"What the fuck was that, Berry? Have you lost your mind?" Santana asks as she gets to the empty classroom Rachel headed to. The short brunette had just left the room right after Quinn and Noah's performance of Just Give Me a Reason without an explanation and Santana was the only one with enough balls to go after her. The latina finds Rachel sitting on a table, her head hidden behind her hands as shivers went through her tiny body.
She immediately stops at the doorstep. "Are you… Are you crying?"
"Go away, Santana." Rachel responds with a muffled voice.
"Why the hell are you crying? Please, tell me this isn't about Puck."
The short woman finally stops hiding her face and turns it to Santana, showing her swollen eyes to her frenemy. "You're the last person I want to talk to right now, okay? Would you just leave, please?"
"No. Not until I know what happened there." Santana gets a little closer, hoping it intimidates Rachel. It doesn't.
"I know a lot of stuff happened between us lately, Berry, but I didn't stop caring about you."
"Yes, you did. You're just curious."
The latina wonders about that for a moment. "I am." It's her response. "But I still care about you." She adds.
"What do I have to say for you to leave me alone?" Rachel asks, wiping her tears off.
"The truth. I want to know why you left that room."
The brunette takes a deep breath. "Because of that duet."
"What's wrong with it?" Now Santana is close enough to sit by Rachel's side on the desk. Since the girl doesn't complain, she assumes it's okay. "Did it remind you of Finn?"
"Yes, but that's not what made me leave…" It seems like she's going to stop talking. Her voice fails a little when she says her next words. "What made me leave is… Quinn."
"I thought you were friends now."
"We are. Santana, there's something you need to know. Something I've been keeping for myself for a long time."
Her friend is now truly worried. She places her hand on Rachel's back, trying to give her support to let it out.
Rachel takes a deep, deep breath, closes her eyes for a moment and then opens them to look directly at Santana's eyes. "I'm in love with Quinn."
Santana takes a while to process the information and when she does her eyes just get as big as tennis balls and she screams: "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? QUINN FABRAY? RACHEL, YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME."
"Hey hey hey, stop screaming!" Rachel says, trying to calm Santana down. God, it wasn't a good idea at all to tell her. "I need you to calm down, okay?"
"This is way too much information. I mean, you two hated each other and now you just tell me you're in love with the person who made your life hell through high school?"
"She did, yes, but we became friends, remember? Besides, I never actually hated Quinn. I admired her. I wished I could be her friend but she just wouldn't let it happen. She was too worried about her school status and everything, we would never… we would never be something. That's until she had her big breakthrough in senior year, remember? When she finally got to be herself and stop caring about such unimportant things."
"And you fell in love with her? Rachel, that doesn't make any sense."
Now Rachel feels the need to tell the truth, feeling a little embarrassed. She runs her hand through her hair as she responds "It's kind of platonic."
"Kind of platonic? KIND OF? Since when is this happening?"
"Since sophomore year." She blushes.
Santana just takes a deep breath and looks at the wall in front of her. Too much information. If someone other than Berry told her that, she wouldn't have believed it, but coming from the brunette herself…
"Please don't tell anyone. I'm really… I'm really ashamed of that."
"Yeah, I mean, you dated Finn and everything… Did you already feel like this when you two were together?"
Rachel shakes her head yes slowly. "I was so confused, Santana… I had all these feelings about her and I didn't know how to deal with them plus the struggle with my sexuality. I tried to fight it dating boys like Finn and Jesse, but I just couldn't help it. Every time Quinn walked down those halls, every time she spoke to me, everything about her just blew me away."
"Wow." Another question comes to Santana's mind. "Wait, but why did you continue dating Finn?"
"You know Santana, when you spend this amount of time with someone you end up being friends with them. Finn and I were friends all along. When we broke up, well… he knew it. He knew it wasn't about him. That's why we never got back together but also managed to be friends. Because he understood it. God, I miss him so much."
Santana feels like it's time to stop asking questions and just try to put things on the right places. "You know, Berry… You're very good at keeping secrets."
Rachel doesn't respond, she just stares at the ground.
"But Quinn isn't."
Now Santana's got her attention. The brunette's face looks up then to Santana, wide-eyed. "What do you mean?"
"She had this huge lesbian crush on you. I mean, I know it, I was just like her. She tortured you because she liked you, it was obvious to me."
"Wait, wait, wait. Santana, how did you know she was gay?"
"I have awesome gaydar, forgot it?"
"Okay, now that doesn't make sense. You're making fun of me."
"I swear to you, I'm not. Plus my gaydar isn't the only information I have. There was also this time in my house where me, Britt and Quinn got really drunk and you know, I really couldn't help my drunk self and started making out with my girlfriend, which would be okay if Quinn wasn't completely alone right there. She was pretty wasted and there was a moment where she said 'I wish Rachel was here.' If this is not obvious, I don't know what is."
Rachel's mouth just can't manage to close itself. "When did this happen?"
"Sophomore year."
"Didn't you misunderstood it? Have you ever talked about this with her?"
"No and no. I believed she wasn't ready to let it all out yet."
"I'm pretty sure that the next day she was already torturing me."
"Yeah, she's really complicated."
"She is… But I understand it. What you don't see, Santana, is that I don't hate Quinn because I understand her. I see why she used to treat people the way she did and how she felt about herself. She used to bring people down because she didn't believe in herself enough to be successful without putting other people below her. And all the things she's been through, I don't think anyone deserves it. Seeing her develop her behaviour like she did just made me fall harder for her. It's been more than a year since school is over and I still can't get her out of my mind."
"But you also didn't have the balls to talk to her."
Rachel swallows hard, staring at the ground again. "No."
"But still, seeing her with Puck made you sad."
"Yes."
"And you wish you were there singing that duet with her."
The short brunette takes a little more time to answer that question. "Yes."
"I see." Santana says. She just stays there, sitting at the table and staring at the wall in front of her until she suddenly gets up. "I have an idea."
"What is it?"
"Tell her."
"Santana, please."
"Do it. What have you got to lose?"
"She will make fun of me."
"She has a crush on you."
"She HAD a crush on me."
"I bet she still does."
"I can't take this risk."
"What if I talk to her? Casually ask about her high school crush?"
"Don't you dare."
"Oh, I do."
Now Rachel is standing in front of Santana, eyes locked on hers. "Why are you doing this?"
"Because I'm sick and tired of you two always choosing the wrong people and getting hurt every single time. Although I hate to admit it, I care about Quinn and I care about you too, Hobbit, and I wish you a happy life, okay? There, said it."
"So you'll just get us together because we don't work out with anyone?"
"No, because you two like each other. That's why."
"San–"
"Shhh. Enough. Have a try, Berry. You'll never know if you like the fruit if you never try it." Santana says with a smirk. Said that she just leaves the room and leaves a confused Rachel behind her, wondering what the hell had she just done.
