I'll Defend You If You'll Defend Me?

19

Summary: Becky Jackson is trying to survive high school the best that she can. While Santana Lopez is struggling to accept herself and be proud of the person she has become. Can these two people become friends and help each other succeed?

Pairings: Santana Lopez and Becky Jackson. Other pairings: Rachel Berry and Santana Lopez. Brittany Pierce and Santana Lopez. Quinn Fabray and Brittany Pierce. Also other characters have small parts.

It's important to note, that I do not have Down syndrome, but I am "different". I know what it feels like to feel unworthy at time and like no matter what I try to do it's useless.

I hope you enjoy!

~ Becky ~

That Monday morning, Noah and I were at my locker. My back was turned toward the entrance of the school. Noah must have saw Quinn as she tip toed up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder with her long, manicured nails. I whipped around and smiled brightly.

"Good morning, Quinn," I said and smiled at her warmly.

"Morning," she said, "Hi, Puck! Bye, Puck!"

"Well, crap, I know when I'm not wanted…" he said, but smiled.

He leaned forward and we kissed for a few seconds. After we broke the kiss, he looked at Quinn.

"Quinn, take care of her," he said and smiled. Quinn saluted him.

As he was walking away I swung my arm in the air and my hand smacked his butt. The contact made him jump in the air. Quinn started to smirk and then giggle. He smiled and continued to walk away.

"That was too cute," Quinn observed.

"He likes it," I said and smiled innocently.

'Becky, no, t.m.i.!" Quinn said as she shook her head to get the mental image out.

"I'm sorry," I apologized.

"No worries," she said and smiled.

"So how can I help?"

We had started to walk when Quinn said, "I want to get Brittany a present. I don't know what exactly. I'm hoping when I see it, it'll 'call' out to me. I'm hoping that you can help me pick something out."

"Absolutely," I said and jumped up and down excitedly.

She laughed and smiled.

"Ok, do you want a stuffed animal? Clothing? Jewelry? A movie," I asked.

Quinn scratched her head, but said, "Anything but a movie. That's not personal or romantic."

"Ah, I see…we're taking the 'romance' route," I said knowingly.

"Yup," she said.

By this time we had arrived at my class.

"Give me your cell," she demanded.

I handed it to her and she put her number into it.

"If you think of anything before the end of school let me know…I'll come by after the last bell and we'll leave after that," she said and handed me back my phone.

"Ok, thanks for asking me again," I said happily.

"No worries. We all love you, Becky. Remember…you're one of us!"

"I'll always remember that," I said and raised my hand for a high five. I didn't expect her to, but she returned the high five.

"Laters!" I said as I walked into my classroom.

~ Santana ~

After the first class of the day, I was walking around the corner and what I saw made me stop short. Some Freshman Cheerio was coming on to Puck. She put her hand on his bicep and I heard her say, "Wow! You must work out, Puck! Wanna go out sometime?"

Puck didn't say anything and he didn't brush her hand away either.

I was frozen. I didn't know what to do. I decided to wait until the encounter was over and then give him a piece of my mind. I felt horrible for Becky. I loved her like a little sister and I knew she'd be heartbroken if she found out.

Quickly, I texted Rachel. I wrote, "OMG. I'm watchin' Noah get hit on by a freshman Cheerio and he's not doin' a damn thing about it…what should I do?" I sent it.

Immediately, I received a text back from her. It read, "Talk to him first. Tell him how you feel and tell him that you know. San, don't hold this against him. Yes, he is her bf, but it's not public knowledge yet. Public knowledge as in at school."

"I love you," I texted back to her.

"I love you more," she responded.

Then I put my phone away. I looked up and saw that he was walking towards me. I stepped out in front of him.

"Hey, Santana," he said either totally oblivious to what happened or trying to hide it.

"Come with me," I demanded.

~ Puck ~

Oh boy…this can't be good. I thought.

She guided me to an empty classroom and pushed me into it.

"What the hell, Puck?" she asked me angrily.

"What?"

"I saw what that skank Cheerio did," she said.

Whoa! I did nothing wrong. I thought.

"Whoa! I know what you saw and heard, but I did nothing wrong," I defended myself.

"Did she just compliment your biceps and ask you out," she asked accusingly.

"Um, yeah, but…"

"What did you say," she demanded to know.

"I said, 'Not in a million years'!" I yelled as I became suddenly angry for having to defend myself.

"You said, 'No'?" she asked.

"Yes, Santana, I said, 'No!'" I said with a smile. Then I continued, "I know that I'm bad, or horrible, with relationships, but me and Becky are different. With her I want to try not to screw up. I've never experienced this before."

She blinked her eyes in shock. I could tell that she was having an internal battle with herself.

"Santana, I like Becky too much to ever think of messing around with someone else," I said honestly.

"You better be for real, Puckerman…Becky's really into you. You have no idea," she said and shyly smiled.

"Oh, really. Like how much?"

"She's thinking about…about…" she stuttered.

"Spit it out, Lopez," I insisted.

"Sex!"

Then the whole situation and relationship, for that matter, became totally real. I didn't know what to do let alone what to say.

She noticed this and said, "Yeah."

"She's thinking about that…" I asked her.

"Yup. I told her that I thought she should wait," she recalled.

"I do too and, ya know what?" he asked.

"No, what?"

"I'm willing to wait for her and not have someone else in the meantime," he revealed.

"I'm gonna say it again…you better be for real, Puck," she said and got up in my face.

"Come on San, put Snixx away," he said and laughed.

She took a step back and then said, "Bottom line, I want you to really think about it. And I want you to tell Becky what I saw."

"I planned on doing that. No secrets," I said, "I'll tell her today. Oh, by the way, tell Rachel not to blab it to Becky. I saw you texting her when I told the Cheerio, 'No!' You have my word that I'll tell Becky first chance I get."

I extended my hand out and she shook it.

Once the handshake was finished she left and I pulled out my cell phone. I texted.

TO BECKY: what r u doing after school today?

I sent it.

While I was waiting for a response, I walked to my next class and once I got there I sat down. My phone buzzed a minute later.

I read aloud, "I'm going out with Quinn. Why?"

I texted back.

TO BECKY: I need to tell you something. When you're done with Q call me and I'll come over.

"Ok, is everything okay?" I read back.

"Um, yea, no worries…enjoy Quinn. Eww, no, not like that…enjoy your time with her…" I texted back.

"Haha!" I read.

~ Quinn ~

"Hey, B! It's me. I'm going out with Becky for a few hours. She needs something at the mall and asked me to drive her. As soon as I drop her off, I'll come by and see my favorite girl," I told Britt's voicemail.

Then I found Becky at her locker. "Hey, Becky," I said as I walked up to her.

"Hi!" she answered sadly.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing…you ready?" she said.

I was unconvinced. "Becky, what's wrong?" I asked again.

Then she started to cry. I decided to guide her to my car so we could have some privacy.

When we got there, I unlocked it and opened her door for her. She got in and I hurried to the other side and got in.

"So, my dear, what happened?"

"I…don't know," she said through her tears.

"I don't follow," I said honestly.

"Puck's being weird…um, weirder than usual. Does that mean he wants to break up?" she asked and started to sob. I pulled her into me and hugged her tightly.

"There, there, Becky, sshh…" I said as I rubbed her back with my hands.

"I knew that this whole thing was a long shot," she said.

"Hey, Becky, don't jump to any conclusions…Let me call San," I suggested as I dialed her number.

Within one ring she picked up. "Hey, San, it's me."

"Hey," she replied.

"I am with Becky and we were going to go shopping for something, but she's really upset and she's crying in my car…we're in the parking lot."

"I'll be right there," she said and hung up.

"Santana's on her way," I said.

Becky sniffled and wiped the tears that were falling away.

"Thank you, Quinn. After San helps to calm me down we can still go shopping. That is if you still want to," she said.

"Of course," I replied with a smile.

All of the sudden, Santana tapped on the window and I unlocked the door. She climbed into the back seat and Becky threw her arms around Santana.

"I'm confused…I'm scared…there's a million possibilities running through my head. Do you know anything?" Becky asked with tears in her eyes.

Santana looked sad for a minute, but then said, "He had a little run in with someone."

"Is he okay? Karofsky?" she asked nervously.

"Oh, yeah, he's okay. No, no, not Karofsky," Santana reassured her, "Let's just say that you'd be proud of him for what he did in your honor."

"So he doesn't want to break up with me?" Becky asked shyly.

"Hell to the no," Santana replied with a big grin.

"As long as I know that he doesn't want to break up with me, then I am okay," Becky said, "I trust you, Santana, and I know that you'd tell me if something were really wrong."

She threw her arms around Santana again. They hugged each other tightly.

I just sat back and watched their sweet interaction. It was plain to see that there is a trust and true friendship between the two of them.

Once the hug broke, I said, "You okay now?"

"I'm better now," Becky replied.

"You still want to go shopping," I asked her.

"Let's do this!" she responded.

With a wild laugh, Santana said, "Well, you two ladies have fun. I'm sure Puck will call you, Becky,"

"I'm supposed to call him afterwards," Becky said.

"Oh, ok, if you need me, call me later," Santana said.

"Ok, thanks. Love you, S!" Becky said and smiled.

"Love you too, Little B!" Santana said.

"I like the sound of that!" I said and we all smiled.

Then Santana left.

~ Becky ~

On the way to the mall, I found that Quinn and I had a lot in common which was great. She seemed like a very down to Earth type of girl who was either in love or at least on her way there.

"So did you figure out what you're getting Brittany?" I asked.

"Um, no…" she laughed nervously, "Is that a bad sign?"

"Not at all," I encouraged, "Quinn, I want you to clear your head and say the first thing that comes to you after I ask you this question…"

She nodded her ahead while her hands were still on the steering wheel.

"If you could buy her anything in the world, what would that be?" I asked.

"A piece of jewelry," she said quickly.

"Ok! Great! Can you narrow that down?" I asked.

"A heart necklace, a heart pendant, a heart bracelet…"

"So we're looking for something with a heart on it, right?" I asked just to make sure.

"Yup," she said and smiled.

She then pulled into the parking lot and we parked the car. We got out and walked to the building. She reached down for my hand and attached our pinkies together. I smiled at her and she smiled back.

We arrived at the jewelry store and were approached by a saleswoman pretty quickly.

"We're just browsing," Quinn said to her.

The saleswoman did point to the heart shaped jewelry section. I smiled at her as my thanks.

Quinn looked into the first glass case and must have looked at everything at least twice.

"I like that…and that….and that," Quinn said as she admired the pieces.

"That's great, Q! But what would Britt like," I insisted.

She looked down at me, smiled, poked me, and said, "You called me 'Q'!"

"I'm sorry! It just slipped out," I apologized.

"Becky, don't worry about it. You can call me that," she said with a smile.

"Great! Okay, focus," I encouraged.

She walked over to the second case and started to look at each piece.

~ Quinn ~

I was completely lost. I did see a few items I'd like. But none of them "talked" to me.

"Buy me for her!"

I walked to the second case and when I saw the last piece in that case, I jumped up and down and exclaimed, "Little B! I found it!"

Becky walked up to me and stood on her tiptoes to look into the case for an aerial look.

"Is it the big, clunky pendant?" she asked.

"Nope, to the right!"

"The big heart shaped necklace that looks like bling for a rapper," she said and made a disgusted expression.

"Nope. I'd never buy that for anyone," I shook my head. Then I pointed down at the piece I intended to purchase.

"Holy shit," Becky yelled loudly in the store. The other customers turned their heads and looked at us.

"Sorry," I yelled out to them.

Then I looked at Becky and asked hesitantly, "Do you think she'll like it?"

"Yea, Q, I do! Just…" she started.

"Go on!" I encouraged.

"Just think about what it means!" Becky said warmly.

"Of course," I said and smiled at her.

We called the saleswoman over, I paid for it, and we left the store with a small blue shopping bag.

"Do you have time for a drink," I asked.

"Sure, would you mind if I called 'my man' and told him what I was doing," she asked.

"No problem, your man…that's cute," I said.

~ Becky ~

Quinn and I walked to the food court and we both wanted an ice cream shake. As soon as we got the drinks I gave the cashier the money for it.

"Hey, Little B, I was gonna pay!" she said with a smile.

"Next round," I said.

"Oh geez," she said with a grin.

We walked over to a table and sat down.

I pulled out my phone and dialed Puck's number, which I had saved as a favorite in my phone. I pressed number 2 and immediately it rang. I put it on speaker.

~ Puck ~

I was anxiously awaiting Becky's call and felt horrible to tell her that my Mom needed me to watch my brother so I couldn't come over.

My phone rang and I picked it up on the first ring.

"Hi, Becky," I said.

"Hey, Noah, it's me and Quinn," her cheerful voice said.

"How's the shopping going," I asked.

"Finished," Quinn sang into the phone.

"Super! Listen, Becky, I can't come over later cuz I got to watch my bro. I did want to tell you what happened today," I said.

"Sure," Becky said.

I could hear the scratching of the chair and then Becky said, "Q, sit!" Immediately I heard a plop so I guess she sat back down.

"Go ahead," Becky said.

"You know that Freshman Cheerio…"

"Yes," Becky said.

"Well, today she tried to hit on me," I said honestly.

"Ok, what did she say," Becky said.

"She felt my bicep and asked me if I wanted to go out," I said.

"Oh," Becky sounded defeated.

"Becky, I said, 'Not in a million years'!" I said happily.

"Really?" she asked shocked.

"Yes, honey," I said and smiled.

"That's amazing, Noah," she said.

"You're my once in a lifetime," I said with a soft tone.

Then Becky started to cry so Quinn picked up the phone and said, "She's crying, Puck!"

"Happy tears?"

"Yes, Noah, very happy tears," Becky said as she took a deep breath.

My brother walked in and smiled at me.

"Becky, I gotta go, we'll talk tomorrow and I'll drive you home after school, okay?" I said. I didn't want to hang up.

"Ok," she said. She had stopped crying which was great to hear.

"Quinn, take care of my girl," I said.

"Absolutely," she said.

"Bye," I said and hung up.

I took a sigh of relief.