Title: Innocence is Only a Perception

Rating: T/M

Summary: Pezberry endgame prompt: Rachel and Santana are friends as of the Whitney episode and they start getting very close. They spend so much time together that Finn and Brittany become jealous and suspicious. Rachel assures Finn that its innocent, which it is, until one day it gets to be much, much more. Rachel realizes she likes Santana more than she does Finn, and wants to be with her.

A/N: Prompt anonymously requested through Tumblr.

Innocence is Only a Perception

Chapter 1

Santana could barely breath; her chest was heaving and her skin had broken into a cold sweat; her heart felt as though it was beating against her ribcage; she gripped her phone tightly in a vice grip, but her finger was shaking as she tried to punch in the number on her iPhone's dialpad. She had her number memorized, she secretly always had, but she never had a real reason to call without embarrassing herself. She thanked herself for memorizing it though, because before that moment she would have called Brittany and she can't do that anymore.

"Hello?"

"Berry..." Santana's voice was raspy and you could tell that she had been crying.

"Santana? W-what's wrong? Have you been crying?"

"Berry... Rachel... Please come over. I need you." Santana was curled into the fetal position on her bed, clutching the phone against her cheek.

"O-okay, Santana. I'll be right over. Are you hurt? Do you want me to stay on the phone with you until I get there?" There was a lot of rustling on the other end and what sounded like a car starting.

"No, just get here! Hurry the fuck up! P-please! Hurry!" Santana screamed into the phone in annoyance and in pain. She hung up on Rachel so she could wail in peace. Her heart was breaking in her chest and she didn't need Rachel Berry psychoanalyzing her over the phone when she was hurting so badly. She just needed to be held.

Rachel rung the doorbell about five times in a row before just wiggling the doorknob. It gave and she pushed the door open, making a break for the long, winding staircase. Rachel passed doors and doors and more doors before coming to a skidding stop in front of the door decorated with a big S and Cheerios! Stickers. Throwing the door open, Rachel fund Santana curled up on her bed, clutching her phone in one and and the other fisting her shirt right over her heart.

Rachel took a deep breath to calm herself so she didn't seem frantic when she tried to comfort Santana. "Santana? It's Rachel," she said, walking over to the girl and sitting on the edge of her bed. It was then that Rachel could see just how broken the girl in front of her was. She had tear tracks all down her face and her knuckles were bruised and cut and Rachel just knows what is wrong. "Santana?" She reaches out and brushes the hair in Santana's face away and runs her fingers through it. "Santana? Is it Brittany?" It was. Santana didn't say anything, she just crumpled up more and began to cry... hard.

A few weeks ago Santana wouldn't have called anyone – okay, maybe Puck. Not Quinn, though, she would have only made it worse – she would just stay in bed all week, smoke a bit of weed and drink herself into a stupor. Now, though, Santana had Rachel. Ever since they did their Whitney duet the two had been virtually inseparable. Brittany had said that that was ultimately the downfall of the epic relationship that was Brittana.

Brittany and Santana sat in the viewing room of Santana's spacious home watching some random movie that Santana had picked – Brittany hadn't really been paying attention; she had a lot of things on her mind, namely the girl curled up to her side and watching the movie intently. Brittany loved Santana - there was no doubt about that; she left Artie for her didn't she, and they've been friends for as long as they both could remember – but Brittany felt a distance coming from Santana recently, and Brittany was almost certain that that distance was because of Santana's new-found friendship with one Rachel Barbra Berry.

Brittany didn't have a problem with Rachel or the fact that Santana was friends with her, in fact she was rather grateful because now she didn't have to pretend to hate the girl with a passion like Santana used to. However, eventually Santana began to want Rachel around constantly and Brittany had hardly any time alone with her and it was beginning to get to her. This moment was the first in a few weeks where Brittany was having quality time with Santana and the entire time she was either enthralled completely by the movie or texting Rachel; either way Brittany was almost nonexistent to Santana.

"Hey, San?" The girl next to her snapped her attention away from the screen and looked up at her girlfriend – for the first time in about an hour. "Can we, like... talk?

Santana smiled and reached for the remote to paused the movie on the screen before turning to face Brittany completely. "Yeah, sure, Britts. What's up?"

"San, I... I don't know how to say this."

Santana's brow furrowed. "Just say it, babe. You know you can tell me anything."

"I wanna break up." Brittany says it so rashly that she actually surprises herself and smacks her hand over her mouth as if to push the words back in. She can already see the tears forming in Santana's eyes and she has to resist the urge to huge her and say, 'just kidding!'

"W-what?" Santana croaks out. She is completely taken aback. "Why?"

"It's just... you like Rachel more than me."

"What? No, I don't! You're my girlfriend, Britt! How can I like her more than you?"

Brittany has known Santana all her life and knows when Santana has feelings for someone that isn't her. Brittany can tell that Santana has feelings for Rachel, even if Santana herself can't tell. "I don't doubt that you don't love me, Tana, but I know I'm not the only one that you love."

"I do not love Manhands!" Santana screeched, "I love you! And the fact that you can't tell that- God! I fought for you! For us! You think I would just fall for someone else when I finally have you?"

"But you still have feelings for her, and you can't tell me that you don't because I know you, Santana." Brittany hung her head and tried to reach for Santana's shoulder, but the girl pulled away and jumped off of the couch.

"No! Don't touch me! You can't touch me anymore!" Santana let the tears fall now, her voice was broken as she spoke, "You wanna break up? Fine! Let's break up! But we aren't friends. Not any more. If you don't trust me with our relationship, then I can't trust you with our friendship." Santana took a step back and turned around so that Brittany couldn't see her face. "Just let yourself out, Brittany. Just go."

Santana began to walk up the steps dumbly and listened for her ex-girlfriend to make a move, but she heard nothing until she got into her bedroom. Just before she closed the door she heard Brittany downstairs run out the door and slam the front door shut. She collapsed onto the floor when she heard a car screech away and began to wail, crawling onto the bed and curling into a ball, scrambling for her phone.

Through sobs and broken speech Santana relayed the story to Rachel who just stayed silent and held the crying girl. "I don't know what to do now, Rachel. We've been friends our whole lives and I've been in love with her for just as long. What do I do now?"

"Shh... It's okay. You have me, so you don't have to go through this alone," Rachel whispered into her ear, holding her head to her chest and stroking her hair gently. "You have me, it's okay," Rachel repeated over and over, rocking the girl in her arms until she stopped crying and eventually fell asleep from the exhaustion of all the sobbing. Rachel moved her gently, gingerly so that she could place Santana's head on a pillow and Rachel just held her until she too fell asleep.