I'd Excuse Murder | Santana Lopez

30

A/N: Who's here?

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Anger.

Somewhere in the stages of grief, denial quickly gave way to anger, overwhelming the minds of those deeply affected. Time and great care would most obviously fill the void, but the feeling of that bothersome marble rolling around the edge tickled its ability to reach acceptance every time it failed to fall completely inside.

The more the marble rolled, bumped, ticked along the fragile glass, the more anger built up inside.

Dangling a little receipt in front of Puck's face, Santana smirked and gently touched the new necklace hanging around her neck. It was pure coincidence that Valentine's Day allowed her to purchase an after holiday—and rather expensive—V necklace in the same dashing gold Valerie looked best in. She wore it with pride while the J ring sat too far down her chest, between her breasts, where no one could see until she felt the time was right.

"What's that?" Puck asked, eyes following the piece of paper she flagged through the air.

"It's a receipt. I went to Jared." Santana touched the necklace that danced along her collarbones. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and smirked. "You can reimburse me; we'll have dinner at Breadstix, then we can consider your cold shoulder last month settled."

"Um, no." Puck shook his head.

Santana huffed, popping out her hip. "Look, you made your point. I'm sorta a bitch, but I'm willing to change for the right man." She licked her lips when she spotted Sam down the hallway, watching Brenda and Quinn argue at the hall intersection once again. "I won't tell Lauren to look out for poachers that might mistake her as the endangered white rhino."

Puck tilted his head with a motion to answer, but stalled when the current women of his eyes caught his attention. She loomed behind Santana, bring a soft gulp to his throat.

"I heard that. Don't make me rip that weave out 'cha head." Lauren spat.

Santana placed a fake smile on her face and slowly turned around to face the wrestler.

"Hello, Lauren. You are a beautiful person." Santana turned to offer Puck a sly smile. Her eyes caught on Sam down the hallway again, hovering on the way he was moving things from a top locker to a bottom locker.

Sam was at Valerie's locker.

He was decorating her new locker at the height one would use a wheelchair. No wonder Artie sat beside him with Brittany on his lap, offering him advice as he adjusted everything to best fit Valerie's needs.

Sam Evans was disgustingly kind.

"Thank you." Lauren raised a brow when Santana spun back around to face her, scowling.

"Now get out of my way, please, fores I ends you." Santana looked Lauren up and down, smirking.

"You don't want to push me." Lauren insisted.

Santana laughed. "Oh, but see, I sorta do." She circled the taller girl. "I'm from a part of town called Lima Heights Adjacent. You know where that is, popping fresh? It's on the wrong side of the tracks."

And with a small flick of her hand across Lauren's face, Puck knew it was over.

"Damn."

Mercedes nodded her head and watched Valerie's wide eyes focus on the screen of her phone.

The fight between Lauren and Santana had gone viral through Jacob Ben Israel's blog. Valerie wasn't allowed too much screen time, and she found it frustrating to use her phone most days. So when Mercedes came to visit her, she felt father confused to learn Santana was pinning for Noah Puckerman again. It was both disheartening and disgusting to learn second hand. Then again, Santana only volunteered at the hospital while she was resting or in therapy, so Valerie made a point to avoid her for the benefit of her and Sam's happiness.