Santana let out a groan when Rachel walked into her room to check that she was ready. "Berry, seriously, will you give it a rest?" She turned around to face Rachel, standing in just her tight knee length black skirt and a matching bra. "I am trying to decide which shirt to wear and then I will be out, I promise."

Rachel smiled softly, looking at her friend and shrugging a little "I was just going to say that I hope you have fun tonight."

Santana rolled her eyes and turned back to her full length mirror "No you came to make sure I was getting ready."

Rachel laughed very softly and took a few steps toward Santana now "I just wanted to see what you were wearing. Not that I have to worry, you have always had a great sense of fashion." She shrugged and sat on the edge of the bed now. She watched her friend hold up different shirts in front of her, checking herself out in the mirror, before tossing them all aside and reaching for more. She smiled very gently and caught Santana's eyes in the mirror "I just wanted to say thanks for doing this."

"I had no choice" Santana mumbled before pulling on a red peasant top and fluffing it a little bit at the shoulders.

"Of course you had a choice" Rachel said with a roll of her eyes. "You could have said no. I just, you know, worry about you."

"And if I would have said no you wouldn't have let me be until I said yes so..." Santana turned now and looked at her friend with a little smirk. "I decided to cut the snake off at the head and just say yes the first time."

"Sneaky" Rachel laughed and got off the bed now. She went over to her friend and fixed her hair. She pulled some of it forward, tucked some behind her ear, and fluffed the ends a little. "You are learning."

"Learning?" Santana said with a laugh, waiting until Rachel was done preening her before turning and reaching for her deodorant. "Please, I've had you figured out for years. I just play dumb to get under your skin."

"Oh, alright" Rachel nodded with a smirk. She didn't believe a word she said. But she would play along for now. "Either way, I am grateful you are at least trying tonight."

Santana let out a heavy sigh and looked back at her friend "Tell me again why it is that I have to go on a blind date and you get to stay home? It's not like you're hooking up on the regular, either."

"At least I've been trying. I go to Callbacks. I go to coffee with classmates. You just go to work and home. You know how many times I've come home on Friday night to find you already asleep? That is not the Santana Lopez I know!"

Santana rolled her eyes and moved passed Rachel and out into the living room area now. She reached for her little clutch purse and tossed her phone in before looking back at her friend "I'm in a funk, okay? I haven't met anyone I've liked like that since Dani."

"I know" Rachel shrugged and gave her friend a soft smile "So I am just trying to help."

Santana rolled her eyes and nodded. She checked the time then lifted her eyes to look at Rachel with a shrug "How did you meet her again?"

"We met when I was volunteering at the shelter. We were both assigned dog walkers. We got to talking, had a lot in common, and just kind of hit it off. I think you'll like her. She is sweet and funny and really down to Earth. She is a little shy at first but once you get her talking she can light up a room."

"Then why don't you date her?" Santana huffed.

"Funny" Rachel folded her arms then looked at the clock. "She should be here any moment."

As if on cue there was a knock at the door. Rachel lit up and moved to answer the door but stopped. She turned and looked at Santana "Actually, you should get it." She beamed then moved to sit on the couch so she could act casual and not like she was jumping for joy about her two friends going on a date.

Santana rolled her eyes and went to the door. She slid it open and her jaw dropped instantly. She blinked softly and took a step back "Emily? What are you doing here?"

"Surprise!" Emily Fields smiled into the loft as her eyes fell on Santana. She took a few steps into the loft and shrugged a bit "I hope this isn't a bad time?"

"No, not at all" Santana said with a soft, surprised laugh. "What are you doing here?"

"Who is this?" Rachel had stood from the couch and was looking at the new arrival. This was not her friend that she had set Santana up with!

"This is my cousin" Santana motioned to the girl and smiled.

"I saved up all year so I could come to New York for a visit. I know I should have called, or texted, or something, but I wanted to surprise you" Emily looked at her cousin then to Rachel, who looked a little confused, then back to Santana and frowned "Don't worry, I found a hotel. I wasn't going to just barge in here and assume I could stay."

"Nonsense!" Santana said with a laugh and motioned to the couch "We have plenty of room."

"Santana" Rachel perked an eyebrow and tried to smile politely as she motioned with her head that she wanted to talk to her in private. She waited until they stepped away toward Santana's room and shook her head "Don't you think we should talk about this? How long is she staying?"

"Rach" Santana smiled and put her hand on her shoulder "She's family. We have a couch. I'm sure you won't even notice she's here."

Rachel looked over Santana's shoulder to the girl who was now standing there awkwardly. She let out a little sigh and nodded "Okay, you're right. But just not too long, okay?"

"Deal" Santana pulled Rachel into a hug then turned to head back to her cousin. "Alright, kid, make yourself at home."

"I've got to go tell my cab that I'm staying here" Emily nodded and pointed over her shoulder. "I'll go grab my bag and be right back up."

"Hurry" Santana said, giving her cousin a wave. Once she was gone, Santana grinned and looked at Rachel "This is so cool. I haven't seen her in years! We are gonna have a blast."

Emily was bouncing on her toes as she waited for the elevator to open. She couldn't wait to spend some time with her favorite cousin in New York! As soon as the door gave a ding and opened, she rushed in. She was a little too excited and didn't notice the girl stepping off. She ran right into her shoulder with a force that caused her to half turn and stumble backwards.

"Woah" Paige said with a laugh, reaching out to catch Emily by the arm before the girl completely fell. She held her tightly until she was sure she was steady then lifted her eyes to meet Emily's face. Their eyes met and Paige's breath caught in her throat. She bit at her bottom lip and gave her a soft, shy smile "Are you alright?"

Emily just nodded quickly. She was a little too caught up by Paige's warm brown eyes to speak. She blushed very lightly and gently bit at her bottom lip. A hand came out to smooth over her shirt and finally she cleared her throat "Yeah. Sorry about that."

"No problem" Paige said softly, still holding her little half smile as her hand slowly slid off of Emily's arm. "Be careful next time."

"Yeah" Emily whispered, tucking some hair behind her ear and returning the smile.

"Have a nice night" Paige nodded, licking her lips as she watched the girl in the elevator until the doors closed, taking her from view. Paige smirked and shook her head before slowly turning around and continuing to where she was going before she had been bumped into.

Emily was fighting a huge grin as she leaned into the wall of the elevator and waited to hit the ground floor. She had her arms wrapped around herself as she replayed what had just happened in the elevator. New York was so cool.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Santana let out a soft sigh and looked around. The restaurant they were sitting in was pretty busy which meant Santana had a lot of people to watch instead of actually paying attention to her date. Which made it super awkward because they were sitting there not talking.

Paige perked an eyebrow and tapped her fingers on her cup where she held it. She watched Santana look around and wondered what she was thinking. Things weren't going that horribly, were they? It was normal first date jitters and awkwardness. She cleared her throat and offered a smile "So Rachel tells me you sing for work?"

Santana shook her head and looked across the table at Paige. "I work where part of the job description is singing. It's not as glorified as she might have led on. I am a singing waitress."

"That's cool" Paige said with a smile. "I mean, I am sure it's a real draw for people. I know I've never had my server perform a song for me."

Santana let out a a soft laugh "You'd be surprised at how many people complain that they had to wait longer for their soup because we had to sing instead."

"Well that's just silly. They came to a place where singing staff is part of the allure. What makes them think they have the right to complain about that?" Paige smiled and took a little drink.

"They are just assholes who want it their way or no way at all" Santana shrugged and looked down at her drink. The water sat there untouched. The ice was starting to melt. She reached out and slid her finger over the condensation then looked back to Paige "So Rachel said you swim?"

Paige nodded quickly and lit up at the mention of it. "I do. I have been swimming since I was eight. I got a scholarship for a school here in New York and went for it, you know? It's been such a crazy whirlwind compared to where I grew up."

"Where was that?" Santana asked, finally reaching for her cup to take a drink.

"Rosewood. It's a small town in Pennsylvania. There are like three stoplights" Paige laughed and glanced around "It was definitely a culture shock moving here."

"I know what you mean" Santana smiled. Maybe this date wouldn't be a complete bust. "Lima was pretty small too. I love it here. New York is just..." She shrugged and let out a happy sigh "my type of place." She glanced at Paige and shrugged "How are you liking it?"

"It's still pretty scary" Paige admitted with a nod. "I've been here just about a year now and I still can't take the subway without having a panic attack about getting lost." She laughed very softly and shrugged "But I am warming up to it."

Santana nodded and took another drink "I'm sure you'll get used to it soon."

Paige offered her a sweet smile "At least I'm finally meeting nice people."

Santana nodded and looked back at her drink. Nice people? She was going to be eaten alive if that's what she was looking for. She hoped Paige didn't think she was one of these nice people. She wasn't. She was a hardened New Yorker, damn it!

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"I wonder if they are having fun" Rachel said softly, her eyes shifting from the tv to the door and back again. It was still early but if Santana had hated the girl she would have been home by now, right?

"I feel so bad crashing in on you two without warning. I almost ruined her date" Emily frowned then glanced at Rachel with a little smile. "I'm glad she still went."

"Me too" Rachel said with a nod. She looked over at the girl slowly then set down the remote. "So you live in Lima?" An eyebrow perked on her head as she tried to casually get a peek into Santana's past.

"No" Emily shook her head quickly. "Close, though. Santana was the closest female cousin I had growing up. We probably spent at least one weekend a month at each others house. Neither of us have siblings so it was kind of like having a sister."

Rachel nodded a bit and turned on the couch now to face her a little better. "And you are younger?"

"Yeah" Emily nodded with a smile. "I just finished my first year of college."

Rachel smiled softly and folded her hands into her lap. So she was two years younger than Santana. Not bad. "I'm sorry for the questions it's just that..." She let out a laugh and shrugged "I had no idea Santana had a cousin she was so close to."

"Well we grew apart when high school came around." Emily frowned a little and looked at her hands. She shrugged and let out a sigh "She got busy and was too cool for her cousin who was still in middle school, you know? Then when I finally hit high school, she was a junior and a cheerleader and had lots of friends. So, you know, we didn't spend the night at each others house anymore." She looked up at Rachel and smiled "It's okay. We still talked a lot but we just didn't visit as often."

Rachel nodded slowly and smiled. This was such a treat. It was like seeing who Santana was before they met in high school without risking being snapped at by Santana for asking questions about her past. A past which she talked around or changed the subject from when it was brought up. "Well I am glad you are here, then. Maybe I can get to know what Santana was like before the cheerleading and popularity."

"Oh she's always been popular" Emily said with a laugh. "She can befriend anyone, or at least make them think she wants to be friends. She used to sweet talk the boys at the mall and get them to buy us ice cream then say we had to leave and go home." She bit her lip, smirking at the memory. "She got us a lot of free things."

"I can only imagine" Rachel said with a laugh. She got up now and motioned to the kitchen "I am going to make some tea, would you like some?"

"Yes, please!" Emily turned and watched Rachel walk across the the kitchen.

"You know" Rachel spoke a little louder so Emily could hear her across the loft. "I am still surprised I've never heard about you. The way you speak about her I feel like Santana would have mentioned her sweet little cousin at least once through the years I've known her."

"I've heard of you" Emily said with a little grin.

Rachel let out a laugh and filled the teapot. "I am sure you have" She nodded, moving the pot to the stove and turning on the burner to start heating it. "I am sure she has complained about me many a time."

"Not really" Emily said with a little shrug.

"No?" Rachel was intrigued at that answer. She turned to look at Emily as her hip leaned against the counter "What has she told you, then?"

Emily shrugged and tried to fight the smirk she felt rising on her lips. She wasn't sure what she should say. She was so interested in getting to know the girl that her cousin spoke so highly of but she also knew that the way Santana spoke of her wasn't a way she spoke of anyone so she wasn't sure telling Rachel would be right. "She just tells me how much fun she has with you."

"Fun?" Rachel perked an eyebrow. "With me?"

Emily nodded quickly. Sure, that sounded believable, right? "She might not tell you but she really does like living with you."

"Is that so?" Rachel turned when the pot started to whistle and lifted it off the heat. She thought about the new information that she had just received while she carefully poured the hot water into two cups. She gently picked up the cups and moved back across the loft, handing one to Emily before sitting back on the couch with her own. "Well then next time she complains about me being the worst roommate ever because I actually wake her up on time, I am going to tell her I know she appreciates it."

Emily smiled and gave a little nod. "She will deny it" She said softly before looking at her tea to stir it. It was quiet for a moment while both girls worked to steep their tea bags in the hot water. When Emily looked up again she caught Rachel studying her tea and smiled softly. She definitely got what her cousin saw in her. "You're very pretty" She said softly.

Rachel looked a little surprised at that. When she saw Emily's eyes on her, she blushed and looked back down. She bit her lip and shrugged "That is very kind of you to say."

Emily just smiled and blew on her tea. Rachel was the exact opposite of everything Santana had ever said she looked for in a girlfriend and yet every time she called Emily to talk, the only thing she would ever talk about was Rachel. Emily knew her cousin well enough to know when she had a crush. And now, being face to face with Rachel, she understood so clearly why her cousin adored her.

Noticing a bit of an awkward silence had fallen between them, Rachel cleared her throat and looked up. She gave the girl a smile and a nod "I am glad you came to visit. I will do my best to make sure you have the real New York experience. Have you ever been here before?"

"No" Emily shook her head quickly. "I have been saving up for a trip here ever since Santana moved here. She said I could visit anytime I wanted. I guess she didn't think I would take her seriously."

Rachel let out a soft laugh "Well I am glad you did. You are so sweet. Did you come straight from the airport? Did you get to experience anything yet?"

"Not yet" Emily said with a shrug "But when I was on my way back down to the cab to get my bag I ran into a really cute girl."

Rachel perked an eyebrow and smiled "Oh?"

Emily blushed a little and nodded "The people here are all so beautiful. But this girl was..." She let out a breath of a laugh and nodded "Wow. Too bad there are so many people here. I will probably never see her again."

"Well that's okay" Rachel reached over and patted her hand lightly. "I will make sure you see all the cute girls you can handle, okay? You won't leave New York until you get your fill."

The loft door broke the peaceful conversation they had fallen into. It clanked open with a slam and Santana let out a sigh as she walked in, her heels echoing around the loft with each step she took.

"You're back!" Rachel perked up and smiled at her friend as she set down her tea. "How was it?"

"Fine" Santana mumbled and dropped her clutch. She paused when she saw her friend and cousin facing each other on the couch and perked an eyebrow "Did I interrupt a moment?"

"Not at all" Rachel stood and let out a laugh "We were just talking. I was just asking Emily here what it was she wanted to do and see while she is here!"

"That cab driver was rude" Paige walked through the still open loft door, pointing over her shoulder. "I asked him to stay for like five minutes while I walked you up and he nearly tore my arm off driving away so fast." Paige paused when she realized all the girls were staring at her. She had totally forgotten Rachel lived with Santana. She bit her lip and her eyes shifted from her friend to, wait, was that the girl from the elevator. "Oh" She breathed out softly "Um, hey."

"Paige!" Rachel bounced over to her friend and gave her a tight hug. "I am so glad you came up! Now I don't have to wait until tomorrow to hear about your date. How was it?"

"Fine" Paige echoed Santana's sentiments as her eyes lingered on Emily. She offered the girl a soft smile which made Emily quickly drop her head and look away. She bit her lip and finally blinked and looked to her friend "I was totally just gonna walk her up here, no funny business, I promise."

"Oh it would be okay if there was funny business" Rachel said with a hopeful grin.

"No" Santana, who had disappeared into her room to change, now reappeared in sweats and a hoodie. She looked at Paige, who looked a little offended she was out of her date clothes so fast, and shrugged "Sorry, but no funny business."

"Because your cousin is here?" Rachel asked softly and glanced at Emily.

"Because" Santana looked at her cousin, then to Paige, then to Rachel, and rolled her eyes. She didn't want to say it was because there was no chemistry between her and Paige, that was a little too rude. So she just nodded and sighed "Yeah, because Em is here. I'd like to just call it a night and hang out with my cousin."

"That's totally fine" Paige said with a quick nod. She hadn't wanted any funny business either. Santana was hot, sure, but that was about it. At least for her. She was sure she was a great person but they just didn't have that spark. So she was glad to hear nothing more was expected from her.

Emily smiled at Paige after getting the courage to look back up at her. She bit at her lip and cleared her throat "You don't have to go right away, do you? You should stay. I want to hear about the date."

Santana groaned, pulled her hood over her head, and sunk down into the couch as if she was trying to slide between the cushions and disappear forever.

Paige met Emily's eyes and smiled very softly. She held her gaze and shrugged "I think maybe tomorrow might be better."

Rachel nodded quickly "I agree." She could see that Santana was done. Santana was fighting being rude so Rachel decided it was best for everyone to just call it a day. "How about" She turned to Paige and grinned "You and I get lunch tomorrow. I will bring Emily since she has never been to the city. You can tell us both about the date, since Santana doesn't ever kiss and tell."

"There was no kissing" Santana rolled her head back on the couch with a grunt.

"And then we can show Emily around. You were new here very recently, I think you showing her all your favorite things to discover could be fun!" Rachel continued, ignoring Santana's unsubtle groans of discontent. "Santana works in the morning anyway so we would just be sitting around the house waiting for her to get home. Why not take a little tour of the city and make a new friend?"

"Sounds good" Paige said quickly, her eyes still on Emily.

Emily blushed and looked down but gave a quick nod too. "I'd like that."

"Great!" Rachel said with a giggle and gave Paige a quick hug. "I will call you in the morning, okay!"

"Sure" Paige returned the hug then looked back at Emily. She offered her a soft half smile then looked down at her feet for a moment "I guess I'll see you tomorrow then, Emily."

"See you" Emily lifted her hand and gave a shy wave.

Paige nodded and took a few steps backwards, eyes still on Emily, until she reached the loft door and finally turned around. She stepped through it then gave it a pull to slide it closed. A smirk came to her lips and her head shook as she made her way to the elevator. What were the chances that elevator girl would be her blind date's cousin. For being such a huge city, New York sure felt like a small world.

Rachel turned and frowned at Santana now that Paige was gone. "Did you have to be so rude!?"

"I didn't say anything!" Santana threw her hands up and looked over at Rachel. "I didn't ask her to follow me up! I didn't know she would be out here after I changed."

Rachel huffed and went over to her friend. She grabbed the strings on her hoodie and pulled them until they closed the material of the hood around Santana's face tightly. "You could have at least pretended you had a good time while she was standing here!"

"Why?" Santana swatted blindly at Rachel and sat up. She grunted as she tugged at the hood and ripped it off her head. She scowled at her friend and rolled her eyes "We both knew the date was a bust. The only thing I said was there was no kissing. I didn't want you to get the wrong idea."

Rachel just rolled her eyes and dropped to the couch between Santana and Emily with a huff. She picked up her tea again and took a sip. "You are impossible. No girl will ever live up to your standards. You are going to be alone forever."

"Fine by me" Santana mumbled and grabbed the remote off the table. She flipped through a few channels before her eyes looked over at her cousin. She perked an eyebrow and shook her head "You're quiet over there, kid."

"Just watching" Emily said with a smile. Truthfully she had been thinking about Paige. She couldn't believe that the beautiful girl she had run into on the elevator had been her cousin's blind date. She felt bad that she was glad their date had been awful. But Santana didn't seem too torn up about it so maybe it was okay to be glad.

"Watching what?" Santana looked to the tv now with a shrug. Nothing particularly interesting was on.

"You two" Emily said with a smirk, pointing between her cousin and Rachel.

Both girls looked at each other, then to Emily, and perked an eyebrow in unison.

Emily smirked and rolled her eyes "It was just funny. I've never seen anyone get away with scolding you like that, San."

"She didn't scold me" Santana folded her arms with a huff.

Rachel smirked and looked at Santana with a nod "I kind of did."

"Shut up!" Santana rolled her eyes and hit her with a nearby throw pillow.

Rachel squeaked and tried to block the pillow. "Rude!"

Emily laughed and nodded her head "This is exactly what I was watching."

"Shut up" Santana tossed the pillow at her cousin with a laugh.

The girls all kind of laughed then slowly settled back onto the couch. Santana flipped through the channels, Rachel dictated which channels she wanted to watch, and Emily just watched the girls. Paige was the last thing on her mind as she watched her cousin with Rachel. There was no denying their chemistry. Now she just had to find a way to make them both realize it, too. But how?

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Rachel and Emily were walking briskly down the sidewalk the next day. The sun was out, people were pushing and shoving all around, and Emily's eyes were flickering here and there. She couldn't believe she was actually walking around New York. It was so exciting. She wished she could be spending the day with Santana, but she understood she had to work. Plus she had promised it would be just the two of them that night so that was something to look forward to.

"Right here" Rachel said with a smile, reaching out to grab Emily to stop her from walking past their stop. She reached for a door and pulled it open, motioning for the girl to go inside before following behind her.

Paige was already waiting at a table and gave them a wave when they walked in. Rachel squeaked and went right over. Emily bit her lip and tried to fight the smile coming to her face. Paige was even cuter in the daylight.

"Okay, so" Rachel plopped into the booth across from her friend, wasting no time at all. "Apparently there's not a lot to tell, but still. I wanna hear it all."

"Hello to you too, Rachel" Paige said with a soft laugh. Her eyes then shifted to fall on Emily and her smile softened. She bit her lip and looked the girl over "Hey, Em."

"Hi" Emily said shyly and grabbed for her menu.

Paige smirked which was hidden by her menu but her eyes were still on the girl. That was until Rachel demanded her attention.

"Paige" Rachel snapped her fingers and looked at her friend. When she finally looked over, Rachel grinned "Hi, hello. Are you gonna spill or what?"

"This is awkward" Paige said with a roll of her eyes before looking at her menu.

"Why is it awkward?" Rachel shrugged and looked down to the menu as well.

Paige wanted to say it was awkward because she was talking about a date with another girl when there was a girl sitting across from her that had caught her attention. She wanted to say it made it super awkward that the girl sitting across from her was the cousin of the girl she had been on a date with the night before. But instead she sighed "Because she is your best friend. I don't want you taking sides."

"Please" Rachel laughed softly "There are no sides. Santana knows no matter how many bad dates I set her up on I still love her. She just never talks to me about them. I have the rare luxury of hearing how it went from the other side!"

Paige shook her head and glanced at Emily. Emily had been staring at Paige but quickly looked away when Paige looked over. Paige smiled at this then looked back at her menu. "Fine, okay. As long as it's not gonna be awkward at home for you."

"Never" Rachel beamed. "Now spill."

The server dropped off some waters and took the girl's order before disappearing again. This had given Paige time to think of how she wanted to word what she was going to say. Once everyone was settled back again, and Rachel was staring at Paige in anticipation, Paige let out a sigh and picked at her nail polish as she spoke "We didn't really have a lot to talk about. Anytime I tried, she kinda of got a snotty attitude about stuff and just treated everything like a joke. She was clearly not even interested in trying."

Rachel rolled her eyes and took a drink from her water. "Typical" She mumbled then looked at Emily with a shake of her head "Don't ever become her. I know you two are close but you gotta be the good sister, alright?"

Paige almost choked on her drink. She sputtered and coughed and when both girls looked at her in surprise, she shook her head and wiped her mouth before clearing her throat "Sisters? I thought you were cousins?"

"We are" Emily said quickly. "I told Rachel last night that we used to be like sisters when we were younger. We aren't, though. Just cousins" She gave a wide smile, maybe a little too wide, and nodded.

"Oh" Paige let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding and laughed softly. She sure felt stupid. "I misunderstood" She mumbled shyly and looked down at her nail polish again.

Emily smiled very softly. For some reason she had a feeling Paige didn't like the idea of them being sisters because of, well, the fact that you don't date an ex's sister. Not like Santana and Paige technically dated. It was one date. Wait, it wasn't like Paige was thinking about dating her. Emily shook her head to herself and looked at her water. She had to stop thinking things like that.

"Well I am sorry" Rachel finally said with a shrug. "I have been trying to get her to get out and meet new people but it's impossible. She is content to just sit at home on a Friday night. It makes her grumpy. Every time I come home late she chews me out and makes a snarky comment about me being a lady of the night or something much more colorful."

Paige frowned. That sounded awful. "Why are you friends with her?"

"She's a good person. She means well." Rachel looked up at Paige and gave her a sincere smile. "She has a good heart. But when she cares, she yells. She's not very good at conveying her emotions. I think she just worries about me. I am kind of tiny and not at all a physical threat."

Emily smiled to herself. She was almost positive that the reason Santana chewed her out when she got home was because she was jealous of whoever she had been with and not because she thought Rachel was at risk of being mugged.

Paige just nodded. She glanced over at Emily and saw the girl smiling. This made her smile too and she took a moment to just look at the girl. She could definitely see the resemblance to Santana. There was no doubt they were family. But if she was being honest, Emily was way more stunning than Santana.

Paige was interrupted when the food came. It was passed out and all the girls settled in for their meal. There was light chit chat the rest of the meal but they avoided the subject of Santana. There was nothing left to talk about, at least as far as Rachel and Paige saw it. Emily, on the other hand, couldn't wait to see her cousin that night. She was going to get the truth out of her. But first, a day with Paige. That's where she was focusing now.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"And this is Central Park" Paige said with a grin as she motioned around where the three of them stood. After lunch they had embarked on a tour of the city with Paige as the tour guide. Rachel had lived there three years but Paige was still fresh so Rachel let her lead the way figuring Paige could show Emily all the exciting things she discovered recently and not be bored.

"This place is so cool" Emily said with a nod as she looked around. "I mean I've been to a big city before but nothing like this. There really is an energy here unlike anywhere else. I can see why Santana loves it here."

Rachel was about to chime in when she felt her pocket vibrate. She pulled out her phone and let out a laugh "Speak of the devil" She motioned to the phone and shook her head "She is probably calling to make sure we haven't killed you yet. I'll be right back."

"Take your time" Paige said with a laugh before looking at Emily with a nod "We are going to take in the scenery."

Rachel nodded and stepped away from the girls before putting the phone to her ear and rolling her eyes "Santana, really?"

"I had some free time" Santana said with a roll of her eyes that was audible in her tone. "How are things going?"

"Fine" Rachel laughed softly. "You remember when you moved here and I showed you around?"

"Of course I do. That's why I'm worried she will get so bored she will run back home to Ohio crying her eyes out."

"Funny" Rachel shook her head. "She's having a great time."

"How do you know?" Santana wasn't really too worried but she did want to make sure she was having a good time.

Rachel let out a laugh and turned around to where she had left the girls. She bit her lip as she watched Paige lean in and touch at Emily's face lightly.

"Hold on, hold on" Paige whispered, smiling as she cupped Emily's face with one hand as the other reached out to touch her other cheek. She touched gently then laughed as she pulled back her finger and held up the tiny eyelash. "Make a wish and blow it away."

Emily had blushed brightly when Paige had touched her and now she was trying to focus on the eyelash and not the fact that their faces were way too close. She bit her lip and her eyes flickered to meet Paige's before she nodded and drew in a deep breath. She licked her lips, her eyes flickering to Paige's lips for a moment, before she looked back at the eyelash and let out a breath to blow it away.

"Rachel" Santana hissed sharply into her ear. "Berry? Did I lose you?"

"No" Rachel said with a smile on her lips. She had watched the entire exchange and couldn't stop smiling. "Sorry I got distracted."

Santana let out a heavy sigh "I don't have time. I just want to make sure Em is having a good time."

Emily and Paige were laughing now about something. Paige's hand was on Emily's back and they were leaning into each other a bit. Rachel let out a soft laugh and nodded into the phone "She is having a blast, San. I promise. We will see you tonight, okay?"

"Yeah, whatever" Santana let out another sigh "I gotta go."

"Have a good rest of the day" Rachel nodded and pulled the phone away from her ear. She tucked it back in her pocket then folded her arms as she watched the two girls together. That's when it all started to boil in her mind. Maybe Santana was the wrong cousin for Paige. She nodded at the decision she had just made and grinned. She was going to see just how well these two got along.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Alright kid, you ready for this?" Santana glanced back at Emily with a smile before looking back to what she was doing. She was hunched over a small fire pit that Rachel and herself had invested in a year earlier. They were on the roof of their building and the sun was just starting to set over the city.

"Ready for what exactly?" Emily asked with a laugh from where she sat watching Santana.

"Smores and girl talk, obviously" Santana laughed and lit some of the paper in hopes of getting the flames roaring.

Emily couldn't fight the bright smile that came to her lips at the mention of what Santana had planned. They used to camp outside during the summers together and do the exact same thing. She couldn't believe Santana remembered. It had been years. "We aren't sleeping out here, are we?"

"Oh god no" Santana said with a laugh, standing up and brushing off her hands as she watched the tiny flames start to burn. "I mean I love the view from up here but there is no way in Hell I trust we won't get mugged even on top of a building like this."

"Really?" Emily frowned and looked around suspiciously now.

Santana shrugged and moved over to where Emily was sitting. She gave her a smile and sat on the other lawn chair that Rachel and herself had brought up to sit on. "I don't know. I don't wanna risk it." She reached into the bag she had brought up and started pulling out everything they needed to make smores. "So" She looked at her cousin and smiled "Did you have fun today?"

"I had such a blast" Emily nodded quickly, starting to unwrap the chocolate that Santana had pulled out. "This city is so amazing. Everything is so busy. There is always a buzz around and Central Park was so beautiful!"

Santana nodded and handed Emily one of the pokers to cook marshmallows on. "I love Central Park. Did Rachel take you through it all?"

Emily nodded, sliding a marshmallow on to her stick "Between her and Paige I think I saw all of the secret spots there are to see here."

Santana let out a laugh and moved to the edge of her chair, stretching her stick out over the flames. "You weren't too bored with those two?"

"Not at all" Emily glanced at her cousin with a little smirk before looking at the fire and holding her stick out as well. "Rachel is something else. She's nice and funny and very sweet. She loves this place you can tell by the way she talks about it."

Santana nodded and gave half a shrug "She talks a lot, doesn't she?"

Emily let out a soft laugh "I didn't mind. She had a lot of interesting information."

Santana pulled her stick back and blew out the flame that had engulfed her marshmallow. She glanced to Emily with a knowing smile "She has interesting information about everything. That's why she talks so much."

"Does it bug you?" Emily asked carefully, wanting to broach the subject but in a way that wouldn't annoy Santana.

Santana just shrugged. She was too busy focusing on building her smore and didn't notice the way Emily glanced at her. "I'm used to it. I'm pretty good at blocking it out by now."

Emily nodded and looked back to the fire. She pulled her stick out and inspected her marshmallow before deciding it needed more time. When she turned to look at Santana she saw her cousin had dug into her smore and had marshmallow on her chin. She let out a soft laugh and offered her a napkin "Good to see you're still as big of a pig as you were when you were younger."

"I'm not a pig" Santana huffed and snatched the napkin from her. "I'm a slob, there is a difference" She opened her mouth and showed off the chewed food before laughing and wiping at her chin.

"Charming" Emily said with a roll of her eyes "No wonder you're single."

"Rude" Santana crumbled up the napkin and tossed it at Emily with a laugh. "For your information I choose to be single."

"Mhm" Emily pulled her marshmallow out and decided it was done now. She turned and reached for the other ingredients she needed, glancing at Santana as she pushed a little further. "Maybe you think you are choosing to be single when really you're just afraid to go after what you really want?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Santana arched an eyebrow and looked at her cousin curiously.

Emily just shrugged and shook her head "Forget it."

"No, hold up" Santana scooted to the side of her chair and nudged Emily's knees with her own "What do you mean by what you just said?"

"Nothing" Emily breathed out in a sigh. She concentrated on putting the pieces together for her smore. When she looked up she saw Santana staring at her and rolled her eyes slightly "Maybe I'm out of line but have you ever thought that maybe you don't wanna find someone new because you've already found someone?"

Santana let out a huff of a laugh and shook her head "Oh yeah? And who would that be? I hope you're not talking about Brittany or Dani because I have moved on from both of them."

"Not them" Emily said with a shrug as she bit into her smore. She licked over her lips and reached for a napkin. She deliberately chewed slowly in hopes that her silence would get Santana to decide to change the subject but when that didn't happen, she let out a sigh. "Have you ever considered Rachel?"

"What about Rachel?" Santana reached for a marshmallow and stuffed it in her mouth without toasting it.

Emily rolled her eyes and shook her head "Nevermind, it's stupid."

"Wait" Santana held up her hand and perked an eyebrow at her cousin. She let out a soft laugh and pointed over her shoulder to the door that lead into their building "Are you saying that I don't date anyone because of Rachel? Like I have some secret crush on her and I'm waiting for the day she realizes it?"

"No" Emily shook her head quickly. When Santana stared at her with her intense unbelieving eyes, Emily let out a sigh and nodded "Yeah, fine. That's exactly what I was saying."

"You're crazy" Santana let out a laugh. She shook her head and looked down at the bag of marshmallows. She thought about it for a moment then let out another laugh, this one a bit more hearty than the first. She looked up at her cousin and grinned ear to ear, her head shaking again before she was completely consumed by laughter.

Emily frowned and looked down feeling completely ridiculous now. Maybe she had been wrong. Maybe the way Santana spoke about Rachel and the way they acted with each other was just a coincidence. Maybe they really were just that close of friends.

Santana chuckled for a good minute or two before lifting a hand to her eye to wipe at a tear. She drew in a few slow breaths as her laughter died down and her eyes focused on Emily again "Oh my god I needed that laugh, thank you."

"Sure" Emily shrugged and let out a sigh. She stood now from her chair and wrapped her arms around herself "Is it alright if I call it a night? I think all the excitement of the day is catching up with me."

"Sure" Santana waved her off and looked at the fire. "I will put this out and be right in. Make yourself at home."

Emily nodded and turned to leave as soon as she could. Now it was just going to be awkward being around Santana. Why did she have to open her big mouth?

Santana watched her leave before shaking her head and looking back at the fire. She let out a soft breath of a laugh and smirked to herself "Rachel" she whispered, an amused grin spreading over her lips. She got up and started to put out the fire, giggling to herself every now and then. Emily was nuts. Rachel Berry was the last person she would ever consider dating. She let out a happy sigh and smiled to herself as the flames died down. Then as she turned to leave she stopped and her brow creased in thought. Emily was crazy, right? Suddenly Santana got warm and her gut twisted. There was no way she had a crush on Rachel, right? That was just insane! Santana shook off the thought and headed inside. She just had to keep telling herself that Emily was crazy. There was no way she liked Rachel Berry.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.