Santana still felt sick when she got home that afternoon. She rushed upstairs and into the shower as quickly as she could, throwing her messy clothes into the back of her closet so her grandmother wouldn't ask her any questions. Her mother died before she gave Santana anything to remember her by, and her father was always working at the hospital. She wrapped a towel around her body as she turned the hot water off, instantly noticing the way it didn't fit as easily as it did around her best friend's small frame. Looking in the mirror, she felt another wave of nausea come over her. She never thought she was that big. Sure, her clothes were a little snug sometimes, but that was only because they shrunk in the wash. And maybe she did eat more than her friends, but she was a growing girl. It'd always made sense.

And then it didn't anymore. Santana was disgusted with herself. Appalled that she'd let it get this far. She'd always known that she was bigger than the other girls at her school, but her dad always told her she was just big boned. And she believed all of it.

Unable to look at herself any longer, she went into her room to change into pajamas. Her grandmother interrupted her on the way, asking her how her day at school was.

"Fine," She replied quickly. But she was Santana's abuela, which meant that she could always tell when she was being lied to.

"Don't lie to me, nieta." She said, concern written all over her wrinkly face as she led the young girl onto her bed. "Tell me what happened. Rapido."

And Santana knew she meant business because normally, she'd at least try to speak fully in English. So she sat down on her bed, hugged her pillow tightly to her chest, and told her grandmother everything that happened. She tried her hardest not to cry, but looking into those big brown eyes, she couldn't help it. The fact that she was being comforted only made her cry more, which she hated.

"You're beautiful, Ana." Her grandmother rocked her as she cried, the way she used to when she was a baby. "Muy bonita. Your prince will come some day. And he will love you more than you ever thought possible."

Santana didn't believe her. Boys didn't like girls who looked the way she did. And they certainly didn't love them. But she didn't give up hope.

xxxxxx

It wasn't until dinner time that he decided to stop by her house, just to make sure she was okay. He had to wait until after practice, and had to lie about where he was going to Puck, but he figured it was better than nothing. He kept his hands in his pockets the entire time, trying to think of something to say that wouldn't make her cry again. But Finn wasn't the brightest bulb on the tree, and he'd probably end up doing it anyway.

He couldn't get her face off of his mind. No, not like that. Or maybe just a little bit like that, but he meant the way it looked only hours before. And ever since then, he'd wanted to tell her that he appreciated her, and that not every guy in the world was like Noah Puckerman.

But that's not what he said when he showed up at her door.

"Hey!" He kind of shouted at her when she opened it. She had on sweatpants and a big t-shirt. She looked like she was trying to hide something. She also looked more than a little shocked to see him standing there. Which she was.

"Finn?" Santana felt stupid right after she asked it. Obviously that was Finn. "What are you doing here?"

"I just.." Finn reached up to scratch the back of his neck. "Wanted to check on you. Make sure you were okay."

"Oh." She didn't really know what to say. They hadn't talked much besides in their science class, and even then it was hardly at all. So why was he standing on her front porch? And why did he care if she was alright?

"Are you?" He asked, bringing her back to full attention.

"Am I what?" She raised an eyebrow, and he thought it was really cute. But he didn't say that, either.

"Okay.."

"Oh!" Finn noticed her posture improve as she leaned against the door frame. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm good. Thank you for checking up on me, though. I really appreciate it."

"No problem. And I uh. I bought you something." Woah, what? "I remembered you saying a few weeks ago that you got a new binder. And you especially loved it because it had these flowers on it that reminded you of spring. And well, I kind of noticed today that it got some milk on it. I can't really give you what was inside it, but I figured I could at least replace it for you." He handed her the bag she hadn't even noticed he'd been holding.

"You did that for me?" The way she said it made Finn think that nice things weren't done for her often, and he nodded his head.

"I don't even know what to say." She looked like she might cry again, and that was the last thing he wanted. Before she realized what she was doing and before he could tell her that she didn't need to thank him, Santana placed a chaste kiss on his cheek.

Finn thought that he quite possibly could've been on fire. At least his cheeks were. She smiled when he turned bright red.

"I should go." He said quickly, not wanting to embarrass himself any further. "I'll see you at school tomorrow?"

"Yeah." She replied, waving him off. "Tomorrow."

Little did Finn know, that was the last time he'd see Santana for a very, very long time.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Okay, so this chapter was really boring. Which I hate doing to you guys because I'm literally blown away by the positive things I got on this story. Honestly, you're the best. But in the next chapter, they're back in high school. So that's when it starts to get good, I promise.

Thanks so, so much for everything!