A Three-Part Story based on the song Breathe (2 AM) by Anna Nalick. Rachel and Finn's lives after high school. Sometimes you have to lose yourself before you can find each other. Rated T for mild adult themes and some language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or the song Breathe. They belong to much luckier people than I.

March 2015

two am and she calls me cause i'm still awake
can you help me unravel my latest mistake?
i don't love him
winter just wasn't my season

Santana was jerked from her sleep by a loud noise coming from her bedside table. Cursing silently to herself she reached her hand out toward the harsh sound, fully intending to just press ignore and return to her peaceful slumber. That thought fled her mind though when she saw who was calling her. Rachel Berry. She hadn't spoken with Rachel since she'd moved out of their apartment, choosing to live with Brody instead of Kurt and herself.

Her finger hesitated on the bright red button. She could easily press the button and call Rachel in the morning, stating that she'd never heard her phone ring the night before. Something in her held her back though and she moved her finger to the green call button instead.

"I hope you have a good excuse for calling me at two o'clock in the morning." Santana said trying to keep her voice harsh, which wasn't too much of a stretch for her.

There was silence on the other line, but Santana was sure that she could hear Rachel breathing on the other line. "Please tell me that you didn't just call me to mouth breathe into the phone. That's a whole new level of creep."

More breathing.

"Okay, seriously. If you don't tell me the reason you're calling in the next five seconds I'm going to hang up." Santana was getting frustrated.

Her finger was hovering over the red end call button when Rachel finally broke her silence. "I'm pregnant." She said it so quietly that Santana was almost sure that she hadn't even heard her.

"What?" She said, hoping that maybe she'd heard her wrong.

"I'm pregnant." Rachel said again, her voice much clearer, though it was still hushed and there was a slight echo. Santana was almost certain that she was calling her from the bathroom.

This time it was Santana's turn to be silent. There was no way this was happening; Rachel was just a year away from graduating from NYADA, she had an off Broadway play that she was staring in the next few weeks. If there was one thing that Rachel couldn't afford to be at the moment, it was pregnant. Santana knew that, without a doubt, this wasn't something that Rachel had planned on. She also knew why, of all the people in Rachel's life, she'd called her.

"It's okay." She said, trying to sound as reassuring as possible. "You'll be okay. We'll figure this out."

yeah we walked through the doors so accusing
their eyes, like they have any right at all to criticize
hypocrites, you're all hear for the very same reason

Planned Parenthood wasn't really the type of place Santana had ever really imagined herself walking into. Mostly because there wasn't really much a chance of her getting pregnant with her sex life. After all, Brittany didn't really have the right plumbing for that task. Still, somehow, she'd ended up here sitting next to Rachel as they waited for her name to be called.

Rachel hadn't said much of anything since they'd showed up. She'd filled out the standard forms in silence, never looking up from the clipboard in her hands. Santana hadn't pried, hadn't said a single word to the girl. She knew this was hard on the woman, and she didn't want to make anything worse. Still, she knew she had to ask - at least once.

"Rachel, are you sure this is what you want to do?" She asked, making sure to keep her voice low so none of the people around them could hear. For all they knew they could be there for a routine checkup or something. Of course she knew better than to think that's what everyone thought around them. People went to their doctors for their checkups; they came to Planned Parenthood for unwanted pregnancies.

The small girl was silent and for a moment Santana thought she wasn't going to say anything.

"I'm sure." Rachel said slowly. Never had so much emotion been put into two simple words.

Letting the subject drop Santana sighed and tried, unsuccessfully, to make herself comfortable in her stiff seat. She wasn't sure how long they'd be waiting and judging by the amount of people in the room, it was going to be a long wait.

"You can go if you want to. I can get a cab home." Rachel whispered to her, obviously noticing how uncomfortable she was.

Had she been anyone else, Santana probably would have taken her up on the offer. "Sorry, Munchkin, you're stuck with me." She didn't miss the way Rachel seemed to relax at her words.

So they waited together. They stayed silent for the two hours they sat in the lobby, because Santana knew that Rachel didn't need conversation; she needed support and she was more than willing to be there for her friend.

When they called Rachel's name Santana put her arm out to stop her as she stood up. "Do you want me to go in with you?"

Rachel forced a smile onto her face. "No. I don't think I could go through with everything if you were there."

Santana watched as her friend made her way towards the nurse waiting by the door. She couldn't quite figure out what she was feeling at the moment, but if she had to guess she'd say her heart was breaking. She knew that her friend's life was hers to do with as she wished, but she also knew that this was the only possible option Rachel could come up with for herself at the moment.

cause you can't jump the track
we're like cars on a cable
and life's like an hourglass glued to the table
no one can find the rewind button girl
so cradle your head in your hands

Rachel hadn't wanted to go back to hers and Brody's apartment afterwards, so Santana had driven them back to her apartment. Thankfully Kurt was out for the day, leaving the two alone in the huge space. Rachel had taken up residence on the couch, wrapping herself up in a blanket; she hadn't said a single word since they'd left the clinic. Her face was blank slate and Santana was starting to really worry.

"Okay, Berry, you need to talk about this with someone." Santana said, unsure of what she was doing, but knowing that Rachel needed to get her feelings out.

Rachel didn't move, didn't even bother to pretend like she'd heard anything.

Sighing loudly, Santana made her way over to the few movies her and Kurt had next to the tv; she picked out Funny Girl because she knew that it was one of Rachel's favorite movies. She put it in the dvd player and sat down next to Rachel on the couch to watch the movie.

Rachel was silent through the first part of the movie, her focus solely on the movie; her attention never wavering even when Santana offered her something to drink. It wasn't until Fanny gave birth did Rachel really let her resolve break.

It was a sudden change; Santana was sure that if she had blinked she would have missed it. One minute Rachel was calm and silent, the next she was curled up in a ball and crying hard sobs that left her shaking. Knowing there were no words that she could possibly offer as a form of comfort Santana just sat there and held Rachel, clinging to her as hard as possible as though maybe she could keep her from physically falling apart.

and breathe
just breathe
oh breathe
just breathe...

a/n: I know this is a touchy subject, but the thought hit me last night when I was scrolling through some of my old music and I came across this song. Just a bit of backstory though...Rachel and Finn haven't spoken since he put her on the train in Goodbye. She started a relationship with Brody, but he never turned out to be a male prosititute. The next chapter is Finn's, so don't worry. I'm pretty sure that Finchel is endgame.