Chapter 1: In The Heights

Santana spun her keys around her fingers as she jogged down the steps of her apartment to get to the small corner store that she owned. She had lived in Washington Heights all her life, she was born in Puerto Rico but her parents came across the sea on a boat with her when she was a baby. They owned this corner store and passed it on to her when they died while she was 17. She had stuck to this corner ever since, the neighborhood was her home and everyone in it was her family. They were a poor family, but a family nonetheless. Most people in the neighborhood were living from paycheck to paycheck to support their families and pay bills and that included Santana. She had plenty of debt herself with the store but she managed to hold on to it. It was the last thing she got from her parents and she didn't want to let it go.

Santana opened the grate that covered the store before unlocking the door and walking in. Santana smiled as she turned on the lights and walked over to the counter. She quickly wiped it down before walking back to the fridge. Santana looked around before grabbing the milk, she quickly smelt it and groaned. It had gone bad, in fact, everything in the fridge had. This place was shitty after all and electricity wasn't always a given, especially at night.

"Hola nina!"

Santana pulled away from the fridge to see Abuela walking into the store with a tired smile. She wasn't really her Abuela but she had practically raised her after her parents died. She taught her everything she needed to know to live in the neighborhood and make it in New York.

"Abuela do we have any milk at home my fridge broke. I got cafe but no con leche" Santana said as she sat down the spoiled milk causing Abuela to smile before saying

"Try my mother's old recipe, 1 can of condensed milk." Abuela said before she took and lottery ticket and placed two dollars on the counter, "Paciencia y fe"

Santana smirked at the woman and nodded, watching as she walked out of the store with her lottery ticket. The woman came in every morning to buy one, as did pretty much everyone in the neighborhood. Everyone had a job and a dream to get rich and if it wouldn't happen one way maybe a lottery ticket could be another way.

Santana threw away the milk and went to the back and grabbed two cans of condensed milk before she began making coffee. After she was done with the first few batches Mr. Fabray walked in with his usual suit on and a newspaper in his hand.

"Good Morning Santana!" He called as he walked up to the counter.

He was one of the few white men most people in the neighborhood knew, he was definitely the richest. He and his wife ran the cab company in the neighborhood, a profitable business but they still struggled since their daughter Quinn was off in college, and tuition was mad expensive.

Santana put a cup of coffee and a slice of hot bread on the counter for the man, "Pan caliente, cafe con leche"

The man reached in his pocket for the wallet and paid for the drink and bread before pulling out another twenty, "Put twenty dollars on today's lottery"

"One ticket that's it" Called out his wife who entered in after him. She was a short light-skinned Cuban woman who looked whiter than most people around the neighborhood but she was also the friendliest. Santana smiled and placed another coffee on the counter for her.

"Hey, a man's gotta dream!" Mr. Fabray smirked as he paid for the coffees and bread and the lottery ticket.

"Don't mind him, he's all excited because Quinn got in at 3 am last night" Mrs. Fabray said with a bright smile. It was the first time in a while that Quinn had been home from college and they were very excited.

"Me? This one was cooking all week" Mr. Fabray said, pointing at his wife causing Santana to laugh.

"Santana, come over for dinner, there's plenty to eat" Mrs. Fabray offered, causing Santana to shrug the offer off.

"I'll think about it," Santana answered, causing the two to smile before waving goodbye and walking out.

Santana shook her head as the next customers came in.

"So then she walks in the room, she smells sex and cheap perfume. It smells like one of those trees you hang in the rearview of your car" Mercedes comes in in the middle of her store with Kurt walking quickly beside her, listening to her every word. Mercedes was a big black girl with Dominican roots that came out when she gossiped, and that was all the time. Kurt, on the other hand, was a young gay white kid who had moved to New York to make a start but only could afford a place here in Washington Heights and he never left. He liked it here, he liked the people, especially Mercedes so he stayed and learned Spanish.

"Oh no" He answered

"It's true. She screams who's there with you Sebastian? Then grabbed a bat in kicked in the door and turns out he was in bed with Jeff from the liquor store"

"No me diga!" Kurt and Santana said at the same time, both in shock from listening to the story.

Santana hands them both a coffee and they pay, "Thanks Santana!"

Santana shakes her head at the two, they worked at the salon and practically lived on gossip. That's how everyone in the neighborhood heard their news, from their big mouths. Just as the two leave Marley quickly squeezes through them and rushes up to the counter.

"Marley, you're late, again"

"My bad. I got caught up." Marley answered quickly.

Santana swore if the girl wasn't her little cousin she would have fired her a long time ago, but she was family so Santana allowed her to keep working at the store with her. Marley moved around the corner and headed to the back to grab things to stock the shelves, "Were you at that night club again last night?"

Marley just shrugged as she came out carrying a box of snacks. There was this big club that everyone in the neighborhood went to and Marley liked to go there and sing some nights and while she was amazing, it left her tired and late to work the next day. Also, it was dangerous. Those clubs were crowded and often led to people getting into fights or arguments in the club or in the parking lot and one night Marley came back with a busted lip because she got caught in the tail end of a fight on the crowded club dance floor.

"I thought I told you to stop going there. It's dangerous!" Santana yelled across the store but Marley continued to ignore her.

Soon the door opened and Noah Puckerman walked in with a big smile, "Sup loser!"

"Hey Puckerman" Marley said with a smirk as he fist-bumped her before walking over to the counter. He wore a blue button-up shirt and slack and his hair was cut down from his old mohawk that he used to have when he and Santana were children. The two were best friends and grew up together, he worked at the cab company that the Fabrays owned as an intern a few blocks down.

"Yo let me get a-"

"Milky Way"

"Yeah and a-"

"Daily news

"And most important my-"

"Boss's extra coffee, 1 cream 5 sugars," Santana said, finishing his complete order causing him to nod and reach in his pocket to get his wallet while Santana went to get his stuff. Everyone came in and ordered the same thing every day. Santana practically knew everyone's orders by heart. Marley handed him his milky way.

"Thanks Mar"

"That boss of yours still got you running around like a chicken with its head cut off?" Santana asked sarcastically as she made the coffee.

"Hey I'm making moves but guess what"

"What?"

"You still ain't got no skills!" He said with a smile causing Marly to laugh while Santana glared at Noah.

"Ha. Ha"

"Hey did Rachel show up yet?"

"Shut up!" Santana snapped as she handed him the paper and coffee. It was obvious that Santana had a huge crush on their neighbor Rachel but she had yet to ever make a move on her, something that Noah and Marley made fun of her for.

"Hey lil homie don't get so upset. Tell her how you feel, maybe buy her a meal, or are you too chicken?" Puckerman smirked just as Rachel came bursting through the door on the phone.

"No. Mr. Johnson, I got the security deposit! It's not reflected in my bank statements but I've been saving to make a down payment and pay rent." Rachel insisted to the person on the other end of the phone.

"Here's your chance, ask her out right now!" Puck whispered before he grabbed his this and stepped aside as Rachel stepped closer

"I'll see you later we can look at that lease" Rachel said before hanging up

"Do something, make your move, don't freeze" Puck whispered before walking away and over to where Marley was now watching from another aisle.

"Hey Santana!" Rachel greeted causing Santana to stare and smile wildly

"Hey. Uh...are you moving?"

"Just a little credit check and then I'm on that downtown train" Rachel said with a nod and a smile. It was no secret that she wanted to head to the center of New York and make it big on Broadway. She wanted to be a star and she would do anything to get there. She was persistent and it was something Santana loved about her.

"Well uh...your coffee's on the house" Santana stuttered as she placed a coffee on the counter for Rachel causing her to smile and look down at her phone.

Santana looked up and over Rachel's shoulder to see Marley and Puck making wild motions for her to kiss Rachel or ask her out causing Santana to glare at them. Rachel quickly saw the time and cursed, "Thanks for the coffee. I'll see you later."

Rachel sipped her coffee and quickly turned to leave, waving goodbye at Marley and Puck who straightened up when she turned around. Once she was gone they laughed and walked over to Santana who slumped against the counter, "Smooth"

"Shut up" Santana grumbled.

"San you gotta get out there. When's the last time you've been anywhere that wasn't this corner. You look tired" Puck stated as he looked over Santana.

"I gotta work." Santana said as she stood and waved him off.

"Man I know things are tough in the neighborhood but one day out isn't going to kill you. Maybe it will help you get some people skills so you can actually figure out how to ask out Rachel."

"Whatever man. Don't you have a job to get to?"

Puck nodded and began to back out to leave, only stopping to call out, "Don't get stuck here San. You can't be a street light forever"

With that, he left and Marley looked Santana over before heading to the back to get another box. Santana sighed and leaned against the counter. She was considered a street light. She was stuck to this corner while the whole world continued to move and she was frozen here. Her parents came from nothing and they got a little more and a little more before they finally managed to buy the store. This was her destiny, the legacy they left with her. She couldn't abandon it or lose it. It wouldn't be fair to them and all the work they put in to get it.

One day, she would be on a beach far away from here with Marley writing checks to her from the store but until then she would have to work. In the neighborhood, everyone was working to get out of poverty. Santana sighed and slowly walked around the counter and walked to the door. She stared out the door at the neighborhood. The street of apartments and small stores. There were people outside walking, cleaning, hustling, and some aunts and mothers on the small balcony of their apartments drying laundry. There was music playing loudly from a radio that sat in the window sill of one lower apartment and a lot of other apartments had flags of Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic waving from the windows. It reminded them that they came from far away, that their family had struggled and worked for this dream, that people back home were dying just to get to where they were now. What right did Santana have to give up now or stop working? Today was all they had, who knows what would happen tomorrow.

"Paciencia y fe" Santana muttered. Patience and Faith. That's what Abuela always said. That's all they had. Patience and Faith.

A/N: This is basically based on In the Heights the musical by Lin Manuel Miranda. However, everyone in that is Hispanic or Spanish speaking so just imagine the glee characters are Spanish in some way or another. Idk. Anyway, thanks for reading, let me know what you think. Also, if you're coming from my other stories don't kill me for not updating them. I'm having a writer's block with them so I started writing this.