Rachel Berry was walking down the abandoned hallways of William McKinley High after just finishing a flawless, dare she say, rehearsal for the solo she was bound to get. She stopped suddenly outside the choir room. A soft ting ting ting could be heard.
"Brittany?" Rachel poked her head through the door. "What are you still doing here? It's almost 6 O'clock."
"Hi Rach." Brittany stopped tapping on the ivory keys and spun around, "Santana and I had practice and Leslie Marcus called me stupid so she's probably kicking her off the squad." Brittany furrowed her brow
"Oh." Rachel grimaced. She had learned long ago to not call Brittany stupid.
"Brittany?" Rachel asked.
"Yeah?"
"I," Rachel hesitated, "May I ask you a question about Santana?" She quickly added, "But you can't tell her!"
"Okay." Brittany stood from the piano bench and grabbed Rachel's hand tugging her to the center of the room where she proceeded to sit cross-legged on the floor. "Come on." She patted the spot in front of her.
Rachel complied, "Why are we sitting on the floor? There are perfectly good chairs and we could have even stayed standing, which would probably be better for us seeing as though we've been sitting most of the day in school." Rachel rambled.
Brittany looked at her, "Because we're in Japan." She said seriously.
"But we're in Ohio?"
"Nevermind." Brittany smirked, "What did you want to ask?"
"Why is she mean to everyone but you?" Rachel asked, "I mean we all know it's true but no one really knows why."
"I don't know." Brittany shrugged picking at her fingers, "I don't think anyone cab be sure besides Santana herself but," she paused looking up, "Rachel do you believe in soulmates?"
"Yes, of course." Rachel said quizzically.
"Santana is my soulmate and I think we both realized that from the moment we met. She's mean because she's angry and scared. I don't think she's angry anymore but she's still scared even if she doesn't want to admit it. She's scared of being in love with a girl because she's seen what happens to people who are different here."
Rachel sat quietly absorbing everything Brittany was telling her.
"She's really not a bad person, Rachel." Brittany whispered, "She's the greatest person in the world."
"You love her a lot." Rachel stated
"She's my soulmate."
"What do you love about her?"
"I love everything about Santana." Brittany said the corners of her mouth turning up. I love how she hugs, how she kisses, how she holds my hand, how she looks at me when she thinks no one is watching, how she fidgets when she's nervous, how her nose scrunches when she smiles, how she does that thing with her hands when she sings." Brittany shook her head grinning, "How she loves me despite all my flaws."
"Seeing as you're flawless loving you is the easiest thing to do." Santana was propped against the doorframe; her cheerios bag slung over one shoulder.
"How long were you there?" Brittany stood, offering her hand to Rachel and helping her up.
"Long enough to know 'I need to talk to Coach' is a terrible lie." Santana smiled pushing herself off the doorframe. "Are you ready to go?" She made her way over to Brittany, clasping their hands together.
"Yup!" The taller girl beamed swinging their joined hands.
"Bye, Berry." Santana called over her shoulder
"Bye, Rach! See you tomorrow."
"Bye, Santana. Bye, Brittany. Have a nice night." Rachel watched the two cheerios walk hand in hand down the hall.
"Yes." She said to herself, "I most definitely believe in soulmates."