After several nights of awkward encounters at the diner and vulnerable moments when Dani had felt ready to spill her guts out to Santana, it was approaching their week-long anniversary of working the graveyard shift together. Dani hadn't found Santana once on the Orange Line, but that was to be expected, given the length of each train. It was odd. She felt…safe around the girl, perhaps uncharacteristically so given her pre-disposition to assume that people hated her.

Dani had decided that this particular fault in her was intrinsic and that there was nothing she could do about, but as she got to know Santana better and as they helped each other around the diner making small talk, she began to feel as if this quality wasn't so inherent. Granted, she had only eaten a piece of fruit a day since the pancake fiasco the night before, so as she walked towards the Subway platform, she had a moment of self-confidence.

Sure, her period had disappeared – it hadn't been there for about three months – but if anything, Dani rejoiced in the missing enemy. After all, she knew she wasn't pregnant given her genetic dislike for anything penis-like. Dani didn't have time to worry about things like this. She had been pre-occupied with thoughts of Santana so much that, to her likes, she sometimes even forgot to eat. In Dani's mind, Santana was helping her.

Santana was flipping non-chalantly through a fashion magazine, focused more on the girls than the outfits, as she waiting for the Orange Line train to show up at the Washington Heights stop. She hadn't seen Dani on the train yet, but they often ran into each other getting off. As lights filled the tunnel with a screech, Santana put down the magazine, leaving her thumb as a placeholder. She then realized she was standing in front of the center compartment, and that Dani was right inside, quietly mouthing lyrics to whatever was on her iPod. Her hair blew in the rough stop of the train, and all Santana could think of was how beautiful she looked in that quick moment.

Santana boarded the train, purposefully sitting across from Dani and opening her magazine to act as if she had not seen the girl.

Though her eyes had closed, Dani quickly sensed the girl's presence and opened her eyes. "Santana?"

Confident to act careless, Santana pretended not to hear her.

"Hey! Santana!"

Finally, Santana looked up, a blank look of surprise gracing her face. "Oh! Hey, Dani! I guess we finally ran into each other, huh?"

Dani nodded, one ear bud dangling out of her ear. "Come sit by me," she said, patting the empty seat next to her.

Santana blushed. "Oh, um, okay."

Feeling high on her stomach, Dani smiled at the girl. "You're cute when you're embarrassed. Something tells me you usually refuse to let that happen to you."

Santana bit her lip. "Damn, you know me well already. I used to be the head bitch – captain of the cheer squad and everything."

"No shit!" Dani exclaimed, her eyes widening. "Cow-town Ohio had a lesbian cheer captain?"

Santana hesitated. "Kind of. I wasn't out until I was kind of forced out of the closet by the captain of the football team – also in glee club, coincidentally."

"Oh?" Dani pursed her lips, now openly showing her interest.

Santana took a watery breath.

"Sorry, hon, did I say something wrong?"

The darker girl shook her head. "No, no, you didn't know. He died, like, two months ago. Hit by a cocaine influenced driver. He fucked me over, but, y'know, it was a shock?"

Dani nodded, tentatively putting an arm over her as the Subway rattled to a stop at the next station.

Santana's eyes widened and she dared to look Dani in the eye. "It's a long story, so, um…"

"Shhh…Don't say anything you don't want to."

On a sudden whim, Santana grabbed the Dani's hand that rested on her shoulder. "Thank you," she said before letting out a small laugh. "I fucked him once, if you can believe that. My sophomore year."

Dani's mouth dropped as her eyes brightened. "You fucked guys, Miss Lima Lesbian?"

Santana grimaced and nodded. "Damn, do I regret it. Never even knew what a proper orgasm was until, like, a year and a half ago."

Dani popped her lips cheerfully and nodded, but then removed her arm and placed both of her hands reservedly in her lap.

"So does the rest of Groves know that you're the signature small-town Texas gay girl?"

Dani let some air out of a breath she was holding as she tried not to laugh. "Ha," she said coldly. "I haven't even heard from my parents since I got out of that hell-hole. They're probably telling everybody I went to college early because I was such a 'bright sunflower'," she said sarcastically, the sarcasm not reaching her eyes.

Santana grabbed a hand out of her lap. "I'm sorry."

"No."

"What do you mean, no?"

"I mean, no, don't hold my hand," Dani said, her body tensing at the contact.

Santana furrowed her brow and tried to keep her hard-edged exterior from appearing as hurt as she was from the blonde's rejection. "What? What the hell are you talking about?"

Dani sighed loudly. "I'm sorry. I really like you, Santana. I do. But you don't want me. I'm a fucking mess."

"No, you're not."

Dani changed her body language so her back was almost to Santana. "Yes, I am. Can this be done?"

Santana opened her mouth, unsure of what to say, but settled on opening her magazine so they could ride together until the diner, back-to-back in an awkward silence.

Gunther was still there when the two girls arrived at the Spotlight, something that both Santana and Dani were silently thankful for, so they could put off uncomfortably interacting for at least a small amount of time.

"Hey, girls," he said, "I was just getting ready for you two. I'll be out of your hair in just a few minutes," he said, winking.

Santana was the only one to talk. "Right, okay, see you later, Gunther."

The man shuffled around the diner for a few second more before bidding the two girls a good-bye, the creak of the door closing behind him lasting what seemed like an eon.

"I'm going to go fill the sugar caddies," Dani announced as she began shifting from table to table.

"Dani, wait."

The shorter girl turned around, a positively hostile look capturing her eyes. "What, Santana?"

Santana's forehead creased. "I'm sorry. I just don't know what I did. Whatever it is that's bothering you, you know you can let me in, right? I mean we spend eight hours alone each night. I just…don't want you hurting without me knowing."

Dani gritted her teeth while twirling a strand of hair in her fingers to try and look more charming. "I'm fine, Santana. I just got out of a bad relationship is all."

"Ah," Santana nodded understandingly at the lie. "I'm sorry; you can talk to me, though. Even though we've only been working together for a week, you can trust me."

Shoving Sweet 'n' Lows into a sugar caddy, Dani nodded slowly, refusing to make eye contact. She needed a release. Now. It was bad enough that she was feeling bad about herself, but now she was making Santana feel bad too. That merited some kind of release. She saw Santana prancing about the diner, tucking mustard bottles under her arm, and she felt sick at how satisfied the girl was with her lie.

Dani entered the kitchen and grabbed one of the smaller serrated knives from the knife block and stuck it into the waistband of her skirt, its cold handle pressing against her as she felt the warmth of the tip cut into her. "I'm just going to run to the bathroom," she informed Santana, before walking down the hallway.

"Okay."

As she entered the bathroom, Dani walked immediately into the furthest stall, and sat down on the toilet before lifting her shirt and creating a small incision in her waistline, almost immediately sighing out in relief. She knew that she had to work fast if she didn't want Santana to come looking for her, so she cut twice more, feeling ghosts exiting her body before she pressed toilet paper against the cuts, waiting for them to clot.

Unaware of what to do with the knife – Dani knew she couldn't risk Santana being in the kitchen – she opened the toilet tank and stuck it in, watching the knife submerge itself in the water.

"Dani?" she heard the darker girl's voice calling her.

Shit. "Yeah?"

"Whenever you're done, I'm going to need help with the ketchup."

The blonde breathed out a sigh of relief, feeling her cuts bend under the expansion. She exited the stall and turned on the sink to make it sound like she was washing her hands. "Okay, no problem. I'll be right out." As soon as she dried her hands, Dani exited the bathroom and plastered a smile onto her face for Santana's benefit.

"You okay? You were in there for a while."

Dani flushed. "Oh yeah, just…ate a big 'breakfast'. It happens."

Santana accepted the answer but still narrowed her eyes at the girl. "I could've sworn I heard your stomach rumbling on the subway."

Dani shrugged. "That's odd. I'm not hungry." And truth be told, she wasn't. She found it hard to lie to Santana as the brunette kept trying to break down her walls, but she knew it was necessary. She forced a smile. "I'm fine. Let's go fill up those ketchup bottles."