Rachel hesitantly walked into Santana's room as though a slushy may be thrown in her face at any second. "Hey, RuPaul, I'm not going to pull any pranks. Stop walking like there's eggshells under your feet."

An annoyed look occupied Rachel's face and then she gave Santana an angry glare. "Can you please not call me by those horrible nicknames? If you refuse to call me Rachel, can you at least call me Berry?"

"Fine." Santana sighed and lied down on her bed. She patted the place beside her and felt the weight of Rachel next to her.

"I can honestly say I never thought I'd ever be inside your room." Rachel got up on her elbows and looked around. "It fits you. Edgy, but then there's still the little areas of softness."

"Who says I'm soft?" Santana got up on her elbows as well.

"Oh Santana, I can see right through your tough girl persona. Inside you're just waiting for someone to uncover the real you. Actually, I think someone has. That person being Brittany and I'm pretty sure-"

Santana covered the girl's mouth and ordered her to shut up. "Don't mention her name, alright?" Rachel nodded quickly and waited for the girl to move her hand, but Santana just kept it there. "I kind of like this. A silent Rachel ... it suits you."

Rachel pulled Santana's hand away and got up. "I'm leaving."

"Wait, why?" Santana asked, a little concern in her voice.

"Seriously?" Rachel sighed. "I actually thought that you inviting me in meant that we could become friends. You know what, not even friends, just two people who could have a conversation without the hurtfulness." Santana could see the hurt in Rachel's eyes. Every stab Santana took at Rachel, every torturous thing she did really got to the the girl.

Santana took a deep breath and titled her head back. "Please don't go." She said through gritted teeth. As much as Santana hated to admit it, part of her wanted to become friends with Rachel. As many flaws as the girl had, there were a lot of things Santana kind of liked about her. She was more generous than any of other person Santana knew and she was forgiving, something Santana always wished she was.

What would people think though? If they saw her being nice to Rachel her position on the ladder would definitely go below Quinn's. But what was worse? Being lonely or not being the head bitch in charge? "I won't be mean. I promise." Santana got up, grabbed Rachel's arm, and pulled her back on the bed.

The two lied there in silence.

"Why are you so mean to me?" Rachel asked.

"It's who I am." Santana quoted what she told Quinn earlier.

"No, really. I've never done anything to you. If anything I've tried so hard for you to like me, but nothing works."

Santana turned to the girl and felt guilt wash over her. It actually hurt Santana to see the way Rachel looked. "Yeah, right." Santana rolled her eyes and turned away not being able to look at Rachel anymore.

"Can you just tell me why you hate me so much?" Rachel pleaded and turned Santana towards her. "I know I can be obnoxious and self-centered. I get that I talk way too much, but no one hates me the way you do. I don't get it."

Santana crumbled under Rachel's words and reached out for the girl's hand. In some ways, Santana's life felt similar to Rachel's. In school Rachel was neglected by her peers and at home Santana was neglected by her parents. The thing was, Santana was kind of jealous of Rachel. She knew that the girl would go on to bigger and better things than McKinley, but Santana feared she'd become a Lima loser. All her life she told herself she'd leave Lima because she was speical, but growing up Santana saw how many graduates of McKinley didn't even make it out of the state. "I don't ... I don't hate you Rachel." Santana admitted and released her hand.

Though a day ago Santana would swear to her death that she hated Rachel, when it came down to it, it was more jealousy than anything. Rachel was able to keep her head held high even after everything she went through at McKinley. She knew that at the end of everything she'd be out of Lima soon enough.

"Do you really mean that?" Rachel beamed at Santana and held Santana's hand up to her face. The expression on the girl was one that Santana enjoyed seeing.

"I think I do." Santana mumbled and let go of Rachel's hand. "Remember what I said about not telling anyone about this Berry? I mean it. Just because I'm being nice to you doesn't mean we're friends." The Latina sat up and became a little defensive.

Rachel rolled her eyes and nodded her head. "I already said I wouldn't."

The two girls spent the next two hours just talking. Well, Rachel mostly talked about broadway related things while Santana would come in with her sarcastic comments. It was far from a friendship, but something about the banter made both girls happy inside. Rachel liked that Santana was actually listening even if Santana kept insulting plays such as 42nd Street or Chorus Line and Santana liked that Rachel was tough enough to take Santana's humor.

"Is it really ten?" Rachel sat up quickly and fished for the car keys from her pocket. "My fathers are going to be worried about me, I need to get home." She went to head downstairs, but then stopped in her tracks. With a pleased look on her face, she went over to Santana and gave a hug.

At first Santana tensed up, she hated hugs. The only the hugs she liked were from Brittany, but other than that hugs were horrible and awkward. Rachel kept her arms tightly around Santana though and after a second or two Santana did relax a little and sort of enjoyed the warm feeling of what could be a friendship.

When Rachel pulled away, Santana gave a questioning look. "What was that for?"

"I don't know. I just - I ..." Rachel stood in the doorframe and seemed as though she couldn't quite put her finger on it. "I like spending time with you even if you enjoy mocking me or insulting my likes. I enjoy this. Whatever this is." And with that Rachel left leaving Santana a little stunned.

Lying on her back, Santana tried so hard to deny the warmth inside her. What was this? Santana stared annoyingly at her stomach and tried shoo the feeling away, but it sat in the pit of her stomach. After thirty minutes of trying to name all the bad qualities about Rachel, it was obvious that none of them mattered. Santana had genuinely enjoyed spending time with Rachel. With Rachel, she didn't feel lonely and more importantly she didn't think about Brittany.

x - x - x

Santana slowly dragged herself to Sam's locker knowing she'd have to go through a set of questions about last night. Before heading to bed Santana had looked at her phone and found that Sam had called six times and left three voicemails. Not having the energy to call him back, Santana noted she would talk to him the next day.

"Hey." Santana casually stood beside Sam. Her fingers found their way through his hair and she knew that Sam would soon express his anger about her leaving. "About last night, I didn't feel well, no need to get into it."

"No need to get into?" The blonde turned to Santana and she noticed his eye was all red. "I was so embarrassed by your-"

"Hold up!" Santana examined the red around his eye. "What happened?"

Sam covered his eye and shook Santana off of him. "Nothing." He mumbled and shut his locker door.

"That's not nothing." Santana grabbed Sam's shoulder and gave him her angry stare. "Now you better tell me what happened."

Sam scratched his head and looked for something to distract Santana. "I'm not mad about last night, people make mistakes."

The Latina started getting angry and she gripped his shoulders tightly. "You better start explaining about the eye thing."

"Go ask Rachel." Sam said in a defeated manner and headed off in the other direction.