Okay sorry to throw this story on, when I still have to finish 3 fics already, but this was just an idea I had while I was trapped in the car for 3 hours. Anyway, it'll probably be awhile until I update this, but I'll continue it if people like this. Go on my tumblr and message me if you have questions about this story or any other stories. blog/tryflashback I'm looking for more followers on tumblr and cool people to talk to.

Santana's POV

My father once said, The only thing that has any worth in life lives in here, and he pointed to my head. I thought that any rational person would point to y chest, to my heart, but he wasn't rational, he was professional, he was a marine. Currently called off duty, but occasionally he goes off the train in Quantico, Virginia, but until then I'm happy to have him home.

Sure, I didn't like it when he left, but it meant I could toss my clothes on the ground and not worry about picking them up, it meant I could blast music from my room, and it certainly meant my curfew was far beyond 10:30. That wasn't to say that my mom wasn't a great caregiver, but she was lenient, my father didn't believe in leniency.

"Yo papa can I hang out with Puck?" I questioned giving him my best smile.

"No." He said simply before folding his newspaper and slipping it under his arm. I stood there, hoping my sheer resilience would get him to change his mind. It didn't. "Did you help you little siblings get ready for their play date?" He questioned. I looked around the room and figured he already knew I hadn't.

"Wait, was I supposed to do that?" I asked innocently. He stood up and set his cup of coffee down. "Hey no one gave me the memo." I said trying to aid my defense.

"I'll take care of it." He said patting me on the head before he hurried upstairs. I glanced out the window and saw my mom working in the garden. Her pride and joy. I went out the back and waved my hands in front of her before she could turn on the hose.

"How do I know you're about to try and get yourself into trouble?" She questioned putting her hands on her hips. She had this sly grin already forming on her face, which I imagined, matched mine.

"Can I hang out with Puck?" I asked skipping over and looping my arm with my mothers. "Wow look at this beautiful garden you have here. It looks amazing, really, near perfection." I complimented.

"Flattery does not work on me." She said before adding, "Although it does look fabulous." She grabbed a garbage bag filed with weeds and the empty plastic from mulch bags and she handed it to me. "So have you asked you father about this?" She questioned.

"No of course not." I exclaimed with a little too much shock in my voice. My mother gave me a look before I forced a smile. "Maybe…"

"And he obviously said no, which is why you should've come to me first. This is what you get for asking him first." She said in a sort of singsong know it all voice. I groaned and sighed all in a matter of moments. "You can hang out with Puck, but not alone in his room. And if you see your other friend, invite her over for dinner."

"I'm sure Quinnifer is already at Puck's anyway." I said with a shrug. "But are you sure it'll be cool if she comes over? Because last time she was over you tried to make her take home an entire spread of food. I think it bothers her when you treat her like a charity case." I informed my mom.

"I just care about the girl, and I won't make her feel like a charity case, but I'll cook extra." She said with a smile. "Mija, take that bag around and then you can go." I gave her a half salute before I headed towards the front. "You father would be embarrassed by that pitiful salute you just gave me." We both had a good laugh at that before I went to the tree lawn and dumped the garbage bag off before I headed down the street towards Puck's house.

My neighborhood was a tight knit community. It was more like a community within Lima Adjacent. Mostly Latin people and Mexicans, but Noah wouldn't be considered out of place because of his skin tone. It wasn't like we were exclusive, it was more like the opposite. Inclusive was what we did here, fiestas going on most nights, where anyone could come. I loved my neighborhood, and the people in it.

I had a lot of family around here; one of my cousins actually lived two doors down from Puck. Puck live with his mom and older brother Mani, but his dad bailed on him when he was 10. Occasionally he'd come back broke from gambling debts, I've talked to the guy a few times, he isn't so bad, but that doesn't excuse how he treats his family.

I rang the doorbell and Ms. Puckerman came to the door wiping her hands off with a towel which she casually threw on her shoulder when she saw me. "Hi Santana, what can I do you for?" It was sort of this running joke that Ms. Puckerman used to mess around with the mob back when she lived in New York, but that was based on rumors and the fact that she had a funny way of saying certain things.

"I'm looking for your idiot son." I said with a smile.

"Which one?" She questioned with a smirk. I laughed and she waved me inside. "Noah went out to get some of those Arnold Palmers that you guys insist on drinking all the time, but he should be back in a few minutes. You can wait in his room if you want." I went upstairs and jumped on Puck's bed.

"Familiar territory?" I looked up and saw Mani standing there with this huge cheesy grin on his face. I could've punched him if I had the energy.

"In his dreams." I said glancing over at the magazine sticking out from under Puck's bed. I picked it up but immediately dropped it back down to the floor when I saw that it was porn. "Fascinating reading material." I muttered.

"Yeah he's very studious." It was no secret that Mani felt like I should be hanging out with him and his older friends rather than Puck and Quinn. He had this pretentious way about him that made him seem like a bastard. Well actually, he was just a bastard. "There's a party tonight at-."

"No thanks." I said before he could finish.

"Oh come on, why don't you ever want to hang out with me?" He asked like it was a sign of the apocalypse that I'd rejected him even though I did it all the time.

"Simple, she doesn't like you." Puck said slipping past his brother and tossing me an ice tea. I caught it flipped it open with ease. Puck joined me on the bed and we tapped our drinks together before each taking a sip. "You know what would be even cooler than you standing there like a creep? You walking away."

"Noah I swear you are such a punk." Mani said getting overly defensive like always.

"Wow, you look really tough all the way over there Manessa." I could sense a fight about to begin so I positioned myself right up against the headboard and crossed my legs so I could watch. "Come on tough guy." Puck said setting his ice tea down and standing toe to toe with Mani.

"Santana would you keep them from demonstrating how stupid they are?" Ms. Puckerman shouted from downstairs.

"You heard the woman, I'm not interested in witnessing a pissing contest, fuck off Mani." I said stealing some of Puck's ice tea. Puck eyed his older brother until Mani decided it wasn't worth it and left us alone. "Your brother's a tool." I mumbled as I nodded towards Puck's TV. If I knew where the remote was I would've grabbed it myself and turned it on.

"That's a no go, all we've got is ESPN, the news, and Cinemax." I rolled my eyes and nudged him in the shoulder for being just as pervy as his brother.

"How'd you manage that?" I asked him as I grabbed his Chicago Bulls flat-cap hat and put it on backwards. "I mean considering you don't even pay for cable."

"I have my ways." He said with a small grin forming on his face.

"You're lucky Andres isn't here." I said finishing off my ice tea and tossing it in his trashcan.

"What are you gonna sick big brother on me?" Puck joked with a laugh.

"Hey man let's go somewhere, hit up the park or something." I suggested. Puck contemplated for a moment even though I knew he would agree. Unlike at my house, Puck's mom didn't care if he went out, as long as he didn't kill anyone, she was okay with it. We headed down the street, side-by-side occasionally saying hi to a neighbor. Puck gave me this wary look, like he wanted something from me. "What?"

"Quinnie." Puck said with a grin. I looked around expecting our blonde counterpart to be hanging around on someone's porch or something, but when I didn't see her I turned to Puck with a raised eyebrow. "I mean let's go to her place and see if she wants to hang."

"Why didn't you say that when we past her street back there?" I asked as we turned around and headed towards Quinn's. "Blinds closed no go remember." Puck bumped shoulders with and frowned.

"I know the rules, don't try and act like you're smarter than me." He said patting the top of his cap, which was on my head. I resented the fact that the movement was patronizing and resented that he would even consider himself at the same level of intelligence as me. That was a pure insult.

"Blinds up, that's a good sign. Let's just go to the window." I said bypassing Ms. Fabray's car and bending down so I could go under the clothesline. Puck was about to look into the window, probably to see if Quinn was fully dressed yet. Quinn was the unlucky one of the bunch, her dad died last year, so now she lived in a trailer with her mom. It was rough, especially with her mom's drinking habit, but she was making it all right.

I knocked on the window and waited for a few seconds before standing on my tiptoes and peering in myself. Quinn was holding up one finger as if to say one second while she was slipping on her shoes. She was wearing torn jeans and a faded t-shirt, which was her usual attire. She opened up her window. "Hey guys…back up." Puck and I took a few steps out while Quinn climbed out of the window and landed on her feet like a pro.

"How's things in there?" I questioned.

"You don't want to know." Quinn said with a shrug. "Can we stop at the corner mart? I haven't eaten all day." I felt bad because I knew her mom probably hadn't cooked her something in days. I thought about my mom's offer for dinner and decided I'd just ask her later.

We arrived at the corner mart only a few minutes later. "Here." I said handing Quinn a five dollar bill. She took it and I could tell she felt bad about it, but it wasn't a big deal. I didn't want her to feel like a charity case, I'd give Puck the same amount if he asked.

"What, you're not coming in?" Quinn asked with her hand on the door.

"That guy in there is a prick, he doesn't like me." I said.

"Come on." Quinn was shy despite the fact that she was so pretty. She didn't like doing anything alone, especially in this neighborhood. As far as I knew Quinn was the only white girl in the surrounding area, which meant everyone was a little suspicious of her. It was and wasn't a race thing. People in our neighborhood accepted Quinn with open arms, but of course there were always people who eyed her suspiciously every time they saw her.

The problem with this particular corner mart was that they had this guy, the cashier, who was originally from southern Ohio and he totally had something against Hispanics. He was a total racist and he didn't care if people knew. I wondered how he even stayed in business.

"Fine." I followed Quinn with Puck close behind. I felt the eyes of the cashier on me the whole time while Quinn grabbed Easy Mac and Ramen, along with a soda to eat. We went up the cash register and Quinn sat the things down so the guy could scan them. He gave Quinn a once over and a smug grin formed on his face.

"Where ya live dollface?" He questioned with a toothy grin.

"None of your business." I told him looking him directly in the eyes.

"I wasn't talking to you. Surprised you even know English. Let me speak your language. Do you wanto a taco?" I was nearly fuming knowing full well that the hand on my back wasn't for moral support, it was so Puck could hold me back. "Stupid slut." He muttered before scanning the items.

Puck stepped between Quinn and I and gripped the counter top with both hands. Leaning in and glaring at the cashier. "You got a death with homie?" Puck questioned.

"You better get your filthy hands off my counter spic boy." I wished I would have been quicker, or at least grabbed Puck before the second punch. I pulled Puck back from jumping over the counter and Quinn reached over the counter to grab a bag to put her stuff in.

"Quinn would you hurry up?" I tried to grab her arm but she pulled away. She took a step back and kicked over there shelves with food all on them. It wasn't until we heard sirens coming close that we bolted from the store. The cop car was only about a store down, but it screeched to a halt and two cops jumped out. "Split." I shouted before bolting down the street while Puck went towards the back alley near the store and Quinn ran towards the bowling alley.

It figures that one of the cops would be chasing after me. I'm sure the other was running after Puck. Quinn would be the one to get away. I jumped over a fence in one stride while the cop behind me took a few seconds to get over it. I actually thought I was home free until I saw a cop car pull up right in front of me. Shit.

I turned around to see if I could evade the cop behind me but he had his gun drawn. I sighed and decided it would just be better if I gave up now. I put both my hands on my head. "Okay, you got me." I said defeated. The cuffs were tighter than they needed to be and I hated the way the cop gave me this satisfied expression like he was ridding the world of evil by arresting me. "I didn't even do anything." I said.

"Come on kid, save it." The cop said before pushing me into the back seat. The only thought that crossed my mind was, shit I'm screwed.

…

At least it was the summer. I didn't mind working at my dads shop during this time because plenty of people came by looking for fresh ingredients and I enjoyed the company. Sometimes my dad would even let me work the cash register but that was rare. Normally I kept the area in front of the store clean and stocked the shelves.

Right now, however, I was sitting behind the counter with a towel in my hand while Kurt was explaining how his dad almost made him work in the shop today.

"Okay kids, social hour is over." My dad said taking the towel from me and trading it for a broom.

"You know Mr. Berry I still don't understand why you won't just give me a job here." Kurt said as I walked around the counter.

"Because you two would talk nonstop and get about as much done as a toddler. You know I don't mind having you around though Kurt, just go outside and watch Rachel sweep and talk." My dad shooed us out the store just as some customers walked in. Kurt sat on the bench in front of the store while I swept the debris into a pile.

"Why doesn't your dad know that the last thing you want to do is work in his auto shop?" I asked Kurt.

"Trying not to break his heart again." Kurt said.

"You are so dramatic." I said dismissing his last comment. "So are we still going to that movie tonight?"

"What time?" Kurt questioned glancing at his watch.

"Um, well I have singing lessons at 4 and then ballet at 7, so how about 9?" I suggested. Kurt pretended to be checking the calendar on his phone for a moment before nodding. "And if you bring Blaine under false pretences again, I swear."

"False pretences, such as?" Kurt sassed back.

"Saying we're going out as friends even though Mercedes and I are there. It's more like a double date then not." I informed me.

"Oh I didn't know you and Mercedes were dating." Kurt said sarcastically.

"She's a lovely date." I replied sincerely. "You like him, you're cute together…just ask him out." I pleaded with Kurt.

"He should make the move. Or I sort of want him to. I'm just afraid that maybe he's not looking for a relationship right now." I envied Kurt because, even though he wasn't dating Blaine, at least he had the option to. The last time I went on a date was never and I never really found myself interested in anyone beyond friendship.

"Or maybe he's just as scared as you." I picked up the trash and scooped it into the garbage can. "Boys are just as confusing as girls." I said with a shrug.

"Well good for you, another perk of you being bisexual is that you can pick and choose." Kurt said with a clap of his hands.

"In case you haven't noticed, there has been no picking nor choosing. And besides I'm pansexual" I reminded him. "Just let me know what's going on so Mercedes and I will know what the best method of gossiping will be." I looked across the street and saw Brittany walking her obese cat on a leash and I smiled a little to myself.

"What are you-…oh." Kurt said with a knowing smirk.

"Oh? Why oh?" I questioned.

"Checking out Brittany I see." Kurt said with a little smug smile.

"I so wasn't!" I exclaimed, looking inside the store to make sure my father couldn't hear us. "Sorry the girl is walking her cat, not exactly something you see everyday." Brittany waved and Kurt and I waved back.

"I've seen you check her out before." Kurt said poking me in the shoulder.

"You saw wrong." I told him resting the broom against the front window. "What?" Kurt shook his head and shrugged as if to assure me that nothing was up. "I think she's cute, is that what you wanted to hear?" I questioned.

"Cute and…?"

"Cute and funny, but in a friendly sort of way. I don't like her. I think she's cute like I think her cat is cute, that's all." I explained. "Why are you pushing for me to go after people anyway?"

"I just want you to be happy." Kurt said wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

"I'm happy being a free spirit." I told him.

"That's probably what Charlie Manson said before he created a cult."

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