Day 3- University Roommates
Pairings: Pezberry
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or 7 Eleven
This story is unbeta'd and my first language isn't English
Santana hated her roommate. But there were no way the University would let her change rooms. Sure she had complained about it several times, but the administration had just told her to go to bed earlier. Apparently the problem would automatically be solved by Santana being awake herself, when her roommate got up. Because really that was the problem with Santana's roommate, her constant need to wake up Santana early in the morning, way too fucking early!
At the beginning of her first year, Santana didn't seem to have a problem with the other girl. She was quiet and kept to her side of the room. However three weeks into their first semester, Santana had finally found out why this girl was named after Barbara Streisand, because Rachel Barbara Berry couldn't stop singing, especially in the morning. It would start with her humming a tune, usually so low that Santana wouldn't wake up, but at the end she would belt out the lyrics totally forgetting all about her roommate, especially that she was asleep. It usually ended with Santana jumping out of her bed, shouting bloody murder and threatening to decapitate the other girl. Rachel would squeak out in fear and sprint out of the room, in an attempt to get away from the livid girl.
But really that was the only reason Santana couldn't stand Rachel, other then the abrupt wake-up calls, her roommate was pretty decent. She was really tidy, way more than Santana, whose side of the room more often than not looked like it had been bombed. Still Rachel wouldn't nag her about it. Though Santana had a sneaking suspicion that instead, her roommate used a tactic of rewarding her with home-made sugar cookies, if Santana decided to clean her side of the room. So yeah maybe Santana cleaned more than she usually would have done, but to be fair those cookies tasted so good, that it almost felt like her mouth was having an orgasm.
So when the second year rolled around, Santana's friends were all surprised that she hadn't applied for a room change. Especially considering how much she had been complaining about the other girl. Not even her roommate, who had been constantly threatened with death each day by Santana, had asked for a change of room. The second year proved to be the same as the first. Santana constantly complaining to her friends about this crazy drama chick, she was living with, that wouldn't stop singing. But still when one of her best friends got an opening in her room and offered Santana a place to live, Santana had declined. Giving her a rather lame excuse about all the hassle with moving all her stuff, even if it technically was only one floor above where she was currently living. So you couldn't really blame Santana's friends for not really believing her, when she kept whining about er insane roommate.
However everything changed when Santana entered her third year. She had been expecting to see Rachel's stuff on the other side of the room, since the other girl usually had a tendency to arrive a day or two before Santana. But when Santana opened the door, Rachel's side of the room was surprisingly empty. Santana tried not to think about why she felt so let down by the sight, but concluded that Rachel probably for once was late.
Still the feeling just seemed to get worse, when there was no sign of Rachel for the next three days. On the fourth day Santana marched up to the administration, to demand to know where her roommate was, not that she cared about Rachel in any way. Though she couldn't help her heart from plummeting down into her stomach, when the receptionist told her that Rachel had dropped out. Santana almost clawed the poor woman's eyes out, when she refused to tell her the reason why.
The sight of the empty bed on the other side of the room was driving Santana crazy. Even if she should be happy that she could finally wake up on her own accord, she still couldn't let Rachel's sudden and unexpected exit from the University go. She could vividly remember how much Rachel had talked about the upcoming play, that the third year drama students were going to put on this year, because she had been so excited about trying to get the lead role. So why would she suddenly drop out? Santana needed answers, but again not because she cared or anything like that.
She managed to track down Rachel's campus friends, which she had briefly seen before. But no one could tell her why Rachel had dropped out, not even when threatened by imminent death. So clearly there was only one option left. Santana had to find Rachel, so she could talk to her face to face.
It turned out to be harder than Santana had thought it would be. First off she only remembered that Rachel was from some hick town in Ohio, and really that just described every town in Ohio in Santana's opinion. After another round of threats to Rachel's friends, she only got the same result, Rachel was from Ohio.
The school administration was once again no help, because they could apparently not hand out sensitive information like that, to anyone that wasn't family. So Santana had to bribe the student assistant at the administration, to get Rachel's home address. It cost her a fortune, because that guy was smart as fuck and knew that Santana's parents had the cash to spare. Santana swore to get him back for taking advantage of her. Not that she cared about the money, she had plenty, but no one took advantage of Santana-Motherfucking-Lopez! But that would have to wait till later, because she had finally found out where Rachel was from. She lived in a small town called Lima.
To make sure she was cool with leaving the University, Santana came up with a lie about her sick Aunt, who was lying on her death bed. Even if all her Aunts were way too young for that, or even remotely sick. With her alibi secured, Santana hopped on the first flight to Lima Ohio.
After the long trip, Santana wasn't angry at all, when she finally arrive to find an empty house. She was about to kick down the door, when a friendly elderly neighbor asked who she was looking for. After a quick explanation the clearly nosy neighbor, told Santana that the Berry family had moved away last month. Thankfully she was able to tell Santana, before the younger girl started crying in defeat, that she had been such a good neighbor that she knew that the Berry's had moved down-town to an apartment complex. But when it turned out that she didn't know which one, Santana wanted to drop kick the fake smile off her face.
She was about to turn around to head back to her waiting taxi, when the annoying older woman suddenly told her that she whoever knew where the daughter was working. Santana had to count to ten not to run up to her and shake the information out of her, to get her to speed up. The second Santana got the location however, she ran to the taxi. Not even bothering to spare the other woman a thank you. The last she heard was a loud "How rude, kids nowadays!" before she slammed the taxi door shut, and shouting for the driver to get a move on.
When the taxi arrived outside a 7 Eleven a few minutes later, Santana started wondering why Rachel's family had moved in the first place, and why Rachel had dropped out of Uni to work at a convenience store. However Santana's sight was still on the prize, so she didn't bother to stop to consider if she had any business barging in on Rachel like she was about to do.
Instead Santana confidently strutted inside the store, where she was immediately greeted by the sight of Rachel in a red uniform. Santana almost laughed at the sight, but Rachel's eyes looked so sad that Santana quickly reconsidered doing so. She waited till Rachel had finished with her costumer, before she approached.
To say that Rachel was surprised to see Santana, would have been an understatement. The minute she lay eyes on her former roommate, she squeaked out "Santana!?" before she ran around the counter and tackled Santana into a surprisingly firm bear hug. When the hug ended, both girls where surprisingly shy. Santana was staring at the ceiling, while Rachel was fiercely blushing and looking at her shoes. Until Santana remembered why she was there in the first place, and suddenly some of the anger she had felt came flooding back.
"Why didn't you tell me that you were going to quite?!" Rachel almost took a step back, because of the sudden burst of anger. Her usual "flight or die" response also kicked in, so she almost ran for the door, but then she remembered where they were. She turned around to a younger guy, who was clad in the same uniform as her.
"Stephen I'm taking my break, take over the cash register." Stephen, whose face was covered in pimples, looked at Rachel like he worshiped the ground she walked on. He obediently ran to the register, like a well trained dog. Santana felt a mix of wanting to puke and kicking his ass for looking at Rachel the way he was. But she quickly forgot all about him, when Rachel grabbed her hand and dragged her to the back of the shop, into a break room. Rachel's hand was so soft. Santana immediately missed the feeling, when Rachel let go.
"What are you doing here Santana?" What kind of question was that? Rachel was in no place to ask questions, Santana was the only one with that right.
"That has nothing to do with this. I asked you a question first. Why did you drop out?" It seemed like all the air in Rachel spilled out. She dropped down onto a chair nearby. She looked utterly defeated. Santana's angry expression finally changed into one of concern. "Please Rachel just tell me why you dropped out." When Rachel finally looked up at Santana, her eyes were brimming with tears.
"I couldn't afford it." Well that was not what Santana had expected, but it suddenly made sense. Rachel dropping out off school, her family moving from a house to an apartment and Rachel working at a convenience store. Santana's tone was surprisingly soft when she asked. "What happened?" Rachel was fruitlessly trying to dry her tears away.
"My dads lost their jobs, so they couldn't afford to maintain the mortgage on the house, or pay my intuition at the University. We had to sell the house and move into a small two bedroom apartment, but they still couldn't afford to send me back to school. So I had to drop out." Rachel gestured towards the door. "I'm working here to help them out, while they are trying to get back on their feet. They have promised to send me back to finish school, whenever they get new jobs, but to be honest it looks like there aren't any jobs available for them. So I have given up hope of being able to return." Rachel looked devastated.
Santana's heart was bleeding for her. She wanted to take Rachel into her arms and tell her that everything would be fine. But wouldn't that be a lie? Santana couldn't guarantee that Rachel's parents would find a job, or that Rachel would ever be able to return to their University. Or maybe she could? Santana quickly fished up her smartphone and scrolled around for a while, among other to check out her bank account.
Rachel was curiously watching her, not understanding why Santana was there in the first place. Or why she had demanded to hear the truth, and then didn't seem to care about the answer. Rachel was almost about to ask Santana to just leave if she didn't care, but then Santana spoke with a determine tone.
"Okay, this is how we're going to do this. I'm going to pay your intuition, so you can return to school. I can't do anything about your dads being out off work, but I will ask my dad if he possibly have some openings at his firm for the two of them, but that would mean that your dads would have to move." Rachel just looked at Santana with disbelief written all over her face, her mouth was wide open. When she didn't move or say anything, Santana started to tap her feet impatiently. "I don't have all day Rachel. Usually when someone offers to bail you out of a dump like this, the correct response is Yes please! and Thank you!" Rachel blinked her eyes and shook her head.
"Why would you do that?" Santana rolled her eyes.
"Who cares why I'm doing this. Just say yes and let's go!" Santana had turned around heading for the door, expecting Rachel to follow, but she was suddenly stopped dead in her track by Rachel's reply.
"Then I have to decline." Santana turned around, anger clearly visible on her face.
"What? You have to decline?! I didn't travel across the country for you to say no! Why in the world would you say no?! I'm offering you the chance to fulfill your dream! You know the one you kept going on and on about back at Uni, the one where you are going to be on Broadway?! Why on earth would you say no!" Rachel almost fell off her chair, but she bravely stood up and faced Santana head on.
"I have never asked you for anything! You don't owe me anything! So why should I just out of the blue accept this from you? I don't want to be constantly reminded how I owe you for saving my ass! I don't want you to be able to hold this over my head for the rest of my life. If I'm going to make it, it will be because of my talent and my drive, not because you suddenly felt sorry for me and my family!" Rachel was standing so close that she was almost touching Santana's nose with her own. When she finally realized how close she had gotten, she quickly took two steps back, not meeting Santana's gaze.
Santana sighed. "Does it look like I'm pitying you? Because I'm not? Sure it sucks that your dads lost their jobs, and that you can't go back to school because of it, but that's life." Santana waited till Rachel finally looked at her, then she gave her stern look. "Now here's the deal, I'm giving you a choice to do something about it, or you can stay here to rot for the rest of your life. Not that I care which one you chose." But suddenly Santana's featured softened. "If you really think that I will hold this over your head for the rest of your life, then you are dead wrong. However if it will make you feel better about taking my offer, then we can work out some type of deal. One where you'll pay me back everything you owe me, when you make it on Broadway. Because I'm pretty sure you nagged on and on about that fact for at least a million times. Or where you just bragging about being able to sing and act?" Rachel's mouth fell open again, but this time in indignation.
"I will make it on Broadway! I can sing and act better than anyone that is currently staring there! I am the best actress and singer Broadway will ever have seen! They will beg me to star in their plays! The audience will love me! I am the best!" Rachel was almost out off breath at the end of her angry rant. When she was finished she suddenly looked guilty. Rachel was about to say something else, but Santana held up her hand.
"No don't take it back. That's the spirit that will make sure you'll succeed at getting your wish come true. So do we have a deal? I'll pay your intuition and whatever else you need to finish your third year. In exchange you will bake me your sugar cookies whenever I want them-" Santana was smiling wickedly at this. Rachel rolled her eyes, but smiled back non the less. "-and of course when you make it on Broadway, something we both know you will, you'll pay back whatever you owe me. As a bonus I'll talk to my dad about finding jobs for your dads. He might even know some guys in Lima, who could be able to offer your dads jobs, in case they don't want to move. So what do you say, want to catch the first flight out of her to go back to school?" Suddenly Santana found herself in yet another bear hug. She could barely hear Rachel's reply of "please take me with you." Before a huge smile took over Santana's features. She had finally achieved what she had come for.
The first morning after the two of them had returned to school. After Santana had been forced to stay in Lima for two days, so Rachel could get ready to leave for Uni. Santana was once more woken up by Rachel's singing. Instead of doing their usual dance of Santana jumping up and screaming her head off, scaring Rachel out of the room. Santana pretended to still be asleep, just listening to Rachel sing. She couldn't help smiling to herself, even if Rachel once more had managed to wake her up. It was only years later, when Rachel surprised Santana by kissing her after her successful Broadway debut, that Santana realized that what she was feeling in that moment was love.
