Glee One-Shots

Small Town

Summary: Santana is forced to move to a small town.

She was running from her problems. She was running from her past. That's what she did when it got tough. She ran.
Santana had been moving from town to town hoping to one day find a permanent home. She hoped to one day fit it in. She hoped to one day be able to settle down.
Her secret always got out one way or another. The town would gossip and giver her dirty looks after they knew. It wasn't her fault.
She had killed her husband. He was an abusive asshole. One day, he tried to kill and she did what she had to do. She hadn't meant to kill him. She just wanted to knock him out. She hit him a little to hard in the back of the head and he never woke up.
She was battered and bruise when the cops found her hiding in the closet. There was enough evidence for the judge easily to decide that it was self defense, but there were people who thought it wasn't.
Her husband was a very influential man. She had been forced to marry him because her parents made her. She had made it loud and clear that she played for the other team, but they didn't care. They just wanted her daughter to marry a man that had a high social status.
When the news got out all the people he was friends with went crazy. They thought he could do no harm. A man that appeared as if he could never harm a fly. They automatically thought she had murdered him and that there was no possible way it was self defense despite all the evidence.
Her past always seemed to follow her. When everything seems to be perfect, her secret comes out. She's never stayed in one place for more than 2 years. Maybe one day, she can find a forever home.
Her stop is in a small town. They are country people who own ranches just out of town. The town is more of a shopping space than somewhere they would live in.
She had bought a small farm house. It had 3 acres of land so she had some space.
All the farmhouses were at least 10 miles away from each other yet somehow everyone knew each other. Santana's nearest neighbor was 5 miles away.
She was fixing somethings in her house when she heard a knock on her door. Santana looked out her window to see a pretty blonde woman standing there with a basket. She opened the door.
"Hi, I'm Quinn. I'm your neighbor. I just wanted to come 'round and say welcome." Quinn smiled.
"I'm Santana. Are you from here?"
"Yes ma'am. Born and raised although I moved out from folks house years ago. Are you living by yourself?"
"Yes, I am. Are you?"
"Yes, I'm glad I finally got a neighbor. This house has been empty for years and I've been getting rather lonesome." Quinn smoothed her dress. "I brought you some homemade raspberry jelly and some biscuits. There are also some cookies."
"Thank you. Do you wanna come in?"
"Sure."
"I'm sorry it's a mess. I've been trying to get things organized." Santana apologized.
"It's no problem." Quinn shrugged. "Where are you from?"
"I'm from New York."
"So you're a big city girl, what brings you to a small town like this one?"
"I wanted a change." Santana shrugged.
"Do you work?" Santana didn't have to after all she had gained millions after her husband left everything for her in his will. He even left her the company he ran. She was surprised. Why would such an abusive asshole want his wife to have everything when he died. He probably wasn't planning on her being able to kill him.
She sold the company to one of his friends for a couple billion. She was basically set for life.
She wasn't going to touch that money though. She only used it to buy houses in the towns she moved to, but that was it.
"I opened a bakery in the town. It's grand opening is in a week." Santana loved to bake. It was a dream of hers to open a bakery. She decided to take a risk and open it.
"That's great. We need a new bakery. Miss Catherine recently passed away and her bakery closed down. She was a great woman." Quinn said sadly. "Anyways, if you need any help or something I'm just 5 miles away. Don't be afraid to call. My name is in the phone book. See ya, Santana." Quinn walked out the door and drove off in her truck.
It was night and it was starting to get cold. Santana looked around for thermostat, but was surprised to find none. She grabbed a few blankets and walked to her room.
In the morning, she called Quinn. She was in the kitchen chopping fruits when Quinn popped up behind her. She turned around and pointed the knife at Quinn's chest.
"Woah there, it's just me." Quinn took a step back.
"Sorry, thought you were someone else." She had been very cautious after getting out of her past marriage. She quickly learned to not trust anyone. She also learned how to defend herself.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm just cutting some fruit to eat. Hey, you want some cookies? I made some last night. They're on the table."
"I guess I can eat one." Quinn picked one up and took a bite. "Holy Jesus, these are amazing. I need like 20 more."
"Take as many as you want. In fact, you can have them all."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I made way too many. I already had a few."
"Thanks. These are a lot better than mine."
"Yours weren't bad. I liked them." Santana smiled.
"They're nothing compared to yours." Quinn said. "Anyways, what seems to be the problem?"
"I can't find the thermostat." Quinn made a strange face and burst out laughing. She stopped when she noticed the Santana wasn't laughing with her. "Wait, you're serious?"
"Yeah." Santana nodded.
"These are old houses. They don't have one. You have to chop up wood and throw it in the chimney. I suppose you can get an electrician to do it, but that might take a few days."
"Can I buy some wood?"
"Yeah, but let's make a deal. I'll bring you the extra wood I have every time I chop some as long as you give me free treats."
"Deal."
Santana stood in her bakery. It was small town so she didn't think she would need anyone else's help. She was sure she could do it on her own. She already had made the store look presentable and had put some brownies, cookies, cakes and other pastries on display.
She opened the store and waited for her first customer. She waited for a while before taking a seat. It obviously wasn't going to happen anytime soon.
She heard the bell jingle and got up immediately.
"Hey, Santana. Just came around to see how you were doing?" Quinn said looking around.
"Not very well. Haven't had anyone come in."
"Well in that case, I want 8 cookies."
"Quinn, you don't have to."
"I want to."
"Okay, that'll be 2.50." Quinn handed her the money. She opened the cashier and was very excited to actually be making her first sale. "You're my first customer by the way."
"Well, I'll make sure to spread the word. The people in this town have to taste your cookies."
"Thanks for stopping by Quinn."
"Anytime." Quinn said before leaving.
Word got out pretty fast and by the next morning the store was a buzz.
Santana then learned that maybe she did need a few helping hands so she hired two other employees. One was 19 year that seemed to be doing okay in the kitchen and a 16 year old who worked the cash register.
She noticed that the small children favored the brownies and the cookies while the adults favored the tarts and the cakes. She also had many regulars. Thanks to her bakery she knew almost every bodies name in town. It was all going well.

A year later
There was a weird silence while she walked to the bakery that morning. She noticed people avoid her, but she didn't think much about it. She opened the bakery and waited for the usuals. No one showed up. Not even the employees.
She decided to walk outside. They glared at her. Suddenly, it clicked. They knew. They had figured it out just like all the other places. She would have to leave again.
She got into her truck and drove to her house.
It was getting dark and Santana paced around her room. She heard a few voices. They got louder and louder.
"Murderer! Murderer!" They yelled.
"Keep her away from the children!" Ella Johnson, a housewife, screamed.
"She's a danger to the public!" Mr. Williams yelled.
"Get out of here, murderer! We don't want you here! Leave before we make you leave!"
There was stones being thrown. Some broke her windows. She felt trapped. She was scared. A big mob could do more harm than one person could.
She crawled into the closet and brought her knees up to her chest. She stayed in there for hours until the door opened.
"Santana, why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you say that you killed someone?"
"It was in self defense. My husband was trying to kill me and I did what I had to do. I didn't kill him for fun. I did cause I needed to. He was an abusive prick and he'd hit me. That day, he was angry. He beat me senseless and I knew that if I didn't stop him, he would end up killing me in one beating. I hit him in the back of the head, I swear I didn't mean to kill him. Please believe me. There are newspaper articles and a police report in that one cabinet if you need evidence." She cried and pointed to the cabinet.
She just wanted it all to end. She didn't want to run again. She didn't want to be chased out again. She didn't want to start over again.
"I believe you." Quinn said softly.
"You do?"
"Yes, you don't have a reason to lie."
"Make them leave me alone. They're scaring me. I don't want them to hurt me." She said as the tears came rushing down her face.
She didn't know why she was crying. It was a mixture of everything. The fear, the mob, her killing her husband, her having to start over and the problem that never seemed to end.
"I'll talk to them. Stay here. I'll take the evidence though."
Quinn walked to Santana's front porch.
"Quinn, get away from there! She's dangerous!" Jaime said.
"No, she's not. You don't know her. You don't know much about what truly went down."
"We know she's a murderer!"
"It was self defense. Her husband had been abusing her. He had been beating her. She feared for her life and hit him. She did not mean to kill him. There is a police report here and it clearly stars it was self defense. There are newspaper articles that clearly depict the situation." The crowd was silent. Quinn read the police report and a few articles. "Now, you're scaring and she's fearing for her life. Please, leave her alone."
The crowd left with their head hanging in shame. They had been very rude to a fellow neighbor.
Quinn walked back inside.
"They're gone now."
"Thank you." Santana was shaking.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah." She sniffled and wiped her tears away. "The mob brought flashbacks of him. They way he got angry at me."
"Do you want me to stay the night?" Quinn asked.
"No. I'll be fine."
"Okay. Sleep well." Quinn gave her a small smile.
In the morning, there were millions of baskets on her porch. Most of them had apology letter written to her. She was touched to see that they were actually making an effort to apologize and make her feel welcome.
She was hesitant to go to town, but did it anyways. She was greeted by many. Many smiled at her and some even hugged her. She was wanted even after they knew about her secret.
She had found a permanent home in a small community and for her that was everything she had ever wanted.