Pieces (12/16)
Title: Pieces
Pairing: Rachel/Santana, Shelby
Length:52,788
Spoilers: Up to season 3
Summary: Rachel never expected to find out she's a werewolf, and once the reality of it sinks in, she feels like a monster. Surprisingly enough there's someone unexpected who helps her keep onto the humanity inside her.
Note: This is written for the Glee Big Bang.
Rachel was running on all four, panting and tongue hanging out a little bit. She knew Shelby would be mad at her for running off, but the rabbit smelled so good and chasing it gave her an amazing feeling. Now, if only she could catch it. Technically, she could catch anything she wanted. She may not be as big of a wolf as Shelby, but she was still pretty big. Plus, she loved the thrill of the chase.
She heard Shelby’s howl in the distance, further in the woods, and she knew if she didn’t want Shelby punishing her that bad, she should have started headed back. After all, a wolf always stayed with the alpha.
Except, Rachel didn’t care. Not tonight. Tonight she was giving up on reason and finally, truly, be one with her wolf.
She followed the rabbit out of the woods and to the streets. Luckily, there weren’t any cars out and Rachel ran across the street. Finally having enough, she lunged forward and grabbed the rabbit in her mouth. It made a noise and moved frantically in her mouth and she bit into it, hearing the bones cracking and tasting the blood as the animal stilled completely.
She looked around, realizing she was near houses. Suddenly, she realized who’s house she was by. Santana’s. She walked around the neighborhood, hiding in the shadows. She kept it up without getting noticed, which was easy in a town like Lima. There was hardly anywhere to go so people either stayed inside, went to a party at someone’s house, or were at Breadstix.
She finally saw the big Lopez house and she jumped the fence and was in her backyard. She went to the tree in the back and laid down under it. She finally put the rabbit she had in her mouth down and l9icked her lips as she stared at it. She licked her lips before biting into the rabbit and eating out of it.
It wasn’t a big meal, but it was pretty good. She was eating the last of its insides when the back door lid open. She jumped up and hid more behind the tree, watching someone come out with a bag of garbage. The person walked across the lawn, completely oblivious to Rachel because of the headphones in her ears.
Slowly, Rachel moved closer, licking her lips. It was only after the person threw away the trash and turned around that Rachel was noticed. She let out a short scream as she tripped backwards and hit the fence. Rachel growled as she got closer and the girl tried to back up farther, but couldn’t because of the fence. Just when she was centimeters from the girl’s face, she took a wiff and suddenly paused.
That scent was familiar. It was the scent that smelled so good and she loved so much. It was Santana’s.
Suddenly realizing who she was about to eat, she closed her mouth and took a small step back. It wasn’t a lot, but at least Santana had some breathing room. Rachel looked at her, at her state.
Santana was shaking hard and there were tears running down her face. It was the first time Rachel saw Santana cry like that. She felt awful, realizing it was her who made her cry. Rachel moved her head closer to Santana again, and Santana flinched. Rachel paused for a moment before moving closer again.
Santana crewed her eyes shut, still too scared to move. She stayed, waiting for the inevitable. Instead, she felt a lick and grew more scared. She thought the wolf was tasting her before getting a bite, so she kept her eyes closed.
Rachel watched Santana, watched the way she screwed her eyes shut and was still shaking. Rachel’s ears twisted backward. She meant to show Santana she wasn’t something to be scared of. Instead, she only scared Santana more.
Letting out a small whine, Rachel backed up a little again. After a few seconds of nothing, Santana opened her eyes again. Rachel whined and Santana furrowed her eyebrows together, confused. Santana stared at Rachel, looking at her chocolate eyes.
“Why…?” Santana said softly, her voice small and shaky and Rachel could hear the fear in her voice. The fear of her. Rachel simply stared and slowly Santana raised her hand. Slowly, she reached out and put it on Rachel’s head. She stopped and looked at Rachel as she kept it there, expecting it to be bitten off. When she realized Rachel wasn’t going to bite her, she started petting Rachel. Rachel leaned into the touch and Santana laughed nervously.
“Y-you’re really…soft.” Santana aid, running her fingers through Rachel’s brown fur on her head and down to the back of her neck. They stayed like that for a few minutes. Rachel was calm, and she could tell Santana finally was too. Everything was perfect until the door opened again and there was yelling.
“Santana!” Santana jumped and looked at the direction of the voice to see her dad running to her, completely terrified. Rachel got angry at the interruption and stood closer in front of Santana. She stood her ground and growled at Santana’s dad, effectively making him jump back in fear.
Rachel let out a huff and held her head high. No one was going to get close to Santana. Her Santana. Rachel vaguely heard other people come out and surround her, but she juts concentrated on him. She saw someone give him a wooden stick and that was when she looked around.
Realizing they all had a weapon of some sort, she growled at each of them and kept close to Satntana. She was trapped, but she wasn’t going to go down without a figh. Her dad got near her and just when she was about to lunge at him, she felt something hard impact her sighed.
She let out a yelp, and crashed into the fence next to Santana. She slowly got up again and looked to where Santana was, and noticed she was gone. Looking up, she saw them dragging Santana away as they ran back into the house. Rachel watched Santana be taken away, and Santana looked back at her the entire time. When they finally got instead, Rachel saw Santana’s mom lock the door and close the curtains.
Rachel growled at it, how dare they take away her Santana from her. She was about to run inside, but then her ears perked up when she heard loud sirens. She let out a huff and turned around and jumped the fence to the alley way.
Because of her side, though, she didn’t jump high enough and crashed onto the floor, knocking over some trash cans. She got up and looked back at the backyard and she saw people with tranquilizer guns slowly waking to her.
“Hold still, girl.” One of the officers said and Rachel broke into a run. She heard a dart go past her and she would have laughed if she could. She heard the officer swear and try again, but by then she turned the corner and was away from him.
She kept running though, angry that she as separated from Santana. She eventually found her backyard, and she jumped the fence again, this time getting over it successfully. She looked at the garage and saw the door open a little. Feeling angry and destructive, she walked in.
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Rachel groaned as she stared waking up. She was sore and she frowned when she noticed she wasn’t on the forest floor she was used to. Suddenly, all the memories of last night came back, of when she was in her wolf form.
Her eyes snapped pen and she moved to sit up, but the pain made her gasp and fall back down. She looked down at her ribs and saw it bruised badly. Rachel slowly reached out to it, and when she put pressure on it, she hissed in pain and brought her hands back.
She could only really blame herself, and she should have seen it coming. Except, she didn’t and now her ribs hurt. She finally looked away from her bruised ribs and looked around the garage and gasped.
It was completely ruined. There were scratches all over the all and everything they had was chewed up. Rachel was glad her dads didn’t put the car in there, or else that would have been destroyed too.
She slowly got up, wincing as she did so. She carefully walked around the mess, which was everywhere, and poked her head out the door. It seemed like her dads were gone, so after looking around and seeing no one she ran to the tree outside her window.
Getting up the tree was rather difficult and the movement mad her side hurt more. But she did get up, and when she looked at her window, she groaned. It was closed and she wasn’t sure if she could open it. She looked down and realized there was only one other way. Go to the front of the house, naked, and use the spare key. Just as she was about to go down, the window swung open.
“Rachel!” She looked up to see Shelby in her bedroom, leaning out the window and holding out her hand. “C’mon, lets get you inside.” Shelby said and Rachel nodded. She jumped, and Shelby easily caught her and helped her inside.
“Shelby, what are you-” Shelby brought her in a tight hug, and Rachel stiffened and winced in pain. Shelby frowned and looked down and her eyes widened at the sight. Shelby looked back at Rachel and grabbed her face, making the smaller girl look at her.
“You aren’t leaving my sight again.” Shelby said harshly and Rachel could only nod as best as she could. Shelby let her go and sighed. “Explain what happened while I drive you to school.” Rachel nodded and grabbed her clothes and walked to her bathroom. She closed the door behind her and walked to the mirror.
She looked at the dried blood on her face, and she remembered eating the rabbit in Santana’s backyard. She suddenly felt sick. She was vegan, and never ate meat, but she had eaten the insides of an animal raw. Rachel gripped the sink and closed her eyes, trying not to think of what she had ate.
“Rachel, are you okay?” Shelby asked through the door.
“Yeah, fine.” Rachel washed her face and got dressed as quickly as she could. They walked out together and when they got to the car, Shelby spoke.
“You have a lot of explaining to do.” Shelby said and Rachel sighed.
“Can this wait? I-”
“No,” Shelby said coldly. Her voice was strained, like she was trying to keep it calm, and Rachel could see Shelby gripping the wheel tightly. “You were gone and I don’t know where you went and if something happened to you and I wouldn’t be able to protect you.”
“I’m sorry,” Rachel said, shrinking in her seat. Shelby let out a sigh and put her hand on Rachel’s head.
“Just… don’t scare me like that again,” Rachel nodded and Shelby ruffled Rachel’s hair playfully before putting her hand back on the steering wheel. “So, ready to explain?”
“I followed a rabbit.” Rachel said, not knowing if explaining everything to Shelby while she was driving was a good idea. After all, she didn’t want Shelby to go into so much shock that they got into an accident.
“Okay.” Shelby said, a little confused as to where Rachel was going with her explanation.
“I chased it… to outside the woods.” Shelby’s eyes widened and her face paled. She groaned as she pulled into the school parking lot. As soon as she parked, she turned off the car and slammed her head on the steering wheel.
“Is that how you got hurt?” Shelby asked.
“Yeah, by someone in Santana’s family…” Shelby looked up at Rachel.
“Santana’s family.” Rachel nodded.
“I was by Santana’s house and I saw her and-” Shelby reached out and grabbed Rachel’s arm.
“You didn’t hurt her, right?”
“No!” Rachel yelled quickly. “I would never hurt her.” Shelby sighed and let go of Rachel’s arm.
“Okay,” Shelby said and Rachel calmed down. She saw Rachel relax and decided not to push her farther with anymore questions. “Well, lets go.” Rachel nodded and got out. They walked inside and went their separate ways and Rahcel went straight to her locker and tried not to think of her side. After getting her books, she closed her locker and just as she turned around she saw Santana coming up to her.
Panicking, she looked away and walked away quickly. She walked past everyone and saw Puck talking with Finn and Kurt. Rachel quickly walked to Puck and poked his shoulder.
“Hey, Rachel whats-” Puck stared, but Rachel interrupted him.
“Hide me.”
“What?” Puck asked, confused, and Rachel simply walked between him and Kurt.
“Act normal.” Rachel said and Puck raised an eyebrow. Soon after, she heard Santana’s voice.
“Hey, you guys seen Rachel?” Rachel saw Puck look behind him and shrug.
“Nope.”
“Fine.” Santana’s voice sounded disappointed and Rachel heard Quinn talk.
“C’mon, lets go find her somewhere else, later guys.” The three boys waved at her and then Puck looked at Rachel.
“Hey, you okay?” Puck asked and Rachel nodded.
“I suppose.” Rachel sighed and Puck stared at her.
“Okay, what was that?” Kurt asked and Rachel rolled her eyes.
“Nothing, Kurt, just leave it.” Kurt scoffed and looked angry a little.
“Fine,” Kurt muttered and looked at his cell. “You used to tell me everything,” He said quietly and Rachel felt guilt wash over her and Kurt’s words. He kept staring at his cell and he suddenly broke out in a smile. “Blaine’s here, bye.” He walked away and then it was just Puck and Finn.
“Hey, Rachel,” Finn said, smiling. “Is Santana bothering you or something?”
“No, Finn, just,” Rachel sighed and shrugged. “Like I said, just leave it. Leave her alone.,” Finn frowned but slowly nodded. “But thank you for caring.” Finn smiled again and stood awkwardly, not knowing what else to do or say to Rachel. They had broken up, and it was clear to Finn they weren’t getting back together.
“Um, I should, like, go.” Fin said after some silence and walked off. Rachel looked up at Puck and smiled.
“I should go too.” Puck frowned.
“The bell hasn’t rang yet,” Puck said. “Beside, I thought you and Santana were friends, so why are you running from her?”
“It’s complicated” Rachel said and Puck kept staring at her. After some time she rolled her eyes and nodded. “I’ll make sure to explain later.
“Alright,” Puck said and smiled at her. “I’m a great listener anyway, so talking about it to me would be good, since I’m not going to tell anyone anyway.” Rachel smiled and nodded, knowing Puck would keep everything between just them.
When the bell rang, Puck waked her to class and noticed the stiffness of her steps. He wondered what had happened to it, but he didn’t say anything. During the day, Rachel tried to avoid Santana. She didn’t want to face her, not after the kiss and definitely not after last night. But, of course, Rachel couldn’t run form Santana forever. It was during their lunch period, and Santana had found Rachel before the other girl could run. Santana ran up to her and grabbed her wrist.
“Found you.” Santana said and Rachel sighed.
“Unfortunately.” Rachel said softly and Santana looked at her angrily. She tugged n Rachel’s wrist to make her follow her, not noticing Rachel twisting her face in pain from her side. She dragged her to the auditorium, to the stage, and finally let go.
“Santana, look, I-” Rachel started but Santana walked up to her angrily.
“Shut up,” Santana said and Rachel did. Santana’s face softened and she looked at Rachel. “You… you kissed me,” Rachel bit her lip but didn’t do or say anything. “You like me?”
“D-do you?” Rachel asked nervously. If she wanted to be honest, she did like Santana more than a friend. She wasn’t sure where the feelings came from, but they were there. Santana stayed silent and looked at her, and Rachel thought she didn’t.
“Yeah,” Santana said and walked closer to Rachel, making the shorter brunette take a step back and hit the edge of the stage. This time, Rachel tried to be mindful of her ribs, but the impact still hurt and she tried to keep it from showing. “I really do,” Santana continued, not seeing how much pain Rachel was in. “I’ve kind of liked you for a while now, and I know you do too.”
“No, I don’t.” Rachel said, even though she wanted to say the opposite. But last night was too much of a reality for her. She may have not hurt Santana, but she almost hurt one of her family members. Santana looked at her, a little hurt and Rachel had to look away.
“Then why did you kiss me?” Santana asked.
“It wasn’t me! It my wo-” Rachel quickly brought her hands up to her mouth and Santana looked t her oddly.
“You’re what?” Rachel shook her hand, refusing to answer. “Rachel, what were you going to say?” Santana asked and Rachel didn’t know what to say. Finally, Rachel put her hands down and lte out a deep and painful breath.
“Santana, belief me when I say it’s best if we don’t get together and just… just forget about the kiss.” Rachel said, looking Santana in the eye. With a final nod she walked past Santana and left.
_______________________________________
Santana didn’t understand; Rachel had been the one to kiss her. If anything, it should be Santana pushing her away, not the other way around. Santana sighed and put her head down on the table.
“What’s wrong?” She looked up to see Quinn, who was looking at her curiously.
“Rachel Berry problems.” Santana muttered and Quinn quirked an eyebrow and Brittany spoke up next to her.
“Did you guys find out what’s wrong with Rachel?”
“No,” Santana said and Brittany frowned. “And now Rachel’s pushing me away.” Santana looked at her spot from the cafeteria table to the table across from her, where Rachel was sitting with Puck.
“Why don’t you go talk to her?” Quinn asked and Santana sighed.
“It’ll be useless, she’ll just tell me to forget about the kiss again.” Quinn, who was drinking, spit out some of her drink and whipped her head towards Santana.
“What?” She asked loudly, and Santana blinked and looked at her.
“I didn’t tell you guys?”
“No.” Quinn said and Santana looked at Brittany, who shook her head.
“Oh,” Santana said and sat up straighter. “Yesterday Rachel kissed me and then ignored me the rest of the day and today she told me to forget about the kiss.” Santana explained and Quinn sighed and looked at Rachel harshly while Brittany frowned.
“That makes no sense.” Quinn said and Santana shrugged.
“But you’re going to find out why she’s doing that, right?” Brittany asked. “Cuz you love her and she loves you back.” Santana sighed and looked at Brittany sadly.
“I don’t know, maybe she’s right,” Santana said. “I just… her telling me that… hurt.” Quinn frowned and put her hand on Santana’s shoulder.
“Then are you sure doing what she wants is the best for either of you?” Quinn asked and Santana frowned. She didn’t know what to do, and Rachel confused her so much. As she looked at Rachel sitting with Puck, laughing at something he said, she made up her mind. She wasn’t going to let Rachel push her away, not now. Not anymore.
_______________________________________________
Rachel and Santana didn’t talk to each other in the class they shared but Santana stilled watched Rachel from her seat. Once the bell rang and Rachel rushed out of the room, they hadn’t even seen each other the rest of the day. It seemed like Rachel was an expert at avoiding people.
It wasn’t until the West Side Story practice that they saw each other. It was the last days, and everyone was finishing building the set. Santana was on top of a ladder, painting the last of the walls and looked at Rachel who was working below her.
She frowned when she realized there was a stiffness to Rachel that wasn’t there before, and when the shorter brunette moved a certain way she could see the slightly pained expression on her face. Santana sighed, thinking of asking Rachel about that later, and continued to work on the set until it was time to go. When it was time to go, she took her time like always, hoping to get some alone time with Rachel, but Rachel seemed glued to Puck’s side that day. Santana groaned, realizing Rachel wasn’t going to be alone, and walked up to them.
“Hey, Puckerman,” Santana said absentmindedly before smiling warmly at Rachel. “Hey, Rachel.”
“Santana.” Rachel said, not meeting her eyes. Santana frowned as she watched Rachel pack her things by Puck with the same stiffness she saw earlier.
“Did you get hurt?” Santana asked suddenly and Rachel stilled for a moment before shrugging the best she could, which was barely anything at all.
“I got hurt yesterday, it’s no big deal,” Rachel said and turned to Puck. “I’ll see you later.” She ignored Santana as she walked past her and out of the auditorium. Santana was about to follow her, until Puck spoke up.
“So…” Puck said and Santana turned to him. “You kissed her, huh?” He grinned and winked at her. “Hot.” Santana rolled her eyes.
“Shut up, and she kissed me.” Santana started walking away and Puck quickly ran up to her and stopped her.
“Hey,” Puck said. “Rachel’s my friend and I want to know, did the kiss mean anything to you?” Puck asked seriously, staring at Santana. He was holding her arm tightly and staring so intently that Santana knew he cared about her.
“It meant…” Santana furrowed her eyebrows, trying to find the right words. “It meant everything to me,” Puck smiled and loosened his grip, letting Santana shove her arm away from him. “But it doesn’t mean anything to her.”
“Seriously?” Puck asked and then laughed lightly. “Trust me, it meant a lot, she just doesn’t want to admit it.” Santana scoffed.
“And how the hell would you know that?” Puck grinned and tapped his forehead.
“We hot Jews know what each other’s thinking.” Puck said and Santana rolled her eyes again.
“Whatever.” Santana said and started walking away.
“Just don’t listen and do what Rachel tells you.” Puck called out and Santana looked at him over her shoulder, grinning.
“Please, do I ever do what she says?” Santana asked and Puck grinned back. Santana turned back around and headed out of the auditorium, to her car. She was going to get Rachel to tell her why she was pushing away, no matter what.
Pairing: Rachel/Santana, Shelby
Length:52,788
Spoilers: Up to season 3
Summary: Rachel never expected to find out she's a werewolf, and once the reality of it sinks in, she feels like a monster. Surprisingly enough there's someone unexpected who helps her keep onto the humanity inside her.
Note: This is written for the Glee Big Bang.
Rachel was running on all four, panting and tongue hanging out a little bit. She knew Shelby would be mad at her for running off, but the rabbit smelled so good and chasing it gave her an amazing feeling. Now, if only she could catch it. Technically, she could catch anything she wanted. She may not be as big of a wolf as Shelby, but she was still pretty big. Plus, she loved the thrill of the chase.
She heard Shelby’s howl in the distance, further in the woods, and she knew if she didn’t want Shelby punishing her that bad, she should have started headed back. After all, a wolf always stayed with the alpha.
Except, Rachel didn’t care. Not tonight. Tonight she was giving up on reason and finally, truly, be one with her wolf.
She followed the rabbit out of the woods and to the streets. Luckily, there weren’t any cars out and Rachel ran across the street. Finally having enough, she lunged forward and grabbed the rabbit in her mouth. It made a noise and moved frantically in her mouth and she bit into it, hearing the bones cracking and tasting the blood as the animal stilled completely.
She looked around, realizing she was near houses. Suddenly, she realized who’s house she was by. Santana’s. She walked around the neighborhood, hiding in the shadows. She kept it up without getting noticed, which was easy in a town like Lima. There was hardly anywhere to go so people either stayed inside, went to a party at someone’s house, or were at Breadstix.
She finally saw the big Lopez house and she jumped the fence and was in her backyard. She went to the tree in the back and laid down under it. She finally put the rabbit she had in her mouth down and l9icked her lips as she stared at it. She licked her lips before biting into the rabbit and eating out of it.
It wasn’t a big meal, but it was pretty good. She was eating the last of its insides when the back door lid open. She jumped up and hid more behind the tree, watching someone come out with a bag of garbage. The person walked across the lawn, completely oblivious to Rachel because of the headphones in her ears.
Slowly, Rachel moved closer, licking her lips. It was only after the person threw away the trash and turned around that Rachel was noticed. She let out a short scream as she tripped backwards and hit the fence. Rachel growled as she got closer and the girl tried to back up farther, but couldn’t because of the fence. Just when she was centimeters from the girl’s face, she took a wiff and suddenly paused.
That scent was familiar. It was the scent that smelled so good and she loved so much. It was Santana’s.
Suddenly realizing who she was about to eat, she closed her mouth and took a small step back. It wasn’t a lot, but at least Santana had some breathing room. Rachel looked at her, at her state.
Santana was shaking hard and there were tears running down her face. It was the first time Rachel saw Santana cry like that. She felt awful, realizing it was her who made her cry. Rachel moved her head closer to Santana again, and Santana flinched. Rachel paused for a moment before moving closer again.
Santana crewed her eyes shut, still too scared to move. She stayed, waiting for the inevitable. Instead, she felt a lick and grew more scared. She thought the wolf was tasting her before getting a bite, so she kept her eyes closed.
Rachel watched Santana, watched the way she screwed her eyes shut and was still shaking. Rachel’s ears twisted backward. She meant to show Santana she wasn’t something to be scared of. Instead, she only scared Santana more.
Letting out a small whine, Rachel backed up a little again. After a few seconds of nothing, Santana opened her eyes again. Rachel whined and Santana furrowed her eyebrows together, confused. Santana stared at Rachel, looking at her chocolate eyes.
“Why…?” Santana said softly, her voice small and shaky and Rachel could hear the fear in her voice. The fear of her. Rachel simply stared and slowly Santana raised her hand. Slowly, she reached out and put it on Rachel’s head. She stopped and looked at Rachel as she kept it there, expecting it to be bitten off. When she realized Rachel wasn’t going to bite her, she started petting Rachel. Rachel leaned into the touch and Santana laughed nervously.
“Y-you’re really…soft.” Santana aid, running her fingers through Rachel’s brown fur on her head and down to the back of her neck. They stayed like that for a few minutes. Rachel was calm, and she could tell Santana finally was too. Everything was perfect until the door opened again and there was yelling.
“Santana!” Santana jumped and looked at the direction of the voice to see her dad running to her, completely terrified. Rachel got angry at the interruption and stood closer in front of Santana. She stood her ground and growled at Santana’s dad, effectively making him jump back in fear.
Rachel let out a huff and held her head high. No one was going to get close to Santana. Her Santana. Rachel vaguely heard other people come out and surround her, but she juts concentrated on him. She saw someone give him a wooden stick and that was when she looked around.
Realizing they all had a weapon of some sort, she growled at each of them and kept close to Satntana. She was trapped, but she wasn’t going to go down without a figh. Her dad got near her and just when she was about to lunge at him, she felt something hard impact her sighed.
She let out a yelp, and crashed into the fence next to Santana. She slowly got up again and looked to where Santana was, and noticed she was gone. Looking up, she saw them dragging Santana away as they ran back into the house. Rachel watched Santana be taken away, and Santana looked back at her the entire time. When they finally got instead, Rachel saw Santana’s mom lock the door and close the curtains.
Rachel growled at it, how dare they take away her Santana from her. She was about to run inside, but then her ears perked up when she heard loud sirens. She let out a huff and turned around and jumped the fence to the alley way.
Because of her side, though, she didn’t jump high enough and crashed onto the floor, knocking over some trash cans. She got up and looked back at the backyard and she saw people with tranquilizer guns slowly waking to her.
“Hold still, girl.” One of the officers said and Rachel broke into a run. She heard a dart go past her and she would have laughed if she could. She heard the officer swear and try again, but by then she turned the corner and was away from him.
She kept running though, angry that she as separated from Santana. She eventually found her backyard, and she jumped the fence again, this time getting over it successfully. She looked at the garage and saw the door open a little. Feeling angry and destructive, she walked in.
__________________________________________
Rachel groaned as she stared waking up. She was sore and she frowned when she noticed she wasn’t on the forest floor she was used to. Suddenly, all the memories of last night came back, of when she was in her wolf form.
Her eyes snapped pen and she moved to sit up, but the pain made her gasp and fall back down. She looked down at her ribs and saw it bruised badly. Rachel slowly reached out to it, and when she put pressure on it, she hissed in pain and brought her hands back.
She could only really blame herself, and she should have seen it coming. Except, she didn’t and now her ribs hurt. She finally looked away from her bruised ribs and looked around the garage and gasped.
It was completely ruined. There were scratches all over the all and everything they had was chewed up. Rachel was glad her dads didn’t put the car in there, or else that would have been destroyed too.
She slowly got up, wincing as she did so. She carefully walked around the mess, which was everywhere, and poked her head out the door. It seemed like her dads were gone, so after looking around and seeing no one she ran to the tree outside her window.
Getting up the tree was rather difficult and the movement mad her side hurt more. But she did get up, and when she looked at her window, she groaned. It was closed and she wasn’t sure if she could open it. She looked down and realized there was only one other way. Go to the front of the house, naked, and use the spare key. Just as she was about to go down, the window swung open.
“Rachel!” She looked up to see Shelby in her bedroom, leaning out the window and holding out her hand. “C’mon, lets get you inside.” Shelby said and Rachel nodded. She jumped, and Shelby easily caught her and helped her inside.
“Shelby, what are you-” Shelby brought her in a tight hug, and Rachel stiffened and winced in pain. Shelby frowned and looked down and her eyes widened at the sight. Shelby looked back at Rachel and grabbed her face, making the smaller girl look at her.
“You aren’t leaving my sight again.” Shelby said harshly and Rachel could only nod as best as she could. Shelby let her go and sighed. “Explain what happened while I drive you to school.” Rachel nodded and grabbed her clothes and walked to her bathroom. She closed the door behind her and walked to the mirror.
She looked at the dried blood on her face, and she remembered eating the rabbit in Santana’s backyard. She suddenly felt sick. She was vegan, and never ate meat, but she had eaten the insides of an animal raw. Rachel gripped the sink and closed her eyes, trying not to think of what she had ate.
“Rachel, are you okay?” Shelby asked through the door.
“Yeah, fine.” Rachel washed her face and got dressed as quickly as she could. They walked out together and when they got to the car, Shelby spoke.
“You have a lot of explaining to do.” Shelby said and Rachel sighed.
“Can this wait? I-”
“No,” Shelby said coldly. Her voice was strained, like she was trying to keep it calm, and Rachel could see Shelby gripping the wheel tightly. “You were gone and I don’t know where you went and if something happened to you and I wouldn’t be able to protect you.”
“I’m sorry,” Rachel said, shrinking in her seat. Shelby let out a sigh and put her hand on Rachel’s head.
“Just… don’t scare me like that again,” Rachel nodded and Shelby ruffled Rachel’s hair playfully before putting her hand back on the steering wheel. “So, ready to explain?”
“I followed a rabbit.” Rachel said, not knowing if explaining everything to Shelby while she was driving was a good idea. After all, she didn’t want Shelby to go into so much shock that they got into an accident.
“Okay.” Shelby said, a little confused as to where Rachel was going with her explanation.
“I chased it… to outside the woods.” Shelby’s eyes widened and her face paled. She groaned as she pulled into the school parking lot. As soon as she parked, she turned off the car and slammed her head on the steering wheel.
“Is that how you got hurt?” Shelby asked.
“Yeah, by someone in Santana’s family…” Shelby looked up at Rachel.
“Santana’s family.” Rachel nodded.
“I was by Santana’s house and I saw her and-” Shelby reached out and grabbed Rachel’s arm.
“You didn’t hurt her, right?”
“No!” Rachel yelled quickly. “I would never hurt her.” Shelby sighed and let go of Rachel’s arm.
“Okay,” Shelby said and Rachel calmed down. She saw Rachel relax and decided not to push her farther with anymore questions. “Well, lets go.” Rachel nodded and got out. They walked inside and went their separate ways and Rahcel went straight to her locker and tried not to think of her side. After getting her books, she closed her locker and just as she turned around she saw Santana coming up to her.
Panicking, she looked away and walked away quickly. She walked past everyone and saw Puck talking with Finn and Kurt. Rachel quickly walked to Puck and poked his shoulder.
“Hey, Rachel whats-” Puck stared, but Rachel interrupted him.
“Hide me.”
“What?” Puck asked, confused, and Rachel simply walked between him and Kurt.
“Act normal.” Rachel said and Puck raised an eyebrow. Soon after, she heard Santana’s voice.
“Hey, you guys seen Rachel?” Rachel saw Puck look behind him and shrug.
“Nope.”
“Fine.” Santana’s voice sounded disappointed and Rachel heard Quinn talk.
“C’mon, lets go find her somewhere else, later guys.” The three boys waved at her and then Puck looked at Rachel.
“Hey, you okay?” Puck asked and Rachel nodded.
“I suppose.” Rachel sighed and Puck stared at her.
“Okay, what was that?” Kurt asked and Rachel rolled her eyes.
“Nothing, Kurt, just leave it.” Kurt scoffed and looked angry a little.
“Fine,” Kurt muttered and looked at his cell. “You used to tell me everything,” He said quietly and Rachel felt guilt wash over her and Kurt’s words. He kept staring at his cell and he suddenly broke out in a smile. “Blaine’s here, bye.” He walked away and then it was just Puck and Finn.
“Hey, Rachel,” Finn said, smiling. “Is Santana bothering you or something?”
“No, Finn, just,” Rachel sighed and shrugged. “Like I said, just leave it. Leave her alone.,” Finn frowned but slowly nodded. “But thank you for caring.” Finn smiled again and stood awkwardly, not knowing what else to do or say to Rachel. They had broken up, and it was clear to Finn they weren’t getting back together.
“Um, I should, like, go.” Fin said after some silence and walked off. Rachel looked up at Puck and smiled.
“I should go too.” Puck frowned.
“The bell hasn’t rang yet,” Puck said. “Beside, I thought you and Santana were friends, so why are you running from her?”
“It’s complicated” Rachel said and Puck kept staring at her. After some time she rolled her eyes and nodded. “I’ll make sure to explain later.
“Alright,” Puck said and smiled at her. “I’m a great listener anyway, so talking about it to me would be good, since I’m not going to tell anyone anyway.” Rachel smiled and nodded, knowing Puck would keep everything between just them.
When the bell rang, Puck waked her to class and noticed the stiffness of her steps. He wondered what had happened to it, but he didn’t say anything. During the day, Rachel tried to avoid Santana. She didn’t want to face her, not after the kiss and definitely not after last night. But, of course, Rachel couldn’t run form Santana forever. It was during their lunch period, and Santana had found Rachel before the other girl could run. Santana ran up to her and grabbed her wrist.
“Found you.” Santana said and Rachel sighed.
“Unfortunately.” Rachel said softly and Santana looked at her angrily. She tugged n Rachel’s wrist to make her follow her, not noticing Rachel twisting her face in pain from her side. She dragged her to the auditorium, to the stage, and finally let go.
“Santana, look, I-” Rachel started but Santana walked up to her angrily.
“Shut up,” Santana said and Rachel did. Santana’s face softened and she looked at Rachel. “You… you kissed me,” Rachel bit her lip but didn’t do or say anything. “You like me?”
“D-do you?” Rachel asked nervously. If she wanted to be honest, she did like Santana more than a friend. She wasn’t sure where the feelings came from, but they were there. Santana stayed silent and looked at her, and Rachel thought she didn’t.
“Yeah,” Santana said and walked closer to Rachel, making the shorter brunette take a step back and hit the edge of the stage. This time, Rachel tried to be mindful of her ribs, but the impact still hurt and she tried to keep it from showing. “I really do,” Santana continued, not seeing how much pain Rachel was in. “I’ve kind of liked you for a while now, and I know you do too.”
“No, I don’t.” Rachel said, even though she wanted to say the opposite. But last night was too much of a reality for her. She may have not hurt Santana, but she almost hurt one of her family members. Santana looked at her, a little hurt and Rachel had to look away.
“Then why did you kiss me?” Santana asked.
“It wasn’t me! It my wo-” Rachel quickly brought her hands up to her mouth and Santana looked t her oddly.
“You’re what?” Rachel shook her hand, refusing to answer. “Rachel, what were you going to say?” Santana asked and Rachel didn’t know what to say. Finally, Rachel put her hands down and lte out a deep and painful breath.
“Santana, belief me when I say it’s best if we don’t get together and just… just forget about the kiss.” Rachel said, looking Santana in the eye. With a final nod she walked past Santana and left.
_______________________________________
Santana didn’t understand; Rachel had been the one to kiss her. If anything, it should be Santana pushing her away, not the other way around. Santana sighed and put her head down on the table.
“What’s wrong?” She looked up to see Quinn, who was looking at her curiously.
“Rachel Berry problems.” Santana muttered and Quinn quirked an eyebrow and Brittany spoke up next to her.
“Did you guys find out what’s wrong with Rachel?”
“No,” Santana said and Brittany frowned. “And now Rachel’s pushing me away.” Santana looked at her spot from the cafeteria table to the table across from her, where Rachel was sitting with Puck.
“Why don’t you go talk to her?” Quinn asked and Santana sighed.
“It’ll be useless, she’ll just tell me to forget about the kiss again.” Quinn, who was drinking, spit out some of her drink and whipped her head towards Santana.
“What?” She asked loudly, and Santana blinked and looked at her.
“I didn’t tell you guys?”
“No.” Quinn said and Santana looked at Brittany, who shook her head.
“Oh,” Santana said and sat up straighter. “Yesterday Rachel kissed me and then ignored me the rest of the day and today she told me to forget about the kiss.” Santana explained and Quinn sighed and looked at Rachel harshly while Brittany frowned.
“That makes no sense.” Quinn said and Santana shrugged.
“But you’re going to find out why she’s doing that, right?” Brittany asked. “Cuz you love her and she loves you back.” Santana sighed and looked at Brittany sadly.
“I don’t know, maybe she’s right,” Santana said. “I just… her telling me that… hurt.” Quinn frowned and put her hand on Santana’s shoulder.
“Then are you sure doing what she wants is the best for either of you?” Quinn asked and Santana frowned. She didn’t know what to do, and Rachel confused her so much. As she looked at Rachel sitting with Puck, laughing at something he said, she made up her mind. She wasn’t going to let Rachel push her away, not now. Not anymore.
_______________________________________________
Rachel and Santana didn’t talk to each other in the class they shared but Santana stilled watched Rachel from her seat. Once the bell rang and Rachel rushed out of the room, they hadn’t even seen each other the rest of the day. It seemed like Rachel was an expert at avoiding people.
It wasn’t until the West Side Story practice that they saw each other. It was the last days, and everyone was finishing building the set. Santana was on top of a ladder, painting the last of the walls and looked at Rachel who was working below her.
She frowned when she realized there was a stiffness to Rachel that wasn’t there before, and when the shorter brunette moved a certain way she could see the slightly pained expression on her face. Santana sighed, thinking of asking Rachel about that later, and continued to work on the set until it was time to go. When it was time to go, she took her time like always, hoping to get some alone time with Rachel, but Rachel seemed glued to Puck’s side that day. Santana groaned, realizing Rachel wasn’t going to be alone, and walked up to them.
“Hey, Puckerman,” Santana said absentmindedly before smiling warmly at Rachel. “Hey, Rachel.”
“Santana.” Rachel said, not meeting her eyes. Santana frowned as she watched Rachel pack her things by Puck with the same stiffness she saw earlier.
“Did you get hurt?” Santana asked suddenly and Rachel stilled for a moment before shrugging the best she could, which was barely anything at all.
“I got hurt yesterday, it’s no big deal,” Rachel said and turned to Puck. “I’ll see you later.” She ignored Santana as she walked past her and out of the auditorium. Santana was about to follow her, until Puck spoke up.
“So…” Puck said and Santana turned to him. “You kissed her, huh?” He grinned and winked at her. “Hot.” Santana rolled her eyes.
“Shut up, and she kissed me.” Santana started walking away and Puck quickly ran up to her and stopped her.
“Hey,” Puck said. “Rachel’s my friend and I want to know, did the kiss mean anything to you?” Puck asked seriously, staring at Santana. He was holding her arm tightly and staring so intently that Santana knew he cared about her.
“It meant…” Santana furrowed her eyebrows, trying to find the right words. “It meant everything to me,” Puck smiled and loosened his grip, letting Santana shove her arm away from him. “But it doesn’t mean anything to her.”
“Seriously?” Puck asked and then laughed lightly. “Trust me, it meant a lot, she just doesn’t want to admit it.” Santana scoffed.
“And how the hell would you know that?” Puck grinned and tapped his forehead.
“We hot Jews know what each other’s thinking.” Puck said and Santana rolled her eyes again.
“Whatever.” Santana said and started walking away.
“Just don’t listen and do what Rachel tells you.” Puck called out and Santana looked at him over her shoulder, grinning.
“Please, do I ever do what she says?” Santana asked and Puck grinned back. Santana turned back around and headed out of the auditorium, to her car. She was going to get Rachel to tell her why she was pushing away, no matter what.