screeching at her as they almost popped out of place, her throat raw from yelling. But try as she might, Santana couldn't get to her girls and the sheer horror and helplessness froze her brain.
So, when Ashley twisted her head until they were eye to eye and her smile turned predatory, Santana barely registered it. It wasn't until the pain ripped through her that she realised what the girl was doing – Ashley had her free hand at Santana's injured shoulder, her fingers digging into the wound harder and harder until she finally got a reaction from the Latina. The cry of pain that came from her prey made Ashley's smile widen. She shifted her focus up to Santana's head, her digits probing along her scalp until she found what she was looking for – the short line of stitches hidden in the brunette's dark hair was healing nicely it seemed… until Ashley's thumb prodded recklessly at it again and again and again. Each sharp jab made Santana wince. But that wasn't the reaction the redhead was after. She removed her hand and, in one fluid movement, pulled Santana towards her forcefully kissing her with a bruising, fierce intensity, teeth biting down at the Latina's bottom lip hard enough to draw blood, and then slammed her head back against the wall.
The crack and shout of agony echoed around the bathroom. It was so sharp and so loud it even managed to permeate the wall of sound in the hallway outside and catch the attention of the cheerleading coach as she prowled past, pushing through the flood of students. She whipped around, eyes narrowing and homed in on where the sound had come from. She marched over to the girls' bathroom, her very presence enough to scare off the Cheerio stood guard outside, and ripped the door open, storming in.
Sue Sylvester's eyes widened at the scene that met her, but she quickly covered it before any of the girls had even registered she was there. "Shut up!" The noise had been so deafening once she was inside the bathroom – the shouting, the cursing, the cruel laughter – that it was no surprise they hadn't heard her come bursting in.
The Cheerios froze. They knew that voice far too well and it sent terror slithering down their spines. Even the manic grins dropped from Ashley and Louise's faces and they stepped away from their victims – the rest of the Cheerios following suit, allowing the Unholy Trinity to drop to the floor where they stood.
"Care to explain why you're all in here, starting your very own lesbian harem instead of out on the field for practice?" Sue glared from one girl to the next until she was satisfied that they were all suitably afraid.
"B-But we don't have lunch time practice today, Coach…" Ashley pointed out.
The look Sue shot the girl had Ashley gulping and her eyes dropping to the floor in submission.
"Wrong! You all have lunch time practice every day for the rest of the school year and I expect you all to start running laps now until I say otherwise or else I will be adding five AM practices every weekend too. Now go!" Sue screamed out at them. She watched with satisfaction as the Cheerios jumped in fright and shot out of the bathroom door, sprinting down the hallway towards the football pitch.
When the door swung shut, Sue turned her attention back to her three ex-Cheerios. She found them huddled together on the floor, having just about managed to crawl to one another – Santana holding the back of her head with one hand, blood dripping from her lip and from between her fingers, and holding Quinn – the girl's clothing ripped and out of place, tears staining her face as her sobs came hard and fast to the point she was just hyperventilating – to her with her other, Brittany was wrapped around them both, her arms encircling them even with the obvious damage to her injured limbs. Sue's heart went out to them. They might not have been her Cheerios any more, and yeah, they royally pissed her off and disappointed her massively when they quit, but she had a begrudging respect and a genuine soft spot for the girls. They were the only people to ever willingly walk away from the Cheerios without being kicked out or broken by her first. They were strong, talented, intelligent, ambitious and Sue knew she would never have cheerleaders like them again. She had no idea what all this was about, why her Cheerios had targeted these three, but she would be damned if she was going to let it stand!
Quinn's broken sob pulled Sue from her plotting and she tuned back in to the girls. Brittany was ever so gently and carefully helping Quinn re-do her jeans and pull her torn t-shirt back on as best she could. Santana pulled the sobbing blonde into her lap when she was dressed again and stroked Quinn's back, her hair, held her so protectively against her chest as the girl broke down.
Santana felt Quinn shiver against her after a minute and glanced about her for something to wrap the girl in. "Britt, where's my… jacket…"
All three girls stiffened.
"Rachel…" Brittany's eyes widened. "She hasn't come back, San…"
Santana swallowed back the awful realisation that Brittany was right. The diva should have been back a long time ago, she should have found them, would have… if someone hadn't waylaid her…
"W-We need to f-find her, S. We h-have to… If something's h-happened t-to her again… I-I c-couldn't take it!" Quinn tried to get to her feet. But she was breathing so erratically and insanely fast that she almost blacked out. She tried again but found herself being firmly, yet gently pushed back down into Santana's arms.
Sue stood above them, her face momentarily softening before her expression became unreadable again. She looked to Santana and Brittany. "Look after her. And yourselves. That's an order." She handed Santana a handful of paper towels and motioned for her to hold them to her head to stop the bleeding.
Santana hesitated a second but accepted them. She held the cheerleading coach's eye and gave her a small nod, wincing as she did, her head throbbing intensely. "I got this. Just find Rachel."
Without another word, the woman spun sharply on her heel and strode out the bathroom, leaving the Unholy Trinity to lick their wounds as best they could, worry for their beautiful diva eating away at them with every second that passed.
Sue Sylvester was a formidable person at the best of times. But Sue Sylvester pissed off and on a mission? People instinctively knew to get the fuck out of her way when they saw her coming. Experience had taught students and faculty alike to be afraid, be very afraid. And to develop quick reflexes otherwise there would be nothing left save for a pile of ashes.
She stalked along the hallways at breakneck speed, head on a swivel as she searched for the tiny diva. The girl could be hard to spot sometimes but she was definitely not difficult to hear so Sue kept her ears open too. It wasn't too long before her coach-senses were tingling – she spotted a red skirt disappearing around a corner at the far end of the hallway. Speeding up, Sue reached it in time to see one of her Cheerios disappear into the Auditorium with a glance behind her.
Sue had the doors open and was stalking down towards the stage, her eyes fixed on the nervous diva surrounded by Cheerios. The four girls in uniform stared Rachel down impassively as the diva glanced from one to the other with concern.
"Look, I don't entirely understand what you want from me or why you manhandled me all the way down here in the first place, but I would appreciate it if you would step aside and allow me to leave," Rachel gripped the green army jacket in her hands tightly and brought it up to hold against her chest. It smelt like Santana when she buried her face in it and gave her the courage she needed to straighten and, for the third time, try and get by the glassy-eyed, yawning Cheerios.
As one, the four girls closed in on Rachel before she had gone two steps, surrounding her on all sides and restricting her movements completely. She pursed her lips in annoyance and rolled her eyes. As frustrating as this dance they were doing was, the girls had never actually hurt her or said more than two words to her in the fifteen minutes they had had her trapped. But she was starting to get shaky, her anxiety clawing at the back of her mind. Something was going on and it did not sit well with her.
"All of you, laps around the football field until I tell you to stop or you're off the Cheerios!" Sue stomped onstage and barked at the cheerleaders.
The four girls squeaked and leapt away from Rachel as if they had been electrocuted. Their terrified eyes landed on Sue and they fell over each other to get out of the Auditorium and to the field as fast as humanly possible. The diva watched them go with immense relief and a hint of confusion as she turned to find Sue smirking in satisfaction.
"Miss. Sylvester?" Rachel took a hesitant step towards the cheerleading coach. "Not that I don't appreciate your assistance, but why are you here?"
Sue turned to face Rachel. She looked the girl up and down critically, leaning a little to either side to assess her from different angles. She hummed to herself, nodding when she didn't see any obvious signs of damage or distress, before abruptly whirling away and heading back down off the stage. When Rachel didn't follow her, she skidded to a halt and stared questioningly at the girl.
"Are you coming or not, Streisand?"
Rachel's eyebrows shot up. That was genuinely the nicest thing she had ever heard the woman refer to her as… which shot her anxiety into overdrive instantly, her heart thundering inside her ribcage. "What's going on?"
Something akin to sympathy flickered across Sue Sylvester's face but she quickly quashed it and started walking again. "Move it, Yentl!"
Rachel jerked into action, following the woman up the steps and out of the, lately incredibly unlucky and traumatising, Auditorium. She stuck close to Sue out in the hallways as the end of lunch crush started up – fortunately Sue parted the students like they were the Red Sea and she were Moses so they traversed the school quickly. It didn't take long for Rachel to realise where they were heading and, as they approached the girls' bathroom she had left her girls in earlier, she pushed past Sue and bolted to the door.
Her heart stopped when she stepped through and her eyes fell on the three girls huddled together on the bathroom floor. They were a mess of tears, ripped clothes and blood. Pain, humiliation, anxiety, anger and so many more heart-breaking emotions raged through them and etched themselves onto the girls' faces one after the other before Rachel's very eyes. But as soon as they noticed her, relief and happiness washed all that aside for a few, precious moments.
Rachel had crossed the bathroom and was in their arms in a heartbeat. They didn't even have to say a word, she just knew what they needed. Rachel allowed the three of them to fuss over her, check her for injuries or a hair out of place; they needed to hear her voice, see her face, touch her skin, feel her in their arms before their own anxieties would abate. The diva had figured all this out quite quickly this last week and it saddened her and made her feel so special and loved in equal parts. The sadness purely because so much had already happened to her, to them, to try and keep them apart… so now that they were finally together, the Unholy Trinity were fucking terrified of losing her. And Rachel was fucking terrified of losing them too. A fear that currently had a very real possibility of coming true!
Rachel wasted no time in getting to work; all business now because if she didn't do something constructive, she would end up having a panic attack and that would help no one. She stood and carefully helped Quinn to her feet, leading the still shaking blonde over to the sinks and propping her against one so she could set to work cleaning up the tears as well as the blue slushie now - Quinn refusing to release her death grip on the diva's hand. Rachel couldn't help but keep half her attention on Santana and Brittany too, not missing the great deal of pain emanating from them both – Brittany holding herself awkwardly, wincing with every movement, with every breath, no longer her usual graceful self, and Santana… God! Panic threatened to engulf the diva at the sight of the Latina's bloody face and hands, at the blankness in her eyes, at the exhaustion and agony that slowed her movements as well as her words. What the fuck happened while she was gone? She shook the unhelpful questions from her head and focused on Quinn.
Santana just about managed to clamber to her feet and hold steady enough to help Brittany up too – the dancer was in bad shape, her body continually trying to fold in on itself to lessen the pain from her abused joints and limbs. Without a word, Santana pulled out her cell phone and, with exaggerated care and a great deal of effort, scrolled through until she found the number she was looking for.
"You at home?" The Latina asked when her call was answered. "Okay. See you in a few." She hung up and slid the phone back into her pocket.
"San?" Brittany lent heavily against Santana, barely able to move enough to look at her. "Who-"
"The Doc." Santana nodded vaguely at Rachel as she looped both arms around the dancer's body and took the weight off the girl's trembling legs before she could collapse. "Just wanted to know where he was, I want him to check you and Q out, okay, Britt-Britt? Just to be on the safe side."
"And you, San." The dancer muttered against the Latina's neck as she let Santana lift her off her feet and into her arms with such care. "You need to be looked after too. Promise me."
A smile ghosted across Santana's face. "I promise, Britt."
Brittany nodded, satisfied with the answer. Everything hurt. She just wanted to go to bed now so she could wake up tomorrow and have it not hurt any more. Brittany could barely make sense of the words being said or the voices around her, but she fought the aching as best she could and managed to catch Santana's question.
"Can you make it to the car, Britt? Lunch is over, so we're gonna go home and rest, okay?" Santana pressed soft kisses to the dancer's ear as she spoke. "Doctor Berry is gonna help you feel better, we just gotta get to my car first."
Brittany felt herself nod and her body complain, her muscles shrieking as she took her own weight again. Santana wrapped an arm around her waist and shifted one of Brittany's around her own shoulders so she could support them both as they walked. Rachel and Quinn stood waiting for them by the bathroom door – the blonde, wrapped up gratefully in Santana's jacket, wound herself around the diva's arm, staying as close to her as physically possible.
"The bell went thirty seconds ago, why aren't you in class yet?" They heard Coach Sylvester bellow from out in the hallway.
The sound of hurried footsteps reached their ears. Sue's head appeared around the door. She appraised them briefly. They looked worse for wear, but Santana insisted they just needed to get back to Rachel's and they would be fine. And Sue's teacherly concern and impenetrable persona would only allow her to intrude and involve herself so far, so she had said no more.
"It's clear. Shift it before I change my mind about covering for your Glee-loving asses!" The woman snapped at them. Only her tone had none of its usual bite to it, instead the girls heard her concern for them, and it shifted their perspective on the woman just that little bit.
Sue Sylvester escorted the four girls as quickly as they could go – which was not quick at all – down the hallway and to the front entrance that led out to the parking lot. Fortunately, no one tried to stop them. Mostly because no one saw them but having the Coach with the petrifying reputation of insanity and lax student health and safety regulations certainly would have worked in their favour if someone had come upon them. She watched over the girls as they hobbled down the steps and slowly, painfully slowly, picked their way through the maze of cars to Santana's. She saw Santana pick Brittany up and place her with such exaggerated care onto the back seat, and then repeat the process with Quinn, before collapsing into the passenger seat herself, unconscious before she could even put her seatbelt on.
The car had just roared to life, but Sue was already striding back down the hallway towards where her soon-to-be-wishing-they-were-dead Cheerios were still running laps. She might not be able to help the Unholy Trinity the way she wanted to, but she could damn well make sure those responsible had a taste of their own medicine.
AN: I know, I know, I'm an awful human being and a very mean writer but our girls have each other so they can get through anything. Plus I needed a catalyst for the ultimate showdown/climax coming your way in a few chapters. I do apologise if this chapter was difficult to read, it was difficult to write and I did not envision the story going this way when I started it but here we are.
Try not to hate me too much please and I hope you can stick with me.
Peace out.
Maxx