Senior Year

39

On Thursday, Quinn ate lunch in the choir room by herself. About halfway through the period, Santana entered the room.

Santana closed the choir room door before joining Quinn.

"Hey." Santana said as she sat down on the risers.

"Hey." Quinn replied.

"You must really miss Puck if you're sitting here eating lunch all by yourself." Santana noted.

"I do, but it's not that." Quinn responded.

"What is it then?" Santana wondered.

"The school doesn't care that he had something in his locker." Quinn pointed out. "They just wanted a reason to punish him."

"Yeah, I didn't tell Puck, but Finn and I talked to Mr. Schue about it." Santana explained. "If it was, like, Kurt or Mike, they would've got a warning. Or at the most, a one-day suspension."

"I don't know why they were checking his locker in the first place. They never do random locker checks." Quinn said.

"Mr. Schue thinks me and Finn should stay out of it." Santana informed Quinn. "But he didn't say anything about you."

"I can't." Quinn shook her head.

"Why not?" Santana demanded. "Puck would do it for you. Hell, any of us would."

"I can't because I'm failing at everything." Quinn added.

"What are you talking about?" Santana questioned Quinn.

"I'm still not better from the accident, I'm not a good girlfriend, and I'm not even a good mother." Quinn said softly.

"You are a good mother." Santana argued.

Quinn shook her head. "Out of everyone who sees her, I see Beth the least. And she's my daughter."

"Okay, that's not true." Santana said. "And even if it was, it doesn't matter. Beth loves you. She lights up when you're around."

"Between school and glee club and physical therapy, I'm hardly ever around." Quinn replied.

"You're a good mother, Quinn. Especially considering everything you have going on." Santana stated. "You've sacrificed a lot because of Beth and to be there for her, and she'll understand it someday."

Quinn bit her lip.

"And you're a good girlfriend." Santana added. "Puck says it all the time."

"But he never signed up for this." Quinn pointed out. "Taking care of me. And working all these crazy hours because of me and Beth."

"He's happy, Quinn." Santana promised. "He loves both of you and he'd do anything for you."

"I know he would." Quinn nodded. "But it's still not fair."

"It's not fair that you're in this situation." Santana told Quinn. "But from what I've seen and from what I've heard from Finn and Puck, you'll be back to normal in no time."

"Everyone keeps saying that and time keeps passing and nothing's changing." Quinn stated.

"Puck said you took a few steps at physical therapy." Santana said. "That doesn't sound like nothing to me."

"I took, like, half a step and then I fell." Quinn clarified.

Santana shrugged. "Sounds like half a step more than you could take a month ago."

Quinn nodded slowly.

Santana stood up as the bell rang. "Everything is gonna be okay. You're gonna be fine and we're all here to help you get better. And we're not giving up on Puck."

"Thank you, Santana." Quinn sighed.