Title: Trapped
Pairings/Characters: Finn/Santana
Rating: M, for later chapters.
Word count: 2,277
Warnings: Language, Teen pregnancy, & Mentions of abortion.

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"Noelle, honey, stop." Santana was trying her very best to apply mascara to her thick, lined eyelashes while at the same time, staring at her daughter in the mirror.

The two-year-old playfully tapped her Barbie dolls against the books spread out on the bed in front of her, as though they were a set of drums. She continued making her music, the one gene Santana wished she hadn't picked up.

The loud banging was about to drive Santana to tears, making her makeup attempt completely pointless. She gave up after touching up her upper lid with a black liner, then threw the pencil angrily onto the vanity.

"Santana," Her mom says from the door.

"I'll be down in a minute, mom." Santana answers, tightening her signature cheerio ponytail.

"No, sweety. The daycare just called. They had a gas leak last night and had to close for the day."

"But mom, I have to go to school. Who's gonna watch Noelle?"

"Well, I can't," Her mom snaps, "I have to go to work."

Santana restlessly puts a hand on her forehead. She glances at Noelle, who continues playing her 'drums'. Noelle looks back at her and frowns, "Mommy, my tummy hurts."

Knitting her eyebrows, Santana sighs. "I know, sweety, I'll get you some milk in a second."

"You'd better decide what to do. School in ten minutes." Her mom says before leaving the room.

This was definitely not the senior year Santana wanted. She thought she'd be living it up! Parties every night, hangovers at school, and making out with every guy at McKinley. But no, due to one careless night, and the accidental breakage of one faulty rubber shield, she's now faced with a dilemma no normal eighteen-year-old girl should go through.

She slings one strap of her backpack over her shoulder and lifts Noelle onto her hip. "Come on, sweetheart. Field trip time."

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"Mr. Schue, I assume you got my written request to only stand front row, three people to the left whenever we do songs from RENT or Wicked?" The words came from one Kurt Hummel, as though they were such common and calm phrases. This surprised Will, who gaped at him, taken aback.

"Uh, no, Kurt, but… I guess if that's what you want, I'll tell our choreographer."

"Fantastic. Thanks, Mr. Schue."

Will shook his head in shame as he watched Kurt march back to his seat next to Mercedes. The entire glee club fooled around as they waited for rehearsal to begin. Puck, of course, picked at his guitar while Finn accompanied him on drums as they argued about their next song.

Mercedes, Quinn, and Kurt flipped through a ratty Cosmo and commented on every appealing outfit they were met with.

"Guys, come on, let's get started." Will laughed at Finn and Puck's argument as he tapped his sheet music on the piano to line them together.

Everyone went silent as Santana walked in, holding Noelle on her hip. She caught every curious eye on her and licked her lips. Through her pain, she tried her best to muster every ounce of hatefulness she could find. "What? Her daycare had a gas leak, my mom had to work, was I supposed to leave a two-year-old home alone? Be realistic."

"Um," Will quickly walked up to Santana and whispered so the others couldn't hear, "Santana, I don't think a high school is an appropriate place for a toddler."

"What was I supposed to do, Mr. Schue?" Santana whispered back, "I couldn't leave her stranded at home. She's just a baby."

"Mommy, I'm hungry." Noelle cooed, tightening her grip around Santana's neck.

"Okay, baby, I'll get you some crackers. Just give me a minute, okay?" The eighteen year old complied, setting the toddler on the linoleum floor and straightening out her tiny sundress. "Go play with Aunt Brittany."

As Santana struggled to get the animal crackers out of her backpack, Will added, "Isn't there someone else who can watch her? Like Ms. Pillsbury?"

"I tried, she has a parent-teacher conference." After successfully pulling the small package from her bag, she sighed, "Look, Mr. Schue, I didn't ask for this to happen. But it did, and I'm dealing with it the best I can."

"All I'm saying is…"

Santana cut him off, "I know, Mr. Schue. Look, give her about ten minutes and she'll be out like a light. She was up all night, so I know she's sleepy."

Will paused, contemplating whether or not he should allow this. He inhaled a toxic breath and let it out in a sigh, "Okay."

"Thanks so much," Santana flashed him a warming 'thank-you' smile before turning away from him and walking over to where her daughter sat next to her best friend. Noelle's tiny arms reached up to grab the small package out of Santana's grasp.

"What's Noelle doing here?" The dim seventeen-year-old blonde asked innocently.

"Did you not just hear me?"

Brittany glanced around the room, before whispering, "No."

"Ugh," Santana's eyes rolled to the back of her head, "Her daycare closed down for the day and I had nobody to watch her."

"What about Finn's mom?" Brittany asked delicately, shifting her shining hazel eyes toward the drum player, who was listening intently to Will's instructions that both Santana and Brittany were ignoring.

As Santana's eyes made their way to Finn, a premonition of the past developed in her mind.

Two years ago.

"Santana!" Hearing her name fall from his lips only made the sixteen-year-old cheerleader walk faster. She was in absolutely no mood to speak to him. This was all his fault, after all.

His speed quickened, and he caught her elbow to end her fast-paced walking. He spun her around to face him, and an immense scowl erupted on her round, delicate face.

"Are the rumors true?" He asked breathlessly, and she snatched her arm from his grasp.

"Yes, Finn, you are an idiot. I'm glad you finally caught on, though." With that, she turned away. But her attempt at ignorance was unsuccessful as Finn had caught her by the arm once more.

"Not those rumors," He snapped, "You know what I mean."

Santana's chocolate gaze scanned his face for even just a pint-sized amount of compassion, but was left disappointed, as she saw nothing.

His drum-stick calloused fingers clenched her creamy skin tighter, as if to pry the answer from her.

She took a deep breath and fought back the liquid stinging her eyes and angrily trying to break past them. She refused to look at him, and only traced figures from the texture on the wall beside her. She shrugged, biting her lip and immediately he knew the answer.

He let out a sharp breath and released his clutches on her. He staggered back, completely overwhelmed by this news. All of a sudden, he felt his throat closing, his knees becoming weak, his breath hitching.

Santana blinked away the tears fogging up her deep brown eyes, and reached for his hand. "Finn, it's okay. I'm gonna get rid of it."

He was immediately snapped into reality, "What? No! No, you're not!"

"Excuse me?" She breathed, shocked at the force in his words.

"No, you can't just… get rid of it." He spat out the words as though they were trash, "It's not just a piece of garbage you can just get rid of. It's a baby…" He whispered out the last word, so the passerby's couldn't hear.

"Yeah, I realize that, Finn, but… it's not something I want to deal with at this point in my life. It's just… keeping it isn't an option, and after seeing Quinn be completely devastated over giving Beth up, adoption isn't an option either. I'm left with one choice, and I'm doing it with or without your approval. I know somewhere in that pea-sized brain of yours is someone who understands. You don't have to agree with it, but please understand it."

"Fine," He spat, "Do whatever you want. It's not like my say means anything, anyway."

"Finn!" Santana called after him as she watched him angrily walk away. She looked down at the white sneakers adorning her feet and felt as though the entire hallway had become empty.

"That's just… not an option." Santana said softly, answering Brittany's touchy question.

"Mommy," Noelle looked up from her spot on the slick floor at Santana's feet, identical eyes met. "Can I play?"

"No, honey, just eat your crackers, okay?"

"But I wanna play," Noelle whined loudly, causing a stir in the classroom. Will, in midsentence, stops to look in her direction. Noelle began pounding her tiny fists into the linoleum and whining, causing a loud disruption for the class. Santana's hands flew to her face in embarrassment.

"Santana," Will said sternly, "Can you get that under control, please?"

"I'm trying, Mr. Schue," Santana informed, desperately trying to hush the child.

"Finn!" Brittany yelled out carelessly, jolting everyone alert. Santana glared daggers into Brittany, and she sat back innocently, "All I'm saying is, Finn used to sing to her when she was a baby, right? Well, he could…" Her soft, timid voice stopped at Santana's angry scowl.

"Finn," Will suggested, and Finn's mouth hung slightly open.

Swinging the tiny black-haired girl onto her hip, Santana stepped down onto the cold floor. "She just needs a nap. Can I put her down in the band room?"

Will smiled sympathetically, "Of course."

"Thanks." Santana breathed as she headed towards the connecting band room door.

"Finn, you go, too."

"But, Mr. Schue, I…" The disconcerted teenager attempted to reason, but was cut off quickly.

"Finn." Will warned sternly.

Finn's eyes rolled to the back of his head as he slammed his hands into the pockets of his blue jeans and dragged his feet toward the band room's door, which Santana had already entered.

As soon as the heavy door was closed, Finn's breath hitched. The room was dark and smelled of nothing but wood and sweat. He was sure this was the place all the couples at McKinley came to fool around during their free periods. He felt around on the wall for a light switch, and flipped the knob upwards once he found it.

Santana rushed over to his whereabouts quickly and slammed the knob back down.

"Don't!" She slapped his hand as though he were a child. "The lights'll keep her up."

It took a moment of rapid excessive blinking before Finn's eyes adjusted to the darkness. He saw that Santana had laid Noelle on top of a presentation table, with a tiny pillow and blanket he figured she keeps in her diaper bag.

"What the hell are you even doing here?" Santana said as loud as she could in a firm whisper.

Finn stammered, "Uh… Mr. Schue, he wanted me to… come help."

Santana scoffed rudely, "Well, better late than never."

He rolled his eyes at her negativity, "Are you gonna stop being so rude about it? I mean, really."

"Shh!" She snapped, then sighed. "Look, I'm just saying there's not much you can do now. She's already two."

"Does she even know who I am?" He asked delicately, his eyes not leaving Santana's slowly softening facial features.

"Of course she knows who you are," The bitter cheerleader said harshly, folding her arms and turning away from him to see if her daughter had fallen asleep yet. It usually doesn't take Noelle but moments to fall asleep after she'd been put down; and once she's out, she's gone for hours. That's one of the many things Santana loved about her daughter. She rarely fussed, and only did when she was sleepy. Then, all you'd have to do is put her in a dark, quiet room (preferably with no arguing parents…) and she'd be out like a light.

Finn licked his lips nervously as he inched closer to his daughter, who slept remarkably the same way he did; one arm under a pillow, the other resting on her tiny abdomen, on her back with her head tilted to the side. He scanned over the two-year-old's facial features. He knew she had eyes that perfectly matched his own, dark brown and glistening with tints of gold near the pupil, for he was there when she first opened them. But this was the first time he'd seen her up close in months, and it was heart wrenching for him. Her hair was black and it shined just like her mother's, but it fell in tight curls like his mom's did naturally. Her skin was soft and bronze, her nose taking the exact same shape of Finn's.

Santana noticed him scanning over Noelle and she smiled timidly to herself; she hadn't realized he truly cared this much about her. Not enough to watch her sleep, nonetheless. Even Santana found that boring.

Finn's eyes never left Noelle's tiny frame. She was so small, so perfect. He couldn't believe that she was half his creation. The idea that he could've made something so beautiful baffled him. In that she looked so much like him, as well. She is him. It just seemed like this moment was made to make him realize how much he wanted to be in this little girl's life. Up until now, when someone would mention Noelle to him, he'd just shrug the idea of her off.

Up until now, anytime he'd see Santana, he'd turn and walk in the other direction because he couldn't bear to look her in the eyes after everything he'd said and done.

Up until now, he'd been afraid to give this little girl the father he'd never had.

From now on, however, that's going to change.

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