Forever (sequel to The Hostage)

11

Santana's POV
I finally eat something. And of all things, it's a cronut that Quinn brought me. At first I don't think I'll manage it. But I try, and it stays down.

Quinn acts as if I've won a medal. It's stupid, but I actually smile for the first time in days.

Until we get the next message from the people who took Brittany. It comes through Mercedes' phone as a video, which she screen records while watching.

I don't know what happened next, since they didn't tell me anything. Quinn just gave the vague details. She looked like she was going to throw up. All I know is that Mercedes came up to my room, asked for Quinn to come downstairs, and instructed me to stay where I was.

Quinn came back upstairs, her face pale. Of course I immediately assumed the worst, but tried to stay calm. I'm not sure why.

S-"Is she okay? Please tell me she's not dead."
Q-"What? No, she's not dead."

The pain in my chest eases a little, but when Quinn's expression doesn't change, I find myself asking more questions about her.

S-"What's wrong then?"
Q-"Uhm, so, basically..."
S-"Quinn. Just tell me."
Q-"They sent a video of her. She's been beat up, quite badly by the looks of it. They need money, or we won't get her back. Apparently there's demands, but Brittany didn't agree."

I don't reply. I don't do anything. The room blurs in and out of focus. I think Quinn is talking to me, but I can't be sure. All my concentration is on the searing pain in my chest, and how hard it is to breathe.
Everything goes dark.

Later, Quinn tells me that I had a panic attack. And I passed out, because I couldn't breathe. She delivers the news while I'm in the bath, because she said it would make me feel better.

Brittany being safe, and here, would make me feel better. But obviously that's not an option. Quinn doesn't have a fucking clue what to do, but she's trying. And I appreciate that.

She sits beside me, hunched over in a ball. Her chin rests on her knees, blonde hair obscuring her face.

Q-"Have you had panic attacks before?"
S-"Yeah. But not like that."
Q-"Sorry. I don't know what to do."
S-"Me neither."
Q-"Not with the whole Brittany thing. I meant with..you, I guess."
S-"Why me?"
Q-"I don't know, I just feel like you don't like me that much. Or you find it difficult to be around me."
S-"I thought you didn't like me."
Q-"What made you think that?"
S-"You did kind of beat me up the first time I really met you."
Q-"Oh, yeah. That. I didn't mean to."

I give her a look, and she shakes her head.

Q-"I mean- my head was a mess. And it was the an-"

She cuts off again. God, she is so frustrating.

Q-"There was a lot on my mind."
S-"Mhm. But can we be friends now?"
Q-"Yeah. I'd really like that."
S-"You have kind of seen me naked."
Q-"I have a girlfriend, so I have not even tried to take a peek at you in the bath."

She giggles, and it's so unlike Quinn.

Q-"Sorry. This whole week has just fucked with my head. Now I'm an idiot who giggles and takes baths with my best friends fiancée."
S-"I'm not sure if she's my fiancée anymore."
Q-"Shut up. She loves you. It's sickening."

In a messed up way, her words do offer me some means of comfort.

S-"I'm going to get out the bath now, so can you please leave?"
Q-"Yeah. I'll be in the bedroom."

She gets up from where she was sitting, cross-legged beside the bath, and wanders through to the bedroom. I wait until the door is closed behind her, then get out of the lukewarm water.