Hey guys! Here's a new chapter! Okay I'm not sure if many people are still reading this but to those of you who've stuck with it thank you so much! :) The reviews have slowed a bit but thats ok! As long as you guys are enjoying it thats all that matters! (Although reviews are super awesome too! ;)) Anyway enjoy!

Chapter 7

Monday morning, Santana found herself standing in front of the bathroom mirror, looking at her reflection. The rest of the holidays had passed by quickly. She had heard nothing more from her mother or the hospital with news on her father. It seemed he still wasn't awake and Santana didn't mind a bit.

She still had vivid nightmares every night, but with Brittany there beside her, she felt as though she was beginning to cope with them. The two girls had spent every day of the past week enjoying each other's company, playing outside in the snow, going for walks or just curling up under a blanket in front of the TV together. Santana finally felt as though she belonged somewhere, that she was loved despite all her problems and faults.

The pain of not being loved by her own family and the fear that her father would come looking for her once he got out of the hospital still plagued her and she often found herself opening the liquor cabinet and sneaking a drink here and there. She would immediately feel guilty for breaking the Pierce's trust after all they were providing her, but her need to numb the stabbing pain that resided in her heart ultimately continually won out.

As she stared at her reflection in the mirror, she had to admit that she was looking a lot better. All of her remaining bruises from the accident had faded and the cast on her leg had been removed so she could now walk freely again. All that remained as evidence of the crash were a few small scars on her face and arms that could be easily covered. She was eating properly again and her body looked healthier than it had in years. Physically she felt great.

Unfortunately, the holidays were now over and she would be forced to leave her safe haven, the place where she was finally starting to feel secure, and enter William McKinley High School, a place of bullying, homophobia and cruelty. Ever since she had started hanging around with Brittany, people had started to notice her. She had been attracting unwanted attention from a lot of the football players and other jerks in the school who would make sleazy comments as she passed and were constantly trying to hit on her. She had managed to block them out most of the time as they were the least of her worries, but now she was not looking forward to having to fend them off in her weakened state. She had had enough of guys, Brittany was all she needed. Still, she was afraid of what people would think of her. She's seen how badly that openly gay kid, Kurt, gets treated and has no doubt that she would be treated the exact same way if people knew about hers and Brittany's relationship. She just wasn't ready for that type of shit just yet, just as she's finally managing to get her life back on track

Santana was broken from her thoughts by a gentle knock on the bathroom door and a soft voice coming from beyond it.

"San? Come on we're gonna be late," Brittany called into her girlfriend. Santana smiled, knowing how much Brittany hated to be late for anything, so she turned around and opened the door to a flustered looking blonde, "Come on S!" she said, a little more urgently, grabbing hold of Santana' hand and leading her out the door.

"Geez Britt! Calm down! You're acting like the world is ending or something!" Santana joked as the two girls hopped into Brittany's car and sped off down the road.

Ten minutes later, Brittany pulled the car into a space in the Mckinley High parking lot. She immediately made to get out of the car, only to be stopped by a gentle hand on her wrist. She turned around to find Santana looking fearfully at her. Concern immediately overtook her and she halted her movements.

"San is something wrong?" Brittany asked, eyes growing wide with concern as she held one of Santana's hands between her own. Santana looked away before speaking quietly.

"Britt I love you," Santana began, Brittany smiled and made to cut in to share the sentiment, but was cut off by the Latina beside her, "I mean, I really love you, I do, but…" Santana trailed off, looking up into concern-filled ocean blue eyes, "I'm not-I'm not ready to go p-public with us yet," Santana stuttered, not sure if Brittany would get what she was saying. She looked into the blonde's eyes and could see the hurt in them.

"Are you saying that you don't want to be with me?" Brittany asked, feeling tears pricking at the backs of her eyes as she tried to grasp the meaning of the Latina's words.

"No, no! Of course I want to be with you Britt-Britt," Santana coaxed gently, "I just-I just need some time okay?" Santana squeezed Brittany's hand softly, giving her a pleading smile and was relieved when she felt a slight bit of pressure from the blonde, who nodded her head slightly.

"Okay," Brittany said quietly, giving her girlfriend an understanding smile and turning back to the door, "Now let's go! We're definitely late now!" Brittany hopped out of the car and Santana let out a huge sigh of relief at Brittany's understanding, following her out of the car and into the school building.

xXx

Santana slammed the door to her locker shut and exhaled loudly. She had made it to lunch time without anything major going down. Sure, there had been stares and a few guys had made some crude comments, but she had managed to simply ignore them and get on with her day. She honestly felt that with Brittany by her side, she could handle anything. Any classes she had that Brittany wasn't in, she would sit quietly either concentrating on her work or texting her blonde girlfriend, taking no notice of anything that was said to her by the football jerks.

Santana turned away from her locker to go to lunch, still deep in her own thoughts, and walked straight into a body. She was about to curse the person out of it, until she realised with relief that it was the very blonde she had been missing in her last few classes.

"Hey B!" Santana greeted, giving her girlfriend a warm smile, "Ready to go to lunch?" At these words, Santana noticed the blonde girl's face fall and she looked away guiltily.

"San I can't, I'm sorry," Brittany looked up at her girlfriend, "Coach Sylvester organised a lunchtime Cheerios practice and said if we don't go, we're off the squad," This time it was the Latina's face that fell, "Will you be okay by yourself? I mean, we have Glee straight after so you'll see me then."

"Yeah of course Britt!" Santana slapped on a smile, though inside she was terrified of being left alone for all of lunch, "I'll be fine. Meet you outside the choir room?" Brittany grinned happily, before giving her girlfriend a tight hug.

"Yeah I'll see you there San!" she called over her shoulder as she bounded off to Cheerios. Santana turned and headed for the cafeteria. Finding an empty table in the corner, she sat down to eat her lunch in peace and quiet. Unfortunately, that didn't last long, as she soon felt an arm being thrown over her shoulders and a large body sliding in to sit beside her. The Latina flinched at the sudden physical contact and flung herself hastily off the seat. She turned to find David Karofsky, the huge football player, sitting on the seat she had just vacated, not so subtly checking her out.

"Hey baby," Karofsky sneered, while still openly leering at her, "I thought you might like some company. Can't have a fine girl like you getting lonely now can we?" He let out a chuckle and winked at her, before returning to staring at her. Santana scoffed loudly.

"No thanks," Santana spat, rolling her eyes and turning away, wanting to get as far away from the cafeteria as possible. She could hear Karofsky wolf whistle as she marched out the door without looking back.

xXx

"Hey Britt," Santana breathed out heavily as the blonde bounded up to her outside the choir room. She was relieved to be in the company of her girlfriend again after the experience at lunch had left her a bit shaken. It was then that she noticed the other blonde standing behind Brittany, looking awkward.

"San, I'd like you to meet Quinn, my friend from Cheerios I was telling you about," Brittany gestured towards the hazel-eyed blonde behind her, "Quinn this is Santana, my gir-my friend." Brittany blushed furiously at the small slip up, but Quinn didn't seem to notice as she held out her hand to the Latina.

"Santana, I've heard so much about you," Quinn offered the brunette a friendly smile as they shook hands, "It's great to finally put a name to the face." Santana returned the smile. She liked this girl already. She was completely different to the HBIC exterior she had seen her wearing around the halls.

"You too," Santana replied, smiling warmly, before turning to Brittany, "Are you ready then?" Brittany nodded excitedly as Quinn led the way into the choir room. All eyes turned to the three girls as they entered. Quinn approached Mr Schuester and muttered something to him, before taking a seat beside a mohawked boy who was practically drooling over the two girls. Mr Schuester offered the two nervous teens a reassuring smile, before turning to the group.

"Okay guys, we have two new members joining us today!" He gestured to Brittany and Santana, "Girls, why don't you tell us a bit about yourselves?" The two girls looked nervously at each other, before Brittany stepped forward.

"Um, I'm Brittany S. Pierce," she began, addressing the club, "I'm a Cheerio and I love to dance. I like animals too and I have a cat called Lord Tubbington who likes to read my diary and eats a lot," various people sniggered at this, but it went completely unnoticed by the blonde who was happy to have gotten it over with and took a seat beside Quinn, leaving Santana standing in front of the class. She cleared her throat nervously as she began to speak.

"Hi I'm uh-I'm Santana Lopez," the Latina stuttered, clearly struggling, "Oh God, I really don't know what to say," she chuckled nervously, blushing as she looked away from the faces in front of here, "I like to sing, I guess. That's kinda it…" Santana trailed off, feeling as though she'd just made a fool of herself, she was grateful when Mr Schuester gestured for her to sit down and she plopped into the seat beside Brittany, immediately hiding her face in her hands.

"Ok girls!" Mr Schuester clapped his hands once, "Welcome to Glee Club!" The club broke into applause and Mr Schuester began the lesson. Santana was glad the attention was finally off her as the club began to chat excitedly about their recent win at Sectionals and looking forward to Regionals.

By the end of the meeting, Santana was more than ready to leave the choir room. She had enjoyed the lesson. Something about Glee Club made her feel safe. Everyone was really nice and friendly to her. They were almost like a family. There were no sleazy boys, with the exception of the mohawked boy, who Santana found out was Puck, who kept stealing glances at the Latina, but she didn't mind so much because he seemed like a bit of an idiot anyway.

As she and Brittany made there way to the door, she felt a light tap on her shoulder. She turned around to find an almost miniature girl standing in front of her. Rachel, she remembered her name was. She was the one with the amazing voice who couldn't control her tears while she had sung her latest solo at the end of the meeting.

"Hello," the small brunette smiled widely, "I'm Rachel Berry and on behalf of all of us, I would like to formally welcome both of you to Glee Club. As the most vocally experienced and talented member of the group, I just wanted to inform you that if you ever need vocal training or help with a song, I'm always willing to share my superior knowledge…" Santana slowly began to block out the increasingly annoying voice of the girl in front of her. Before she knew it, Brittany was dragging her out the door and she offered Rachel a small smile before following her girlfriend out.

Once they reached Brittany's car, the blonde turned to her girlfriend and pulled her in close by the waist, smiling gently.

"Thank you for joining Glee Club with me," she murmured, pecking the Latina on her nose, "I really think it could help you." Brittany began to lay soft kisses on her girlfriend's jaw. Santana exhaled loudly.

"I hope so," she whispered, before being pulled into the car by Brittany.

Hope that chapter was okay! So I brought some new characters in here! :D Feel free to drop a review and let me know what you thought! :) Thanks for reading! :D