My Escape (Quinntana)

Chapter 19

Santana opened her eyes, and realized she was in her house. She placed her hands on her temples, and told herself that it was just a dream. "I'm not scared," she told herself. "I'll wake up soon enough in Britt's bed." Suddenly, the scene shifted, and she was in Britt's room, laying next to Quinn. Was she awake? It seemed real... the door creaked open, and a dark figure stalked in. He stopped and stood at the foot of the bed, and as Santana's eyes adjusted to the darkness, it was revealed that the figure was her father. She shook Quinn. "Q, wake up," she said urgently. She didn't. She looked around at the others, but they were all sound asleep. Her father advanced, unspeaking, and grabbed her. "QUINN!" She screamed. No response. 

He raised his fist, brought it down, and connected it with her face. A screech of pain escaped her lips, and she managed a quick look at Quinn- she was still unresponsive. She didn't wake up.

"QUINN!" Quinn sat up, waking up. Was that Santana? She looked to her right at the Latina, and her heart sunk. She was having a panic attack, or a nightmare, or whatever you would call it. She was screaming Quinn's name, and at this point the others were groggily sitting up. Quinn placed her hands on Santana's shoulders.

"I'm here baby, I'm here," she said softly. Brittany, concerned for her closest friend, crouched down next to her. 

"What's happening?" Brittany asked with a shaky voice. "What's wrong with San?" Before Quinn could answer, Britt grabbed Santana's hand out of habit. This seemed to cause Santana to let out a scream, and her body seemed to convulse. Britt jerked her hand away, her eyes wide. 

"I think sudden touching or contact scares her," Mercedes observed, standing next to the bed. It was clear she was trying to put on a brave face, but her worried eyes showed her fear. "Quinn, has this happened before?"

Quinn nodded. "Uh, yeah. She did this once in the hospital, and the first night at my apartment. I don't really know how to get her out of it... usually I just try and calm her down and eventually she wakes up." God, she was so unhelpful. 

Brittany suddenly sat up straight, like she got an idea. "So we have to get her calm, right?" Quinn nodded. "Sometimes when she would panic or stress out, she would massage the sides of her head and it would calm her down. When it was really bad, I would do it for her and it would still work." Kurt narrowed his eyes.

"You mean her temples?" Kurt questioned. Brittany nodded. He glanced at the others. "Worth a shot," he said. "Quinn, you should probably do it- she seems to be calmest around you." Quinn nodded, and slowly moved her hands towards Santana's head. Making sure to not be too sudden, she gently placed her hands on the Latina's temples and pressed down with her fingers in soothing motions. 

"You can relax, angel. You're strong, you can do it. You're Santana freaking Lopez, you can do anything." She knew she was rambling and probably confusing the others, but she didn't know what else to do. She just couldn't bear to see her girlfriend in so much pain.

Santana let out a pained wheeze as her father kicked her in the stomach. Her body was aching all over, and she just wanted the pain to stop. One of the worst parts, however, was the fact that Quinn didn't wake up. A tear trickled down her face, and she was promptly slapped hard. "No crying," said her father, the first words he had said during this whole time. 

Despite all the pain, she slowly felt herself relaxing. It was strange- she was both terrified and relaxed at the same time. How was that possible? Santana took a deep breath, and tried her best to collect herself. She had to get out of this- this nightmare. She tried to relax herself, letting her tense muscles loosen up. However, it was kind of hard to be zen when your father was beating the crap out of you. As soon as she started to feel peaceful, she would be hit by a swinging fist or a foot. But she was Santana Lopez- she wasn't going to give up.