Do You Remember?
Title: Do You Remember?
Rating: PG-13 (Couple of f-bombs dropped)
Length: 3597 words
Pairing: Santana/Rachel
Spoilers:If you haven't watched the new season 2 ep, you probably wont want to read this.
Disclaimer: I own nada still. woo! :/
Summary: Continued from my last fic "You and I Know" which can be found on my lj, so I recommend reading that first if you haven't already.
When I first posted this I wasn't sure whether to leave it or continue, but peeps seemed to express interest in it so, here's the next bit. Same goes, if you think I should continue again then let me know. Thanks to everyone who reviewed as well.
Enjoy!
Santana walked through the doors of school the next morning and was immediately joined by her ditzy blonde friend. She shot her a bright smile before she offered her pinky which Brittany quickly linked hers with. The taller girl smiled back but couldn't help the confusion becoming evident on her face.
“You're happy.” Usually Santana would have rolled her eyes at the obviousness that came from her best friend's mouth but she really was in too much of a good mood.
“Why shouldn't I be?” They continued walking towards their lockers, gaining varying reactions of either confusion or terror from the other students around them. Brittany frowned as she ran through yesterday's event in her head.
“Well, you're not captain any more, You hurt your shoulder cause Quinn got you put at the bottom of the pyramid-” Santana frowned at her friend's words.
“Yeah, Britt I remember, pretty vividly.”
“Well that's why I don't get why you're so happy.” Just as the words left her mouth they walked past Rachel's locker, where the tiny brunette was talking with Artie. Santana couldn't help but grin again as she caught Rachel's eye, who in turn gave a shy smile and waved. Brittany's frown fell from her face and was replaced with realisation.
“You had sexy times with Rachel!” Brittany wasn't really known for her subtlety, which led to Santana having to practically jump on he friend to quieten her voice. A few students were giving the two cheerleaders strange looks, but where quickly on their way again after Santana put on her signature glare. Brittany meanwhile was jumping up and down clapping her hands.
“I wondered how long it would be before you decided to sleep with her! I mean I know she can be pretty annoying and loud, and uses words I don't really understand, but she's actually pretty hot. I wouldn't mind-” Santana slapped a hand across her friend's mouth, her eyes wide as she practically begged her friend to just stop talking.
“Brittany, I didn't sleep with her.” She hesitated as she thought of how to explain exactly what happened, when she wasn't totally sure herself. Brittany picked up on this immediately and went serious as she quickly dragged Santana into the nearest bathroom.
She quickly checked the stalls to make sure no one was in there and then moved back to standing in front of the Latina who was occupying herself by staring at the tiled floor beneath them. She ducked her head to get her attention and smiled softly when dark eyes met blue.
“So... what happened?”
“I don't know what happened. One minute I was punching lockers in the locker rooms, the next I was kissing Rachel.” Brittany's eyes widened and a grin spread across her face as she readied herself for another fit of excitement. “She was hiding out in there, I'm guessing after everything that happened with the new midget auditioning. She asked what was wrong, and she just wouldn't let up. Then she came to my house and we talked and, she's not actually that bad y'know? No one ever really tries to understand me apart from you, it was... nice.” Brittany smiled as she listened to her friend stumble over her words. Santana sighed and dragged a hand through her ponytail.
“She kept saying all of these nice things to me, like she was trying everything to make me feel good about myself again, and all I could think about was how I didn't deserve her being so understanding and stuff. I mean, where's the logic in me calling her man hands for who knows how many years, and she turns around and calls me beautiful?” She braced herself against one of the sinks and allowed her head to rest against the cool mirror. Brittany remained where she was unsure of whether to cut in or not.
“Then we hugged and it just, it felt so good B. She felt so good. She started to leave and I don't know what it was but something was screaming at me not to let her so then I kissed her... and I dunno, we ended up cuddling in bed for the rest of the evening.” She blushed as she repeated the evening's events.
“So, do you like her?” Trust Brittany to get straight to the point. That was one thing Santana loved about her friend, she didn't fuss around with pointless questions. Santana sighed and shrugged.
“I do like her. Thing is I don't know whether it's because I feel so...” She grimaced as she couldn't find the right words.
“Vulnerable.”She groaned as she banged her head against the mirror again. She was Santana Lopez for fucks sake, she didn't do vulnerable.
“It's ok to feel like that San, everyone's allowed to rely on someone else every so often, even you.” When she got no response from her friend she continued. “I mean, how much do you look out for me and cheer me up when something bad happens? It's like your owed all that kind of stuff back. You should let people help you out once in a while too, then it means you have more strength to help out the people you care about.” Santana blinked as she lifted her head to look at her friend, who was grinning proudly at her logic. Santana couldn't help but smile back as she pulled her best friend in for a hug.
“People don't give you enough credit Britt.” The blonde cheerleader squeezed a little tighter and sighed.
“The important people do, that's all that matters right?”
The rest of the day went on as normal and it wasn't long before school ended which of course meant Glee. She grimaced as she thought back to yesterday. The only people who actually acknowledged Rachel as she walked in yesterday was Finn, and strangely enough Quinn.
“Maybe it's because Q thought her and Rachel had done the same thing, y'know?” Santana blinked in confusion until she realised she'd managed to verbalise most of her thoughts. She scowled as she thought about what Quinn had done.
“It's not the same at all.” Brittany raised an eyebrow and smirked.
“Why? Because what Rachel did wasn't directed at you?” Santana stopped and semi-glared at the other girl.
“No. Quinn did it for selfish reasons. It wasn't enough that she got back on the team, she had to get back her title and then drag me way down, just for the hell of it. Rachel... she had her reasons.” She wasn't sure if what the diva had said to her was private or not so she kept it to herself. Brittany seemed to understand though, Rachel was in no way like Quinn. She linked her arm through Santana's as they made their way to the choir room.
They walked in to find Rachel standing in front of everyone, shoulders slumped whilst the rest of the club looked on. She immediately tensed up as people started speaking up.
“Admit it Rachel. You don't care about this club, all you care about is yourself and making sure you get as much of the spotlight as physically possible. You're never going to change are you?” Mercedes' voice rang throughout the room as murmured voices agreed.
“You don't get it.” She mumbled but was quickly interrupted again.
“I think it's sad personally. To feel the need to ruin other people in order to make yourself feel good?” Kurt waved off the rest of his comment and again, the rest of the group murmured in response.
Santana noticed out of the corner of her eye, Quinn's slightly pained expression at what Kurt had just said. As if she was going to show her any form of sympathy after what she did. Besides, her main concern was Rachel and how she was steadily getting more and more pissed off at what people were throwing at her.
“Guys, please.” Both cheerleaders winced at how the usually verbose singer's voice was now barely above a whisper.
“I reckon we should send you off to a crack house, see what they do to you what with that big ass attitude of yours.”
That was it.
Before anyone realised what was happening, Santana had quickly moved to stand in front of Rachel, hands on her hips and a glare on her face.
“Okay let's get one thing clear. If any of you pathetic little whiny bitches even lay a single hand on her, I will personally drag each one of your sorry asses to a place which will make a crack den look like a candy shop.” Mercedes and Kurt both visibly paled and shrunk back into their seats.
“What Rachel did may not be considered right in most people's opinions but so what. You don't the know the reasons behind what she did, so why don't you all shut the fuck up and let it go.” She quickly made eye contact with everyone in the room, and said her final bit. “Lastly, you better start showing Rachel some respect, because without her we wouldn't be here right now, and you freaks would still be wandering the halls like ghosts, with your heads shoved down a toilet somewhere. Am I making myself my clear?”
Yeah, she'd fucked up by getting a boob job. Her former best friend threw her to the dogs to reclaim her top spot within the messed up excuse for a school hierarchy. But nothing would ever take away the HBIC attitude that resided within her. Brittany was right. She let Rachel bare some of the weight last night and in turn she felt strong enough to deal with the shit that was being thrown at her today.
She regarded everyone one last time, daring them to say a single word to her and smirked as she realised even their royal highness 'Queen Fabray' had the decency to look petrified. Looks like there were some things she couldn't steal away after all. Santana turned to Rachel and smiled softly.
“You okay?” Rachel stared at her like she was some sort of superhero and nodded quickly, obviously using every force available to refrain from grabbing the taller girl in front of her. The three girls took their seats, Rachel in the middle whilst Brittany and Santana sat either side of her, just as Mr. Shuester walked in. He immediately stopped and stared wide eyed at the various club members, paying special attention to Kurt who looked like he couldn't decide between bolting from the room or allowing his lunch to make a repeat appearance. He shook his head and dumped the piles of sheet music onto the piano.
“I don't even want to know.”
As he started explaining their next assignment, Santana felt something brush lightly against the skin of her arm which was draped across the back of Rachel's chair. She looked up and met Brittany's gaze, who grinned and mouthed 'I told you so.' Before returning to 'listen' to their teacher again. Santana rolled her eyes with a grin and stole one last glance at Rachel before turning her attention back to the front.
The rest of Glee went by without a hitch and soon they were packing up and ready to leave. Santana couldn't help but smile as she watched the smaller brunette practically skipping around humming to herself, obviously in a much better mood than she was at the start of practise. She barely noticed Puck looming behind her until her threw one of his arms over her shoulders, nearly taking her to the floor.
“You jerk-off, what the hell was that for?” She mumbled as she rubbed her shoulder. He grinned sheepishly at her and went to put his arm around her again, gently this time.
“You are so smitten.” He said in a sing-song voice and she scowled and tried to shrug his arm off her.
“I'm surprised you know what that word even means.” She gave up trying to get him away and instead opted to cross her arms over her chest. He was still laughing and pulled her into a side hug.
“Don't deny it.” He paused and glanced over to where Rachel was animatedly talking to Brittany and Tina. “She's cool, and you obviously feel something for her otherwise you wouldn't have stood up for her earlier in front of everyone.” She continued to stare at the smaller girl and nodded slowly. Puck continued. “I like to think we've become pretty good friends recently, and so I like to think I've also come to learn a lot about you.” She broke her gaze away from the three girls and looked up at him. He smiled softly, not his usual smug grin and gave her shoulder a slight squeeze of encouragement. “It's not everyone you'd pull badass shit like that with, so she's obviously important to you... so don't mess it up. If you think there's something there then grab it whilst you still have the chance to y'know?” She noticed the pain that flickered through his eyes momentarily and she could tell this was him telling her not to make the same mistake he made with Quinn. She smiled and leaned into him more, wrapping an arm around him.
“She doesn't deserve you pining after her y'know. You're a decent guy, even if you don't show it all the time.” he grinned and gave one last squeeze before pulling away.
“Looks like we have something in common then huh.” He winked as he began to walk away and rejoin Finn and Mike. She turned back and walked over to the other three girls who were still chatting. Brittany noticed that her friend wanted Rachel's attention and so quickly muttered something before pulling Tina away, shooting Santana a big grin.
Rachel turned and smiled as she saw Santana, who smiled sheepishly in return. Seriously! When did this girl develop magic powers that seemed to turn every inch of Santana into complete mush. She shook her head slightly as she realised Rachel was talking to her.
“Thanks again for sticking up for me today, I really appreciate it.” Santana shrugged.
“Yeah well, you gave me a chance when not many other people would yesterday. It was only fair that you got the same. It wasn't fair those two divas over there ganging up on you anyway.” Rachel grinned and looked over briefly to the other gleeks.
“It wasn't just them.” Santana snorted.
“Yeah it was. Everyone else just seems to really enjoy impersonating sheep. They just needed a reminder of who's really in charge around here.” She puffed out her chest slightly, which Rachel noted had even more of an effect now after Santana's surgery. She quickly looked away and was met by an amused look from the cheerleader. She blushed and muttered something under her breath. She took a deep breath as she asked her next question.
“So I was wondering if you wanted to come over to mine and chill out a bit tonight?” She chanced a glance up at Santana who was smiling down at her.
“Sounds great Rach.”
It was a short drive to Rachel's house and Santana soon found herself standing outside the smaller brunette's front door. She took a deep breath as she knocked on the door. As it opened she was met by the sight of a tall black man looking down at her with an eyebrow raised.
“I'm here to see Rachel... I'm-” A low, interrupting voice startled her slightly.
“Santana Lopez, yes I'm aware of who you are.” Her eyes went wide as she took in his words. Of course, he's probably heard over and over about the way she's treated his daughter over the last few years. Just as she was thinking of something suitable to say his face broke out into a grin and he held his hand out to her.
“I work with your father, I've heard a lot about you.” She groaned as she let out the breath she'd been holding and limply took the offered hand, managing a small smile, somehow. He released her hand and stepped to the side to allow her in, still grinning.
“Rachel's upstairs as far as I'm aware. Are you staying for food?” Just as Santana opened her mouth to answer another person walked into the lobby.
“Of course she is, what kind of host would I be if I didn't feed her daddy?” The tall man shook his head with a chuckle and gave Santana's shoulder a squeeze as he walked into the kitchen. Rachel turned to her, the grin plastered on her face changing quickly to a look of confusion.
“Are you ok? You look like you've just seen a ghost or something.” Santana still couldn't will herself to talk and so just smiled and nodded, which seemed to satisfy Rachel, who's grin was now back full force. She grabbed the cheerleader's hand and started pulling her towards the stairs.
“Daddy's only just started cooking so he wont be finished for a while, we can go hang out in my room.” She led the cheerleader to her door which Santana couldn't help but grin at. Right in the middle of the wood was a massive gold star. As they walked into the room Santana was hit with the brightness of the yellow walls.
“You should have warned me I would be needing sunglasses y'know.” Rachel blushed and dragged a hand through her hair nervously.
“Yeah I guess it is a bit... bright.” Santana grabbed the smaller girl by the waist and pulled her into a tight embrace and rested her cheek on the top of her head.
“Yeah it is, but it's so typically you so I like it.” She pressed a kiss to the top of the diva's head and cursed herself inwardly again at her sounding so mushy. She frowned as felt the other girl pulling away. Rachel blushed and looked at the floor.
“I think we need to talk.” Santana sighed but nodded. There was a lot to discuss, she felt herself rushing into things and she didn't even know how Rachel felt about any of it. She smiled and moved to sit next to Rachel, who'd taken a seat on her bed.
“I'm not going to sit here and lie Santana. After the events of yesterday I think it's fair to assume there is some sort of attraction between the two of us which I am interested in pursuing if you feel the same way. However I need to make absolutely sure that by allowing myself into this position that I'm not running the risk of being hurt physically or emotionally. I understand you have a reputation to uphold and being seen with me is bad enough for it, let alone being associated with me romantically-” Santana had heard enough and leaned forwards and silenced the other girl with a chaste kiss. She pulled back again and smirked at the smaller girl.
“Have I ever mentioned that you talk too much?” Rachel mumbled something under her breath and Santana kissed her cheek before continuing. “I was given some really good advice today, to grab things whilst I still have the chance. You're right, there's something between us and I don't know what it is exactly, but I like it. I've made some pretty stupid decisions recently, I don't plan on adding a few more to the already long enough list... and I think I'd be pretty stupid to turn my back on something like this.” The whole time she'd been talking, her gaze had been locked with Rachel's. She needed to show she was serious about this, Puck was right. There was something about this girl that she couldn't let walk away. A few minutes of silence passed before Santana spoke again.
“Rachel?” The smaller girl moved to stand up wordlessly, her back facing the cheerleader. Santana panicked, had she said too much? She stood up and reached out and gently turned the smaller girl around to face her. She noticed her downcast eyes and the faint tear marks on her cheeks and started to panic even more.
“Did I say something wrong? Shit Rach... I'm not good with words y'know-” She was cut off by a pair of lips connecting with hers and she gasped into the kiss which Rachel used to her advantage and immediately deepened. Rachel pulled back and Santana rested her forehead against the small singer's. They stared into each others eyes which Santana couldn't help but chuckle at, seriously what was it with the clichés recently? Rachel peppered the taller girl's jaw with light kisses before pulling back to look her in the eyes again.
“Can we take things slow?” Santana sighed with relief and grinned.
“As slow as you want Rach.” her voice was soft and Rachel felt safe as she felt strong arms wrap around her again. “As slow as you want.” She repeated in a whisper as she pressed a kiss to her temple, both girls relaxing into the embrace until they heard a voice calling them from downstairs.
Thanks for reading!
Rating: PG-13 (Couple of f-bombs dropped)
Length: 3597 words
Pairing: Santana/Rachel
Spoilers:If you haven't watched the new season 2 ep, you probably wont want to read this.
Disclaimer: I own nada still. woo! :/
Summary: Continued from my last fic "You and I Know" which can be found on my lj, so I recommend reading that first if you haven't already.
When I first posted this I wasn't sure whether to leave it or continue, but peeps seemed to express interest in it so, here's the next bit. Same goes, if you think I should continue again then let me know. Thanks to everyone who reviewed as well.
Enjoy!
Santana walked through the doors of school the next morning and was immediately joined by her ditzy blonde friend. She shot her a bright smile before she offered her pinky which Brittany quickly linked hers with. The taller girl smiled back but couldn't help the confusion becoming evident on her face.
“You're happy.” Usually Santana would have rolled her eyes at the obviousness that came from her best friend's mouth but she really was in too much of a good mood.
“Why shouldn't I be?” They continued walking towards their lockers, gaining varying reactions of either confusion or terror from the other students around them. Brittany frowned as she ran through yesterday's event in her head.
“Well, you're not captain any more, You hurt your shoulder cause Quinn got you put at the bottom of the pyramid-” Santana frowned at her friend's words.
“Yeah, Britt I remember, pretty vividly.”
“Well that's why I don't get why you're so happy.” Just as the words left her mouth they walked past Rachel's locker, where the tiny brunette was talking with Artie. Santana couldn't help but grin again as she caught Rachel's eye, who in turn gave a shy smile and waved. Brittany's frown fell from her face and was replaced with realisation.
“You had sexy times with Rachel!” Brittany wasn't really known for her subtlety, which led to Santana having to practically jump on he friend to quieten her voice. A few students were giving the two cheerleaders strange looks, but where quickly on their way again after Santana put on her signature glare. Brittany meanwhile was jumping up and down clapping her hands.
“I wondered how long it would be before you decided to sleep with her! I mean I know she can be pretty annoying and loud, and uses words I don't really understand, but she's actually pretty hot. I wouldn't mind-” Santana slapped a hand across her friend's mouth, her eyes wide as she practically begged her friend to just stop talking.
“Brittany, I didn't sleep with her.” She hesitated as she thought of how to explain exactly what happened, when she wasn't totally sure herself. Brittany picked up on this immediately and went serious as she quickly dragged Santana into the nearest bathroom.
She quickly checked the stalls to make sure no one was in there and then moved back to standing in front of the Latina who was occupying herself by staring at the tiled floor beneath them. She ducked her head to get her attention and smiled softly when dark eyes met blue.
“So... what happened?”
“I don't know what happened. One minute I was punching lockers in the locker rooms, the next I was kissing Rachel.” Brittany's eyes widened and a grin spread across her face as she readied herself for another fit of excitement. “She was hiding out in there, I'm guessing after everything that happened with the new midget auditioning. She asked what was wrong, and she just wouldn't let up. Then she came to my house and we talked and, she's not actually that bad y'know? No one ever really tries to understand me apart from you, it was... nice.” Brittany smiled as she listened to her friend stumble over her words. Santana sighed and dragged a hand through her ponytail.
“She kept saying all of these nice things to me, like she was trying everything to make me feel good about myself again, and all I could think about was how I didn't deserve her being so understanding and stuff. I mean, where's the logic in me calling her man hands for who knows how many years, and she turns around and calls me beautiful?” She braced herself against one of the sinks and allowed her head to rest against the cool mirror. Brittany remained where she was unsure of whether to cut in or not.
“Then we hugged and it just, it felt so good B. She felt so good. She started to leave and I don't know what it was but something was screaming at me not to let her so then I kissed her... and I dunno, we ended up cuddling in bed for the rest of the evening.” She blushed as she repeated the evening's events.
“So, do you like her?” Trust Brittany to get straight to the point. That was one thing Santana loved about her friend, she didn't fuss around with pointless questions. Santana sighed and shrugged.
“I do like her. Thing is I don't know whether it's because I feel so...” She grimaced as she couldn't find the right words.
“Vulnerable.”She groaned as she banged her head against the mirror again. She was Santana Lopez for fucks sake, she didn't do vulnerable.
“It's ok to feel like that San, everyone's allowed to rely on someone else every so often, even you.” When she got no response from her friend she continued. “I mean, how much do you look out for me and cheer me up when something bad happens? It's like your owed all that kind of stuff back. You should let people help you out once in a while too, then it means you have more strength to help out the people you care about.” Santana blinked as she lifted her head to look at her friend, who was grinning proudly at her logic. Santana couldn't help but smile back as she pulled her best friend in for a hug.
“People don't give you enough credit Britt.” The blonde cheerleader squeezed a little tighter and sighed.
“The important people do, that's all that matters right?”
The rest of the day went on as normal and it wasn't long before school ended which of course meant Glee. She grimaced as she thought back to yesterday. The only people who actually acknowledged Rachel as she walked in yesterday was Finn, and strangely enough Quinn.
“Maybe it's because Q thought her and Rachel had done the same thing, y'know?” Santana blinked in confusion until she realised she'd managed to verbalise most of her thoughts. She scowled as she thought about what Quinn had done.
“It's not the same at all.” Brittany raised an eyebrow and smirked.
“Why? Because what Rachel did wasn't directed at you?” Santana stopped and semi-glared at the other girl.
“No. Quinn did it for selfish reasons. It wasn't enough that she got back on the team, she had to get back her title and then drag me way down, just for the hell of it. Rachel... she had her reasons.” She wasn't sure if what the diva had said to her was private or not so she kept it to herself. Brittany seemed to understand though, Rachel was in no way like Quinn. She linked her arm through Santana's as they made their way to the choir room.
They walked in to find Rachel standing in front of everyone, shoulders slumped whilst the rest of the club looked on. She immediately tensed up as people started speaking up.
“Admit it Rachel. You don't care about this club, all you care about is yourself and making sure you get as much of the spotlight as physically possible. You're never going to change are you?” Mercedes' voice rang throughout the room as murmured voices agreed.
“You don't get it.” She mumbled but was quickly interrupted again.
“I think it's sad personally. To feel the need to ruin other people in order to make yourself feel good?” Kurt waved off the rest of his comment and again, the rest of the group murmured in response.
Santana noticed out of the corner of her eye, Quinn's slightly pained expression at what Kurt had just said. As if she was going to show her any form of sympathy after what she did. Besides, her main concern was Rachel and how she was steadily getting more and more pissed off at what people were throwing at her.
“Guys, please.” Both cheerleaders winced at how the usually verbose singer's voice was now barely above a whisper.
“I reckon we should send you off to a crack house, see what they do to you what with that big ass attitude of yours.”
That was it.
Before anyone realised what was happening, Santana had quickly moved to stand in front of Rachel, hands on her hips and a glare on her face.
“Okay let's get one thing clear. If any of you pathetic little whiny bitches even lay a single hand on her, I will personally drag each one of your sorry asses to a place which will make a crack den look like a candy shop.” Mercedes and Kurt both visibly paled and shrunk back into their seats.
“What Rachel did may not be considered right in most people's opinions but so what. You don't the know the reasons behind what she did, so why don't you all shut the fuck up and let it go.” She quickly made eye contact with everyone in the room, and said her final bit. “Lastly, you better start showing Rachel some respect, because without her we wouldn't be here right now, and you freaks would still be wandering the halls like ghosts, with your heads shoved down a toilet somewhere. Am I making myself my clear?”
Yeah, she'd fucked up by getting a boob job. Her former best friend threw her to the dogs to reclaim her top spot within the messed up excuse for a school hierarchy. But nothing would ever take away the HBIC attitude that resided within her. Brittany was right. She let Rachel bare some of the weight last night and in turn she felt strong enough to deal with the shit that was being thrown at her today.
She regarded everyone one last time, daring them to say a single word to her and smirked as she realised even their royal highness 'Queen Fabray' had the decency to look petrified. Looks like there were some things she couldn't steal away after all. Santana turned to Rachel and smiled softly.
“You okay?” Rachel stared at her like she was some sort of superhero and nodded quickly, obviously using every force available to refrain from grabbing the taller girl in front of her. The three girls took their seats, Rachel in the middle whilst Brittany and Santana sat either side of her, just as Mr. Shuester walked in. He immediately stopped and stared wide eyed at the various club members, paying special attention to Kurt who looked like he couldn't decide between bolting from the room or allowing his lunch to make a repeat appearance. He shook his head and dumped the piles of sheet music onto the piano.
“I don't even want to know.”
As he started explaining their next assignment, Santana felt something brush lightly against the skin of her arm which was draped across the back of Rachel's chair. She looked up and met Brittany's gaze, who grinned and mouthed 'I told you so.' Before returning to 'listen' to their teacher again. Santana rolled her eyes with a grin and stole one last glance at Rachel before turning her attention back to the front.
The rest of Glee went by without a hitch and soon they were packing up and ready to leave. Santana couldn't help but smile as she watched the smaller brunette practically skipping around humming to herself, obviously in a much better mood than she was at the start of practise. She barely noticed Puck looming behind her until her threw one of his arms over her shoulders, nearly taking her to the floor.
“You jerk-off, what the hell was that for?” She mumbled as she rubbed her shoulder. He grinned sheepishly at her and went to put his arm around her again, gently this time.
“You are so smitten.” He said in a sing-song voice and she scowled and tried to shrug his arm off her.
“I'm surprised you know what that word even means.” She gave up trying to get him away and instead opted to cross her arms over her chest. He was still laughing and pulled her into a side hug.
“Don't deny it.” He paused and glanced over to where Rachel was animatedly talking to Brittany and Tina. “She's cool, and you obviously feel something for her otherwise you wouldn't have stood up for her earlier in front of everyone.” She continued to stare at the smaller girl and nodded slowly. Puck continued. “I like to think we've become pretty good friends recently, and so I like to think I've also come to learn a lot about you.” She broke her gaze away from the three girls and looked up at him. He smiled softly, not his usual smug grin and gave her shoulder a slight squeeze of encouragement. “It's not everyone you'd pull badass shit like that with, so she's obviously important to you... so don't mess it up. If you think there's something there then grab it whilst you still have the chance to y'know?” She noticed the pain that flickered through his eyes momentarily and she could tell this was him telling her not to make the same mistake he made with Quinn. She smiled and leaned into him more, wrapping an arm around him.
“She doesn't deserve you pining after her y'know. You're a decent guy, even if you don't show it all the time.” he grinned and gave one last squeeze before pulling away.
“Looks like we have something in common then huh.” He winked as he began to walk away and rejoin Finn and Mike. She turned back and walked over to the other three girls who were still chatting. Brittany noticed that her friend wanted Rachel's attention and so quickly muttered something before pulling Tina away, shooting Santana a big grin.
Rachel turned and smiled as she saw Santana, who smiled sheepishly in return. Seriously! When did this girl develop magic powers that seemed to turn every inch of Santana into complete mush. She shook her head slightly as she realised Rachel was talking to her.
“Thanks again for sticking up for me today, I really appreciate it.” Santana shrugged.
“Yeah well, you gave me a chance when not many other people would yesterday. It was only fair that you got the same. It wasn't fair those two divas over there ganging up on you anyway.” Rachel grinned and looked over briefly to the other gleeks.
“It wasn't just them.” Santana snorted.
“Yeah it was. Everyone else just seems to really enjoy impersonating sheep. They just needed a reminder of who's really in charge around here.” She puffed out her chest slightly, which Rachel noted had even more of an effect now after Santana's surgery. She quickly looked away and was met by an amused look from the cheerleader. She blushed and muttered something under her breath. She took a deep breath as she asked her next question.
“So I was wondering if you wanted to come over to mine and chill out a bit tonight?” She chanced a glance up at Santana who was smiling down at her.
“Sounds great Rach.”
It was a short drive to Rachel's house and Santana soon found herself standing outside the smaller brunette's front door. She took a deep breath as she knocked on the door. As it opened she was met by the sight of a tall black man looking down at her with an eyebrow raised.
“I'm here to see Rachel... I'm-” A low, interrupting voice startled her slightly.
“Santana Lopez, yes I'm aware of who you are.” Her eyes went wide as she took in his words. Of course, he's probably heard over and over about the way she's treated his daughter over the last few years. Just as she was thinking of something suitable to say his face broke out into a grin and he held his hand out to her.
“I work with your father, I've heard a lot about you.” She groaned as she let out the breath she'd been holding and limply took the offered hand, managing a small smile, somehow. He released her hand and stepped to the side to allow her in, still grinning.
“Rachel's upstairs as far as I'm aware. Are you staying for food?” Just as Santana opened her mouth to answer another person walked into the lobby.
“Of course she is, what kind of host would I be if I didn't feed her daddy?” The tall man shook his head with a chuckle and gave Santana's shoulder a squeeze as he walked into the kitchen. Rachel turned to her, the grin plastered on her face changing quickly to a look of confusion.
“Are you ok? You look like you've just seen a ghost or something.” Santana still couldn't will herself to talk and so just smiled and nodded, which seemed to satisfy Rachel, who's grin was now back full force. She grabbed the cheerleader's hand and started pulling her towards the stairs.
“Daddy's only just started cooking so he wont be finished for a while, we can go hang out in my room.” She led the cheerleader to her door which Santana couldn't help but grin at. Right in the middle of the wood was a massive gold star. As they walked into the room Santana was hit with the brightness of the yellow walls.
“You should have warned me I would be needing sunglasses y'know.” Rachel blushed and dragged a hand through her hair nervously.
“Yeah I guess it is a bit... bright.” Santana grabbed the smaller girl by the waist and pulled her into a tight embrace and rested her cheek on the top of her head.
“Yeah it is, but it's so typically you so I like it.” She pressed a kiss to the top of the diva's head and cursed herself inwardly again at her sounding so mushy. She frowned as felt the other girl pulling away. Rachel blushed and looked at the floor.
“I think we need to talk.” Santana sighed but nodded. There was a lot to discuss, she felt herself rushing into things and she didn't even know how Rachel felt about any of it. She smiled and moved to sit next to Rachel, who'd taken a seat on her bed.
“I'm not going to sit here and lie Santana. After the events of yesterday I think it's fair to assume there is some sort of attraction between the two of us which I am interested in pursuing if you feel the same way. However I need to make absolutely sure that by allowing myself into this position that I'm not running the risk of being hurt physically or emotionally. I understand you have a reputation to uphold and being seen with me is bad enough for it, let alone being associated with me romantically-” Santana had heard enough and leaned forwards and silenced the other girl with a chaste kiss. She pulled back again and smirked at the smaller girl.
“Have I ever mentioned that you talk too much?” Rachel mumbled something under her breath and Santana kissed her cheek before continuing. “I was given some really good advice today, to grab things whilst I still have the chance. You're right, there's something between us and I don't know what it is exactly, but I like it. I've made some pretty stupid decisions recently, I don't plan on adding a few more to the already long enough list... and I think I'd be pretty stupid to turn my back on something like this.” The whole time she'd been talking, her gaze had been locked with Rachel's. She needed to show she was serious about this, Puck was right. There was something about this girl that she couldn't let walk away. A few minutes of silence passed before Santana spoke again.
“Rachel?” The smaller girl moved to stand up wordlessly, her back facing the cheerleader. Santana panicked, had she said too much? She stood up and reached out and gently turned the smaller girl around to face her. She noticed her downcast eyes and the faint tear marks on her cheeks and started to panic even more.
“Did I say something wrong? Shit Rach... I'm not good with words y'know-” She was cut off by a pair of lips connecting with hers and she gasped into the kiss which Rachel used to her advantage and immediately deepened. Rachel pulled back and Santana rested her forehead against the small singer's. They stared into each others eyes which Santana couldn't help but chuckle at, seriously what was it with the clichés recently? Rachel peppered the taller girl's jaw with light kisses before pulling back to look her in the eyes again.
“Can we take things slow?” Santana sighed with relief and grinned.
“As slow as you want Rach.” her voice was soft and Rachel felt safe as she felt strong arms wrap around her again. “As slow as you want.” She repeated in a whisper as she pressed a kiss to her temple, both girls relaxing into the embrace until they heard a voice calling them from downstairs.
Thanks for reading!