kid2150: Yes Brittany is in the Cheerios, and I've decided that Quinn is as well, however Santana is defiantly off the squad.

100ways, Smudje, sawa255: thank you all for the reviews, it really means something to know that someone is taking an interest in this story.

Rachel's POV

The only way to find out someone's true motives is to go right to the source. I had tried that with Santana but it didn't look like she was going to budge. I just needed the next best thing, and that was Brittany. Sure the blonde wasn't the brightest little star, but she was sweet and unlike Quinn I could actually approach her without any fear. The only problem would be getting her alone, without Santana, and getting her to comprehend what I was asking. Which brings me to the second problem. What was I asking? I knew something was going on with Santana, but I didn't know if it had anything to do with the way she was treating me.

"Hi Brittany." I said tapping her on the shoulder. Before I could get another word out of my mouth she was gripping me in a tight embrace for no apparent reason. "Brittany, I can't breathe." She let go of me and I nearly fell to the floor I was so exasperated.

"Hi Rachel." She said with the undoubtedly pure smile. "Did you shrink? You look shorter today." I looked down to see that the blonde was wearing boots which increased her height by about two inches. I wondered if Sue would say something about the boots not going with the uniform, but who could really get angry at the ditsy girl?

"Um…maybe, but that's not what I wanted to talk about. It's about Santana." Brittany nodded but then quickly looked to the ground like she was about to say something she wasn't supposed to. "She's been acting differently lately, has she told you anything?"

"I'm not supposed to say." Brittany muttered before turning quickly on her heels and practically running away from me. I stood there with my mouth agape not really knowing what to do. I'd ruined both my plans and there was now no other way of figuring things out.

"Hey Rach, what's going on? Why were you just talking to Brittany? And why did she run away? Did you use too many big words?" Kurt asked linking our arms so I was now forced to walk in stride with him.

"No, I asked her what was going on with Santana." I told him truthfully.

"Why do you want to know about Satan…I mean Santana." Kurt questioned as we stumbled into the noisy science classroom. We took our normal seats next to each other right up front partially waiting for Mr. Wilson, but also trying to continue our conversation. "Is this about the solo?" No it wasn't just about the solo, it was more about her than I thought. I cared about the Latina; we needed her ready for sectionals if we had any chance at winning. No, this wasn't even about sectionals, it was about the way she saved me and how she thought that I deserved better than Finn. Deep down inside she must care about me, she has to.

"Yes that's what it's about precisely." I lied adverting my gaze away from Kurt. I looked up and caught Santana walking in with Puck right behind her as they took their seat at the table beside Kurt and I.

"Okay class, this experiment involves groups of four, so you can stay with your lab partner, but please pair up with another group." The words were barley out of Mr. Wilson's mouth before I was tugging Kurt over to Puck and Santana's table.

"Hey Noah, Jews have to stick together right?" I asked with a perky smile, mostly directed at Santana but Noah grinned back. Kurt was too busy looking at me like I had gone mad to actually object to this pairing, and Santana seemed very indifferent.

"Shalom." Noah responded with a smile.

Although this was clearly supposed to be a group assignment, Kurt and Noah were mostly doing all the work while I was reading off the directions and bossing them around. Santana was leaning on the table face in her hands starring off into space mostly. I was completely focused on her, the way she pushed her hair back out of her face and always had that slight pout on her lips and how she never moved from that exact spot.

"…the next direction…Rachel…Rachel!" I turned just in time to see Kurt and Puck holding onto their goggles and trying to get my attention quickly. I saw that the bubbles in our tube were raising rapidly and I searched the paper I was holding in my hands for the next step. Now where did I stop off?

"Give me that!" Santana said snatching the paper from me and quickly glancing over it. "Add HCL." She said calmly before handing the sheet back to me. "Distracted?" She questions in a laid back voice that's only a little over a whisper. I looked into her eyes and knew that this wasn't the ideal place to ask her, but I wasn't ready to chase her down again. "Rachel what's wrong?" Anytime she used my first name I became instantly flustered. There was something so genuine about it that distracted me from everything, but her.

"Is there something going on with you? I've noticed a change; maybe something happened at home-." Even though the boys weren't paying attention to us, Santana certainly felt conscious of others around. She grabbed my wrist tightly and pulled me over so that we were standing side by side. She looked around and then her eyes darkened and she glared seemingly right through me.

"Berry, stop being so damn nosy. Nothing is going on with me, so just leave it okay." Santana said this so quickly that I almost missed it. Why was she so angry? And why didn't she just bash me in front of the whole class? She could've called me ugly or a stupid midget and walked away but instead she stood next to me for the rest of the class period.

I know she told me to leave her alone, but let's be honest here. This rejection would only make me more curious. So I did what I'd been doing for the past two days. I rushed to catch up to her and followed closely behind. "I've got an idea." I told her as she was piling food onto her lunch tray. I settled for a salad and followed her to a seat where it was only the two of us.

"What's your idea?" I didn't expect her to actually respond so it was a very nice surprise.

"You can help me pick out a song for sectionals." I offered still keeping my smile bright. I didn't want her to get scared away so I added, "it'll be fun I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep." Santana mumbled before eating a few fries. "Will you stop asking questions about me? Or bothering Brittany with your curiosity?" I guess I should have expected the blonde to tell Santana about my inquiries, but I didn't think Santana would be this calm about it.

"Of course." I lied though my teeth.

"Fine, tomorrow, I'll be at your house at eight." And with that Santana pulled out a paper bag and shoved the rest of the food she had gotten for lunch in there and left me sitting there alone.

Santana's POV

I cannot believe I was doing this. This was defiantly a new level of low, but Rachel promised that if I came she would stop asking about me, and that's all I really wanted. So maybe we'll just sit in her living room listening to old Streisand albums and randomly pick a song. That'll be it, that'll probably take like ten minutes and I'll be out of there.

I parked on the street just in case I had to make a quick getaway and I walked up Rachel's porch and rang the doorbell. My finger was barley off the button when the door flew open and Rachel was standing there. She was wearing her usual animal argyle sweater and short skirt with knee-high socks. It was a Friday night; didn't she ever get tired of those clothes?

"Welcome to my home Santana." I rolled my eyes at the girl's formalities and stood their awkwardly waiting for her to move out of the way so that I could actually walk inside. "If you would please remove your shoes, I'm sorry being so strict regarding the house rules, but my father's are not home and I would like to maintain our family trust." I walked past Rachel and took off my shoes, placing them neatly on the rug. Without my permission Rachel grabbed my hand and dragged me up the stairs as I was looking around and trying to take it all in.

Rachel's house, wasn't just your typical one, it was a home. A real home. It was warm and comfy and there were family photos everywhere. As we walked into Rachel's room the bright colors hit me as overdramatic at first, but then when I saw how many gold stars she had in there I couldn't help but smile a little.

"This is ridiculous." I mumbled to myself. Rachel didn't notice, but she did grab about twenty CD's and lay them out on her bed.

"Now, as you know, my voice is flawless, which means that I've got to delve deeper into my talents to bring a different and distinct emotional performance. I want to find a song that is beautiful and dramatic, now I know your voice isn't nearly as amazing as mine, but I'd still like your input on this." Yep that was Rachel, never out of subtle insults to someone's voice.

"Why don't you do a Streisand song and call it a day?" I offered weakly.

"Because everyone expects that."

"Fine, if you want something out there, and something no one expects you might as well do Crazy on You by Heart." I offered sitting down on her queen sized bed.

"But that song is so gritty and-." I cut off Rachel before she could finish, which was almost a habit by now.

"Unexpected." I finished for her. "Now I think my work here is done." I stretched out my arms, reaching them high above my head. Right then was the moment that I knew I'd made a mistake. My shirt had lifted up slightly and Rachel's face paled. I yanked my shirt down and looked away from her hoping that she would just keep her mouth shut for once.

"Santana!" She yelled clearly unable to control her voice as it cracked loudly.

"Rachel don't." I said pushing her hands away from me and standing up. "Just please…please don't." I didn't know what to do, so I did what I do best, I ran.