Rachel Berry walked into her first class of the day, full of enthusiasm and happiness. She had just turned 6 years old and she felt like she was more mature and wiser than her other class members. As she made her way to an empty table near the front and sat down politely and efficiently. She straightened out her dress to reveal no crinkles and began to unpack her newly decorated supplies for the day ahead. Her eyes glanced at the clock above her and her eyebrows narrowed in confusion. She wished she knew how to read time. Luckily, the school bell chimed and the students began to pile in. Rachel fixed her glasses so they balanced freely atop her nose and smiled as each student walked past her. Funny enough, they were not returning the polite gesture. Except for one girl. She had dark, black curls which swept over her shoulders and she had tan skin which complimented her hair colour. She wore a short, denim skirt and a lemon tank top which matched her sandals. The corners of her mouth perked up at the sight of Rachel as she walked to the back of the class.

"Santana! Come sit over here."

A bubbly blonde gestured for the girl to sit beside her and she glared at Rachel as she turned around to face the dark haired girl whose name is supposedly Santana. Santana looked towards Rachel and the blonde and she reluctantly decided to sit next to the blonde. She shared a sympathetic smile at Rachel but Rachel did not return it.

The school bell rang for lunch and the students immediately stood from their seats and eagerly ran to their bags to get out their lunches. Rachel hated lunchtimes. She always seemed to get picked on in some way for doing absolutely nothing. She slowly packed her bedazzled pencil case and pencil, wasting as much time as she could. She looked up to see Santana, looking down at her. "Hi," was all she said. Rachel nodded and whispered a small hello. Santana looked outside to see the other kids, calling out to her to sit with them and have lunch but Santana had another idea.

"Do you want to sit with me at lunch? You seem a bit sad and I have some sandwiches you could share with me."

Santana showed Rachel her lunchbox, which contained several sandwiches, some biscuits and an apple. Rachel looked up at Santana and shook her head.

"Your friends don't like me. They make fun of me and my glasses."

"I don't care. I sort of like you."

Rachel grinned from ear to ear. "Y-yeah, I would like to sit with you."

Santana beamed back at the brunette as she took Rachel's free hand and they walked side by side to Santana's group of friends. The kids made room for the small Latina to sit down next to them but not for Rachel.

A small, red head with freckles covering every aspect of her face called out,

"No one wants to sit with you, freak."

The group of kids burst out laughing and began to shoo away Rachel. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. She immediately turned away and ran to the girl's bathroom. Santana hissed at her friends and glanced at them evilly before running to find Rachel. The girl's bathroom was full of silence until Santana heard the faint sob coming from the last cubicle.

"Rachel? Is that you?" Santana asked, curiously. She could hear her mumble a word which sounded awfully like a 'yes.'

"Your friends are big meanies, Santana." Rachel called out to Santana as she began to cry again.

Santana nodded sadly. "I know. I'm sorry. I won't be mean to you." Santana heard the sound of Rachel fumbling to open the lock of the cubicle. Her eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks were tear-stained.

"You won't?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah," was all Santana said before Rachel pulled her into a tight hug. They were losing balance and they both fell in a collapse of giggles.

This is how Santana Lopez and Rachel Berry became best friends.

Years past yet Rachel and Santana were still the best of friends. They did everything together including their school's 4th grade talent quest. Rachel practically begged Santana to perform with her. Rachel was quite arrogant and she boasted a lot about her talent. She thought she was more talented than everybody and she wanted to show the school she was but she wouldn't do it without Santana. Santana's choice was to perform a dance number to the inappropriate song "Push It" but Rachel wanted to sing the duet, "A Boy Like That" from the seminal movie classic, "West Side Story" but Santana forcefully declined her song selection and persuaded the young diva to do the dance routine with her. Fortunately, they won first place.

And by saying they did everything together, I mean they did everything together. From sleepovers to sports events, they were joined by the hip and then they met Sam Evans. Sam and Rachel instantly clicked and became close friends but Santana spent most of her time, insulting him rather than be his friend.
It was when they were 12 years old and on the 23rd March was the 7th grade Annual Spring Dance and much to Santana's dismay, she had not found someone to go with her. Santana could have any guy she wanted, but this time around, she found no one and it upset her. Rachel was the only one who could comfort her.

"B-but Rach, I-I feel like a l-loser," sobbed Santana as Rachel continued to rub soothing circles on Santana's back trying to comfort her.

"Santana, listen to me." Santana's focus was all on Rachel.

"You are the complete opposite to a loser." Rachel brushed a lone strand of Santana's hair away from her face and continued to speak.

"You don't need a date to be happy. I don't have a date," Rachel shrugged.

"But that's because people think you're a bit weird," Santana added, and Rachel gasped in shock, eyebrows raised in confusion but Rachel had learned that Santana insults people quite a bit, even Rachel sometimes but hardly ever.

"Come on, I know someone who'll go with us."

"No."

"Come on, Sam. Come with us to the dance."

"No."

Santana rolled her eyes and glared at the blonde boy. "Look, Frog Lips. You don't have a choice, it's either us or no one. Your choice."

Sam took a deep breath in and glanced back at Santana, with an evil look in his eye. Then he looked at Rachel whose face looked upset and sad. He put his hand on Rachel's shoulder and spoke directly at her.

"Rach, I want to go with you. It's just her I'm worried about." Sam tilted his head to the Latina, smiling sarcastically at her two friends. "You know, how much I don't like her."

"Please Sam, for me." Rachel smiled sweetly at him and gave him, the cutest puppy dog eyes known to man and Sam gave in.

"Fine, I'll go."

Rachel cheered with joy and high-fived Santana before grabbing Sam by his arm and linking it with hers.

"Let's start planning on matching dress and suit choices."

Rachel continued to ramble on about the dance while Sam and Santana just eyed each other and rolled their eyes. Rachel's constant rambling sometimes annoyed the hell out of them and that was one thing they had in common but they still hated each other, to a certain degree.

Rachel liked to reminisce about old memories sometimes. It relaxed her and it always made her happy when things went bad. This time, she was worried about Santana. She had gotten an urgent call from her to meet her at a nearby bar. The tone of her voice worried her the most. She managed to get out of work earlier than expected and rushed to 'Boissons.' Luckily, it was only a few minutes away by a taxi.

The exterior of the bar looked fun and exciting and Rachel looked the exact opposite. She was wearing a white blouse and a brown, high waisted skirt with a black belt which matched her clumpy shoes. There were two bouncers on either side of the entrance, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Excuse me? Do you have ID?" One of them asked curiously.

"Um, yeah. Of course, but I'm just here for a friend. I don't really-,"

Their conversation was ended abruptly by the opening of the main doors. Rachel was more confused than ever. She walked through the doors and into pitch darkness. She could hear faint noises of people murmuring and whispering. Something was definitely up.

"Hello? Santana?" Rachel asked as she stretched her arms out, feeling her way through the bar.

"SURPRISE!"

The lights flashed to reveal a crowd of people, holding drinks and smiling at Rachel. She could definitely recognise a few of them. Including a dark haired Latina, who was pushing her way through the crowd, wearing an extravagant pink boa and holding a glass of martini.

"Rachel Berry, glad you could make it to the festivities!" Santana slurred as she wrapped her free arm around Rachel and quickly gave her friend a peck on the cheek.

Rachel looked around, amazed. She noticed a sign hanging from the ceiling that said, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RACH!" She smiled at her already drunk friend and pointed to the feather boa.

"Looks like you're having a lot of fun already," laughed Rachel.

Santana rolled her eyes and gave her a cheeky smile, "You know it, sister! Go on, have a drink or two because you're starting to bore me, Berry."

With that, Santana pushed her way back through the crowd and started to throw her arms in the air, dancing to the music. Rachel gleamed at her best friend and took her advice. She made her way to the bar and asked for a cocktail.

"Hello, birthday girl."

Rachel turned to find a familiar face beside her. It was her best friend, Sam Evans.

Rachel gasped in excitement. "Sam!" She tightly pulled him in a hug.

"Rachel, it's not like we don't see each other every day."

She gleamed at him and shook her head, "I don't care, I'm just glad you're here."

Sam smiled shyly and awkwardly shifted in the stool he was sitting on. She could hear faint footsteps coming behind her and she felt two arms wrap around her and someone's chin nuzzle into her shoulder. "Hey, Rach."

Rachel rolled her eyes to see Santana behind her. She politely smiled and took another sip of her drink. "Hey, San."

"Sup, Trouty Mouth," called Santana to the blonde sitting beside Rachel.

Sam rolled his eyes and glared at Santana. "Hello to you too, Satan- I mean, Santana."

"Screw you, Lisa Rinna. Rach, come dance with me."

Santana pulled Rachel by her arm, practically dragging her onto the dance floor and began to jump around excitedly to the music. Soon enough, Santana had a crowd of people around her, dancing and yelling. She was good at drawing in crowds. Rachel managed to slip away from the large crowd and walked to an empty couch in the corner.

"Hey, you," whispered a familiar voice. It was rugged yet soft all at the same time. She knew that voice from anywhere.

"Well, look who showed up. Hello there, Finn Hudson." Rachel smiled at him and moved around so that he could sit beside her on the couch.

"How do you like the birthday festivities?" Finn asked, curiously.

"Y-yeah, it's great. Santana did an amazing job, but I bet she had a lot of help." Rachel eyed Finn suspiciously and gave him a smirk.

Finn threw his arms out, like he was pretending to surrender. "Guilty."

Rachel stifled a loud laugh and beamed in his direction. He was looking straight at her, chuckling at her loud outburst.

"Finny Bear!"

Santana's voice was heard from across the room. She stumbled across the dance floor until she reached the couch where Finn and Rachel were comfortably sitting on. Santana fell into Finn's lap and kissed him full on the lips, cupping both his cheeks with her hands.

"I love you," she slurred and then she noticed Rachel, "and I love you too, Rachy." Finn soothingly patted Santana's head as she lay back and nuzzled into his neck. Rachel immediately stood and began to walk away.

"Rachy, come back and sit with me and my hubby," called out a drunken Santana.

"No, I'm fine. I'm just getting another drink," assured Rachel as she focused on Finn, who was raising her eyebrow in confusion.

Rachel smiled at him, lips closed and made her way to the counter. Finn and Santana had been dating for 5 years and they recently got engaged about 4 months ago. Rachel was actually the one that introduced them to each other. Finn and Rachel went to a prestigious music school together and became close friends and Santana, of course, was like her best friend. They were never meant to meet though, it was by accident and it haunted Rachel every day. She was actually falling for Finn at the time Santana came into the picture, and when they started dating, Rachel tried so hard to keep falling for him but it was so hard and she never did dispose of her feelings for him.

Rachel was in fact, crushing on her best friend's fiancée.