Santana sighed as she heard the doorbell ring. She had just sat down with her brother in her lap and did not want to stand back up again. Ricky looked up at her with a smile, reaching up to cup her cheeks with his tiny hands, making her face look like a fish.

"Stop that, silly." she said, pretending to be angry. "I'll answer the door, don't worry." She stood up and carried him to the door. "Can I help y-" She stopped talking as she saw Rachel on the other side of the door.

"Hi…" Rachel trailed off, waving awkwardly.

"What's up?" Santana asked, smiling slightly.

"I… I just wanted to thank you for defending me earlier… to Quinn."

"You heard that? Were you eavesdropping?" Santana asked. Rachel shook her head.

"No, not all. I was packing up all of my stuff and you guys were yelling. I promise." she said. Santana nodded.

"It was no problem." she said as Ricky rested his head on her shoulder. Rachel smiled.

"Is that your brother?" she asked. Santana nodded. "Hi." Rachel said softly, waving at the boy. Santana smiled as her brother looked up at her.

"Say hi to Rachel, Ricky," she said softly.

"Hi." he said, tucking his head into Santana's shoulder. Rachel looked up at Santana, trying to hide her hurt.

"Don't take it personally. He's really shy." Santana said. Rachel nodded. "Do you want to come in?"

"Oh I couldn't-"

"Rachel." Santana said softly. Rachel smiled softly. She had never heard Santana say her first name without turning it into some kind of insult, but she'd already done it twice in two minutes.

"Sure." she said, smiling at the boy as she walked into the house.

"So you were just in the neighborhood?" Santana teased. Rachel blushed. "It's all good, Rachel. I was kinda lonely anyway. Homeboy over here isn't gonna be up much longer."

"Well, actually, Summer's baby sitter lives down the street from you and I was on my way to pick her up when I remembered that you live here and I wanted to thank you. I thought you'd appreciate it more if I didn't have a child in tow." Rachel admitted. Santana laughed.

"Did you forget about my brother?"

"For a second, I did." Santana smiled.

"Are your dads home?" Rachel shook her head.

"They're both working late tonight, so it's just me and my cousin." Santana nodded.

"Do you want to hang out here for awhile? I could order some dinner and we could do homework or practice stuff for Glee Club," she offered. Rachel smiled.

"I would love to, but much like your brother, Summer is going to be falling asleep soon, so I'm going to have to get her home so she has a place to sleep," she said.

"We have an extra crib. My cousin crashed with us for a couple of months after his wife left him and his daughter. My dad never took it out of Ricky's room when he finally got back on his feet. I think it was one of those just in case things. Anyway, Summer is welcome to sleep in it until you go home, if you want." Rachel smiled softly.

"That sounds great, Santana. Thanks."

"No problem." Santana said. Rachel nodded.

"In that case, I'm going to go get her from the baby sitter," she said, standing up.

"Wait… What do you want for dinner? We can order from Breadstix or wherever."

"Breadstix is fine." Rachel said, writing down her order on a piece of paper.

"I have food for Summer if she's hungry." Santana said. Rachel smiled and nodded.

"Thanks. I'll be right back." Santana smiled and looked down at Ricky as the front door shut.

"Guess you're making a new friend tonight,' she said, tickling her brother.


"Santana, it's getting late. I should be getting Summer home." Rachel said three hours later. Santana was definitely surprised to find herself disappointed.

"Oh… Yea, I understand," she said, trying to hide her strange disappointment. Rachel smiled slightly and nodded. "Uh, wait. Um… Dance Moms comes on tonight. Do you watch it?"

"Uh, no. The only reality television show that I watch is American Idol." Rachel said. Santana nodded slowly.

"Oh. I was gonna say that if you wanted to stay and watch it, you could, but that's cool. I'll just watch it later. I'm sort of obsessed with reality television," she said.

"I'd love to stay and watch it. But then I really do have to go." Rachel said. Honestly, she was shocked that Santana hadn't kicked her out yet. She was just trying to leave before things got awkward between the two of them, but if Santana wanted her to stay, then she would stay.

"Cool. It starts in about ten minutes if you wanted to get something to drink or something."

"That sounds great." Rachel said, going into the kitchen. "Do you want me to get you a water bottle or something?"

"Yea, that sounds good. Thanks." Santana said, smiling to herself.


"That woman is awful." Rachel said when it was over. Santana laughed.

"Yea, she is."

"And those mothers are not much better!"

"That's the whole point of the show, Rachel! It's like a being around four Judy Fabrays!" Rachel laughed.

"I haven't spent that much time around Mrs. Fabray, but I think I would have to agree with you on that one," she said. Santana smiled. "This has been fun. I had a really good time."

"So did I." Santana said honestly. Rachel smiled and stood up. "Do you need help with Summer's stuff?"

"That'd be great. Thanks." Rachel said, smiling shyly as they went and got all of the stuff Rachel had brought. Santana carried the bags while Rachel carried the sleeping child. "Thanks for letting me stay and hang out." Rachel said after putting Summer in her car seat.

"Yea, no problem. We're friends, right?" Santana said. Rachel nodded and tentatively hugged Santana.

"Oh... And thanks for calling me Rachel. I'm so used to hearing my last name when I'm talking to you. It's nice." Santana shrugged.

"Again, we're friends. I generally call my friends by their first names, with the exception of Puck." she said. Rachel nodded. "If you're lucky, you'll get a shortening of your name."

"I guess I have something to look forward to." Rachel teased. Santana laughed and nodded.

"I'll see you in school tomorrow." she said.

"What are you going to do for the rest of the night?" Rachel asked.

"I think there's a Jersey Shore marathon on. Another unhealthy obsession." Santana said, chuckling. Rachel laughed.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Santana." she said, getting in her car.


Santana reluctantly took her eyes off of the television screen to check the text message she'd just gotten.

New Message

Berry

Biting her lip, Santana quickly changed Rachel's name in her phone.

New Message

Rachel :)

She wasn't quite sure what it was about Rachel, but something about the girl made Santana feel something she'd only previously felt with Brittany. She was pretty sure she liked how she felt when she was around Rachel.

Speaking of Rachel...

New Message

Rachel :)

Decided to watch Jersey Shore… I can't believe you watch this regularly. - R

Santana smiled as she replied.

Not regularly. RELIGIOUSLY. There's a big difference. I gotta go though, this episode is getting good. SPOILER ALERT: Snooki gets punched. – S

Good night, Santana. – R

Night Rachel. – S