"You know, since you don't live here anymore, you really shouldn't have keys to get in." Santana says in a matter-of-fact tone of voice as she shrugs her coat off and watches Rachel going through kitchen cupboards. She had just gotten off work at the diner and was really, really looking forward to having a peaceful night at the apartment while Kurt was out watching a show with the other theatre freaks. She's actually in a pretty decent mood until she sees Rachel and she builds herself up for another one of their spats.
Rachel doesn't even look up from her task and just continues rummaging through the cupboards, "My name is still on the lease, which means I still have every right to come in as I please." She mutters with just as much mockery as Santana's comment.
"Ah, here it is." The shorter girl says, holding up a black mug with gold stars painted on it.
Santana folds her arms across her chest and leans against one of the counters, "You came all the way here for a mug?"
"It's my favorite mug and Elliot only has one for himself at the apartment." Rachel mumbles, grabs her coat, still not looking at the taller girl and makes her way toward the front door.
Santana rolls her eyes, pushes herself off the counter and makes her way towards her side of the loft, a little surprised that Rachel's not even bothering to start another fight.
She ditches the diner uniform and into something more comfortable when she hears Rachel cursing under her breath and Santana peaks out of her curtain and sees Rachel trying - and very much failing—to slide the loft door open.
"Santana! I told you guys to get the super to fix this damn thing!" Rachel yells out while she puts her bag down with the mug and tries to yank the big metal door open again.
Santana lets out a deep breath and pulls open her curtain, watching Rachel in slight amusement.
Rachel puffs out another breath and looks back at her ex-friend, "It's not opening." She manages, her hand still on the handle.
"Move out of the way, Gidget." Santana mutters out and tries to open the door herself.
After a few seconds of cursing and pulling and failing, Santana kicks the metal door and lets out a sigh.
"Yeah, it's stuck." The Latina says looking up at the door, hands on her hips.
"You think?" Rachel spits out, earning her a glare from Santana. She pulls out her phone, dials the super's number and waits for an answer and all she gets is his voicemail. "You have got to be kidding me."
Santana shrugs. She's tired, and really isn't in the mood for this and even with all the clever and witty comments she has for the Hobbit in front of her, she makes her way to the living room and plops herself down onto the couch, "Looks like you're stuck here for a while, Berry." She mutters, picking up the remote and turning the TV on.
"I'm calling Kurt." Rachel says, panic starting to surface in her voice.
Santana shakes her head and lets out another sigh, "Have at it."
Suddenly, the two girls hear Katy Perry's Roar coming from Kurt's side of the loft and Santana hears Rachel groan from where she was standing.
"Please tell me that's not Kurt's phone ringing in his room." Rachel says with a big strain in her voice.
Santana shrugs, "Sure as hell isn't mine."
The taller girl is sure that Rachel's about to have an aneurism from the thought of being stuck in the loft with her but all she notices is Rachel shrug off her coat and sits on the infamous chair Santana dragged in almost a year ago.
The two girls sit in silence for a while and Santana's pretending not to notice Rachel glancing at her every few minutes until she hears the shorter girl clear her throat forcefully and Santana points the remote at the TV and turns it off.
"Alright, you know what? Just say what you need to say, Rachel. Let's just get this crap over with." She spits out, turning her body so she's facing the other girl.
Rachel doesn't even flinch, just crosses her legs and keeps her eyes on the TV. "I have nothing else to say to you, Santana. But if you're ready to apologize, now is the best time."
She doesn't even realize she's standing up until Rachel's eyes are finally fixed on her, "Are you fucking kidding me, Berry?" She yells out, "I have nothing to apologize for! When are you going to get that through your thick and incredibly ginormous skull?"
Rachel just looks at her without any emotion, so Santana sits back down onto the couch and takes a deep breath. "I wasn't trying to take the damn spotlight from you, or sabotage your Broadway dreams. So when you decide to get over your goddamn ego, let me know."
They sit in uncomfortable silence for another few minutes and Santana's almost tempted to just go down the fire escape and be as far away from Rachel Berry as possible, but she just got a new weave in and she knows how windy it's been outside today, and just screw that.
"What exactly are you trying to accomplish then?" Rachel finally mumbles out and Santana side eyes her for a small second before crossing her arms against her chest.
"I just needed something, okay? I needed to prove to myself that I'm worth more than that commercial; that I can do better." She mutters, her eyes finding Rachel's again, "You were being so supportive and cool and I mean…I knew you'd get pissed at first but I thought you'd just get the fuck over it and actually get excited that we'd be working together since you used to love that shit in glee club."
Rachel chews on her bottom lip as she listens to Santana speak and she will never say it out loud, but she's mentally face palming herself for being so self-absorbed…which she's usually totally fine with but it almost cost her this friendship which she now realizes is actually real and genuine.
Santana finally looks at her and takes a deep breath, "Look, I know how serious you're going to be taking this, and I knew that the only performances I would be doing would be during rehearsals, but that's still a big deal to me, Rachel. That's still something I could put on paper that I accomplished."
Rachel nods her head slowly and looks down at her lap and then back at her friend who's looking at her expectedly.
"Are you going to say something?" Santana asks softly.
The smaller girl opens her mouth and closes it again, letting out a breath and then moves to the couch next to the Latina.
"I'm going to hug you now, okay?" Rachel says softly, and she can see a small smile tug at the corner of Santana's lips, so she takes that as a green light and wraps her arms around her friend. She closes her eyes when she feels Santana's arms wrap around her as well.
"I've missed you." She chokes out and she can hear Santana let out a small laugh.
The taller girl pulls away softly and feels Rachel's hand in hers, "Well to my surprise, I kind of missed you too, dwarfling."