My Escape (Quinntana)

Chapter 25

Meanwhile, Santana was being made to explain her story to Timothy. He already knew it, but he wanted to hear it directly from her. It started out well enough, but soon she started becoming uncomfortable. It wasn't anything Timothy was doing- he was being considerate- but she just couldn't talk about what her father did to her without panicking, without getting flashbacks. 

Timothy, noticing, gave her a gentle smile. "You don't have to do this," he told her. "This is mostly just practice for the trial- you'll have to tell everyone what he did to you." Santana's heart sank. She hadn't really studied how trials worked, so she hadn't known that she would have to tell her life story to a bunch of strangers in a courtroom. 

"Can I just... practice at home?" Timothy nodded. 

"Sure." He sat back in his chair. "So, I guess I'll tell you a bit about how the trial's gonna work. Your father got himself an attorney, and obviously since we're having this trial, he pleaded not guilty." Timothy scratched his head. "Honestly, I'm pretty surprised- we have a lot of evidence stacked up against him. Most people would have pleaded guilty." He shrugged. "Anyways, yeah. You're going to have to testify, and your father's attorney's going to try and get you to slip up." Seeing her face pale, Timothy quickly continued. "I'll be there to help you," he added. "If things start going crazy, I'll step in and get things under control."

This granted Santana some peace of mind. She didn't know why, but she trusted Timothy. She nodded. "And, uh, when is the trial?" Timothy checked some of the papers he had on his desk, and then looked up.

"Uh, it says it's scheduled for... a week from today." Santana didn't even try and hide her shock. "Trial dates are subject to change though," he added. A week? She was not prepared. Timothy gave her a look of pity. "Yeah, sometimes they schedule these things without telling the people involved. Kind of a jerk move on their part." He looked up at the clock, and his eyes widened. "Oh, crap, we're 5 minutes over time. Sorry, I have another appointment." 

"It's fine," Santana said. As she got up, Timothy took her hand, causing her to jump and him to quickly let go.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," he apologized. "Just wanted to say that I have a lot of faith that we're going to win this case," he said. "I usually don't say things like this, but I believe that your father, or Xavier, or whatever you want to call him, is going to be brought to justice." 

"Thanks Mr. Reynolds," Santana said gratefully. He chuckled.

"Just call me Tim," he said. As Santana left, she let the new information sink in. I have one week until the trial. One week until I have to testify. One week until my father finally gets thrown in prison...

Or gets to keep living his life.

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By the time Santana left the building, Quinn was waiting by the car. "Hey Q," she called, waving. The blonde looked up when she heard her, and her eyes brightened. Santana walked faster, and when she reached her girlfriend, she greeted her with a passionate kiss. Quinn laughed softly. 

"That's one way to say hello," she joked. "I like it though." She pulled away. "How was it?" Santana shrugged.

"We talked about my... situation, for a a bit. He explained how trials worked a bit to me, because I had absolutely no clue." Quinn shot her a pointed look. "What? I didn't know I was supposed to study." They got in the car, and Santana continued. "Anyways, uh, he kinda told me that the trial is in one week." Quinn sucked in a breath.

"A week? Seriously?" Quinn said incredulously. "Jesus, that's... really soon." She started up the car and pulled out of the parking space. 

Santana sighed and placed her forehead in her hands. "I don't think I'm ready," she said. "I can't just tell this whole room of people about my dad- what he did." She groaned. "All of that plus being basically interrogated by the defense attorney? Forget about it. I'll humiliate myself." Quinn hated hearing her usually bold and confident girlfriend talk like this. She pulled over to the side of the road and unbuckled her seatbelt. Santana raised an eyebrow. "Uh, what are you doing?"