a/n: Hello! As it stands, this is the final part of the originally planned series. I'd like to thank all those who have read and/or reviewed, favorited and/or followed. I know this is sadly not as popular a pairing as it could have been (the show really dropped the ball) so really, it's meant the world to me that anyone has taken the time to read. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this part :)
tw: mentions of an eating disorder, self-harm, alcohol & drug abuse
[6/6]
"She just won't lay off my back. I swear, all she does is find new things to criticize at every practice. Like, what the fuck did I ever do to her?" Santana complains, as she shuts her locker.
Once again, she's completely and utterly pissed. And the day has only just started.
"Maybe she just strives for perfection." Rachel answers trying to find a logical reasoning behind the girl that continually seems to torment Santana.
"Maybe she's just a bitch."
"Seriously Santana, if you can't even get such simple choreography down what are you even doing here?"
She's out of breath. The dancing is hard and Santana knows she isn't at her best – but she's miles ahead of every other Cheerio out on the field...Except maybe Brittany, but that's understandable.
What isn't understandable though, is the fact that Sylvester's new lap dog has decided to once again single her out, like she's the only one who's messing up. Santana is so over it.
"You know what, Dani?" She says, as she steps toward the blonde girl. She's about to go all Lima Heights right now, before strong arms wrap around her waist and pull her back.
"Stop the violence." Brittany says. It's enough to deflate Santana.
She still glares daggers at Dani for the rest of the practice.
"I don't get you. You seem to be this nice chick to just about everyone else on the squad but me. What the fuck have I ever done to you? Why are you such a bitch to me?" She hadn't mean to confront the girl – she'd promised Brittany, who had said nothing but nice things about Dani – but, as Santana came out of the shower, the last girl to do so thanks to the extra laps she had to do for her small outburst, the only girl left in the locker room was, unsurprisingly, Dani. Santana just couldn't help herself.
"You know what, Santana? Maybe I'm not a bitch and the truth is you're just a terrible cheerleader." Dani replies, slamming her locker shut and glaring at the brunette.
"Oh, come the fuck on, Dani. We both know that is so not it. You're a bitch to me and only me. You have some personal vendetta against me for no damn good reason and I think it's time you finally just fucking admit it." Santana's rambling and she knows it, but the longer she goes on, the more agitated Dani seems to be getting and really, all she's looking for is some reaction that will explain why the hell Dani has it out for her. "It's definitely not for the benefit of the squad, it's for your own sick pleasure and really if you just want to throw down fucking grow some cojones and tell me 'cause I am down to -"
Suddenly Dani lunges forward. Santana's words die in her throat as she's expecting a hit. Instead, she's met with the pressure of lips against her own.
Holy shit.
Dani is kissing her.
Kissing her.
Santana barely has time to react before it's over – and holy hell that explains so much.
Dani pulls away with nothing but complete pain in her eyes. Santana can't help but reach for the girl's hand as she turns to walk away.
"Wait." she says. And as her hand captures Dani's wrist, a new revelation comes.
Dani flinches before she forcefully pulls her hand back. "Let go." she says, her voice cracking. She picks up her bag and practically sprints out of the locker room.
Santana collapses onto one of the benches.
What the hell is going on?
"We need to talk."
It's been two days of Dani avoiding her. Usually Santana would be ecstatic, but after what happened between them, she knows a lot has to be sorted out.
"No, we don't." Dani says, as she starts to walk down the hall away from her locker. The bell has already signaled the start of the next period, meaning the hallway is empty, save for the two girls who are already late.
"Oh, so you didn't kiss me the other day and those aren't scars on your wrist." Santana says bluntly. She needs answers and if being insensitive is the only way to get them, well then so be it. The ends justify the means and all that shit.
Dani stops in her tracks, but doesn't flinch. She turns around slowly before completely facing Santana again.
"Did you know that your friend Quinn used to call me Mammoth whenever she saw me? Said that I was too fat to even wear a cheerleading uniform." Dani says, her voice completely devoid of any emotion. Like she's stating facts about the weather, and not revealing to Santana what her old best friend used to do.
"I –" Santana starts to answer – or try to come up with an answer – before she gets cut off.
"No, you don't. Because you spent that whole time just worshiping the ground she walked on. You and all your little friends. Did you know I spent all of freshman year throwing up every single meal I ate? And then when that wasn't enough to stop me from hating myself I started to cut?"
Santana's mouth goes dry. The whole conversation almost feels surreal. Because certainly, this can't be really happening, can it?
"Did you know that it took me all of last year just to reach a healthy weight and to stop the urges from taking control?" Dani asks, her voice still controlled, but with tears starting to form in her eyes.
"Dani..." Santana says softly. She doesn't know what she's supposed to say, but she feels like she should be saying something, anything.
"Did you know that this whole mess started because she saw the way I looked at you?" Dani's voice cracks. Her emotions finally getting the best of her. "How she needed to own you and no on else could have you. So she threatened to tell my parents, my parents, who would throw me out on the street the minute they'd find out." Dani says, and she's crying now.
"I used to be jealous of whoever got the chance to kill her, because she turned me into this. But now.." A bitter laugh escapes her before she continues. "Now I wish she was still around so I could ask her why the fuck she decided to ruin my life."
Quinn Fabray had gone missing the year before and her body was found only 3 months ago. It's still hard to believe it all even happened. In the time that's passed though, Santana has seen a change in the people in school. Dani had been one of those people. She'd started to pick on Santana during practices, but now... Now Santana knows that's it's all due to the torment she received at the hands of a girl Santana used to call her best friend.
"So no, we can't talk."
"You're drunk."
It's the first thing that comes out of her mouth, but really, the only thing keeping the girl on her feet is the door-frame.
"My parentsare in Cleveland. Whatare you doing here?" Dani slurs.
"I came to apologize." Santana answers. She's taken a few days to really try to wrap her head around everything Dani had revealed to her. It hadn't been easy. She'd cried and ended up going to her mother for advice.
A few days before Quinn had disappeared, Santana had officially cut ties with her. It had taken her a while to see it, but once she had, it was hard to miss. Quinn was one hell of a magnetic personality and for every person she pulled in, a new wave of chaos would come as well.
"Why?" Dani asks as she walks back toward what seems to be the living room.
There are bottles and cans everywhere. The stench of alcohol as unmistakable as the identity of the white powder on the small coffee table in the middle of the room.
Dani collapses onto her couch and Santana slowly moves to sit next to her before saying what she needed to.
"Because there wasn't a reason why. Quinn did whatever she wanted to and it was all just for kicks. You didn't deserve that. And I'm sorry."
Dani looks at her then. Their eyes meet and Santana can see the painful reality behind the mask the girl wears.
"I used to dream you'd stand up to her for me. That you'd save me." She says.
Santana has to swallow the lump in her throat before speaking again. "I'm here now. And I'd like to think I'm not the same person I was when she was around. I'm... I'm here." She says, because there's not much else she can say.
She helped Quinn destroy this girl by not doing anything to stop her.
"I'm not okay." Dani says as she starts to cry.
Santana pulls her into her arms and cries too.
"I know."
It's the beginning of the new semester. Winter break had come and gone and as Santana stands in front of her locker, she gets nudged by Rachel. When Santana looks at her, Rachel gestures toward the end of the hall. Standing there, is Dani.
Santana closes her locker and walks over to the empty classroom the – now pink-haired girl – had entered.
"Hey." Santana says, as she softy closes the door behind her.
"Hey." Dani answers with a smile.
"You look good." And she does. Her smile comes across as genuine, rather than forced. The new hair color makes her look vibrant – makes her look alive. It's a look that Santana plans to never take for granted again.
Dani is glowing and it's a beautiful sight to behold.
"Yeah well, turns out coming out to my parents, moving in with my aunt, and spending all of my winter break in treatment was a step in the right direction." Dani says.
"I'm proud of you. You are so strong."
"Thank you. I learned that I had to be the one to save myself, you know? Still, you played a big part in helping me get better." Dani says.
"All I did was show up at your house." Because it's true. She'd spent that night just holding the girl. The next day she'd helped her clean up the living room and had been there while the girl called her aunt and asked for help. All Santana had done was hold her hand through it.
"No, you did more than that. You, cared. No one had ever done that before." And it's the sincerity in the girl's voice that makes Santana start to lose her composure.
"Dani –"
"So thank you." Dani cuts her off before she can get much further. "See you around Lopez." With that she walks to the door. As she opens it she lets out one last thing before leaving the room.
"By the way, your dancing still needs work!"
Santana can't help but laugh.
It's so fucking true.
"Hi."
"Hi." Santana answers.
It's been a few weeks since the conversation she and Dani had in the classroom. She'd thought about approaching the girl, but had decided to wait for her to do it. Dani was getting her life in order and Santana had been content to just watch.
"I'm going to ask you something and you need to answer honestly, okay? Because having the courage to be honest is a big part of my recovery and getting honesty in return helps more than you can imagine." Dani explains.
"Okay."
"Do you want to go to dinner with me on Friday?" She sounds confident, but Santana can see the way she's playing with the sleeves on her sweater.
"Yes."
It's the most honest thing she's ever said.
"I had a great time tonight." Santana says as they exit Breadstix.
If someone had told her a year ago that this would be her life today, she probably would have laughed at the absurdity of it all. But now, standing outside her favorite restaurant looking at a girl with pink hair, flushed cheeks, and a barely contained smile, Santana can't help but think that life works in mysterious ways.
"Me too." Dani answers. It takes her a moment – and Santana can see the processing in her eyes – but then Dani leans forward and softly presses her lips against Santana's.
It's nothing like that first kiss – which was more of a break. A sign of desperation, a cry for help. It had been her giving up.
This kiss though, which Santana doesn't hesitate to deepen by cupping the girl's face, isn't any of that. This one is part of a fix. A sign of elation, a sign of promise. It's her starting over.
And Santana is more than happy to be along for the ride.
Inspired by Pretty Little Liars.
a/n: I have some bonus chapters in the works. Give me a few days to sort out some IRL stuff, and you'll have them :) Again, thank you to all those who have read and/or reviewed, favorited and/or followed. You guys are awesome.