CHAPTER 5

Yet another Author's note. Sorry there have been quite a lot of these!

Something to note about Brittany's character: I know that for most of the first few seasons of Glee, Brittany was portrayed as an absolute idiot, mainly for comedy reasons. While she isn't going to be the brightest bulb in the chandelier in this story, I have made the decision not to make her as dumb as she was in the show. I just feel like there's more that can be done with the character if she's just a little bit smarter.

End of Author's Note. Enjoy the chapter!

"I don't know what they were thinking! This is going to be hell! Hell!" That afternoon, Santana ranted loudly to Brittany about the recent news she had received from her parents, letting her friend, along with the rest of the Lima Bean cafe, know what was going on. She was fuming. She was livid. She couldn't believe her parents had agreed to this. "I seriously don't understand why they'd actually agree to this!"

"Come on, San. Look on the bright side. This could be a great thing." Brittany tried to cheer her up, but to no avail.

"How, Britt?! How could this possibly be a good thing?! There is going to be some stranger living in my house for an entire YEAR!" Santana exclaimed. Brittany shrugged.

"I don't know. If your parents agreed to it, surely he's at least a chill guy." Brittany argued. Santana scoffed and shook her head, vehemently.

"That's just it! My parents don't even know the guy who's staying with us! None of us have ever met him before! My parents are doing this as a favor to their old best friend from med school or something, and that friend has absolutely no relation to the guy staying with us! They know nothing about that guy!"

"You never know. Maybe he's not that bad." Brittany stated, before sighing longingly. "I wish I had a foster sibling."

"No! You don't! No one does! Nobody wants some stranger living in their house, eating their food and pretending to be part of the family when they are nothing like that at all!"

"This is going to be a good thing, Santana. I can feel it." Brittany declared. "And I know that if Quinn was here, she'd agree with me too."

The two girls immediately trailed off into silence, tension building ever so slightly, as they both thought about the exact same thing. The familiar blonde who they had spent their entire high school career joined to the hip with, was nowhere to be found. She had disappeared for months without a trace, and wasn't even there for their first day of school earlier today.

"It feels weird to be here without her, doesn't it?" Santana remarked, echoing what both girls were thinking. And by 'here', Santana didn't necessarily mean Lima Bean cafe. She meant here, as in their senior year. Their victory lap. Together, they had gone through thick and thin, good and bad, and now was their chance to celebrate all of that. This was supposed to be the year they won both Cheerios and Glee Nationals together. It was supposed to be the year they graduated and moved on to greater things outside of Lima. It was time to claim the pot at the end of the rainbow, and it didn't feel the same without her. "Have you heard from her at all?"

"Not since we got back from New York." Brittany sighed, staring downwards at her coffee cup as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. However, she did notice the scowl returning on the face of the Latina opposite her, as Santana gritted her teeth and sharply sucked in air.

"Right… New York." Santana muttered, venom threatening to seep into her tone. Brittany sighed.

"I can see you're still mad." Brittany murmured. Santana laughed mirthlessly.

"No! Why would I still be mad?" Santana asked sarcastically. "Because Berry and Tubbers threw an entire year's work down the toilet for something they could've literally done the moment they stepped off stage? Because they threw away what could be our only chance to win Nationals?!"

"Well first of all, it's not our only chance. We're going to Nationals and we're going to win it this year." Brittany told her. "And second… you need to let it go. They did it for love. Can you imagine being so in love with someone that you're willing to kiss them on stage in front of thousands of people?"

A peculiar expression briefly flashed across Santana's face, but thankfully it went unnoticed by Brittany, due to the sudden ding of a notification on the blonde's phone. Brittany looked down at it and immediately, her face lit up.

"What is it? Did you hear from Quinn?" Santana asked, almost hopefully. Brittany shook her head.

"No! Lord Tubbington's new tuxedo has arrived! I've got to go." Brittany said, quickly standing up. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."

With that, Brittany turned around and walked away, leaving Santana sitting at the Lima Bean table, alone. Though Brittany left, her words continued to ring through Santana's ears for a long while:

Can you imagine being so in love with someone that you're willing to kiss them on stage in front of thousands of people?

Santana deeply pondered these words, her eyes following Brittany's retreating figure for a tad too long, before eventually getting up and leaving herself.

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"Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." Those were the first words that crossed Theo's mind as he stepped off the bus. Marley had forced him to sit through the Wizard of Oz movie more times than he could count - it was one of her favorites, and Theo never could really say no to her - so the words of Dorothy were like second nature to him.

It had been a grueling journey, more than an entire day of traveling, but it didn't matter. He had finally arrived. Lima, Ohio. The end of the line. At a first glance, it wasn't much. Definitely nothing compared to where he had been living before in Florida. But it was certainly a fresh start, and that was exactly what Theo needed.

This looked like the town where every cheap horror movie was set in. The buildings were far and few between, and looked severely run-down and abandoned at that. Homeless people lay on almost every corner, eyeing Theo warily as he walked down the street with the large duffel in his hands.

All Theo had was an address. The address of the house he was meant to be going to, where he was meant to be staying at for the next year. He was nervous, to say the least. What if they weren't good people? What if they were dangerous? Between 8 months of juvie and some severely traumatizing experiences before that, Theo knew exactly what it was like to feel unsafe at home, and he never wanted to experience that again.

Meanwhile, a little later, Santana returned home that evening after her coffee with Brittany, only to find an unfamiliar figure sitting on her front porch. He was dressed in a dark hoodie, his face covered from her line of sight, as he clutched a bag tightly in his hands. Santana groaned in annoyance. She was already in a foul mood that evening, and the last thing she needed right now was to be dealing with some homeless person on her doorstep.

"Go away!" Santana snapped at the man like he was some feral animal. "I'm really not in the mood to be beating up Bigfoot right now."

The insult was of course due to Theo's large frame, and it caused a faint scowl to appear on Theo's own face.

"I'm sorry, you are?" Theo asked, almost accusingly.

"None of your business, weirdo. Now get the hell away from my house." Santana demanded, walking right past him and about to unlock the door of her house until she heard his voice speak up.

"I'm sorry, is this where the Lopez's live?" The man asked. Santana's scowl only deepened as she realized who she was standing opposite.

"Who wants to know?" Santana asked.

"I'm Theo. Nice to meet you. I'm going to be living with the Lopez's for the next year." Theo held out a hand, but Santana did not shake it, instead glaring daggers at it until Theo retreated. A long silence fell upon them for a while before Santana spoke up.

"Go away. You're early." Santana snapped. That was true. Theo was a day earlier than the Lopez's had expected. Clearly, when Mrs. Rose had told them when he was arriving, she figured he'd have either spent an extra night in Florida, or an extra night somewhere along the way during the journey to Lima. That hadn't happened though.

"Okay." Theo nodded. "I… I… is there a motel or something nearby I can stay at, do you know?"

Santana didn't respond, and sensing that she had nothing left to say to him, Theo turned on his heel and began to walk away, settling for a night of walking around the city, searching for a bench to sleep on. However, before he could get too far, the voice of the girl behind him stopped him in his tracks.

"Wait." Santana's voice was full of reluctance as she called him back. No matter how much she despised the fact that this boy was going to be living with them, she couldn't just send him out onto the street. "Come back. You can stay here."

Relief flooded across Theo's face as he turned back towards her, a faint smile appearing on his face.

"Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. And I'm really sorry I arrived early." Theo told her.

"Whatever." Santana muttered, clearly still cold towards the new houseguest. She simply unlocked the door and walked right inside. Theo didn't follow her, initially unsure of what was happening next. He didn't even know who this girl was.

"Come on! Let's go!" Santana barked at him when she turned around and realized he was still standing on the porch like a lost dog. Theo didn't want to question her further, so followed her into the house, taking a deep breath as he did. This was it. This was where he was going to be staying for the next year. And if his first interaction with whoever this was was any indication, it wasn't going to be a very fun year…

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"I'm Santana by the way. I'm their daughter." Santana murmured as she took Theo through the house, giving him a quick tour. Although she still had no interest in entertaining this behemoth's stay at her house, Santana secretly felt slightly bad about how she was treating him upon his arrival. Not bad enough though to prevent her from continuing to insult him. Just enough to start asking him about himself. "Where are you from?"

"Florida." Theo grunted in reply as Santana showed him the dining room and the kitchen. Santana smirked.

"Figures. Only the swamps of Florida have the chemicals to produce a teen-Hulk like you." Santana remarked. Theo didn't respond to this, until Santana suddenly came to a halt and turned towards him, looking at him and regarding him carefully, before raising an eyebrow. "You don't look like you're from Florida."

"You don't look like you're from Ohio." Theo hotly responded, before forcing himself to bite his tongue.

The small retaliation had come out before he could stop himself, and so he internally cursed himself. He was supposed to be making nice with these people. They were opening their home to him and offering him so much. The least he could do was to put up with the insults and comments. Thankfully though, Santana didn't look too insulted. If anything, she looked more entertained than offended, clearly amused by the fact that they had hardly been together for 10 minutes, and Santana already had him rattled. Getting rid of him would be easier than she thought, Santana commented to herself.

"I'm half Lebanese." Theo explained, referring to her earlier question. "My mom's Lebanese. We lived in Lebanon for the first 10 years of my life. Then we moved to the States."

"I asked where you're from. I didn't ask for the whole life story." Santana muttered. Theo didn't respond to this, but as Santana noticed him looking more and more uncomfortable, she continued to feel slightly bad. After all, She could imagine how difficult today has been for him. She didn't let it show though, instead choosing to continue asking him questions. "So that's your mom's side. What about your dad? Where's he from?"

Theo's face immediately darkened before replying.

"America. Never actually met the man though. All I know is that my mom got pregnant during her senior year of high school. She was doing a foreign exchange program in the U.S at the time. But when my father didn't want anything to do with me, my mom moved back to Lebanon to have me, and we lived there. Even after we immigrated back to the U.S when I was 10, my dad never cared to get involved. I don't even know his name."

"I'm sorry. That sucks." Santana said, genuine sincerity in her tone. Theo shrugged.

"Don't be. I consider it a blessing really. One less person to inevitably fuck me over." Theo said quietly. Santana couldn't help but laugh.

"Well aren't you a ray of sunshine?" She commented, before coming to a halt at the end of a corridor on the upstairs floor. "This is your room."

"Thank you." Theo murmured, before following Santana inside. As he looked around, all Theo could think was how different this was from the cell he had inhabited for the last 8 months. For starters, he wasn't sharing it with another gross inmate. There wasn't a toilet in the middle of the room. He wouldn't have to sleep with one eye open. Well… he wasn't so sure about the last one, as Santana was giving him looks not too dissimilar to those worn by his enemies in juvie.

As Theo walked deeper into the room, he laid his duffel bag on his new bed, and he unzipped it, pulling out a few picture frames that had been stacked on the top of the bag, placing them by his bedside. Santana's eyes widened as she saw them.

"Don't tell me you actually have a girlfriend!" Santana scoffed as she saw him place the framed photos of a girl on the small table. Theo, still facing away from her, felt his face beginning to burn with discomfort.

"Something like that." He murmured. He winced as he knew what question was going to come next, and he braced himself for it.

"Wow. There's actually a girl out there in this world who's willing to date this shit?" Santana remarked drily. "So what does this girl think about her boyfriend moving so far away from Florida?"

Theo stared down at his feet, unable to even look Santana in the eye.

"Actually, she, uh… she passed away." Theo mumbled. Immediately, Santana felt horrible.

"Wow, I, uh… I feel like such a bitch." Santana admitted. Theo shrugged.

"Don't worry about it. You didn't know." He said quietly. He began to turn away from Santana once more, but she held him back, gently holding him by the arm.

"Hey, Theo. I'm sorry. For…" Santana's voice trailed off, gesturing to the framed photos. Theo finally looked her right in the eye as he responded.

"What are you sorry for? You didn't kill her…"

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Later that night, Santana and Theo were eating dinner together at the dining table. Tension between the two of them had cooled down considerably. Thankfully, Santana had diminished the number of insults that were being thrown his way. She might be considered to many people a bitch, but even she had a line. She didn't know much about Theo, but from the little she had heard and inferred about him, his life had been the exact opposite of easy. Santana knew that while she liked to complain about a lot of things, the bottom line was that she always had had two parents around, a grandmother, friends, a stable life. Theo, by the sounds of it, had none of that.

"So you really don't know anything about me?" Theo asked, almost nervous to hear the answer.

"No. My parents don't either. This was kind of a blind favor they did for an old friend." She replied. Theo stayed quiet at this, but was secretly filled with relief. So he really would get a fresh start, he thought. "Why? You got something to hide? Are you secretly a serial killer or something?"

"Depends. How many kills does it take to get to serial?" Theo responded with a perfectly straight face. It was almost like he was being serious. Santana chuckled.

Every passing second, the tension between them faded more and more, and the most miraculous thing happened… they actually got along. Santana couldn't believe it more than anyone. She hated to admit it, but maybe Brittany was right. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. Maybe this was someone she could actually get along with. After all, he seemed to be relatively unfazed by her harsher earlier comments, even able to respond with his own quips, which was more than could be said than about many of the wimps she hung around in Lima. Thinking about you, Finn Hudson, Santana thought to herself.

As the two continued to get along, Santana told him all about Lima. She told him about McKinley High, where he'd be starting tomorrow. She told him about the Glee club, and even reluctantly showed him the video of their failed attempt at Nationals in New York. Theo had been entertained to watch Finn and Rachel's on-stage kiss, even more so when it was met by such a vehement, furious reaction from Santana.

"You know, you could join Glee too." Santana commented. "We're always in need of new members."

Theo chuckled and shook his head.

"Thanks, but uh… I'm not really a singer. Or a dancer. Music was never really a thing in my house growing up for most of my childhood."

"You don't have to be the lead." Santana stated. "We could always use new members to sing and sway in the background."

"I'm good. Thank you though." Theo murmured, trying to keep his facial expression unreadable.

Truth be told, not all of that was true. Theo knew how to sing. He knew how to sing really well actually. How that was the case? Theo wasn't quite sure, as singing had always been weirdly outlawed in his house growing up. His mom HATED anything to do with music for some reason. It was only upon meeting Marley that she had reintroduced music into his life, and he had absolutely adored it. But now… he didn't feel like he deserved that kind of joy that music could bring.

"I still can't believe you know how to cook so well!" Santana exclaimed, eagerly munching on the food that Theo had helped prepare for them. It was absolutely divine, something Santana definitely hadn't expected when Theo had volunteered to make them dinner.

"My mom always worked incredibly long shifts. You kind of have to learn your way around a kitchen." Theo explained. "Besides, the retirement plan to becoming a pro football player has always been to open the best Lebanese restaurant in America. So yeah, I know my way around a kitchen a little."

"Seriously! This is incredible!" Santana praised him, taking another large bite. Theo smiled faintly and nodded.

"Thank you." Theo murmured.

"You play football?" Santana asked.

"I used to play football." Theo corrected her. "I haven't played in a while."

"What position?" Santana questioned.

"Quarterback and on the Defensive Line." He replied.

"Quarterback? Finn's going to love that." Santana couldn't help but chuckle under her breath, quietly enough that Theo didn't hear her. Santana was still incredibly miffed about losing Nationals because of him, so she was happy to hear that he might get some comeuppance. "You should try out for the team. Our current Quarterback is not very good so I'm sure you'll make the team. Especially if you came from Florida."

"Nah, I don't think I'm going to try out, to be honest." Theo responded. He couldn't play football. Not with Marley not around anymore. With her, she had helped him find something he loved by playing football. But before he had met her… it had been a whole other story. And he had no interest in reverting back to that.

"You might as well try though, right? Nothing to lose." Santana commented. "That's why you're here, right? Trying to get a fresh start after what happened to your girlfriend?"

Theo's head instantly shot up, his eyes widening and filling with worry as he stared at the Latina.

"How did you… Who told you?"

"I'm not an idiot." Santana commented. "Nobody had to tell me anything. It's just written all over your face."

"What is?"

"That you're in a lot of pain." Santana replied. "And given what you told me earlier, it doesn't take a genius to work out why."

Theo nodded silently, glancing down for a moment. She had him there. Santana didn't know how Marley had passed away, but she had managed to work out just about everything else.

"Look, I'm sorry again for earlier. All of the bitching at you." Santana murmured. "I had no idea about your girlfriend…"

"My wife." Theo stated quietly. Santana nearly choked on the sip of water she had just taken, doing everything not to spit it all over Theo in shock.

"I'm sorry… what?!" Santana exclaimed.

"She was my wife. We got married the week before she passed away." Theo repeated. A long silence overtook them as Santana reflected upon the latest bombshell, unable to muster a word, not really knowing what to say. What could you really say to that? Theo had experienced loss in a way that Santana couldn't even imagine.

The pair finished eating in relative silence, before eventually, after both of them had licked their plates clean, Theo stood up.

"Here, let me get your plate so I can wash the dishes." Theo offered. Santana shook her head.

"Let me do it. I didn't help cook." Santana told him.

"Your family are opening your home to me for an entire year. The least I can do is help out with the cooking and the cleaning." Theo firmly responded.

So Theo did the dishes, Santana remaining in the kitchen with him as he did, telling him more stories about McKinley High. She filled him in on the seemingly endless amount of drama that had occurred in the past 2 years, Theo completely disbelieving of some parts; they just seemed too wild to be true! Eventually, he finished cleaning up, and the pair of them began to walk to their respective bedroom for the night.

"I'm sorry again that my parents weren't around to greet you. We thought you were coming tomorrow, so my mom and dad are arriving home tomorrow afternoon from some work conference they were at. I'm sure you'll meet them tomorrow."

"Sounds good." Theo murmured. Just before the two of them retired to their respective bedrooms, Theo spoke up once more. "Hey, Santana?"

"Yeah?"

"The things I've told you about myself tonight, the private things… could you please just keep them between us? Please don't tell anyone else." Theo asked her.

"Of course." Santana nodded. Theo let out a sigh of relief.

"Thanks." Theo was filled with gratitude. "Goodnight, Santana."

"See you tomorrow…"