I have a feeling you are all going to enjoy this chapter quite a bit if your into the Santana/Zoe relationship... and the next one a lot too ;)

Santana's POV

Santana sighed, watching the rain pour outside from her bedroom window. The rain had been on and off all day, and it had taken a break around the end of the school day. She noticed how cold it was starting to get outside, and realized the rain would very soon be turning into snow. It was coming incredibly late this year.

She groaned when she had thought of the events that had taken up her day. She had to sit in Figgins office forever, and after that it was clean-up crew for the next few weeks for the both of them. But it was all worth it. She would do anything to help Zoe. She just wanted to protect her.

Suddenly, her phone began to vibrate loudly on her nightstand. She sat up in her bed, reached over and looked to see who was calling. Her stomach dropped.

Call from: Zoe

What if she was calling about how Ariana had accused her of being in love with her? What if she was mad? She almost pressed the big, red 'Ignore' button, but she resisted. Zoe was a sweet girl. She probably was calling her for other reasons. She clicked answer and put the phone to her ear.

"Hey," she said. She couldn't help but smile just thinking about her friend on the other line. She laid herself on her stomach, trying to get more comfortable.

"Santana?" said Zoe. "Oh thank God..."

Santana let out a breath of relief. She obviously wasn't mad.

But something else was wrong, and she could tell by the way Zoe had said the words. She sounded... distressed.

Just as Santana was about to say something, Zoe cut her off unintentionally. "I really need to thank you. I really appreciate it. You are... so incredible for doing what you did today, but you really didn't have to go as far as you did. I don't want you getting in too much trouble for me." Her voice sounded soft and weak, like she was trying to keep it down, or something was subduing her voice.

Santana laughed. "Of course. I would do anything for you," she said, lowering her gaze. Realizing how that could sound a little weird, she coughed and added, "But, uh, I mostly did it because that girl was a bitch. And I mean, like, a big one. I thought I was bad..."

She heard Zoe scoff. "You're not like her. You actually have a heart and a sense of compassion..."

Santana smiled and felt her heart rate speed up. "Well, your welcome. And don't worry, I'm not in that big of trouble. I have to stay after school and clean up stuff for a week or two. Principal Figgins is a weakling when it comes to punishments... "

Zoe laughed. But Santana's smile vanished when she heard Zoe's laugh cut off as she muttered a small but audible "Ow."

She was frowning now. "Are you okay?" she asked. "It kind of sounds like you're in pain or something..."

Zoe sighed. "Well... this is kinda the reason I called you. After school today, I came here to my house with Cooper."

Startled, Santana threw back her head slightly. "Wait. That guy in the band who kissed you? You're friends now?"

"Please don't be mad," she said. "He's really sweet, Santana, and I really like him..."

A horrible feeling washed over her. The one person she cared about more than anything in this world was falling for someone else... she felt like she had the strength to rip a phone book in half.

"So he was at my house, and I, um, sort of kissed him..."

Santana closed her eyes. It took everything inside of her not to scream and throw her phone across the room. But she kept her cool. If she was a friend who didn't have feelings for her, she would be happy for her. And that is exactly what she wanted to portray herself as.

"Really?" she said, trying to keep an even, level voice. "Well, if he is a nice guy, and you both like each other, then I guess that's fine..."

She could tell that Zoe was happy that she said that. "Yeah, and everything was going great, until..."

A confused look crossed Santana's face. "Until what?"

"Well, um... my dad walked in. And he was more drunk than I've ever seen him, Santana..." she began.

Remembering Zoe's story, her eyes widened. "Ohmygod," she said. "Was he mad?"

"Well... yes. He kicked Cooper out, and..." There was a pause. Santana felt like it was unnaturally long. She waited in anticipation for Zoe to continue.

She heard something over the phone that made her own heart break in two. It was the sound of Zoe crying. And Santana could tell that whatever she was going to say next was serious.

"Santana, do you remember how I told you that my dad had never abused me before, except only once when he slapped me?"

Santana felt her stomach flip. She did not like where this was going at all. "Y-yes..." she stuttered.

"That was true up until this moment." She began to cry harder.

Santana threw her hand over her mouth. "Zoe, I am so sorry... Are you okay?!"

"No!" she exclaimed. "Santana, I'm in so much pain... I need help..."

"He hurt you that badly?" she responded. She could feel her heart being shattered and ground up into dust. She could barely listen to this.

"San?" She asked. Santana couldn't help but smile at the nickname she had just given her. No one had ever called her that before.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"A-Are you free tonight? Because I need to come over... I have no one else to turn to..." she stuttered in between sniffles.

"Of course," she replied. "But are you sure you don't want me to come over there? If you're in pain it could be hard coming over here... and this rain is getting worse."

"No. I need to come over to your house. My dad will get super pissed if you come here. I'm going to have to sneak out."

Santana felt excitement rush through her body. "Yeah, okay," she said. "My parents are out for tonight, tomorrow and the weekend, so if you want we can just ditch school tomorrow, and stay here together..." The thought of this caused a warm, tingly sensation to race up and down her body. "And you can stay for as long as you like."

"I like that idea," she said. "A lot. See you soon."

"Okay."

Just as she was about to hang up, she heard Zoe say, "Wait."

Santana put the phone back to her ear. "Hm?"

"You... you are the most incredible person I have ever known. Ever."

And with that, Zoe hung up before Santana could respond.

Pure bliss coursed through her veins. Those words were all she needed to feel incredible. She put her phone down, a smile crossing her face.

Around 7:30 pm, Santana heard soft knock at her door. She flew down the stairs, energy sparking inside of her. She was dressed in a black tank top with "I 'heart' NY" on it in white and red, and her shorts were pink with black polka-dots and yellow daisies. She felt the need to look good. Taking a deep breath, she placed her hand on the cool, brass door handle and turned the knob, the door swinging towards her.

Santana gasped, her eyes widening.

Standing in front of her was Zoe. But it wasn't anything she had ever expected. She was completely soaked from the rain, her blue hair sticking to her face and her clothing almost hanging off of her. Santana felt a tear rush down her cheek as she noticed the huge gash in her leg. Zoe looked up at her with huge, helpless green eyes.

"H-Hey," she stuttered.

Santana immediately rushed to her side, holding her up just before she collapsed into her arms. She could feel her cold body shivering against her own and she gently picked the girl up before she could protest and brought her inside. Santana couldn't even believe this was happening.

She quickly shut the door with her back and rushed over to the couch, gently setting her down on the couch.

"Zoe, this is horrible! You didn't tell me that your dad hurt you this bad! I would have come over and helped you sooner if I'd known... I'm so sorry..."

"Trust me, Santana. This isn't your fault. Thank you," she murmured.

Santana sat there, kneeling over her for a few moments, and looked at her, a worried look plastered to her face. She began to stroke her wet, blue hair. She pushed it out of her face, feeling her soft, cold cheeks under her warm hand. She couldn't help but break into a small smile.

"I'll go get some towels and something dry for you to wear." She paused, looking her straight in her green eyes. "I owe you one. You took care of me when I came to you, and now its my turn to help you."

Zoe smiled. "After what you did for me today, you never have to owe me."

Santana felt her stomach twinge with a warm, pleasant feeling that spread throughout her body. She got up and rushed upstairs, fetching clothes and towels. As she came back down and helped Zoe up, leading her to the bathroom, she handed them to her.

"Are... you sure you don't need any help with changing or anything? You look really hurt," she said, awkwardly looking to the side.

Zoe laughed. "I'll be okay."

Santana waited outside the bathroom. When the door opened, she helped her limp over back to the couch. Santana fetched a pillow for her to lie on, covering it with a towel so her damp hair wouldn't get it wet. Then, after fetching cloth, rags, hydrogen peroxide and pain killers she found in her mom's medicine cabinet, she sat down on the edge of the couch, a rag ready in her hand.

"Okay. I'm going to have to clean you gash. This is going to hurt a little bit, okay?"

She nodded. "I trust you."

Santana poured the hydrogen peroxide on her cut, careful not to get it all over her couch. The solution created a thick, white foam, and she felt Zoe wince. "Ow," she muttered. She wiped the excess blood off of her leg.

Zoe eyed her suspiciously, wincing from pain every few moments. "Since when did you become so good with treating wounds?"

Santana shrugged, still looking down at her leg. "I was the school nurse for a few days. After I dressed up as a school nurse and purposely gave Finn mono, I actually tried helping out around there a few days after, which isn't like me at all, so I have no idea why I did it. But, I learned a lot... you'd be surprised how many accidents happen at our weird school."

Zoe couldn't help herself from letting a small giggle escape. "You purposely gave Finn Hudson mono?!"

Santana sighed, smiling and remembering when she thought she had been romantically attracted to him. Those were the days. She had no idea what a real crush felt like back then... "It's... a long story. Finn and I have a lot of history."

Zoe was laughing harder now. Santana looked up, laughing a little, too. "What?" she asked.

Zoe simply smiled, her emerald eyes filled with happiness, despite all of the things that had been happening to her. "You're funny," she answered. She looked down, still smiling "You make me so happy, Santana. And you help me forget everything bad happening." She looked into her coffee brown eyes. "You always make me laugh, even through your insults, which are mean, but incredibly amusing at the same time..."

Santana, still smiling herself, looked down and went back to helping her cut, butterflies fluttering around in her stomach.

Suddenly, she noticed something. A bit of Zoe's skin was showing where the bottom of her t-shirt and the top of her shorts met, and it was oddly discolored. Frowning, she pointed towards the discoloration.

"What's that on your stomach?" she asked, suddenly curious.

Zoe's smile faded. "N-Nothing," she stuttered, quickly pulling down the shirt over it. As she did this, her hand moved along the discolored skin, and Santana noticed that her entire body flinched violently.

"Ah!" yelped Zoe. Her whole face scrunched together.

"What the hell!?" exclaimed Santana. "Zoe, move your hand. This obviously isn't nothing."

"I really don't want you to worry about it, San. You've done plenty of nice things for me."

Santana glared at her. "Move your hand," she said in a stubborn tone.

Reluctantly, Zoe moved it. Santana pulled up her shirt just a few inches and her jaw dropped. There was a gigantic bruise covering at least a third of her stomach.

"Zoe!" Santana exclaimed. "This is really bad! I can help."

"Please, I'm okay," said Zoe.

Santana threw her a look. "No, you're not. You need help with this bruise, sweetie. It's serious."

She stood up, moving to her kitchen, and poured her a glass of water. When Santana wasn't looking, Zoe helped herself sit up, continuing to wince. Santana filled a plastic bag with ice and walked over with the glass in her other hand. She sat down next to Zoe, put the glass on the table, opened the orange bottle of pills, and shook one into her hand. She placed the pill and the glass of water in her hands.

"That will make it feel way better," she said.

Zoe eyed the capsule suspiciously. "...Santana, where did you get this?"

She shrugged. "My mom's cabinet. Don't worry, I read the label, it doesn't have any bad side effects, except if you count a little bit of drowsiness bad."

She still looked unsure. "I dunno, San... she won't get mad, right?"

Santana laughed. She pushed back a piece of her blue hair. "Don't you trust me? I said don't worry about it. I've taken it before. Nothing will happen except your pain will go away." Santana wished she had a pill to make the pain in her heart go away. She liked her so much, it was nearly crushing her...

Zoe nodded and took the pill, gulping down the water. "Thanks," she said sweetly. "I don't know what I'd do without you..." She smiled, biting the corner of her lip and looking diagonally towards the ground.

Santana could barely take it anymore. She wanted her so badly. It was driving her crazy. She scanned her with her dark, coffee eyes, not even knowing what to do about it anymore.

"Uhm, I know this sounds weird," she started, "but I need to put this medicine on your stomach, and to do that, I need you to take off your shirt."

"Santana, please, you've done enough for me. I'm okay!" she said, slowly turning her injured body towards her.

Santana sighed. "No, your not okay. That bruise is... huge, to say the least. I'm not an expert on bruises but if you don't let me help you, it could continue to be extremely painful, or get worse..."

It was Zoe's turn to sigh. "You're right," she murmured. "I am hurt pretty bad." She looked at Santana. "I just don't want to take up your time or anything."

Santana burst into laughter. "It's not like I have anything better to do," she said. "You're too polite."

Zoe smiled. She grabbed the bottom of her shirt, lifted her arms and peeled it off of her body in one fluid motion. Her bruise was bigger and worse than she even thought; it started just below her bra and covered at least a third of the left side of her stomach, going down all the way near her lower abdomen.

For a moment, Santana was speechless. The fact that the bruise looked so bad and that she wasn't even wearing a shirt caused her to run out of words. She scooted closer, carefully opening the top of the ointment bottle and squirting it into her hand.

"Do you mind?" she asked. Zoe looked at her in the eye, shaking her head. Her eyes lever left Santana as Santana looked down and put her hand on her stomach. Zoe winced several times, letting out painful moans. Santana felt her soft skin under her fingertips, and her tight, muscled stomach, even though badly discolored, still drove Santana crazy. She wasn't sure how much more of this she could take before she'd lean in and kiss her.

After she had finished, she handed Zoe the bag of ice. "You... can put your shirt on again," she said. Santana hadn't even noticed how close their faces were. She could close the distance between their lips so easily... But she knew her boundaries. She had probably already crossed them by asking her to strip down to her bra and let her rub medicine on her bare stomach. What the hell was I thinking?

Zoe nodded, grabbing her shirt and proceeding to put it back on. Santana moved away slightly, giving her space. As she grabbed the bag of ice, Santana noticed Zoe's eyelids beginning to get heavier. It was only about 8 pm, but she could tell Zoe had had an incredibly eventful, treacherous day.

"I'll go get you blankets," she said. "You look really tired."

Before Zoe could protest, she yawned, her mouth widening as far as it could. "Yeah," she giggled. "I guess you're right."

As Santana fetched the blankets and walked back over to the couch, Santana noticed Zoe appeared to be already asleep. She was laying down, eyes closed, the ice on her stomach. Santana knelt beside her head, looking at her blue-haired friend. She was like a tiny, injured angel. She put the blankets over her, making sure they were comfortably placed, and moved the ice bag. After a few moments of taking in the sight of her yet again, she ever so slightly leaned over her, stroking her blue hair out of the way, and lightly placed her lips on her forehead, keeping them there for a few breathtaking moments. When her lips broke contact, she stood up and raced towards the stairs, gracefully gliding up them.

Zoe

The moment she was gone, Zoe opened her eyes. She hadn't been asleep at all. She had felt everything. Maybe Ariana's out-of-the-blue statement wasn't so out there at all. Why hadn't Santana told her she felt this way towards her? Zoe doubted that that kiss on her forehead had been purely out of friendship. Zoe had felt heavy pain and emotion coming through Santana's lips. And although Zoe didn't expect to feel anything except pity for her friend when this happened (because Zoe was positive she was straight), she felt a tingling, warm feeling coming alive in her stomach. She realized she had been feeling the same thing when Santana had been rubbing that medicine on her bruise, and even though she had identified herself as straight for quite some time, suddenly Zoe wasn't so positive anymore.

All she knew was that something about that kiss on her forehead felt... right.