Chapter 5

Two days later, Quinn was coming off the elevator and heading for Santana's room when she heard someone say, "I'm her brother. Why can't I go in?"

Quinn hurried along the hallway and saw the older Lopez sibling standing outside of Santana's door. He still looked good. Tall, broad shoulders, narrow waist; thick, dark hair that he was currently running strong fingers through. Quinn shook herself from her daydreams of Gabriel Lopez; her first crush. "Gabe!"

Gabriel turned and broke out into a wide smile; Santana's dimples were deeper but, damn, Gabriel's smile could totally make her knees weak.

"Quinn!" He caught her in a bear hug and spun her around. "How are you? What's going on? They won't let me in and they won't tell me anything."

Quinn took him by the hand and led him to a small waiting area. "Let's talk for a minute."

They sat down and Quinn looked at him for a moment. Same dark eyes as Santana but he wasn't as hard as Santana; life hadn't kicked him around as much. His parents had doted on him while they barely acknowledged Santana; their abuela adores him while constantly belittling and borderline abusing Santana.

"Quinn, what's going on?"

Quinn took a deep breath. "How much do you know about what's been going on?"

"Honestly? Nothing. I haven't been able to reach Santana for almost two months. She's not answering my texts and calls go straight to voicemail. When I call my parents they ignore any questions about Santana. Same with my abuela. She's in the hospital and no one even called me."

"I didn't tell you everything. Maybe I should have. Britt told me to tell you but … I wanted to believe you're better than that. And, honestly, I don't think this is something you should hear over the phone. I was hoping that just knowing she's in the hospital would be enough but now I'm not sure I did the right thing." Quinn rambled nervously. She hadn't told Gabe that Santana was gay; just that she was in the hospital. She wanted him to come; believed that Santana needed him to be here.

"Just tell me, Quinn. What's going on with my sister?"

"Gabe, Santana is gay."

"That's it?"

"You don't seem surprised."

"I'm not surprised and I'm not not surprised. Honestly? It really doesn't matter to me." Gabriel shakes his head. "She's my sister. So she likes girls," he shrugged, "between you and me, so do I." He grinned and winked at her.

Quinn let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and smiled at him. "Okay, that's the main hurdle. So … strap in because everything else stems from Santana being gay."

Quinn spent the next half-hour filling Gabe in on what had happened since the last time he'd be able to speak to Santana. The emotions played out over his face; shock, anger, sadness, rage … he ran the gamut.

"Why didn't she call me? Why didn't someone call me?" He asked as Quinn's story ran down.

"They took her phone. She had no numbers once she got a new one. She's not even sure how much of the family hates her or isn't speaking to her. And none of us had your number so we couldn't help her. Obviously, your parents wouldn't give it to any of us."

He frowned. "How'd you finally get it?"

"I can't tell you that. It would get someone into a lot of trouble."

Gabe nodded. "I get it. You know, the day I got your call I was on the phone with my mother and my father came in yelling about a broken nose and a maldita tortillera estupida. Now I get it." His jaw clenched. "If it wasn't already broken, I'd break it. I may break his jaw just to shut him up."

"He kept saying that … maldita tortillera estupida … it pissed Brittany off; she's the one who broke his nose."

Gabriel shook his head. "It translates into stupid fucking lesbian except swap lesbian for the nasty slur word and there you have it. So he was talking about Brittany."

Quinn nodded. "Yeah. He was really yelling at her but she stood up to him. I've never seen Brittany the way she was that day; not just with your father, either." Quinn told him about the three other broken noses.

"Never thought I'd see the day when Brittany Pierce threw a punch, let alone four of them."

"So that's why only a few people are allowed in and not one of them is named Lopez; we weren't sure how much danger it would be to allow Maribel or Jorge in and we were afraid they'd try and keep Brittany away from her. Or, even worse, spirit her away so that none of us would know where to find her."

"How'd you arrange all this?"

"Britt's mom, Whitney, got your mom to sign guardian and health proxy papers so she was responsible for Santana. Then I was telling the Glee Club about what happened and Sugar Motta's dad …"

"Sugar Motta? As in Al Motta?" Gabriel interrupted.

"His daughter," Quinn nodded. "Sugar texted her dad what was going on and he pulled a whole bunch of strings and … here we are."

"This is unbelievable. I came right here from the airport; didn't even bother going to my parents'. Guess I'll stay at a hotel because I don't trust myself to not go all Lima Heights," he grinned at her.

"I'm sure the Pierces would let you stay with them. If not, you can stay at my house. We have plenty of room."

"Are you sure? I don't want to impose."

"No imposition. You're more than welcome."

"Thanks. I appreciate it. Now, any way I can get in to see my sister?"

Quinn nodded and took him by the hand, leading him to the security guards. "This is Reed and Lance. Two of the guards that have been keeping Santana safe. This is Gabriel. He's Santana's brother and we need to add him to the approved list."

Reed nodded and pulled up his phone, snapping Gabe's picture. "Last name?"

"Lopez."

Reed looked at Quinn. "Are you sure, Miss? We were told to be careful of anyone named Lopez trying to get in."

"I'm sure. This is her brother and he flew in from California. He's not here to hurt her or cause trouble."

Reed nodded and tapped a few things into his phone. "Okay, he's all set up." Reed looked menacingly at Gabriel. "Don't cause any problems."

Gabe nodded. "I won't. Thanks."

Quinn ushered him into the room.

XoxoxoxOXO

Brittany POV

Brittany looked up as the door opened and quickly stood up to move between Santana's bed and the door as she watched Quinn lead Gabriel into the room.

"What's he doing here?" Brittany asked, eyeing Gabe suspiciously.

Gabe stopped just inside the door and quietly talked to Brittany. "Quinn called and told me about Santana being attacked. I came to see her. I'm not here to cause trouble for her … or you. Quinn just filled me in on everything. I am so sorry, Brittany. I'm sorry I didn't know and wasn't here." He shook his head. "I love my sister. I don't care who she's dating as long as she's happy and the person treats her well." He looked directly at Brittany. "I watched you love my sister for years. I can't imagine a better partner than you."

Brittany could see the sincerity in his words, his tone, his eyes, and his smile. She nodded and threw herself into his arms. He wrapped her up tightly and held on as she cried. In relief, mostly. Relief that someone in Santana's family would be there for her. Especially that it was Gabriel.

Brittany stepped back and let Gabe move to his sister.

"Aye, dios mio," he softly exclaimed as he saw his sister for the first time. "What did they do to you, mi hermana bonita?" He took her hand and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. "I'm here now. I know your friends have taken good care of you but I'm here now, too, and everything is going to be okay just as soon as you come back to us."

Brittany smiled softly and moved to her makeshift desk to work on her homework. Santana would be thrilled to see Gabriel … as long as he was still here when she woke up.

"Gabe?"

He turned to look at her. "Yeah?"

"How long are you here for?"

"I have until June 1st." He answered.

Quinn gaped at him. "That's like five months!"

Gabriel nodded. "Yeah, I sold some apps so I have a nice nest egg and I can work on creating more of those anywhere. I start a new job on June 1st but if I'm still needed here, I'll just decline the job. Like I said, I can create the apps I sell anywhere and, now that I'm a known entity, it's a lot easier to sell them."

Brittany nodded. "Good. She's going to be really happy to see you. Where are you staying?"

Gabriel chuckled. "Well, I was going to go to a hotel but … Quinn said you may be able to put me up? If not, Quinn did offer to let me stay with her but now that she knows I may be around for five months …"

Quinn laughed. "No, it's fine, Gabe. I was just surprised."

"Okay. We have a spare room at the house. I mean, technically it's Santana's room but," Brittany shrugged, "she only really uses it to store her stuff in."

Gabe nodded. "It would probably be more convenient to stay with your family." He looked at Quinn and smiled, "And less awkward for your mom." He winked at her and Quinn blushed.

Brittany turned back to her studies, not missing the look that passed between Quinn and Gabriel. She smiled to herself. She knew Quinn had a crush on Gabriel forever. She wondered if, maybe, now that Quinn was a little older, Gabriel might not be noticing her, too.