Chapter 3

A story about genetically programmed soulmates

Quinn kept running until she got back to the girls' locker room, she dropped her books so the slap of them hitting the ground would echo through the room. She knew that Brittany and Santana would hear it and quickly make themselves decent. "Britt…San…Where are you guys I need to talk to you! Now!" Quinn yelled into the open space. She could hear the shake in her own voice as it echoed back to her but she really didn't care right now.

"God Q…who died, or better question who did you kill because I really don't want to hide a body." Santana joked as she came around the corner. She pulled her shirt down as she walked towards Quinn and Brittany quickly followed, zipping up her cheerios uniform. The pair sat down on a bench in front of Quinn. "Hi, Quinn." Brittany waved smiling up at the girl and Quinn couldn't help but let a small smile slip onto her lips. No one could make her feel better faster than Brittany could - the girl was like a little ball of sunshine. How she got unlucky enough to be mated to Santana, Quinn would never know. But she was still happy they had each other.

The girls sat in silence for a few moments before Santana spoke. "So…you wanted to talk. Are you going to speak or just stand there? I didn't get pulled away from my sweet lady kisses for nothing, okay?"

Quinn frowned again, now that she was going to actually tell them she wasn't sure she wanted to. She was afraid to say it out loud - if she said it, it would be real. "I…" Quinn started but she felt a lump form in her throat. "Well…" Quinn tried again but nothing would come out. She balled up her fists willing herself to speak but the only thing that came out was a sob. A loud sob should couldn't fight. The tears came quickly after and she covered her face with her hands trying to hide her weakness from her friends.

No one moved. Brittany and Santana sat on their bench staring at Quinn for a moment. They knew better than to approach the girl without warning her, so they waited for her to bring her hands back down and look at them, but she never did. Santana rose from the bench and slowly approached the blonde, "Quinn…" She tried to get the girl's attention but she was crying too hard. Santana reached out and gently wrapped her fingers around Quinn's wrist, pulling it down from her face. "Quinn look at me."

Quinn raised her eyes to look at Santana but immediately regretted it when she saw the fear on her face. "I'm sorry, San. It's not what you think it is. He hasn't touched me in weeks." Quinn sniffled and wrapped her arms around herself. "But it's bad. It's really bad. If my parents find out my dad…he might actually kill me this time."

Brittany got up from the bench and stood with the two girls. "Quinn, you know we aren't going to let him lay a finger on you. When we found you after he caught you coming back from Finn's… that was the last straw. He almost killed you once. We won't let it happen again. Whatever it is, it will be okay. Just tell us what happened."

Quinn took a moment to collect her thoughts and then said it. She knew that Santana and Brittany would understand, "It's a girl."

Brittany and Santana's jaws dropped in unison. "Are you kidding me..how do you know. Did you see her?" Santana asked frantically.

"I bumped into her in the hallway. I saw my initials on her. They were red so it wasn't just a mistake. They were mine," Quinn felt another tear roll down her face, "My life is over. I need to run away, get out of the country. Go anywhere but here."

"I hear it's nice down in Brazil," Brittany chimed in but Santana and Quinn were not amused.

"No Q. That's not how we are dealing with this. We can do this okay? You don't have to leave the country. She's just a normal girl like you and me. We'll get through this together. We won't let anything bad happen."

"How can you say that San? Do you remember what happened when I got a B?" Quinn held out her arm showing Santana the scar that her father had given her for being 'academically inadequate.' "He burnt me with his cigar. And that time he caught me coming home late? I think I might still be healing from that. He literally broke my nose and I had to go back to the surgeon to get it fixed. I had to tell everyone I fell down the stairs and hit my face on the railing. If my father finds out he will most likely find a way to finish what he started last time. I won't be okay. It won't be okay."

"No he's not. He will never lay a finger on you again. Not while me and Britt are here." Santana said pushing down Quinn's arm. "I know you're scared but seriously even if something does happen we got your back, Q. Don't worry."

Brittany nodded, agreeing with Santana. As much as Quinn wanted to believe her friends she had an awful feeling about this. She knew that everything was going to fall to pieces somehow. "Come on Quinn, let's get you cleaned up before homeroom."

The two girls sat her down and fixed her make up, clearing away the streaks of mascara on her cheeks and hiding the puffiness of her eyes. As she sat there letting her friends put her face back together, she realized that everything had changed. She knew that her life was never going to be the same. She knew she wasn't going to die and that her father wasn't going to actually throw her in the fireplace, but she knew she would never live again. From now on everything would revolve around keeping herself from imprinting on those brown eyes she had seen in the hallway. Her life would be hell. But hell was better than being dead. Right?