A/N

Thank you to everyone who's followed/favorited/reviewed this story, it's really encouraging.

I'll be busy, I start college on Tuesday but I'll be updating as often as I can because I really enjoy writing this fic.

Santana stomped her way up her front yard, nearly knocking over her mother's gardening pots on her way to the front door. She stopped in front of the door and rummaged through her bag, hoping she'd remembered her keys. She sighed a breath of relief when she found them, glad that her already crappy day hadn't gotten any worse.

As soon as she entered her house she caught the smell of cookies and the sound of singing from the kitchen. She was torn. All she wanted to do was lock herself in her room to review her notes, do her homework, eat and then sleep. But those cookies smelt so damn good and she hadn't had much to eat throughout the day.

Up the stairs or to the kitchen?

"Santana? Is that you?" a chirpy voice called from the kitchen. Santana had been so invested in what choice to make she hadn't even noticed that the singing had stopped.

"Yeah, it's me."

"Oh, well come into the kitchen! I baked you some goods." Santana rolled her eyes with a fond grin. She could practically hear the smile in his voice. She'd had such a stressful day, and his cookies were the best thing to have when she needed some cheering up.

She headed for the kitchen "I'm coming."

Santana entered the kitchen and saw him dancing to a pop song on the radio. The kitchen was littered with mess from the ingredients he's used. She sighed and wondered how long it was going to take to clean up - her mom wouldn't be happy with her if she didn't help clean the mess.

He turned around when he heard her sigh and smiled at her "High 5 kiddo."

Santana high fived him to humour him. His attempts at bonding with her were lame but appreciated nonetheless. "Didn't you work today Paul?" Santana asked before grabbing a cookie.

Paul gasped in mock offence and gestured around the kitchen "I have been working! It's hard work feeding that sweet tooth of yours you know!"

Santana just smiled at him in response, not wanting to spit any crumbs out by speaking.

Paul grinned at her and moved around the kitchen, collecting up the ingredient bags as he moved. Santana's eyes followed him, watching silently as he picked up the rubbish and threw it into the trash. She liked Paul, he's was nice guy; he was eccentric and yeah, sometimes she couldn't stand him but her mum was insanely happy with him and he randomly bakes when he feels like it. She could have a worse step-dad.

Santana finished her cookie and wondered if she could get out of cleaning. She could distract Paul by asking him about that turtle he's been nursing, but then she might not escape quickly enough.

Santana's thoughts were disturbed when she felt a dish cloth hit the side of her face.

She scowled and looked over to Paul. "All I need you to do is wipe down the surfaces and then you're free to go Matilda." he sighed.

Santana ignored him, wiped everything down, then sprinted up the stairs after quickly thanking Paul for the cookies.

Santana slammed the bedroom door behind her and vaguely heard Paul chastising her for the noise as she collapsed on her bed. All that work she'd done over the weekend at her dad's house was catching up to her. She didn't normally study that much, but there wasn't much to do at her dad's place, and when he was at work (which is most of the time) the silence was deafening.

She groaned into her pillow, pushed herself off the bed and made her way to the bathroom to shower. Afterwards she felt a little more refreshed but still insanely tired.

As she was getting her homework out of her backpack a picture on her bedside table caught her eye, it was one of her and Rachel the day they went to the museum for a school trip last year. She smiled - she'd really wanted to kill Rachel that day for nearly getting them kicked out by spontaneously breaking out into song and nearly breaking a souvenir, but Santana had a nice time other than that.

She started to get that familiar hollow feeling in her chest, and snapped her attention back onto the work in her hand. She got her homework done easily, it was only Monday so she didn't have much to do.

Santana felt her stomach rumble and looked at the time. It was 6 already. She decided to see if dinner was ready instead of doing extra notes - she was pretty sure her brain would melt if she tried to do any more.

As she jumped down the last step she heard the front door open, "I'm home!"

"I can see." Santana replied dryly. Her mother looked at her and rolled her eyes.

"Something smells good." she said as she gave Santana a quick hug, "How was your weekend?"

"S'okay, managed to get a lot of studying in." Santana replied, walking down the hall with her mom.

Her mom stopped and frowned wearily at her "All weekend?" she sighed.

"Maria, is that you?" came a voice from the kitchen.

Santana rolled her eyes so hard she felt them hit the top of her head. Why did this family need to know who was in the house and shout whenever they entered the house? She'd have thought she would be used to it by now but it still irritated her for some reason.

Her mom seemed to forget what they were talking about as she went into the kitchen and greeted Paul with a kiss.

"Gross" Santana gagged.

Santana saw Paul stick out his tongue at her before he continued to dish out the dinner. Her mother turned to face Santana, "Please tell me you at least left the house once since Friday."

Santana sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, "Mom, I didn't have enough ti-"

Her mother held her hand up to interrupt her, "Just stop, I don't want to hear any excuses. Whenever you stay at your fathers you always come back looking like a zombie; you don't sleep enough, you don't eat enough, don't even leave the house!"

"That's not true! I went to the library to get some books for studying on Saturday." Santana retorted. A snarky comment was on the tip of her tongue, and she opened her mouth but the look her mom gave her made her close it again.

Man. If looks could kill.

"Hey." Paul intervened, "dinner's ready. I've set the table, let's get our eat on." he grinned at them and moved towards the table with two plates. Maria gave her daughter one last look before she went to the table, muttering under her breath.

Santana released a slow breath and closed her eyes. She could feel a familiar dull throb in her head, early signs of a migraine, and she felt her throat close up.

Why was she freaking out so much?

It was hardly the first time she's had disagreements with her mother about her studying habits and it probably won't be the last either. She needed to get a grip, or maybe just some sleep. Or maybe she could do a few notes after she's eaten to take her mind off these feelings.

"Earth to Santana!" she heard.

"Yeah?"

"You're such a space cadet. Whatever. Don't come crying to me when your food gets cold." Paul yelled.

Santana realised that she was still standing in the kitchen doorway, and followed Paul and her mom to the dining room. She saw her mother saying something to Paul quietly with a deep frown on her face. Santana felt the feeling intensify and desperately tried to mask her emotions.

Paul noticed her enter the room and smiled sympathetically at her. Santana gulped and felt her face heat up. Just as she was about to slide into her seat Paul smiled at her teasingly, "Orange you going to eat with us?" With each word his voice got a little higher. She hated and loved how hard he always tried.

Santana realised that she'd left her plate in the kitchen, quickly grabbed her food and rushed back to the table. She felt weird whenever her mom talked about her when she wasn't there. It makes her anxious.

She casually walked back into the room, trying to make it seem like she hasn't just run into the kitchen to get back as soon as possible, and sat in her chair. Her mom seemed a little calmer now. She shouldn't be surprised really - Paul always managed to put her at ease when she got stressed. Still, Santana could feel the tension as they all start eating.

Dinner was never eaten in silence with Paul. Santana found it so fascinating of how much he managed to talk about without choking on his food. Throughout dinner he went on about animals he was taking care of, random facts he'd learnt about animals from the discovery channel, and every now and then he'd try to engage Santana, but she was too wrapped up in her own thoughts to properly converse with him. Occasionally her mother would glance at her, and Santana had a feeling her mom hadn't finished with her yet. Once they'd finished eating they all sat in silence for a while before her mom seemed to deflate and broke the silence with a shaky voice, "Mija."

Santana's eyes snapped to her mom's. She'd never heard her mom sound so defeated before. She felt her stomach flip.

"I'm not..." Maria sighs. She stopped and looked like she was gathering her thoughts, "I don't say these things because I hate you and I want to start a fight with you Santana."

"No, I know that Mami." Santana replies timidly.

Her mom looked at her for a while, "You look like you've been overworking. I know that look Santana. I saw it on your fathers face when you were born and he got his promotion. I know that look all too well. I'm worried."

Santana looked down at her empty plate, feeling really bad. She didn't want to worry her mom.

"I'm fine Ma." she tried to reassure her. Santana made eye contact, hoping her mother would believe her.

"Promise me you won't over work yourself Santana. Promise me you'll take more free time? Please?"

Santana hesitated for a while. The longer she took to answer the more impatient her mom got. "I promise I'll try Mami."

Her mother held her eyes for a few more seconds before closing her eyes and relaxing into her seat, "Thank you." she whispered.

Paul placed a comforting hand on Maria's thigh and squeezed reassuringly before he stood up to clear the table. Santana silently helped him and they both went to the kitchen to wash up, Leaving Maria sitting in the dining room.

Paul started washing up and Santana stood beside him, ready to dry. "So Rachel phoned Saturday..." he told her, glancing at her before scrubbing at a plate.

"Yeah?" Santana drawled, waiting for him to continue.

"Yeah. She said that she couldn't get through to you. I tried your cell, was it off all weekend?" He sounded weird. Paul always sounded weird to Santana when he spoke seriously.

"Mhmm, I don't like to have any distractions when I'm studying" she said. It wasn't a big deal.

Paul stopped scrubbing and turned to face her, "What if I needed to get through to you?"

Santana scrunched up her face, "For what?"

"What if something had happened?" Paul asked. Santana didn't think she'd ever seen Paul worried.

"Like what? Did something happen?"

"No but you shouldn't have kept your cell off all weekend. It makes us both worry when we can't get through to you." Paul told her, before going back to cleaning the dishes.

Santana finished drying up the dishes in silence, replaying the conversations she'd had with her mom and with Paul in her head. She felt her head throb and her eyes sting, and she tried to recall last time she had a good nights sleep. She didn't feel all that tired throughout the day, but it was catching up with her now.

"Santana? Are you going your room now?" her mom yelled through from where she was still sitting at the table.

"Uh, yeah I was about to go up to sleep. Why?" she yelled back. She could just walk into the same room that her mom was in so she wouldn't have to shout, but she'd done enough walking for one day.

"Oh. It's only 7:15 you're going to sleep this early?" Her mom questioned.

"Yeah. Why?" Santana repeated.

"It's a little early that's all."

Santana rolled her eyes, "No. I mean why'd you ask?" the yelling wasn't helping the pain in her head so she decided to just go the the dining room. "Did you need me to do something?" she asked when she walked into the room.

"Yes please. Do you mind taking out the trash for me?"

Santana grimaced. She'd do anything her mom asked of her but she hated taking out the trash. Gross.

"I'll take that as a no then." her mom chuckled lightly, "Okay then, could you make a quick trip to the store and get some milk? Or are you too tired? I thought you were just going to study. I'll go if you want to sleep."

"No, it's okay Mami, I don't mind. I'm not that tired" Maybe she was lying a little, but she felt guilty that she was working so much that she was too tired to help her mom out.

Her mom smiled weakly at her, "Thank you. Oh!" Maria jumped likes she'd just remembered something, "I didn't see your car in the driveway when I parked. Where is it?"

Santana sighed, remembering what had happened. She told her mom, "I forgot to fill up the tank". Her mom gave her a look that said and whose fault is that? but she ignored it and continued, "and I didn't want to drive to school in case I ran out of gas so I took Papi's car, but it was making a weird noise and I got scared so I decided to just walk to school. It was terrible. It was so fucking hot."

"Language Mija." her mom chastised, "So tomorrow before school you're going to your father's to get your car. I'll drop you off before I go to work, you'll have enough time to fill up the tank. For now," Maria threw her keys at Santana, who caught them awkwardly, "you can take my car to the store."

"Okay. Be back in 10." she kissed her mom on the cheek and walked past Paul who was still in the kitchen.

"You going to the store Matilda?" She heard him ask as she shrugged on her jacket.

She rolled her eyes at the nickname "Yeah." she replied.

"Do you need some money?"

"No, I've got a couple of bucks but thanks." she said as she opened the front door "See ya then."

"Bye." she heard before she shut the door behind her.

Santana walked briskly to her mom's car. The temperature had noticeably dropped since the afternoon. Fucking Ohio weather - one day there could be a storm and the next day no rain at all. You'd thought living there all her life Santana would be used to it, but the weather still pissed her off. She got into the car, put on the heating on and quickly warmed up her hands before starting the car and making her way to the store.

She drove a block before realising the car was silent. Santana hated it. She felt her ears ringing, and turned on the radio. Some pop song was playing and Santana grimaced. Sometimes she just couldn't understand how people liked listening to such trash.

Santana changed stations and heard another pop song. This one, at least, did not want to make her want to jump out the car, but she'd still deny ever listening to it.

It felt nice, just driving and not feeling like she had to rush back to study. She really must've overworked herself if she didn't feel the urge to work. Santana hummed and turned up the radio a bit louder. It's felt like forever since she's sat down and just listened to music. She'd gotten her cousin's car when she'd turned 16, and somehow her cousin had managed to break the radio completely. Now that Santana thought about it, her family really weren't good at taking care of their cars.

Given that Santana's car had no radio she always played the same CD on the way to school, just so there was some noise. She's never realised before just how much she hated it. It was enormously refreshing to listen to some new music.

It took Santana about 10 minutes to get to the store. She usually made it in 5 - she must've subconsciously taken a longer route.

Santana had forgotten what her mom wanted, so sent her a quick text as she walked through the store. She considered texting her dad, and was trying to work out what time he'd be at work for when she felt her phone buzz.

From: Momma Bear

Seriously? You can remember all those formulas but you forgot milk?

Santana rolled her eyes and headed for the milk, feeling her phone buzz again in her pocket.

From: Momma Bear

In case you didn't catch it the first time I texted you, we need milk. Oh and Paul wants some chocolate please.

Santana carried on walking as she was replying and bumped into a wall. She shook her head and continued on her mission to get milk.

Sent:

Whateva. Wat choc does he want?

Santana found the milk, grabbed it and went in search of chocolate. There was so much choice. She picked up the nearest one just as her phone buzzed again.

From: Momma Bear

Anything, he's not picky.

Santana just took the one she was holding, went to the cash register and left the store. Walking through the parking lot she spotted a figure across the road jogging at a steady pace.

Santana watched them for a moment, then froze, suddenly recognising the person as the blonde cheerleader - Brittany. The girl seemed so focused, long slender legs pounding the sidewalk and shiny hair flying out behind her. She looked as though Santana could throw a rock at her and she wouldn't even notice. She certainly didn't spot Santana.

Santana didn't move again until she was out of sight.

That was weird.

Santana was on autopilot going home. On arrival she put the milk in the fridge, threw the chocolate bar at Paul and gave her mom a goodnight kiss.

As Santana lay in bed she remembered how exhausted she was. Her mind was still racing though, so many questions going round in her head, questions about the girl.

Santana tossed restlessly for what felt like hours before finally feeling herself drifting off.

This year was off to one hell of a start.