A/N: Hello all. Here is my new fic. I would like to start off by saying, I'm not a novel writer, if anything I prefer screenwriting and this is originally what this fic started off as and I have copied it into the format you will see below. If you haven't read my previous fic 'Snapshot of a Memory' you won't know that my stories tend to be stupidly long. This one is currently at 64,000 words and is in progress at the moment. I think from what I can gather, it will probably make it's way up to the 70,000 words market. For the people who hated how I ended Snapshot, you will be pleased to know, I will end this at a good happy point and will either finish the fic in the future to that point if people want it, or I will leave it how it is.

I tried uploading the fic in one big bulk last time, however the attention on it wasn't as much as if I did it one per day. I would love it if you reviewed, I probably won't change any grammatical errors and I know my timeline is a little messed up at the moment, but hopefully I can get it sorted before I get to that point.

Finally, please review and please enjoy the fic.

It was the 4th day of school and Rachel walks along the hallway of McKinley High, her eyes faced towards the floor, her arms wrapped tightly around the books she is holding. Like she was expecting it she stops a millisecond before an ice cold slushy hits her body, covering her in the freezing cold substance.

Santana is stood watching what has just happened from her position at her locker. She watches as the girl shakes the ice from her eyes, before making her way to her locker and picking up her slushy kit before going towards the bathroom.

Santana pays particular interest to the girls face, she is acting like nothing has happened but she can see the hurt behind the girls eyes, before the slushy hit and even more after.

Making the decision to act, Santana walks up and plucks a slushy out of a freshman's hand and aiming it in the face of the jock who was celebrating for throwing the slushy in Rachel's face yet again.

Santana then turns and moves down the hall and follows the path that Rachel went. She flings open the door and watches as the usually loud and vibrant girl, cleans of the slushy in a slow and languid movement.

She walks forward and takes the cloth out of Rachel's hand, and helps her clean the slushy of her face. She was expecting Rachel to flip out, or at least fall back in fear but she barely responds, her eyes flickering to Santana's being the only recognition.

Santana slowly cleans the slushy off the girls face, taking special care around her eyes knowing that is the worst bit. Once the slushy is off her face, she motions for Rachel to turn around and uses the slushy kit to carefully wash her hair. "I'm sorry" she whispers quietly.

Rachel doesn't even acknowledge that Santana has spoken. She lets the Latina finish off washing her hair, before gathering her slushy kit and walking away with a small mumbled thank you.

Later in the day, it happens again. Santana is just walking to Glee when she sees 4 jocks, slushies in hand, ready and waiting to aim them at Rachel's face. The diva is turned away from them, not even seeing it coming and Santana for some reason can't have that.

"Hey losers" Santana bellows in the direction of Rachel's shocked body.

Rachel's head looks up as she hears this, thinking that Santana was talking to her. She locks eyes with the Latina, who gives her a small smile, reassuring her, or attempting to.

"What do you think you are doing?

Rachel goes to open her mouth and Santana holds her hand up, shutting Rachel up pretty quickly. Santana walks up to Rachel and carefully pushes the girl behind her, protecting her from the jocks. Santana hears the moment Rachel realises what was about to happen, when she lets out an audible gasp.

Santana walks closer to the jocks, anger flaring in her eyes. He is the first to get a comment out however.

"What are you doing here Lesbtana?

Santana rolls her eyes at the joke, hearing much worse from people she calls her friends everyday. She narrows her eyes at the boy who talked, and steps into his person space and hisses her next comment.

"If you, or any of your dimwitted friends come anywhere near Rachel again I will destroy you."

"Why should we listen to you?" He says proudly.

Santana sets out a sadistic laugh, making the quieter two of the boys step back in fear.

She smiles innocently. "Because I will ends you. You gets me? Not only can I do more damage to your body than anyone else in this school but I can ruin your reputation with a click of my fingers."

He puffs his chest out. "I'm not scared of you."

Santana laugh again, and feels a hand on her shoulder. She turns to expect Rachel pulling her back, but instead sees Brittany hugging an unwilling Rachel, and Puck, Sam, Artie, Mike and even Quinn stood behind her glaring at the jocks.

Quinn shakes her head at the boy standing up to Santana. "Don't be stupid Elliot. Leave the dwarf alone."

Santana stops herself from snarling at Quinn for the dwarf comment but is so happy that she's got other people here to help her protect the tiny girl. One of the other jocks with Elliot puts his hand on his shoulder and pulls him back.

"Come on Elliot. Lets' leave them, they're not worth it."

Elliot huffs and turns around and he and his friends head back down the hallway, leaving the Glee kids to heard around Rachel.

Santana watches as Rachel cowers under the attention, this is not the same girl who left for the summer. Something has happened to the smaller girl and Santana was going to find out what if it was the last thing she did.

Santana shoos everyone away and Rachel looks up at her in thanks.

"Come on everyone, lets get to Glee. " She says with a sincere smile as she watches them all walk away to the choir room, leaving Rachel and Santana stood awkwardly in the hallway. Santana continues to talk to the smaller girl, "Rachel. Can I come over to yours tonight?

Rachel nervously looks up at the taller girl. "Wha... why?" She shutters.

"Please. Or you could come over to mine. I want to talk to you please?"

Rachel shakes her head. "No I don't think it's a good idea, talk about what?"

Santana steps forward into Rachel's personal space and smiles when the girl doesn't cower back like she was with everyone else from Glee club. "Talk about why you are acting like this. Something's wrong, I want to prove to you I'm here for you if you need me, I'm here to talk."

Rachel shakes her head.

"No. It's OK. I'm OK"

Santana sighs and runs a hand through her hair. "Bullshit Rachel. Please?" She begs looking into the girls eyes. "You don't have to talk, if your dad's are OK with it, I'll come over and cook. Don't worry I know you're vegan, my brother is as well so I'm used to cooking vegan meals."

Rachel jaults at the mention of her dads and shakes her head, until she hears that Santana knows she's vegan.

"My dad's are away on a cruise at the moment"

Santana smiles softly. "Does that mean I can come over?"

Rachel nods and looks down at her shoes. "Do you know where I live?

"I do. I'll be around at 6. Prepare your taste buds to be amazed Rach."

Santana then turns and goes to Glee, with a quiet Rachel following her hesitantly behind.

Later That Night

Santana knocks on Rachel's door, her knock faltering due to the bags being held in her hands. The door is opened and Rachel dressed in a small pair of shorts and a t-shirt, helps her with her bag, carrying them towards the kitchen without a word.

Santana quickly unpacks the food, and asks Rachel for her help to find cutlery and other items. Santana makes her way around the kitchen smoothly, knowing that Rachel's eyes were on her, and she had to make this perfect to get any information out of Rachel.

Rachel sighs and Santana looks up at her, lending her a quick flirty smile and nods down to the food she is making. "Do you want to try this for me? See if I need to add any more seasoning?"

Rachel nods and Santana hands over a spoon full of the sauce letting the smaller girl try it. Santana watches as she tries the sauce, careful to blow on it first before tasting it.

"This is amazing Santana."

Santana smiles brightly at the praise, before going back to her cooking and preparing the plates perfectly for Rachel and herself.

"Grubs up. Eat away."

Rachel smiles and uses the cutlery to eat the best vegan spaghetti she's tasted in her life.

"Where did you learn to cook like this?"

Santana's eyes widen and she takes a bite of her food before swallowing. "I well... well my parents are never really around so I had to take care of my siblings. Jonah, the vegan went off to college 2 years ago and Nick..." She smiles fondly. "... Well he never really ate at home anyway. Emilia is not the biggest fan of vegan food but that probably comes from being a 13 year old who hates everything"

Rachel smirks and nods. "I know the feeling."

Santana nods and takes another bite of her food, looking up at Rachel and noticing that all of the uneasiness that was there before is slowly dying away but she knows she has to work even more to break down those walls she's built.

"Santana?"

Santana nods and swallows her food.

"Yah"

Rachel sighs. "What is all this? This sudden need to protect me? This sudden need to want to know my secrets?"

Santana sighs and puts down her cutlery and puts all her attention onto Rachel. "Truthfully. Well I was thinking about you all summer. We all saw Finn break up with you over Face Book rather publicly and then you well disappeared. No one had heard from you and it worried me." She runs a hand through her hair as she gets her thoughts under control. "I saw you this morning and something inside of me just hurt. I wanted to apologize for everything I've ever done to you Rachel. I can't believe I ever did anything to hurt you and I'm so sorry."

"Why now?" Rachel whispers.

"Because I was heartbroken by Brittany over the summer. She meant no harm and it was mutual in the end, but... I need a friend and I think you could do with someone too."

Rachel shakes her head venomously. "I don't need anyone!"

"Is that what you keep telling yourself?" Santana says raising her eyebrow. "How long has it been since you've seen your fathers Rachel?"

Rachel's eyes widen and Santana can tell her immediate reaction is to fight but Santana stays tough and shows as much emotion as she can through her eyes.

"I don't know what you mean?"

Santana sighs, even if she expected this reaction. "There is only girl shoes by the door, you only have your coats hung up on the rack, the house is spotless, you have no pictures of you and your fathers around the house from I would say the age of 12 and you are currently looking at me like I'm either insane for knowing this or a little bit psychic."

Rachel looks down at her half eaten plate of food. "Which one is it?" She whispers.

"Maybe a little bit of both. How far away am I from the truth?"

"Nine" She whispers again, a bit quieter than before.

"What?"

Rachel sighs and runs a hand through her hair, and swallows audibly. "I was nine the last picture that was taken with us. By the age of 13 they had moved outside of Ohio. By the age of 15 they had moved all the way to San Francisco"

Santana takes the information in and shakes her head. "Oh god Rach"

Rachel shakes her head back. "No. No pity. I'm fine with it. I've just come to terms with it. It's just..."

"What made you change so much? What happened to this bubbly personality that we've all come to love?"

Rachel looks up at this comment and a blush comes over her cheeks. She shrugs over at the Latina. "Last year was horrible. Finn dropped me like a sack of potatoes, you all treated me like I was nothing. I just decided to become a new me, one who wouldn't piss people off, one who could get through high school unscathed."

Santana shakes her head. "You don't have to be a different person to go through high school unscathed. This new you, I don't like it Rach. Come back to all of us, we want to see the real you."

"No one wants..."

"I do" She nods. "If you'll let me. Look I know I haven't given you any reason to trust me, but I promise you... I can be a good friend when I actually want to be. I have dealt with absentee parents for nearly a decade. I can be a good ear if you need it Rae."

Rachel smiles at the nickname and nods at Santana. "I'll give you a chance. I have something I must do first if you are spending more time with me."

Rachel walks into the other room and suddenly two large dogs come barreling into the room, making Santana almost jump off her stool in shock. The biggest of the dog, the Australian Shepard is the first to greet her. His giant paws rest against her knees as he jumps up and covers her face with his gigantic tongue.

Santana chuckles as the other giant dog, the Golden Retriever demands for attention. She nudges the Australian Shepard off her legs so she can stroke the both of them behind the ears.

"Let them sniff you."

Santana does as Rachel says and the dogs sniff her hands, getting her smell into their memory. After a minute or so, Santana giggles as they both begin to lick her hands and she goes back to stroking them both. "Do they have names?"

Rachel smiles and leans down to scratch the Australian Shepard. "This one is Caesar. That one is Sky. I didn't name them by the way."

Santana smirks. "They're cool names. Really, hey guys, aren't you just beautiful?" Rachel chuckles at the side of Santana that she is getting to see here with her baby's. "So these are your guard dogs per se?"

"They are very protective over me. You are the first person, I think ever, whom they've not growled at, at the first meeting."

Santana smirks in response and leans her face closer to the dogs. "Well that's because I'm awesome, right guys?"

In response Caesar licks her cheek whilst Sky decides to snuggle into her new mate and rest her cheek on her lap.

"They like you."

"Well I like them. Come on then Berry, what are we doing for the rest of the night?" Santana sees the fear flicker through Rachel's eyes when she calls her Berry and she mentally kicks herself. "I'm sorry Rach. I call everyone by their last names, it's Sylvester's fault. It make take me a while, but I'll learn not to. It's never going to be said with anything other than kindness. I promise you."

Rachel just smiles back in response but it doesn't meet her eyes. "Thank you Santana. That means a lot. I uh, well we could watch a movie. My sofa turns into a rather comfy sofa bed which makes for avid movie watching."

Santana smiles, she can see small bits of Rachel Berry appearing and she has to say she likes it. "Sounds good, now lets look at your DVD collection."

Rachel directs Santana to one of the biggest DVD collections she's seen in her life.

"You like?" Rachel says after Santana just stares at it for a few minutes.

"Fucking hell Rae. This is amazing. You have like every DVD ever made."

Rachel smiles proudly and nods. "Yes. My dad's give me a lot of money to make up for not being here, and I don't get out much so it goes on this."

"You have Inglorious Bastards, oh my god you have Saw. I can't believe it."

Rachel chuckles and picks up the former from the collection. "You want to watch it? It's been a while since I saw it last."

"Hells yeah. Come on Tiny."

Santana helps Rachel get the sofa bed ready before Rachel disappears and reappears with two blankets for them to use. They get up on the couch and Caesar snuggles his face onto Rachel's lap and Sky onto hers as they settle down to watch the movie.

"Hey Rae?

Rachel smiles at the nickname that Santana has given her all day. "Yes Santana."

"Would you... would you mind if I crashed here tonight?" Rachel smiles and nods.

"Of course. We do have school in the morning though? Are you going to be okay?"

"As long as I'm OK to use your shower, I always keep spare clothing in my car."

Rachel smiles and nods. "Come on, lets watch the movie."

The Next Day

Rachel walks down the halls of McKinley High in the same way she did yesterday. However today, a figure appears at her side, flanking her and glaring at anyone with a slushy. She can't help the grin when Brittany appears at her side and she can feel the presence of Quinn behind her. She was being protected from every angle.

They make their way to first class, of which Quinn and Santana share with her, and she expects the two to disappear as normal and sit together, but this time, Santana takes a seat next to her, and Quinn takes the one to her left, sitting next to Tina who looks at her in shock.

Later that afternoon in the cheerleaders locker room, Santana nearly jumps out of her seat when she hears a voice behind her.

"Santana, what are you doing with Rachel?"

Santana turns around and looks over her shoulder as she ties her shoes in the cheer leading locker room. "What do you mean?"

"All of this protecting her. I followed you this morning, but... is this a prank? Are you planning to hurt her?"

Santana shakes her head. "No it's not a prank" She sighs. "Did you see what happened at the beginning of the summer? How Finn dumped her?" Quinn nods and looks down guiltily. "No one was there for her Quinn and I mean no one. She was dumped horribly and in public as well and those comments... god Quinn I wanted nothing more than to go round her house and hold her but no my ignorance, I was too scared back then but I don't care now Quinn. If she trusts me, I want to become her friend."

Quinn nods again and smiles over at her old friend. "Just your friend Santana?"

Santana laughs and blushes at the comment before smirking. "More if she'll have me."

Quinn steps forward and wraps her arms around Santana. "I'll help you. So will Britt. We'll get her back to the old Rachel Berry, don't worry."

After school, Santana sees Rachel walk out of school and furrows her brow. They had organized for Rachel to wait for her after Cheerleading so that Santana could take her home. Santana quickly chases after the shorter girl and calls her name, making her turn around and then Santana sees her covered in Slushy.

"Who?" She demands harshly.

"They said you sent them. That you, Quinn and Brittany made me wait so you could get them to do this."

Santana lets out a growl and sends expletives into the sky before turning her softer eyes back on Rachel and reaching out hesitantly to touch her. "I didn't do this Rachel. I promise you. You have to believe me." She goes to reach for the smaller girl who flinches away.

"Why? It makes perfect sense."

"Who was it? Please tell me. Please Rachel."

"Sylvia"

Santana growls loudly. "That fucking bitch" She shouts. "That bitch, I will kill her, I will litterally kill the stupid bitch." Rachel shakes her head.

"No you won't touch her Santana Lopez."

Santana nods, letting out a puff of air as she gets control of her temper and she turns to her to try and get the smaller girl to understand.

"I will hurt her for this Rachel. I was actually getting somewhere with you, you were actually beginning to trust me and I was getting the friend I've always needed. She ruined that and she will pay for it." She says angrily and Rachel shakes her head.

"You won't touch her. Prove to me you are not as low as she is. If you didn't do this, prove it to me."

Santana nods and steps forward and wraps Rachel into a hug, and smiles when the other girl wraps her arms around her as well. Burying her face into the girls brunette locks she holds on tightly and whispers into her ear. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you. I'm so sorry."

Rachel just smiles and looks up at her 'saviour'. "You can't be with me 24/7 San. They were just lucky with their timing." Santana sighs and steps back and looks down at their somehow joined hands. "What?"

Santana smiles. "Can I at least get Quinn to threaten their Cheerio status? I need to be able to protect you and it's the only way I know how?"

"Okay."

A bright smile comes across her face and she leans forward to kiss Rachel on the cheek and pulls her into another hug.

"You okay San?" Quinn asks from behind her. Santana turns around and smiles at Brittany and Quinn who are looking at the two brunettes for concern. Rachel coils into herself and Santana just smiles at the two girls and nods.

"Will text you later Q. You get Britt home for me okay?"

Quinn nods. "Will do. Night Lopez. Night Berry."

"You... You too Quinn" Rachel stutters.

Santana pulls away again before taking her hand and directing them in the way of her car. "I have a favour to ask of you?"

"Okay."

"Firstly I want to spend the weekend with you if that's possible?"

Rachel nods, trying to hold in the smile that's threatening to break out. "Of course. It'll be nice to have some company."

Santana sighs and smiles at her friend. "That's the other part to the question. My parents are both working doubles at the hospital this weekend. I have to really be there to keep an eye on Emilia. Would it be okay if she..."

"I'll set up the guest room."

Santana looks over at shock. "Are you sure? I hate to be a burden but..."

"No I'm sure Santana. It'll be nice to meet your family. Is it wrong I'm actually nervous?"

Santana chuckles and nods. "It's only Em. She hates everyone so please don't be offended. She will love Caesar and Sky however, we were never allowed dogs because of mami and papa's jobs but we always wanted one. I'll just swing round home now and get her."

A/N: What did you think? Obviously this is going to be a Pezberry fic and there is really not that much angst in it I have to say unlike my previous fic. For some reason, I really struggled to write that but I'm working on filling in the breaks. This is also un-beated as you can probably tell. This is a lot like Snapshot in the way it's rather jumpy and tells the story of points in their life rather than day by day. Hopefully you like it. Please review. Next chapter will be up in a few days or so I think, I wanted to see what people thought of it first.