This is for my lovely fiance, Maddy. She's wonderful. And I'm sorry if this makes you sad.
Also, I own nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Except Maddy's heart.
Rose and everyone else in the choir room clapped for Rachel as she finished yet another solo, bowed and moved to take her seat next to Finn. For the past few days, Rose had been stuck inside her own head, thinking about that text message she had seen on Shelby's phone. Rose knew Ellen from school; she was a year younger than Shelby and herself. She was about five feet and seven inches tall, with a blonde hair that was cut into a pixie style and big brown eyes. Rose had to admit that she was very pretty. Which made her angrier the more she thought about her being alone with Shelby. After rehearsal Blaine decided to drive Kurt home, leaving his sister in need of a ride home. She walked up to where Santana was pulling her different school books into a backpack.
"Hey, Santana," Rose's voice was quiet. Santana closed her locker and looked at the shorter girl with curious eyes. "I was wondering if you'd be able to drive me home. My brother is off with Kurt and I have no way home," Rose spoke, not taking her eyes off of her hands, which were clasped tightly in front of her. Santana nodded to herself, "Yeah, come on." She hooked her arm around Rose's neck and pulled her close as the two of them left the school towards Santana's car. Rose buckled herself up in the front seat and stared out of the window as Santana stared the car and pulled out of the school parking lot. "So, are you going to tell me what's been bugging you or am I supposed to pretend that nothing is wrong like everyone else?" Rose looked over at Santana with wide eyes, "What are you talking about?"
Santana sighed to herself and glanced over at the small girl next to her with her shoulder length wavy black hair and expressive hazel eyes. "Rose, something has been off with you since that day at the Lima Bean. I know that we just became friends, or whatever, but you helped me out so I want to help you." Rose sighed and pointed Santana the way to her house but didn't say anything else the rest of the ride there, she was just too caught up in her thoughts. Santana finally stopped the car outside of the Anderson household and looked over at the girl who still stared out of the window. Rose sighed, "I think my girlfriend is cheating on me." Not waiting for a response, Rose got out of the car and started to walk towards her house but stopped at the steps and sat down.
Rose put her head in her hands and sighed to herself, suddenly feeling very tired. Santana climbed out of her car and made her way over to Rose, taking a seat next to her. Rose looked over at Santana just as the Latina slipped an arm though Rose's and held her hand in a comforting grasp. "Why do you think she's cheating on you?" Rose stared at her and Santana's hands as she told her all about the text message and how worried Shelby had been when she returned the cell phone to her. Santana wanted to tell her it sounded like cheating, after all, Santana was kind of an expert on cheating, but she knew that deep down that would hurt Rose if she just flat out told her. All she could do was sigh softly and tell her she was sorry.
Rose just shrugged a bit and laid her head down on Santana's shoulder. Santana allowed her head to lie on top of Rose's and they both closed their eyes, simply enjoying the moment of comfort between the two of them. The peaceful moment passed all too quickly because soon the sound of a car pulling up into the driveway met both girls' ears. Rose opened her eyes to see Shelby's sky blue Volkswagen bug come to a stop right next to Santana's car. Rose sat up straight but kept her hand in Santana's as she watched her girlfriend walk closer, her red hair waving in the light breeze. Shelby's eyes landed on Rose and Santana's clasped hands just as she came to a stop in front of the pair, crossing her arms over her chest. "Hi, Shelby," Rose spoke softly, giving her a gentle smile.
"Really? That's how you greet your girlfriend while you're sitting there holding hands and cuddling up with some other girl?" Shelby's voice was harsh and her eyes matched her tone. Rose rolled her eyes and fixed the standing girl with a questioning look, "What are you doing here? Don't you have work today?" Shelby let out a huff of air and rolled her eyes back at her girlfriend, "So, you think that just because I'm a work you can go whoring around with every girl at your new school who bats an eye at you?" Santana stiffened at Rose's side and opened her mouth to say something but Rose gave her hand a squeeze and shook her head when she looked down at her. "I'm not cheating on you, Shelby. Santana is just here because I've had a tough week and she's trying to help me. Besides, I would never cheat. I'm a good person."
Shelby seemed to tense up slightly at the words and her eyes flicked between Rose and Santana before they focused on the latter. "Do you think I could have a moment alone with my girlfriend?" Her tone was rough and cold, so much so that Santana had to look to Rose just to make sure it would be okay for her to give them time alone. Rose gave Santana's hand a gentle squeeze and nodded, "You can go inside if you want." Santana nodded slowly before letting go of Rose's hand and began walking towards the door, casting Shelby a scathing look before walking inside. When she heard the door close, Rose looked up at her girlfriend, "Why are you acting like this? For weeks you've been super possessive, snippy, and downright mean. It's not you. What is going on, baby?" Shelby sighed loudly and pulled her hair up into a tight ponytail, something she only did when she was feeling flustered.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, babe. I really am. I've just been… busy lately and It's all kind of catching up with me." Rose locked eyes with Shelby once she reopened hers, "Busy with what?" The way she asked held almost no genuine curiosity but a sort of 'tell-me-what-I-already-know' air. Shelby didn't answer right away but crossed her arms over her chest and bit her bottom lip. She opened her mouth to say something but at that moment her phone buzzed. She quickly removed it from her pocket, read a text message and her cheeks suddenly flushed. "Who's it from?" Rose asked, looking down to her feet, feeling as though her stomach was bottoming out. Shelby put the phone away and said, "Elle," in a voice that was supposed to sound firm but came out with a small waver. Rose nodded, eyes focused on a small pebble by her converse clad feet, "Want to know when you're going to be over to study?" Once again, Shelby could tell there was a sort of strange tension in Rose's voice. Rose finally stood up and looked Shelby straight in the eye, "Why don't you just tell me the truth? Tell me what's going on so I can stop pretending."
"Pretending what?"
Rose sighed, "That we're okay. That everything is just fine. That we're some kind of modern day girl on girl fairytale." Shelby took a step towards Rose and reached out to run a hand down the shorter girl's cheek but Rose pushed her hand away and started to walk away, closer to where the cars were parked. Shelby followed and put a hand on Rose's shoulder, turning her around, "You know how much we've been through together, Rosie. When you transferred to Crawford, we became best friends. You were the first person I could actually be honest with." Rose sniffled as she felt tears behind her eyes, "Then why aren't you being honest with me right now?" Shelby let out a hard breath and stared at Rose, "What do you want me to say, Rose? Tell what to say and I'll fucking say it!" Rose felt one tear spill down her face but she quickly brushed it away, "Just tell me the truth."
"Fine. Okay. You win. I've been seeing Ellen for about a month now. I'm sorry, baby. I'm so fucking sorry," Shelby whispered, moving closer to Rose only to be stopped by Rose's outstretched hands. "I don't know why. I really don't. I think I just missed you. I went from seeing you everyday to almost never. And she was just there. I'm sorry." Shelby spoke quickly, trying to fully explain herself. Rose shook her head and sighed, "No, Shelby, I get it. I understand. Why would you want to be with me? I'm short and not that pretty but her! She's tall, and pretty and blonde AND SMELLS LIKE A FANCY HOTEL BATHROOM!" Shelby couldn't help but have a small smile spread over her lips but it quickly fell away as she saw Rose's cheeks turn red and her eyes become puffy. "I think you should leave, Shelby," Rose spoke in a shaking voice.
Shelby shook her head, "I'm not leaving like this. You need to hear me out…" Rose shook her head and looked straight at the other girl, "I already heard everything. You cheated on me. That's it, end of story. I think you should go see your girlfriend since I'm not her anymore." Shelby looked as though she wanted to say something more but Rose looked down at her own feet, avoiding her gaze. Shelby nodded curtly and walked away from Rose and climbed into her car, giving Rose one last glance before shaking her head and pulling out of the driveway.
Santana saw Shelby leave through the window by the front door and she came out into the front yard, walking quickly to Rose, who had nestled herself onto the perfectly trimmed grass and began to cry. Rose wiped her eyes repeatedly but couldn't stop the tears from slipping down her face. Santana stood in front of her silent for a minute until she bent at the waist and looked at Rose with sad, comforting eyes, "What can I do?" Rose looked up at the standing girl and sniffled, suddenly feeling like a small child, "I could use a hug." Santana gave her a smile and sat down right next to her before scooping her up in her arms. Rose wrapped her arms tightly around Santana's shoulders and sobbed silently into her neck as Santana readjusted her grip on Rose's waist, whispering soothing words into the girl's ear.