A/N: For those reading the other story...I'm still working on the epilogue...it's coming...
As for this story...there is a plan at work. I intend to end this story and that story at the same time, which means soon. ;) We are back in Santana's POV...have you missed her? I have. More fun? Yes!
Enjoy!
Sugar We're Going Down (Fall Out Boy)
I knew that Quinn was upset, no matter how much she tried to smile and be sweet...her eyes told me the real deal.
Britt had taken precedence over her and she was trying her best to be fair about it.
This was not Britt's intention when she broke every major bone in her body.
I'm sure her last thought wasn't even about me.
And if it was...it was pure and untainted by vengeance.
Britt wasn't like me or Quinn...she was the unicorn.
Pure and good and just so selfless.
Quinn didn't know it yet but right in this moment, she was proving to me just how amazing she was.
But I couldn't tell her that...not while she was irritated.
"Do you want me to take you home or do you want to come back to my parent's house with me?"
We were pulling into a gas station and since she had been quiet for the last two hours...I needed to break the silence.
I was pretty sure that the last person I needed silence from was Quinn.
Her voice and her touch are what kept me stable these days and for the last forty-three minutes...I had neither.
That was unacceptable.
"When I dropped out of Yale...it was the last straw for my parents...I don't have a home."
My jaw dropped as I looked at her.
There were tears on her face.
I had mistakenly thought all of her angst was about B...but this was about her too.
Q had no place to go but California. Knowing Sue, the only way that she handed over her keys so easily, was for a favor of some sort.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I said as I turned in my seat.
A tear dripped down her cheek just before she looked away from me and dropped her head.
"Because I knew that you would be like this...showing me fucking pity and the last thing that I need is pity...especially from you."
I understood that anger...it was the same feeling that I had after Abuela had kicked me out of her house.
Pity was the last thing that I wanted, that was why I hadn't told the glee club.
That week had been pitiful enough without me adding my own shit on top of it.
I nodded my head and then brushed my thumb across her cheek.
"You know what, Q?" I said without whispering or being patronizing.
She looked up at me with surprise in her eyes.
"What?" She said as she sucked her lips into her mouth.
"You're my girlfriend...right?"
Her eyes got wide...because as of yet, we hadn't labeled this thing between us.
"Am I? Is that what you want?"
I took a deep breath and nodded because I knew that her being my girlfriend was exactly what I wanted.
She needed assurance before we set foot in Lima and so did I.
"Absolutely. I was waiting until we were on the beach, sipping mojitos but right now in this car...in this gas station, I want you to know that you are my girlfriend, mi novia and where I go...you go. Got it?"
She looked dumbfounded but she nodded.
"Yea...okay, San. I got it."
"Good...now pump the gas...I need to go hit the atm. Okay, Novia?"
She smiled and nodded when I called her that.
"Okay."
I paced the aisles of the store, trying to get my thoughts together as I called Mami.
My head was full of all this stuff...torn between Brittany and Quinn.
This is not how I wanted things to be.
I liked to focus all my energy on my mate.
It's the reason that I broke up with Britt in the first place...with school and distance, I couldn't be a good girlfriend to her.
This time around...it was juggling a new relationship while still hanging on to a piece of the old one.
Britt was my first love...my best friend.
And Quinn was someone who I could see myself loving forever...and she was also my best friend.
"Anita?"
I was pulled from my thoughts when I heard my mom's voice.
"Mami, Bendicion."
"Dios te bendiga. I take it you heard about Brittany?"
"Si, Mami. I'm on my way back."
"Porque? You're going to break that girl's heart, forcing her to come back here. Especially after the way Judy treated her."
I hesitated.
Did she seriously know and didn't say anything to me?
"What? Wait, you knew?"
"Ay Mamita, of course I knew. This is a small town. Things get around."
"Obviously."
"Did you at least finally make it official?"
"Si, Mami...I did."
"And so you are calling like a good daughter and asking if it's alright if she stays with us while you are in town?"
"Si. Why do I even bother talking to you if you already know everything?"
"Because you were raised to respect me and our home. Duh."
I couldn't help but laugh.
Suddenly, I was feeling better.
Less worried...less anxious.
"Mami...have you...has Papi said anything about how she is?"
Her laughter stopped and she took a deep breath.
"Mi'ja, I don't want to talk to you about that over the phone."
"I know." I whispered, feeling my throat close up.
"Cuidate."
"Si, Mami. Te quiero."
When we got to Lima the sun was blazing and the birds were chirping.
It seemed wrong that we were going to visit Britt in the hospital with such a beautiful day going.
She should be in the park or doing her motorcross.
Or dancing...or anything but laying unconscious in the hospital.
I was dead on my feet as I held tight to Quinn's hand and pushed open the heavy front door of my father's house.
When I walked into the kitchen, Mami and Papi were both sitting at the kitchen table.
He looked exhausted and she just looked sad.
I didn't even sit down or properly greet them...I couldn't wait another second.
I needed to know right then.
"Please...tell me." I croaked out.
Papi stood up and placed his hand on my shoulder.
"You need to sit down, Anita."
I shrugged off his hand and looked up into his dark eyes that matched my own.
"No, Papi. I have been sitting for the last twelve hours...I don't need to sit. I need you to tell me what I'm walking into. Por favor, Papi?"
"San...come on...lets sit down. We haven't slept in almost a full day...come on." I watched as Quinn took the seat next to Papi and then patted the empty seat next to her. "Please?"
I nodded and then finally moved into the chair facing my father.
He pushed his mug of coffee over to me and then gave me a small smile.
"Just how you like it."
I took a deep gulp and then sighed in contentment.
He was letting me breathe because he was a doctor and he knew stress.
And he knew me.
The more worked up I was...the worse my reaction would be.
So I let him be my father and I finished the cup of coffee before sitting back in my seat and nodding.
"Okay...I'm better...gracias, Papi."
"Denada, amor."
I smiled and then slipped my hand back into Quinn's.
Both my parents smiled and then finally Papi hit me with the news.
And if it hadn't been for Quinn holding onto my hand and Mami resting her hand on my back, I would have passed out from the shock of it all.
"I don't understand, Papi. What does this mean?"
"It's complicated...brain injuries usually are."
"Is she going to die?"
"I don't know."
I jumped up and pointed a shaky finger at him.
"What do you mean you don't know? You are a damn brain surgeon...it's your job to know!"
"Sit down." He said with a cold voice.
I had crossed a line and I knew better than to continue being disrespectful to him.
And so reluctantly I sat back down.
I couldn't bring myself to look at anyone, instead I just sat there, staring down at my hands trying not to cry.
"What do you need?" Quinn whispered in my ear.
"Brittany."
A/N: Damn straight. ;)