Hey guys...Sorry for the delay with this chapter..Ive been really struggling with real life recently and i guess this wasn't top of my priorities list! Anywho enough about me..Enjoy the chapter and please review! :)

Chapter 11

"Santana?"

Santana held her breath, trying to stifle her sobs, but only succeeding in hiccupping loudly. Throwing her hand over her mouth, she tried to stay as silent as possible as she listened to the person come further into the bathroom.

"Santana?" The Latina knew that voice, "I know you're in here Santana. Come on I just wanna talk." Santana couldn't stop another sob escaping as silent tears streamed down her face. She saw feet appear on the other side of the door, and a soft knock followed. "Santana please let me in. I want to help you." Santana let the words sink in. Somebody wanted to help her, to take care of her. Maybe this was just what Santana needed, especially after what had just happened in the hallway. Who was to say it wouldn't happen again? Santana sniffed loudly and reached up slowly and unlocked the door.

She looked up as it opened and was met with the head cheerleader, standing over her with a sad smile. Santana took one look at her and broke down into uncontrollable sobs once more. Quinn immediately dropped to her knees, pulling Santana into a strong embrace. They stayed there for what must have been half an hour, Santana weeping and Quinn trying desperately to comfort her while her own heart was breaking at the sight of her friend. Finally, Santana managed to control her sobs enough to choke out,

"Thank you, Quinn," The blonde Cheerio looked quizzically at the Latina, "For getting him off me…" Santana could feel fresh tears rising again at the mention of the incident, but managed to quell them as Quinn spoke.

"Don't worry about it, San," Quinn smiled softly, "He was obviously hurting you. It's what any friend would do." Santana couldn't help the small smile that crept onto her face at the mention of 'friend', it felt great to have someone else there for her, "And as a friend, I want you to tell me what's going on, San," the brunette's face immediately dropped, "I want you to trust me. You know you can." Quinn looked straight into the Latina's eyes, willing the answer out of her.

Santana was facing an internal struggle. She barely knew Quinn, had only met her a month ago. How was she supposed to know whether she could trust her or not? On the other hand, Quinn had been nothing but sweet and loyal to her since they had gotten to know each other. It would be great to have someone else to rely on, someone who genuinely wanted to help, and it wasn't fair to let Brittany deal with all of her problems.

"I…" Santana choked out. It had been so much easier to think about it, rather than try to say it out loud, "My dad…he…" The Latina felt moisture on her face again. It hadn't even been this hard to tell Brittany.

"San, what is it?" Quinn pushed gently, "Come on, let me help." The blonde put a comforting hand on the tanned girls arm, looking worriedly at the other girl. Santana cleared her throat gently, forcing the words out.

"He hits me," Santana heard the blonde take a sharp intake of breath, so she averted her eyes to the floor, knowing she wouldn't be able to continue if she looked at the cheerleader, "He's been hitting me for years, ever since my sister died eight years ago," another gasp, "I couldn't make him stop…" Santana trailed off, letting the tears consume her once more and collapsing into the blonde, who was left speechless, absentmindedly stroking the Latina's hair as she let all the tears fall.

Quinn didn't know how to feel about this confession from the brunette. Obviously, this was probably the worst situation imaginable. Ever since Santana had first blown up at her at Brittany's, the blonde had been racking her brain night and day, trying to figure out what was wring with the girl. And even with all her internal debating, she could never have pictured this. The Latina had obviously become an expert at covering up her feelings, fear and the marks he no doubt had left. Quinn had never even noticed any to be honest. Although, now that she thought about it, the brunette did seem to wear abnormally heavy clothes some days to school.

"Thank you for telling me, San," Quinn whispered to the Latina, "I can help you now." She felt the brunette nod slightly as she pulled her closer, feeling her own hot tears on her face.

xXx

Quinn pushed open the bathroom door leading to the hallway with her free hand, keeping her other safely around Santana's shoulders. The girl had managed to control her tears but was still sniffing miserably and couldn't stop shaking. Quinn led the Latina towards the main door of the building.

As they passed the football locker rooms, they heard a familiar voice.

"Hey Lopez!" Santana jumped about two feet in the air, and suddenly tried to dash from Quinn's arms as she realised who the voice belonged to. Quinn barely managed to restrain the terrified Latina and continued to lead her towards the door as Karofsky continued, "Can't wait for round two!" The huge football player laughed loudly at the death glare thrown his way by the blonde and turned to high five some of his team-mates. Quinn picked up her pace as they neared the door and burst out into the brightly lit evening. She made a beeline for her car, guiding Santana to the passenger side and then hopping in behind the wheel. Shooting off a quick explanatory text to Brittany, she pulled out of McKinley.

The car journey was pretty much silent other than the occasional sniffle from Santana who was huddled against the door of the car, looking dejectedly out the window. Quinn couldn't help but feel for the girl as she took in the mess that sat beside her. Make up running down her face, hair mussed up and curled into a ball on the seat, Santana looked somewhat like a child who had just seen a monster. Quinn knew that this was so much more than that. Karofsky had been very close to Santana and this had obviously brought back painful memories to the Latina. Who knows what would have happened to her if Quinn hadn't been in the right place at the right time.

Quinn sighed loudly as she pulled the car into her driveway and shut off the engine. Santana showed no sign of moving, so the blonde unbuckled the girl's seatbelt gently and stepped out of the car and around to her door, pulling it open and helping the non-responsive Latina out and through her front door.

Quinn led the brunette up the stairs to the guest bedroom and, without a word, pulled back the covers on the bed and helped Santana in, not even bothering to try undressing her, unsure of what her reaction would be. Santana pulled the covers around her shoulders and turned away from the blonde silently. Quinn got the hint and exited the room, shutting the door softly behind her.

As she emerged onto the hallway, she felt her phone vibrate. Pulling it out, she read the new message from Brittany:

OMG is she okay? Should I come over?

Quinn couldn't help but smile at Brittany's desire to help.

No don't worry B. I got this. She isn't in the mood for talking right now anyway. I'll drop her over later.

Quinn shut her phone, slipping it into her pocket as she made her way down the stairs and into the sitting room. Flopping down onto the couch, she pulled her knees up to her chest and began to cry.

Sorry about the shitness of this chapter but honestly it took a lot for me to sit down and write again.. :/ Anyway please review and let me know what you thought! :)