My Escape (Quinntana)

Chapter 06

(TW: Mentions of rape/sexual assault)

It was getting late, and both girls were tired. Quinn offered Santana her bed, and after a lot of back and forth, Santana finally agreed. Quinn lent her a nightgown, and helped her into bed. Santana could walk now, but it was hard. Kissing the Latina gently on the forehead- a friendly kiss, of course- Quinn collapsed onto the couch to sleep. It took her a while, but eventually she managed to drift off. Not for long, though.

Santana couldn't sleep. Whenever she closed her eyes, she saw her father hitting her, or telling her that she was a bitch, or throwing her onto the bed to have sex with her. The last thing was the action that haunted her the most- her thighs still hurt from it, but most of all, it had permanently scarred her mentally. When she finally was able to fall into an uneasy sleep she was haunted by nightmares. 

Quinn woke up to screaming. Jumping off the couch, she sprinted to the bedroom where Santana was. The Latina appeared to be having a panic attack. She was writhing around, and her limbs were flailing everywhere.

"N-No!" She screamed. "Get off me!" Quinn ran over and shook her.

"Santana! Wake up!" The girl's eyes shot open and she sat up, backing up against the bedstead. She was curled into the fetal position, and was trembling. Quinn wiped away her tears with her hand. "It's ok, you can calm down now. It's just me." Santana started to come to her senses, but was still shaken up. "Do you want me to stay with you?" Santana nodded, and Quinn was glad to oblige.

"Q..." Santana whispered. Quinn looked at her inquisitively. "He raped me." Quinn gaped. She would never have thought... Santana continued. "He threw me onto the bed, I blacked out, and then..." Her voice trailed off. The blonde ran her fingers down Santana's back in a comforting gesture, and it worked, as the girl started to calm down. Quinn shifted to face her better. 

"San, you are one of the bravest people I know. Telling someone about something like that... it's hard. I wouldn't know what it's like, but it sure isn't easy." She paused. "Do you want to talk about anything else, or do you want to sleep and talk tomorrow?"

"We can talk tomorrow," Santana replied. Yawning, she pulled herself under the covers, and she looked almost peaceful for the first time in a long time. Telling someone about that must have lifted a weight off her back, Quinn thought. The blonde was also tired, so she curled up under the sheets next to Santana. The two had slept over at each others houses before, so this was nothing new. Quinn felt Santana pull closer to her, and so she did the same. Faces touching, arms interlaced, the two fell into sleep, their breathing falling into the rhythm of an unknown song.

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Quinn woke up early, and Santana was still asleep. Careful not to wake her, she slipped into the kitchen and started to prepare breakfast. Today was Thursday, so there was school, but there was no way in hell Quinn was going to leave Santana at home by herself. Sue was going to have a fit- two of her top cheerleaders gone- but Quinn didn't care. San was her top priority.

By the time Santana got up out of bed, Quinn had already prepared two plates of scrambled eggs with bacon. There was also a bowl of fruit, toast, and of course Quinn's favorite- bacon. Santana's jaw dropped at the platter. "Woah, Fabray- you didn't need to make all this." Quinn smirked. 

"Well I did, and you are going to eat your portion." Santana opened her mouth to retort, but she took one look at Quinn's face and knew that the blonde was not going to budge. Begrudgingly, Santana sat down at the table next to Quinn. 

Quinn quickly grabbed a piece of bacon and crumbled it into her eggs, and dug in. Santana watched in amusement, then stared at her own plate, still unwilling to eat. Quinn looked at her, her expression changing from stubbornness to worry. "San, does this not eating thing have anything to do with your psycho father?" Santana shrugged.

"I guess, yeah. He used to do this thing where he would sneak emetics into some of my food, but not all of it. Basically he made it so that whenever I ate any food, I was scared because I didn't know whether I would be fine, or if I would end up puking my guts out." She shuddered, remembering all the times she had stared at her food in fear. "I usually just didn't eat it." Quinn balled up her fists in anger. Was there any part of San's life that her dad hadn't messed up? Taking a deep breath, Quinn gently turned Santana's face to look at her. 

"I would never do that to you San," she reassured her. "I know it's gonna be hard, but I believe that you can do it. You're Santana Lopez after all." Santana blushed, and quickly turned to look at her plate again. With a shaky hand, the Latina got a small forkful of egg and slowly brought it to her mouth. Seeing how nervous she was, Quinn placed her hand over Santana's, steadying her. This surprised the other girl for a moment, but she relaxed. With Quinn guiding her, Santana ate the food. 

Quinn smiled. "See? I knew you could do it." Santana smiled shyly back, and the two girls ate the rest of the meal in silence. Santana managed to eat roughly half of her plate. It wasn't ideal, but it was progress, and Quinn was proud of her. I'm going to help San every step of the way, she vowed.