A/N: Part 2 of the Lima break.

If you haven't read "Negotiating the Terms Of Our Reconciliation",this chapter may seem out of place. (You could probably skip it, actually). Shannon and Riley are OCs that put in their first appearance in NtTOOR and will probably show up in future fics as well. I don't think you need to read NtTOOR (but, why wouldn't you want to? :D) to understand this chapter.

Xoxoxoxoxo

Chapter 32 – December in Lima

By December 12th, the day of the annual "Pierce Family Tree Hunt", Brittany and Santana were exhausted.

The end of November and the beginning of December had passed in a blur of parties and pageants, Christmas Plays and Holiday Concerts, bazaars and craft fairs, and the Winter Carnival. Coming up they had The Snow Ball.

They got back after finding "the perfect tree", according to Courtney and Pierce, and collapsed on their bed.

"Britt, I love your family. They are completely exhausting. Please tell me we don't have a party or pageant or play or concert … or anything tonight or tomorrow."

"Nope. Courtney's Chorale Concert is the 15th. We don't have anything for the next three days."

Just then, Brittany's phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID and frowned.

"Riley? Hi! How are you? Wait … what? Slow down, sweetie, I can't understand you." She put the phone on speaker.

"Shannon is missing, Britt. Has she called Santana?"

"No, Santana hasn't heard from Shannon. What's going on?"

Santana looked at Brittany who just shrugged.

"Nobody has seen or heard from her since Friday and she hasn't been to school at all this week. Alan and Jen, two of our straight friends who go to the same church as Shannon's family, went over there this afternoon to see if she was sick; if she maybe needed her schoolwork.

"Britt …" Rily choked on a sob, "her father acted like he didn't know who they were talking about. Said there was no Shannon there and they must have the wrong house."

Santana grabbed her phone to check and shook her head at Brittany letting her know that there were no missed calls or texts.

"If you hear from her, call me? Tell her to call me? I don't care what time it is … I just … I need to know she's okay."

"Okay. Yeah, if we hear from her, we'll let you know. Keep in touch and let us know if you find her." Brittany hung up, a troubled look on her face.

Santana bit her lip. She knew all too well the dangers of being a gay runaway. If that's what happened. She looked at her phone again; as if she could make a call or text magically appear to let them know where Shannon was.

Brittany wrapped her arms around Santana.

"Come on. Let's get something to eat. We can't do anything until or unless we hear from Shannon."

Xoxoxoxoxo

The phone rang at two a.m. and Santana blindly reached out for it.

"H'lo?"

"Sa-santana?"

Santana shot up and shook Brittany to wake her. She put the phone on speaker.

"Shannon, honey, is that you? Are you okay? Where are you?"

Brittany was instantly awake as well.

"I'm scared. There's this creepy guy who keeps following me." Shannon's voice broke. "I-I'm in Cleveland."

"Where in Cleveland?"

"B-bus s-sta-station."

"Okay, listen to me, Shannon …" all she heard was crying on the other end. "Shannon … I need you to calm down and listen to me." Brittany was gently scratching Santana's back to keep her calm. Once Santana was calm, they started moving; pulling on sweats and t-shirts, sweatshirts and socks. Brittany packed an overnight bag for the two of them.

"O-o-kay." Shannon's breathing calmed down and her sobs slowed to sniffles.

"Okay, good. Is there a coffee shop or a diner or anything at the station?"

"There's a coffee shop."

"Is it open?"

"Yeah. I … I, uh, can see a couple of people in there."

"Okay." Santana took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. Brittany disappeared when she was done dressing while Santana kept talking to Shannon. "Go into the coffee shop and find the oldest woman there. Or a lady with kids. Or even one of the waitresses. Tell her a creepy guy is following you and you just need to stay somewhere safe until your friends can come and get you. Stay put. If you get a chance to borrow a phone, call me. Stay in the coffee shop, in a well lighted area, where people can see you. We'll be there by seven-thirty."

Shannon sniffled. "Okay. Thank you, Santana."

"It's going to be okay, Shannon. Stay safe."

Santana threw in two of the Paris sweatshirts into their overnight bag for the two younger girls. When she left the bedroom and ran into Brittany coming down the stairs.

"I talked to my mom and let her know what was going on. We can take the SUV; save the mileage on the rental."

Santana nodded as Brittany handed her the keys. Santana needed to feel in control of something.

After a quick run through a drive-thru to grab some coffee, they were on their way.

"San?" Brittany asked when they were on the road.

"Yeah?"

"Do we call Riley?"

Santana groaned. "Yeah. Call her. She's going to want to come with us." Santana nibbled her bottom lip. "I really wish we had a way to contact Shannon." She sighed. "Britt … Riley's mom doesn't know us. It's going to be a thing."

Brittany nodded and pulled her license from her wallet. Then she found Santana's. She snapped a pic of both of their licenses and attached them to a text message, adding their local address to the message.

Her phone rang a moment later.

"Brittany? Why did you send me this stuff?" Riley sounded wide awake.

"Riley, I need you to stay calm, okay? Where's your mom?"

"She's right here, why?"

"Put your phone on speaker." Brittany waited until she could hear the background noise. "Ms. Shaughnessy?"

A young sounding woman answered. "Yes. I'm here."

"We heard from Shannon. We're on our way to Cleveland to pick her up."

"Come get me! I'm in Findlay! I'm right on the way!" Riley sounded frantic.

"Riley. I need you to stay calm. Santana and I have no problem picking you up but you're seventeen and your mom might have a problem with two strangers picking you up in the middle of the night. I sent you that stuff so you could give it to your mom so she has some information on us. You need to get her permission. We'll be there in about forty minutes. Talk to your mom. We'll talk to her when we get there. Understand? This is non-negotiable. If your mom isn't okay with this, you're not coming with us."

"Okay."

"Good. Text us your address. We'll be there shortly and we'll talk."

Brittany hung up and heaved a sigh.

"San … what are we doing? We have no idea what we're getting ourselves into. She's a runaway. I'm sure there's legal stuff involved. What do we do if the cops want to talk to us? Or find out we helped her?"

Santana ran a hand through her hair. "I don't know, Britt. All I know is a seventeen year old kid is in the Cleveland bus station and she's scared. I couldn't not do something."

"I know. And I don't disagree with your decision. I just … we didn't have any time to check things out; to figure out what we need to do. What we have to do legally."

Santana nodded and looked at the dashboard clock. It was almost three. She sighed.

"Call my mom. She's a paralegal, she knows people who would know about this stuff."

Brittany grabbed Santana's phone and called Maribel.

"Mija? What's wrong? It's the middle of the night … are you hurt? Sick?"

"Mami … calm down, I'm fine. I'm sorry to call so late but we've got a bit of a situation. I know it's late and you can't do anything right now but I wanted to give you the information so you can get on it first thing."

"Okay. What's going on? Where are you? Where is Brittany?"

"I'm here, Mari. We're on our way to Cleveland."

The two girls quickly filled Maribel in on the situation they found themselves in.

"Wow. Okay. How do you girls even know this girl?"

"We met her and her girlfriend at the Toledo Zoo last summer when we were in negotiations for our reconciliation." Brittany grinned at Santana.

Maribel laughed. "Of course you did. I want to hear that story at lunch this week. The first thing you need to find out is if she ran away or was thrown out of her house."

"Why does that matter?"

"It's a felony, in all fifty states, to throw your child out of your house and force them into homelessness. It's child endangerment and abandonment. If she ran away … the police usually have discretion. They may take her back home or into custody. I will talk to one of the lawyers in the morning and see what she says. Shannon may have to get a lawyer of her own. I'll know more in the morning, mija. When you find her, don't drive back right away. It'll be almost seven am when you get there. Use that credit card I gave you and get a hotel room for tonight; get two if you need to. Give my number to Riley's mother; I will talk to her."

"Okay, Mami, thank you. Sorry to wake you."

"Don't worry about it, mija. I'm happy to help. Te amo, mijas."

"We love you, too, Mami."

Xoxoxoxoxo

It was almost three-thirty when they reached Findlay. They pulled into the apartment complex's parking lot; Riley was waiting for them.

"What did she say? Is she okay? Why is she in Cleveland?" Riley bombarded them with questions before they were fully out of the car.

"Come on. Let's go talk to your mom."

Riley huffed but led the way into the building. They walked down the hall to a first floor apartment.

Riley had been right; it was a small place but it was clean and tidy. Homey.

"Hi, I'm Jessie, Riley's mom." The woman extended her hand. She was young; like, had Riley as a teenager young. She looked like she could have been Riley's older sister; same platinum hair, slight build, and sharp, almost Elvish, features.

"I'm Brittany, this is my girlfriend, Santana." Brittany took charge because Santana … is Santana and can … sometimes … be a little abrasive.

They shook hands and Jessie invited them into the living room to sit.

"Would you ladies like some water? Or coffee? I just brewed a fresh pot."

"Coffee would be great, please. We have a long drive ahead of us and we hadn't been asleep long when Shannon called."

"Mooom …"

"Riley." Jessie looked at her daughter as she went to the kitchen to get the coffee.

"Riley, I told you … this is non-negotiable. Your mom is okay with it or we go without you." Brittany gave Riley a look and Riley huffed again and flopped into a chair.

"Fine."

"Okay. First, she didn't say much. She's … okay." Brittany deliberately left out the part about the 'sketchy guy'; she didn't want Riley to get more upset and worried. "She's at the bus station in Cleveland but didn't say why or how she got there. That's all we know."

Riley nodded. She was a bundle of nerves; her knee bouncing up and down like a piston.

Jessie looked at her daughter and sighed. "I know you want to go but … Riley …" she looked apologetically at Santana and Brittany, "I don't know these women."

Brittany looked at Jessie. "We totally understand. That's why we sent you our information. We talked to Santana's mom; she's a paralegal in Lima and she's going to look into everything in the morning. She's willing to talk to you if you'd like."

Jessie was looking at Santana. "Why do you look familiar?"

Santana sighed. "Two years ago there was a political ad outing me."

"Oh, god. You're the lesbian cheerleader."

"That would be me, yep." Santana smiled wryly.

"Were you out before that?"

Santana shook her head. "Not fully. A few friends knew but, mostly, I was still in the closet. That ad kind of tipped my world upside down."

"I bet." Jessie shook her head. "I'd have been furious."

"Oh, my mom was beyond furious."

Jessie nodded. "I can only imagine. So, what do you two do? Are you in school? Working?"

"Mom and I sued Salazar and I got a nice settlement which has given me the freedom to figure myself out. Britt and I just spent five months in Europe and after the holidays we're headed to Hawaii. Then we're going to settle in New York but we haven't figured out what we're doing when we get there." Santana shrugged. "Britt wants to dance. I want to sing but … since I met Shannon, I've been mulling over how I can help kids like Shannon. And this kid we met in Greece; Trevor."

Brittany smiled at Santana; pride shining in her eyes. "I just left MIT." She shrugged. "It was really stifling. So, Santana and I figured, we're young and relatively responsibility free; it's the perfect time to wander Europe."

Santana stood up abruptly. "I forgot something. I'll be right back." She grinned at Brittany, who looked back at her in confusion.

When she came back she handed Riley a sweatshirt. Riley looked confused and Brittany blushed.

"Saan …"

"I'm proud of you, what can I say?" She quickly told the story of Brittany's photo.

"Oh, wow! Thanks! That is so cool!"

"Brittany's embarrassed when I gush about it," she shrugged, "but I think she should be proud of herself."

"So you dance and take pictures and you were at MIT?"

Brittany nodded. "They found out that I'm some sort of math genius." Brittany shrugged again. "So they recruited me and I was there about three months or so. I just …" she sighs. She knows how it sounds; she left a prestigious university that gave her a full ride and was paying her for her brain to traipse around Europe with her girlfriend. Not exactly the responsible thing to do.

"They were killing her. They … they destroyed the Brittany I knew and loved. She was so unhappy and Britt's never unhappy. She wasn't living; it was like they saw her brain but didn't see HER. You know? So I reminded her who she was. That's how we ended up back together."

"Wait. You two are really back together?" Riley looked at them.

Brittany smiled. "Yeah. Since June."

"That's awesome!"

Jessie chuckled.

"No, mom, you don't even understand." She told Jessie the story about Santana's fries and chocolate shake. "And it was, like, they didn't even realize they'd done it. It was … inspiring? I mean, they weren't even together but they were still taking care of each other."

Jessie smiled at her daughter.

"I don't want to be rude," Santana said, "but we should really be on our way. I don't want Shannon sitting there longer than she has to. Jessie, I understand you hesitating and I don't blame you." She looked at Brittany. "And … Riley … we're planning on staying in Cleveland long enough to get some sleep before we come back." She glanced at Jessie. "My mom insisted on it. She gave me a credit card and told me to use it to get a hotel room … or two, if necessary."

Jessie nodded. "Okay. Talking to the two of you has made me feel better. Can I talk to your mom quickly before you leave?"

"Of course." Santana opened her phone and gave Jessie her mom's number.

Jessie walked down the hall for privacy.

"I'm scared," Riley said softly. "She avoided me last week. I don't know what's going on. I NEED to see her. Hold her. Reassure her that it's going to be okay, you know?"

"Yeah. If that had been Santana, I'd have felt the same way. I get it. But, Riley, your mom loves you. What if we're, like, serial killers or we like to seduce young girls? Your mom doesn't know us and doesn't want to risk her most precious thing with strangers."

"Yeah. I get it. But … I know you guys. You have no idea how much it meant to Shannon that you talked to her last summer." Riley sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "Shannon was so much calmer. Like, she just kept remembering what you said about it getting better; that it might get worse first but it would get better. That's why I'm so worried; it almost feels like she was before we met you guys … and I'm just scared she'll …" Riley trailed off.

"Hey. She called me. She knows we're coming. She's going to be okay." Santana talked softly to Riley. She had to make Riley believe what she was saying.

Riley nodded, a tear sliding free down her cheek.

Jessie came back in. "Okay. You can go."

Riley jumped up and hugged her mom. "Really?"

"Yes. I talked to Maribel," Jessie smiled, "she's really no-nonsense. Made sure I knew that, while you're not perfect, you're also a 'good girl'. Mainly because Brittany makes sure you stay that way." Jessie laughed as Santana ducked her head in embarrassment and Brittany giggled.

"You call me when you find her. You call me when you get to the hotel. You call me when you leave Cleveland. Understand?"

"Yeah. Yeah. Of course."

"Go pack an overnight bag."

Riley ran off and Jessie looked at the two older girls.

"I heard what Riley said. I had no idea the impact you had on Shannon. All Riley said was they met 'two older lesbians' who were really cool and helpful."

Santana pretended to be offended. "Older? Older? We're not THAT much older than they are."

Brittany laughed. "We may as well be. We're technically adults, San. We paid for lunch and dispensed some wisdom. Although, technically, you're the only lesbian."

Santana smiled. "Yeah. I guess."

Riley came out and hugged her mother. "Okay, let's go."

"Oh, wait, let me give you some money …"

"Oh, no, that's not necessary. We 'older lesbians' need to take care of the younguns." Santana winked at Riley who blushed.

Brittany and Santana laughed, said goodbye to Jessie, and followed Riley back out to the car.