-Chapter 22-

-Shelby pov-

"Santana!" I run in the hallway to catch up to the girl "Come with me to my office please"

"Uhhh ok?" She follows me but stops in the doorway "Why is Judy here too? Did I do something? I swear I was good!"

"You aren't in trouble" Judy motions her in "We just wanna talk"

"Ok?" She slowly walks in and sits "What's going on? Is this the parent talk?"

"It's a parent talk of sorts" She frowns and I think she finally understands "We used to be friends with your mom..she met a bad guy though and left us"

"We tried getting our friend back but couldn't do it" Judy sighs "I lost contact after high school"

"I lost contact after a play" I look at my desk upset "She was away from the Diego and was gonna give us a try...so she said"

"You almost dated my mom?" I look up and nod "Wow...I think I got a glimpse of how Lucy feels"

"What happened?" She looks away and Judy puts a hand on her shoulder "We just want to know what happened to our old friend and your mother"

"Diego became my dad" Santana sighs "He got a job as a travel agent or something like that...she went along with him when she forced her to...then I was alone at ten"

"I wasn't ready for that knowledge" I move my chair to in front of Santana and sit down "Do you know where they are? Do they ever come back?"

"They never stay away longer then five weeks" Santana goes off in thought before looking at me again "They should be home today and gone tonight"

"Then I guess it's time to be sick" Judy stands up and looks at me "Let's go"

"Wait!" Santana runs and blocks the door "Diego isn't the guy you remember! He's way worse! H-he could hurt you two"

"I think you underestimate my strength Santana" I walk up and put a hand on her shoulder "You can come with but you will stay in the car"

"Alright" Santana sighs and moves "They already gave guardianship to Judy so what's to lose huh?"

I giver her a forehead kiss and walk out the door. We head to the main office and sign out. I send a text to Rachel and Lucy before we leave. We get in the car and pull away.

Time to see our old friend.

-Time skip-Santana pov-

We pull up to my house and I see the car. I sigh and look at my house. It's just like the way I left it. Rundown even though it's expensive. The neighborhood always complains but they never cared. I wonder if the power even is on.

"Alright" I open my door "Lets go"

"No" Shelby looks back at me "If he's dangerous you aren't going in!"

"I can't let you fight my battles without me!" I look at Judy pleadingly "Please"

"Fine" I smile victoriously "But you stay behind us"

I nod and we all get out. I follow behind them to the door. They knock and we wait a few moments. The door slowly opens a crack.

"Hello?" It's my moms voice but she isn't showing herself "Can I help you?"

"You can Maribel" Shelby pushes on the door slightly "Why see you hiding from old friends?"

"No" Mom pushes the door against Shelby "You have to go! He can't find you here!"

"Mom open the door" The pushing stops "Mom?"

"The fuck is going on?!" The door flys open and my drunk dad is standing there angry "Oh it's the dykes and Fabray bitch"

"Diego" I look at Shelby shocked at the low growl that came out "We will be taking Maribel"

"Like hell you will" Diego steps toward Shelby with a smirk "You just need a good dick you know that?"

"Good dick huh?" In a flash Shelby kicks Diego in the nuts and stands over him "Guess you got a broken one instead"

"Mari!" Judy runs in and I follow "Maribel?! Where are you?!"

"Judy?!" Mom runs over scared and bruised "What's going on?!"

"You're coming with us" Judy grabs her hand "Come on"

"AHHH!" I run to the door to see Diego chocking Shelby "Leet ggooo"

"I'm gonna make this world one less dyke better!" He looks back at me as he starts squeezing "Then I'm gonna fix you three!"

"Let her goo!!" Mom runs past my with a baseball bat "YOU MONSTER!"

She swings and hits his knees. Diego buckles and drops Shelby. She falls to the ground coughing and gasping for air. Mom is still hitting Diego as we grab Shelby. I put a hand on her shoulder to get her attention.

"Mom!" She looks at me with tears in her eyes "It's over! You won!"

"I-I won?" I nod and she drops the bat before hugging me "I won"

"You're free" I pull her closer "We're free"

"Mari? Santana?" I look up and see a old neighbor named Doug "What happened?! All I saw was him choking her!"

"I'm free Doug!" Mom let's go of me and looks at Diego "I'm not gonna be abused anymore"

"Get out of here then" Doug pulls his phone out "I'll call the cops and try to make your side good"

"Thank you Doug" mom walks over and gives him a hug "Thank you"

"Good luck Mari" They break apart and he puts the phone to his ear "Yes id like to report a incident"

I lead mom to the car and we get into the back. The drive home is quiet. I watch Judy and Shelby share looks the whole time. I look at mom to see her smiling and looking out the window. She looks happy and free.

In all my years alive I've never seen her like this. I know it's not from beating up Diego. It's from being strong enough to fight back. To fight for her fiends life as well. She was strong enough to break free.

Now we have to deal with everything else.

-Time skip-Judy pov-

It's been quiet since getting home. Shelby picked up the girls and now everyone is sitting in the living room. Maribel is beside Santana and staying silent. I took photos of the bruises and we've already been visited by the police. We explained everything and the man went back to the station not very happy at Diego.

"So" Everyone looks at me "Anyone have a question right now? The floor is open"

"Why is Santana's mom here?" I look at Lucy who looks angry and confused "She gave up rights for Santana! She gave up on my girlfriend! Why is she here?!"

"My mom was forced to give me up" Lucy looks over at Santana "Diego has a...way of persuading people"

"The bruises?" Santana nods and Lucy frowns "I'm sorry"

"You didn't know" Maribel gives her a small smile and stands up "I can get a hotel room though..I don't wanna interfere in your dynamic you got going here"

"You don't wanna be here when your grandchild is born?" Maribel looks at Santana in shock causing Rachel to laugh "No! I'm the pregnant one!"

"So you three are together?" The girls nod and Maribels face looks blank "I see"

"Is that ok?" Maribel looks at her daughter who looks scared out of her mind "is it ok that I'm with them both?"

"Yeah" Maribel takes a step back "Is there a bathroom I can use?"

"Yeah" I stand up "Follow me"

We slowly walk together to the bathroom "You got lucky" I look at her confused "You hurt her and I had to pick up the pieces! I was in line but I got forced away from her! Now you get a second chance?! How the fuck does that work?!"

"Because I apologized to her and showed I changed" I shake my head and scoff "Could you say the same?"

"I still love her" Tears fall down her face "I never got a fair chance! You turned her down and I never got my fair chance"

"So you look at your daughter who is wanting your approval and just say yeah?" I look behind her and sigh "Shelby"

"You hurt me too Mari" Mari turns and Shelby walks up more "We would love to have you here and see what comes...just don't ruin those girls"

"For you and Santana" Maribel looks at me "Thanks for showing me the bathroom"

Maribel walks into the bathroom and I sigh. The night didn't get too much better. We need to help her accept the girls. Cause I don't know if everyone can handle her not.

I don't think Santana can handle her not.