Santana parked her car in front of the Fabray's garage, noting that the light was on and the garage door was open a crack to allow for air flow. She could hear the clanging of weights being dropped, and the sound of heavy beats were being pumped from the speakers and she took a breath. She needed to weather the storm that was Charlie's emotions, and they needed to talk. She wasn't going to let Charlie just run away any longer. She grabs her workout bag, and exits her car and makes her way toward the garage opening the side door and grimacing at how stuffy it was inside the garage. Charlie was currently squatting with quite a bit of weight on her shoulders. Charlie doesn't spare her a glance as she continues with her set, quietly going up and down until she finishes the last rep and reracks her barbell and turns to look at her. "Do you want to spar?"

Charlie paused at the request, it was the last thing that she expected Santana to say to her. She expected more yelling and throwing fireballs at her face, "I always want to spar Santana, but are you asking so you can take out your frustrations on me, or is this some sort of way to seduce me? I mean if it's the latter, you don't really need to do that, I'm always ready to have sex with you. Our first time was here—"

"Against your grandfather's work bench," Santana nodded towards the bench. "I remember. So do you want to spar or not?"

Charlie studied Santana for a moment, before looking away, "Why are you here, I blocked you for a reason. I thought that you would at least understand that I didn't want to talk to you. I mean it was clever getting Quinn's phone from her, but it wasn't necessary."

"I'm really here to spar, but if you want to talk about why you broke up with me, then I'm willing to listen," Santana shoots back.

Charlie looks up at the ceiling, she really should tell Santana to leave her alone. "What are the rules?"

"No abilities, just good old fashion sparring. First one to tap loses."

"So you are trying to seduce me!" Charlie grinned, she's rewarded with an unamused look from Santana. She lets out a sigh and follows her. They walk out to the back of the house, she hadn't been here or run her obstacle course in awhile. The smile on her face fades as Santana finds a space for them to spar.

"Ready?"

Charlie glances back at Santana, "Are you?" But before she had been aware Santana had closed the distance between them and she's left flat-footed, as Santana does a few quick jabs, one of them landing square against her nose. "OW! Santana!"

Santana doesn't respond to Charlie's whining and instead tries to get her off her feet, but Charlie manages to block the action and respond with a very firm smack on the ass, causing Santana to stop and stare at her. "Why in the world would you think that it's okay to do that?"

Charlie blinked, "But I always—"

"We're not together anymore, because you broke up with me. I'm here to spar because I thought it would help you work out whatever it is that's been eating at you. Not so you could sexually harass me."

"Sexually—" Charlie paled, Santana seemed very upset with her and she really didn't get what she'd done wrong. This was how they always sparred.

"Am I a joke to you?" Santana questions, re-entering Charlie's space and poking her hard in the chest as she immediately backed up.

"What—of course—" Charlie trips and lands on her ass in front of Santana. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry alright I wasn't thinking about your feelings. And I thought that this was just our usual game, I didn't mean to—I wasn't aware of that—I'm sorry it won't happen again."

"You broke up with me, and yeah maybe I offended you but you blocked me on everything, you left me alone. You don't get to have my body anymore Charlie, I don't give a shit who you are, I have far more respect for myself then you clearly have for me."

"That's not true at all!" Charlie insisted.

"What, you didn't break up with me? Or that you respect me? Charlie you just smacked my ass. What part of that screams respect? And don't try to act cute by complimenting my body. We're not together, you don't get a free pass to my body because you think that you can do whatever it is you want without a care for anyone else. I still fucking care about you, I fucking love you and I don't know why you can proclaim that you love me so much and then break up with me and freeze me out as if I mean nothing to you. As if I was one of the girls you were fucking last year, just a body."

There's a rumble in the sky as lightning dances on the clouds as Charlie narrows her eyes, "How could you accuse me of that, you know how much I love you. You know I'd do anything for you!"

"Do I?" Santana challenges, a fireball appearing in her hand.

"There are people actively trying to fucking kill me Santana! And I can't—"

"Don't give me that, I know that's why you didn't break up with me. If you're just going to fucking lie to me then hold still so I can set you on fire and get out all my feelings and you can enjoy being alone and being oh so fucking condescending."

"I'm doing everything in my power to protect you—"

"No one fucking asked you too. You don't get to make decisions for me Charlie. We've talked about this, you don't get to decide what's best for me. You want to save me from the Union of Justice, so what's the truth."

Charlie meets Santana's glare with one of her own, she was infuriating. How could she be so fucking blind to everything that she had done for her? "You're not ready yet. You're not ready and my enemies are—they tried to kill me the other day Santana. They shot at me, they endangered you and the rest of the school because they wanted to get to me. This isn't the inter-high anymore, this is reality this is my fucking reality. People are trying to kill me, they're trying to hurt me and my sisters can take care of themselves. I don't have to worry about them, but I worry about you. I worry about Rachel, I worry about the team. They will come after you to hurt me, that's why I need to get to Summit quickly. That's why we need to break up. Because I can't be there protecting you 24/7. And you want the truth Santana, the truth is that right now. At this moment, I am broken. I'm keeping it together with shoelace and bubblegum and trying to pretend that everything is fine. I need to pretend and believe that everything is fine, because I don't know what will happen if I get pushed any further and you were pushing me, Santana." Charlie yells, taking a breath and putting her hands on her face.

The fireball extinguished and Santana reached for Charlie before pausing her fingertips inches away from her ex-girlfriend. "Sometimes, I say hurtful things without thinking about it, but I don't mean it. You know I don't think you're a sociopath. I know you have your own way of grieving, but you don't have to smile all the time, you don't have to hide your pain. Not from me or anyone else on the team, we're your friends, and we all fucking care about you. I mean they don't see you as Charlie the hero, they see you as Charlie the person who enjoys torturing the shit out of them, and who still owes them a fucking dinner."

Charlie looks up at her, moving her hands away from her face. "I still have to do that?"

Santana finally takes a seat beside Charlie, "Yes Charlie, you still have to do it. What else are you hiding from me?"

"It's been brought to my attention that I may be unintentionally suppressing you, it also factored into my decision. You're close to awakening, but with me being right there hovering saving you has prevented that from happening. Frannie, my father, Britt to a degree all believe that we need to end our relationship now, for your sake and that the distance and the proper training from professionals, from Frannie will help you achieve your full potential. You need to fall down, and figure out how to get up on your own, I can't help you right now. Not until you reach your full potential."

Santana closes her eyes, "I don't want to lose you, I love you. Probably not as much as you love me but it's pretty damn close. I don't want to see you returning to your fuckboy ways either."

"I am not a fuckboy!" Charlie insists even as Santana rests her head on her shoulders. "Friends?"

"I feel like that's a demotion, you're friends with the hobbit, and I'm not going to be put into the same category as Rachel." Santana insisted.

"Best friends?" Charlie offers.

"Shame you didn't say friends with benefits, but best friends will simply have to do."

"Santana! You can't get mad at me for sexually harassing you and then get annoyed that I don't sexually harass you!"

"We're best friends Charlie, which means I can tease you and bully you as much as I want."

"Can I tease and bully you back?" Santana pats Charlie on the leg and gets up. "Seriously?"

"Let's go watch old cartoons," Santana offers her outstretched hand on the couch.

Charlie studied the hand for a moment, before grabbing it and letting Santana pull her to her feet, when she's at eye-level. "I—"

Santana looked away, "Don't make this even more difficult Charlie," she mumbles. She wasn't going to cry, and if Charlie started extolling her love for her, she was going to start to cry and she really didn't want to cry in front of her ex-girlfriend. Charlie wouldn't judge her for it, but it would be mortifying to have her ex-girlfriend comfort her.

Charlie's gaze softens. "I need you to hurry the fuck up and catch up." Charlie pulls away from Santana and heads back towards her back deck. "Do you know there's a cartoon called 'Cadillacs and Dinosaurs?' I mean it's probably awful, but I've never seen it before."

Santana smiled and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, "We are not watching a cartoon about ugly cars. We can watch one about dinosaurs. Dinosaurs are pretty cool."

~ O ~

"You know, you didn't have to appease my fathers by agreeing to watch a marathon of Real Housewives, you were the guest, you could have picked anything that you wanted." Rachel says as she walks Quinn onto the deck. "You also don't have to leave now if you don't want to, my fathers agreed that you could stay the night in our guest room."

Quinn let out a laugh, "It wouldn't have been much fun, I would have spent the entire night looking at different news stations, checking what the pundits are saying about my family. This was a nice break, even if I have zero idea who any of these people are, and why they have a show about them and why we care."

"The drama, the peek into the lifestyles of the rich and famous?" Rachel challenges, but when Quinn shoots her a blank look she lets out a laugh. "I mean both things that you and Charlie are."

"Well, rich, the world isn't quite ready for me to take center stage just yet, they still have no idea what to do with Charlie, me joining now would put more scrutiny on our family." Quinn responds with a shrug. "Also, i feel like our lives are far more dramatic than anything that is on the Real Housewives, my aunt did murder half my family." Quinn let out a bitter laugh and sighs, "I'm sorry. I'm still processing—"

"And seeing someone to help you process your grief?" Rachel interrupts looking at Quinn.

Quinn flashed an amused smile at Rachel as she took a seat on the steps and pats the seat and pats the space beside her, "You don't have to worry about that, we both have weekly sessions, it's the only thing that my dad could really enforce. He's trying his hardest, but I miss my mom. I miss my grandparents, more than anything. I wake up every day in that house—and I half expect to stumble to the kitchen and mom would be in the kitchen with a full breakfast. The last time I saw her, I don't think that I gave her proper answers. I just sort of grunted at her because it was some obscene time in the morning. Now I'm never going to see her again and I—" Quinn swallows as she feles Rachel hugging her yet again, and she closes her eyes.

Rachel didn't say anything, "I know I sound like a broken record ,but do you have anything planned to celebrate their life? A memorial, it could help with some closure."

"We'll be in LA for the holidays, back at the house we grew up in. I think that's when we'll do a memorial for them, and do the will stuff, and I guess celebrate our first christmas without mom, I mean I know we were getting a bit too old for the gingerbread competition, but it was our tradition. Mom—well grandma wasn't much of a festive person but grandpa was. He never really got to do Christmas growing up, so he made it a huge deal. Mom tried to impart that on us, and I mean dad will try, but he was never around."

"Quinn—"

"I'm not mad at him for that, he was protecting us. He spent his entire life making deals with the devil to make sure that we were allowed to have those holidays with mom. I mean one year Grandpa dressed up like Santa Clause and Brittany caught him, well she saw him from behind and saw him delivering presents, and eating cookies and then floating out the window." Quinn grinned at the memory. "You should come."

Rachel smiled and opened her mouth to agree eagerly, before she hesitates. "I will always be there for you Quinn, but I think that maybe I shouldn't be there. It's a moment for your family, and while I'm friends with you both you and Charlie—"

Quinn's brow furrowed at that statement. "Really, I'm on the same level as Charlie to you?"

Rachel inhales, this conversation was a long time coming. "The last time you asked me out, it caught me off guard. I wasn't thinking of anyone liking me and I certainly wasn't ready to be in a relationship with you. I mean the only experience I have with anyone showing any interest in me is your twin however brief that was. Before we could even talk about it you just decided that I had no interest and then you were dating Marley. I'm interested in you Quinn, but is this the right time for us to start dating? You're off to Yale, for the spring session to get a head start, which means you'll be moving away. I know that with Frannie and Charlie you can commute from anywhere in the world, but I'll be starting my senior year, with the Inter-High, and college applications, I'll be busy. I have to prepare several set pieces."

"All I'm hearing is reasons why you think that we won't work, Rachel."

"This is my very first relationship, Quinn. And while I enjoy the drama filled lives of the Real Housewives, I don't want that to be my love life. I just think that if we want this relationship to succeed then rushing into it isn't the wisest decision. Not when your emotional state is—well as turbulent as it is now."

A look of disappointment flickered over Quinn's features. Rachel was right, a relationship between them would be hard and rushing into it would probably lead to them breaking up like Charlie and Santana."You're right, I just I don't want to lose you. I don't know how long it's going to take for me to feel normal again—and I have no idea what my new normal is."

"Well, I'm going to be here for as long as that takes," She didn't expect it to take long for Quinn and Charlie to find their new normal. It hadn't taken them long to get involved with the school or become her friends after they had moved. They would find their new normal soon, she just had to wait until the dust settled. "But, I'm going to need you to let me handle all my problems Quinn, if I need your help, if I want your help you need to trust me and wait for me to ask, I will always ask. I want to see if I can get into NYADA on my own. And my fathers are quite capable of paying for my tuition. I know you want to help and I'm grateful, but you helping prevents me from seeing where my limitations are. I can't keep trusting Santana's opinion on what my many limitations are."

"Santana?"

"We're friends now."

Quinn blinked and shuddered, "Why? And since when?"

"When Charlie and Santana are fighting, Santana comes to me before Charlie can, I'm basically their mediator and I guess it just happens. We also carpool since Charlie stopped doing it, Santana even occasionally lets me pick what to listen to on the radio, but that's really only when she's in a good mood. Charlie never lets me do that."

"Well, tell Santana that I'd she bullies you again I'll freeze her underwear," Quinn grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.

"She might enjoy that, I mean it is Santana after all. I think you and her could be great friends."

"Hard pass, I still find her unbearably annoying."

"That's just her prickly exterior, Charlie loves her shouldn't that mean something?"

"All my discussions with Santana involve my twin to some extent, and who in the world said my twin was a good judge of character. We know she's not, she had faith in my aunt and look how that turned out." When Rachel gives her hand a gentle but firm squeeze she sighs, "I don't blame her, even I didn't predict that it would end like this. But Charlie's judgment in others isn't absolute, she's human just like you and I. And Santana is a questionable choice for Charlie. At least I think so, and ever since they got together it's been one thing after another. Like they can't even get on the same wavelength, and what happens they drag me into it. Well Santana does, Charlie thinks she's an idiot savant when it comes to relationships."

"Your twin is very good at relationships, Quinn. Her advice and analysis is always spot on. You really should take her advice more seriously, she doesn't just give it out for free," Rachel insisted. Charlie had helped her figure out her feelings rather simply. Even if it was rather crude.

Quinn stared at Rachel, before patting her on the leg and getting up, "I imagine in the future Charlie will have a cult following, literally, I would prefer it if you weren't like her first disciple."

Rachel grinned, "It might be a bit late for that."

"Rachel!"

"She gives really good advice! When she takes things seriously. Don't worry, I'm not actually joining the cult of Charlie."