A/N: So this is my first ever long running Puckleberry fic. I have no idea how long it will be and I'm kind of scared to undertake it but this damn prompt won't leave me alone! I'd like to dedicate this first chapter and the whole fic in general to noahpuckermanandrachelberry . tumblr . com (enter without spaces to get to her tumblr page), aka Rachel, the lovely lady who gave me this prompt.

This is a Puckleberry fic with a side of Finntana, and splashes of other different pairings on glee that you'll have to wait and see to find out! If you ship Finchel this is not for you. You have been warned. This is also set in the late 1800s, so it is a period fanfiction. Again, you have been warned.

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, Noah Puckerman, Rachel Berry, Santana Lopez, Finn Hudson, etc. etc. This is a FANfiction, so the plotline is my own but the characters are not.

Without further ado, I give you "A Contrast in Classes"

Rachel sucked in a deep breath as her maid placed a foot on her back to gain leverage to pull Rachel's corset strings tighter. The tiny brunette gasped as the maid tied the strings, leaving her barely able to breathe, but with a waist to die for. She controlled her breathing quickly, thanking god for the singing training her father had insisted putting her through, and then smiled at her maid.

"Thank you, Santana, for making me look presentable." Rachel grinned devilishly, this being a game she and Santana had played ever since the Berry's had hired the Spanish girl.

Santana grinned back just as devilishly, the smirk giving her dark eyes a wicked gleam. "Oh Miss Berry, you don't need my help to look presentable." She curtsied deeply, and Rachel burst into giggles, hiding them behind a hand.

Santana started laughing then, pointing to Rachel. "I won! You laughed, I win!" Rachel continued to giggle, moving to pull out her stockings from a dresser drawer as Santana kept talking to her. "Really, though, Rachel, you don't need my help. I don't know why your father makes you bother with all of this." Santana gestured vaguely at the cosmetics and clothing on Rachel's vanity. "You know he doesn't really care what you wear."

Rachel smiled, bemused, and rolled on her stockings calmly. "San, you know daddy just does it to please my grandmother." She finished pulling the fabric up her legs, moving to pull on her hoop skirt and petticoats, which Santana helped her with, before pulling the huge dress she was expected to greet her maternal grandmother in over her head. "It's not like I dress like this every day." Rachel finished, holding her hair up while Santana buttoned up the dress quickly and efficiently.

Santana laughed at that, sitting Rachel down to do her hair for her, twisting it up easily and pinning it in place. Rachel made a face at her reflection, hating the way she looked with her hair pulled back so tightly. She felt like it made her nose look bigger, which made her self conscious. She didn't think she was pretty, or at least, not as pretty as other young women her age. Her skin was olive toned, not porcelain white like Brittany Pierce's, and she had been cursed with her father's Jewish nose. Her eyes were dark brown, nothing special, and her hair matched in color. She was tiny, barely reaching her father's shoulder when wearing her heeled shoes, and her one saving grace (in her eyes) was the fact that she was thin, with legs that went on for miles, despite her diminutive height. It was a shame that society deemed it inappropriate for any of her potential suitors to see anything more than her arms or some suggestive cleavage, maybe - if she was feeling shocking - an ankle. And ever since her father had hired Santana, Rachel's urge to shock had gone up considerably. The Spanish girl was nothing if not outrageous.

Santana, for her part, thought Rachel was beautiful, and was sad that her friend and employer couldn't see it. She enjoyed being able to talk to the Jewish girl alone, when she wasn't trying to please everyone, as she let her walls come down then, and was a lot of fun. She sang loudly, she danced in her slip, and she gossiped like an old biddy. Santana loved it. She had never had such a wonderful job before the Berry household had hired her, and she couldn't imagine working for anyone else. Partly because the pay was good, partly because she adored being friends with Rachel, and partly because her best friend worked on the grounds, and she could see him almost whenever she wanted.

Santana listened idly to Rachel prattle about how huge her nose was as she dusted powder on her face and resisted the desire to shake the tiny brunette in front of her. She was thankful when there was a knock on the door, and Sarah, Rachel's younger sister, toddled in.

"Rachel, Grandmother is expected to arrive soon and Papa wants you in the study." The five year old said, stumbling over the big words. Rachel's eyes lit up as her sister spoke, grinning broadly at Santana in the mirror, then hurried over and swooped the little girl into a hug.

Sarah squealed with laughter, hugging her older sister tightly before being set back down on the floor and smiling up at Rachel. Santana smiled at the sisters, leaning over to kiss the top of Sarah's head, and then straightened out Rachel's dress, which she had mussed when she had spun the little girl around. The older girls sent Sarah to tell Mr. Berry that Rachel would be downstairs soon, and then Rachel turned to Santana with a sudden light in her eyes, as if she had just remembered something.

"Oh! San, can you do me a favor?" She asked, looking through one of her drawers quickly before pulling out a letter triumphantly, moving to her desk and pouring wax on the seam to seal it, pressing the stamp with her seal on the hot wax. When she pulled it off, she smiled at the monogrammed RB with the songbird flying through the top of the R that was now embedded in the wax.

Rachel let it cool for a second, then handed it to Santana, motioning towards the taller girl's apron pocket. "You're going to see Finn today, aren't you?" Santana blushed at that, trying to shake her head, not wanting to seem unprofessional suddenly, but Rachel laughed, waving her off. "Finn knows I know, San. Give that to him, please? My father has officially rejected his suit and he'll be receiving a notice soon, but I wanted to let him know first." Rachel grinned at that. "Which means he'll be free to move on to court you, San." She raised her eyebrows suggestively.

Santana and Finn had been dancing around each other for a whole month and a half earlier that year, when he had first been introduced to Rachel. His mother had been hoping for a match with him and the young Berry heiress, but it had been clear from the get go that they had no chemistry whatsoever. Rachel had liked Finn though, and they became fast friends. Santana, meanwhile, hadn't been able to take her eyes off the bumbling and adorable boy, who was too tall and had no idea what to do with himself half the time. It was love at first sight, or as close to love as Santana ever felt. Finn, for his part, hadn't been able to stop thinking about the exotic maid who had been serving food and drink to the two young people and their chaperones. He hadn't missed the way she and Rachel had winked at one another when they thought no one was looking, nor the way she had stared at him for a good minute before realizing he was watching her. She had blushed a dark red and he had smiled, trying not to blush as well but failing pretty miserably. It was all over for him then.

Rachel had noticed on the second meeting, when Santana had lurked in the back of the room, filling glasses with ice a little too slowly, arranging things on the plates more carefully than usual. Finn kept glancing at the Spanish girl, and Rachel pieced two and two together quickly, smirking at both of them mischievously and feeling an idea come to her. She had taken a walk with Finn later and conveniently forgotten to get her wrap. When she realized it, Santana had turned to go back inside and get it, but Rachel had beaten her to the door. When she came back out five minutes later, Finn was smiling, Santana was laughing, and the rest was history.

They had been seeing each other for over three months now, after the month and a half of Rachel pushing them together at every opportunity. Now that she had convinced her father to drop Finn's suit and intentions towards Rachel, it gave Finn the perfect excuse to start courting San properly, which would lead to marriage, sooner or later. Finn's mother was understanding, and his father adored him and knew his son would never do something without thinking it through. His logic might not have been the most sound, but Rachel knew he was in love with Santana and wanted to be with her. She was excited for both of them now that they could move forward.

Santana's eyes lit up and she grabbed the envelope, kissing Rachel's cheek quickly so as not to muss her dress, and then grinned. "Rachel, you have no idea what this means to me!"

Rachel laughed, sweeping past Santana and heading for the door. "Believe me, San, I do. I'll see you this afternoon, won't I?" Santana nodded, rolling her eyes as she tucked the letter into her apron and let her hair out of the low bun it had been in all morning, letting it fall over her shoulders.

"Of course you will, Rachel, I'll be back as soon as your spawn of the devil grandmother leaves. I'll tell Finn you said hello." She smirked and followed Rachel out of the room, detouring to take the back stairs, waving at her friend over her shoulder before leaving the house. She ran lightly across the back grounds, heading for the gardener's workshop/greenhouse that was near the back, arriving there in moments, and looked around quickly before heading inside.

Santana looked around again, her eyes lighting on a young man near the back, who was picking up a shovel and hefting it over his shoulder easily, his back and arm muscles rippling. She waited for him to turn, laughing loudly at the way he jumped and swore crudely upon seeing her, running a hand over his hair, which was shaved close to the scalp.

"Damn it, San, warn a guy next time, okay? There's a reason people knock." He said, his voice rough. She just rolled her eyes at him, smiling.

"Hey Puckerman. I have something for you." She reached into her apron and pulled out a gold coin, tossing it at him, watching his eyes widen when he caught it and saw what it was. Before he could ask, she smiled sheepishly. "I owe you one for getting Finn to talk to me back when he was stranded with me in the garden. He's..." She smiled again, pure happiness lighting up her features. "His courtship of Rachel has been nullified. I'm on my way to see him now. So thanks again, Puckerman." Her expression shifted back into her trademark smirk. "Try not to use that on a whore tonight...at least...not a cheap one." She left quickly, laughing as he swore at her again, then grinned when he called out his thanks. She turned back around quickly, watching him pocket the money carefully and then continued to get back to his work.

Santana had known Noah Puckerman for as long as she could remember, and they had been best friends from the time she could walk. He was like a brother to her, and he had been instrumental in getting Finn to talk to her the first time. Noah and Finn had been friends for a while; they had met in a bar one night when Finn was feeling low, and Noah had kept the pickpockets away from him. His act of kindness (which he would readily admit was rare for him) had landed him a friendship with Finn Hudson, who had gotten him the job on the Berry household's grounds. He was now able to support his mother and his younger sister, and he was beyond grateful to Finn for giving him this opportunity, but his association with the upper class man had done nothing to improve his rough and tumble attitude. He was still as much of a jerk as he had been when he and Santana were children, but he had a soft side that she thought was adorable when he was with her and Finn.

As Santana watched Noah get to work on one section of the garden, thinking about how she wouldn't be this happy right now if it weren't for Finn, Noah, and Rachel, she realized that Rachel had never met Noah. She was mildly surprised at that, as Rachel and Finn were good friends, and she and Rachel were best friends, and it just seemed to Santana that if Rachel and Noah had been the ones to bring her and Finn together, maybe they should meet. The protective part of her balked at the idea of introducing her naive and innocent friend to her selfish and rough, womanizing friend, but the longer she thought about it the more sense it made. She headed off the grounds quickly and made her way to the Hudson residence, just a few blocks away from the Berry household, and formulated a plan as she went. Maybe nothing would come of it, but at the very least, she wouldn't have to lie to Rachel about where she was going when she left early to go to a bar with Noah, and maybe this would get Rachel out of the house more often, as now she would have someone to talk to in the gardens.

Smiling to herself, pleased with the idea, Santana made her way to the back entrance of Finn's house, knocking on the kitchen door and waiting for someone to let her in so she could deliver him the good news.

Thank you so much for reading! Please review, let me know if you have any requests or comments!

xoxo,

Meyx