AN: First, thank you for all the kind reviews (sorry I forgot to thank everyone on chapter 3).
There will be one more part after this one, and then my first foray into Faberry land will be at and end (also my first finished fic).
There are a few subtle song references in this chapter - bonus points if you can find 'em :)
Chapter 4
Quinn pulled into the driveway and quickly killed the ignition, eager to get back to the sleepover. Her errand had taken longer than anticipated since the only place that served vegan pizza was clear on the other side of town. Grabbing the three pizza boxes, she stepped out of the car and nudged the door closed with her foot.
Entering the house, she could hear voices coming from the pool area and figured everyone must still be outside. She went into the kitchen to set the pizzas on the counter and noticed the blender and other drink ingredients with a frown of displeasure. She would need to make sure to remove all traces of alcohol from the house before her mother got back tomorrow.
Padding quietly through the house, she could hear the voices getting louder as she approached the door that led out onto the patio. Looking through the glass she could see Stacy, Sarah and Allison in the midst of what appeared to be a fairly heated discussion, indicated by the raised voices and flailing arms. Her brow creased into a frown when she didn't immediately spot Rachel, Santana or Brittany. Opening the door quietly she stepped outside and was finally able to hear what the three Cheerios were saying.
"Are you kidding me?" Sarah cried out in annoyance, her back was to the door so she hadn't noticed Quinn's arrival.
"Seriously. Do you need to go to special ed classes?" Stacy was standing next to her friend, both were squared off and facing a cowering Allison. Quinn caught the other girls gaze and her frown deepened when she saw Allison's gaze widen in fear.
"What's going on?" The other two girls spun around finally alerted to Quinn's presence. Walking toward the group, she was able to see the pool and the fact that it did not contain the other three people at the sleepover. "Where are Rachel, San and Brit?"
Sarah smirked and crossed her arms across her chest. "Santana and Brittany have disappeared as usual. Rachel had to…leave unexpectedly." Sarah exchanged a sideways glance with Stacy and both girls smirked more broadly.
Quinn felt her throat tighten and her pulse accelerate. She knew that look, she should, she'd practically patented it. It was the look of someone that had just thoroughly tormented one of the school's losers, most typically Rachel. Balling her hands into fists she stepped forward threateningly.
"What the hell do you mean she had to leave?" she asked her voice dangerously low. The other girl must have read the implied threat in her question because she shifted uncomfortably and looked to Stacy for back-up. It was a rare thing for their captain to swear.
"Um...she...ah..she didn't say. She just suddenly had to leave," Sarah managed to stammer out while backing away from Quinn. Quinn swung her gaze to Stacy, pinning the other cheerleader in place.
"Is that what happened? Because I seriously doubt Rachel just suddenly decided it was time to go home. Something must have happened and one of you is going to tell me what the hell it was." Quinn could feel her control over her anger slipping. It was clear that something had happened to make Rachel leave, but if she went off on them they weren't likely to tell her.
Stacy looked to Sarah and the two shared a quick non-verbal communication, clearly they had misunderstood something. They had expected Quinn to be a little upset, mostly because they figured she was planning something herself. However, the reaction they were getting wasn't one of annoyance that a plan had been spoiled; it was just plain pissed off.
"It was no big deal," Stacy finally replied. "We decided it would be fun to go skinny dipping but she just kinda wigged out and took off." Quinn narrowed her gaze and continued to glare at the now squirming cheerleaders.
"And I don't suppose either of you said anything to her that may have made her want to leave?" Quinn was beyond pissed that her friends had managed to offend the petite singer. They were worse than children; she couldn't leave them alone for five minutes without them causing some kind of trouble.
Sarah shook her head in the negative. "We didn't. She just freaked out and took off," she insisted, looking to Stacy for confirmation. Stacy nodded her head in agreement. Quinn looked past them to zero in on Allison, figuring the quiet girl might provide a different take on things.
"Is that what happened?"
Allison looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Finally she nodded her head, jerkily. "Ye...yeah…we decided it would be fun but Rachel said she didn't want to."
Quinn narrowed her gaze at the trio. There was definitely something that they weren't telling her, a deaf and blind person would have been able to tell these three were lying through their teeth; or at the very least leaving a bit of the story out. She was about to press them a bit harder, to figure out exactly what they had said to Rachel to cause her to leave, when she was interrupted.
"Hey Q, what's going on? You look like you want to drive a stake into someone's chest." Santana strolled out onto the patio, flushed and slightly sweaty, her pinkie linked with Brittany's.
Quinn spun and confronted the new arrivals. "Where the hell have you been? I asked you to do one simply thing, and you couldn't even do that," Quinn accused.
Santana stopped short and held up her hands in a halting gesture. "Chill the fuck out. I was in the house for like five minutes, B wanted some ice cream." Santana looked around the pool area, finally noticing that something was amiss. "Where's the Muppet?"
Quinn glared at the brunette. "Yes that seems to be the question. Apparently when you were inside getting ice cream," Quinn's voice dripped with sarcasm, "Stacy, Sarah and Allison decided to go skinny dipping and Rachel had to suddenly leave." Santana's eyes widened almost imperceptibly, the only sign of her surprise.
Quinn ran her hand through her hands in frustration. She didn't have time to deal with these idiots at the moment, she had to go find Rachel and make sure she was alright. "I am going to go to Rachel's house and make sure she's okay." She glared at the assembled group. "I hope for your sake that she corroborates your story." Not wanting to waste any more time she spun on her heels and stalked into the house. She had to go talk to her girl.
Four days later Quinn was almost at the breaking point; four days and still not a single word from Rachel. She had raced over to her girlfriend's house only to find all the lights out and the door locked. She had pounded on the door for over five minutes but had gotten no response. She would have been worried that the girl didn't make it home safely had it not been for the Streisand blasting from her open bedroom window.
Quinn had gone back several times, each trip ending in the same result. All of her calls and texts had gone unanswered as well. To say that she was worried was putting it mildly, as the weekend drew to a close she was closing in on utterly panicked.
She had bided her time and reassured herself that she would be able to finally talk to the girl Monday at school. Except that Rachel perfect-attendance Berry hadn't been at school. It had taken all of her resolve to stay at school and she had sped to the Berry house as soon as the final bell rang. She was met by Rachel's father telling her that Rachel wasn't feeling well and wasn't up for visitors. The normally affable man had been rather abrupt and had looked like he was struggling to remain civil. Quinn had left quietly, puzzled and worried by the icy reception.
One day of missed school was almost unheard of, two was practically apocalyptic. If Quinn had any doubts before that the Cheerios were lying, the fact that Rachel was missing not only school, but Glee as well was all the proof she needed. Her mission now was to track those lying cows down and find out exactly what they had done to upset her girlfriend so badly.
Unfortunately, this plan was going about as well as her one to talk to Rachel had. Third period had just ended and despite looking for Stacy and Sarah, surely the masterminds of whatever had taken place, the duo had remained frustratingly elusive. Slamming her locker door in agitation Quinn gathered her books and headed for her next class. Before she could take a step she bumped into someone that she hadn't seen standing right beside her.
"Watch it," she growled and shoved them out of the way, not bothering to see who she had collided with.
"Well aren't we just a little ray of sunshine this afternoon," Santana mocked. "Christ, are you still pissed off?"
Quinn spun to face the Latina. She had been making a point to try to avoid the brunette since this weekend, still extremely angry at her for leaving Rachel alone with those vultures. "Of course I'm still pissed off," Quinn bit out angrily. "It's been four days and I still haven't heard from Rachel. She hasn't responded to any of my calls or texts, her dads won't let me in to see her and now she's missing her second consecutive day of school. I'm starting to feel like a damn stalker!"
Santana rolled her eyes. "I'm sure she's fine. You know how melodramatic she can be, something which appears to be rubbing off by the way. She's probably just sulking and waiting for some grand romantic gesture as an apology or something."
Quinn scowled at her friend. "This isn't like Rachel. The silent treatment maybe, but not missing school and Glee, something is wrong," Quinn insisted. She finally noticed Brittany standing to Santana's right. "Hey B."
"Hey Quinn. Rachel's not feeling well?" Brittany asked, her brow furrowed in concern.
Quinn sighed, "I just don't know B, that's the problem, she won't talk to me. They must have done something to her, something more than they are letting on. I've tried to track down Stacy and Sarah to get some answers but they have apparently gone underground." Quinn glared at the brunette. "If someone had managed to keep it in their pants for five minutes maybe this could have been avoided."
"Whatever," Santana replied, clearly not affected by the accusation. "If you could date someone that didn't have the survival instinct of a fluffy kitten maybe she could have taken care of herself."
Quinn growled in annoyance. "You know what? I have better things to do then sit here and listen to you trash Rachel, yet again. See you at Cheerios practice," Quinn replied sweetly, before turning to march off down the hall. Someone needed to be reminded who was captain.
Brittany turned to look at the frowning brunette. "You made Quinn mad, S."
Santana sighed and turned to look at her blonde companion. "Yeah I sure did, I'm sure practice is going to just be extra fun today." Santana shook her head, she hated running laps. "Wanna go grab some lunch B?" To the Latina's surprise Brittany shook her head.
"No, I have to go do something."
"Want some company," the Latina asked huskily, a suggestive smile on her face.
"No, I have to do this by myself. Thanks though." Brittany smiled briefly before bounding down the hallway, leaving Santana standing alone.
"What the fuck?"
Rachel lay curled up on her side, staring blankly at the wall. She had been in pretty much the same position since leaving Quinn's house. The fury that had burned so hot that night had also burned fast, and she was once again left with only the crushing weight of humiliation. She couldn't go back to that school and face them, she wouldn't.
A soft knock sounded on her door and she released a sigh of frustration. Her fathers' meant well, she knew that, but their constant hovering and concern was starting to wear on her.
"Please go away, I told you I don't want to talk about it." When her fathers' had come home and found the mess in the dining room, which she had totally forgotten to clean up, they had gone into panic mode. Rachel came by her overly dramatic personality honestly. To convince them that the house hadn't been broken into and that she hadn't been attacked, she had been forced to tell them the general events of Friday evening, leaving out the crucial detail of the picture.
They had been furious about Quinn's involvement, and had wanted to go and confront her. Rachel and pleaded with them to just let it go. It didn't matter anymore, and letting the blonde know how deeply she had been affected by the event would just make her happier. They had reluctantly agreed to leave it alone, for now.
"Rachel honey, a friend is here to see you." Rachel rolled over violently and stared at the closed door in shock and disbelief. She couldn't believe that her father would let anyone in to see her after she had explained her humiliation at the party.
"I don't have any friends," she sneered. "Whatever they have to say, I have no interest in hearing." She rolled back over and faced the wall.
"Rachel? I brought you some chicken soup, Quinn said you weren't feeling well, it always makes me feel better." Rachel squeezed her eyes shut, desperately trying to fight back the tears at the mention of the blonde's name. Shit. They would send Brittany; only a complete ogre would be able to be mean to the sweet blonde.
Heaving a resigned sigh she rolled over on to her back, best to just get this over with so she could go back to licking her wounds in private. "Come in," she called out. She tilted her head towards the doorway and watched as the door swung open and Brittany walked in, a red and white can of soup clutched in her hands. "Close the door please," Rachel asked her father as she sat up on the bed.
He sent her a worried look, clearly not sure if she was really okay with the visitor. Rachel smiled wanly at him and nodded her head. No one could say no to Brittany it seemed, her father being no exception. "It's fine." He sent her a longer look, the concern easy to read, before he nodded his head and backed out of the room and closing the door with a soft click.
"Here." Brittany extended the can of soup to Rachel. Rachel silently took the can, not having the heart to remind the girl that she was vegan. Brittany sat on the edge of the bed and looked at her. "I heard Quinn and San talking, I got worried and wanted to make sure you were okay."
Rachel snorted bitterly. "Oh I'll bet they were talking." Rachel shook her head and then looked at Brittany. "Did they send you?" Rachel asked quietly. She didn't think the blonde was actually in on the prank, but she wouldn't put it past the other two to use her for their own ends.
Brittany shook her head. "No they don't know I'm here. San wanted to come but I know you two don't always get along and if you were sick I didn't want you to get upset." Rachel gave the blonde a measuring look, before shaking her head sadly.
"Why do you hang out with them Brittany?"
"With who?" Brittany asked, confused.
"Quinn and Santana," Rachel replied, a bite in her tone. "You've been friends with them since grade school, and I have just never seen that same desire to cause pain and destruction in you."
Brittany frowned in confusion. "I thought you were friends with Quinn now, special friends."
Rachel laughed; no trace of humor in the sound. "So did I, shows how stupid I am doesn't it?" The brunette stated more than asked harshly. Brittany reached over and patted the smaller girl comfortingly on the shoulder.
"You're not stupid Rachel." Brittany sat quietly beside her on the bed for several moments. "When are you coming back to school, Quinn's been really worried."
"I'm not," Rachel replied flatly.
"What do you mean?"
Rachel stood up from the bed and began to pace around the confines of her room. "I mean I am not going back to that school. I have spent years being the butt of all the jokes, the laughter, the ridicule, and I refuse to put up with it any longer."
Brittany frowned from her position on the bed. "But you have to go back, Quinn will be sad if you don't."
"I'm sure Quinn will survive." Rachel continued to pace, lost in her own world. "It's never going to be enough, I see that now. I foolishly thought that if I could just figure out what it was that drove them to hate me I could fix it. Fix me. I didn't do anything this time. I know I didn't. She sought me out. She pursued me. Why couldn't it have been enough? Why is it never enough?"
Rachel felt a hand land on her shoulder and she jumped, she had almost forgotten the other girl was in the room. "Don't cry Rachel, it'll be alright." Rachel reached up and touched her cheek, feeling the wet trail. She hadn't realized she was crying.
Rachel cleared her throat, embarrassed that her weakness was on display, even if just to Brittany. "I'm really not feeling well. Thanks for stopping by but I'd really just like to lie down."
"Are you sure? I could stay and we could cuddle, it always makes Santana feel better," Brittany offered sincerely, upset by the petite singer's tears.
Rachel gave her a watery smile. "I'm sure." Impulsively Rachel gave the blonde a quick hug. "You're sweet Brittany, don't ever let them change you." Wrapping a hand around the cheerleaders arm she guided her over to the door. She was drained and she really wanted to be left alone before she broke again.
At the threshold Brittany turned. "What do I tell Quinn?"
"Tell her she wins."
Santana strode down the hallway, looking for her usually constant companion. After skipping lunch Brittany had also failed to show up for fourth period. Santana was worried; the last time this had happened the blonde had somehow managed to get into the school basement and had been lost for hours. Brittany hated the dark.
Shoving a slow moving freshman out of her way she sighed in relief when she spotted the familiar form of Brittany standing at her locker. She was standing still looking at the door with a blank expression on her face.
"36-24-36," Santana supplied, figuring the blonde had forgotten her combination again. Brittany spun around, startled by the other girl's appearance. Santana frowned when she took in the sad expression on her friends face. "What's the matter B? Did someone say something to you?" Santana looked around, prepared to kick some ass if necessary.
Brittany shook her head. "Rachel's not coming back."
"Sure she is B, she's just in a snit, I'm sure it will blow over in a few days," Santana reassured her friend.
"She's not," Brittany insisted. "Quinn's going to be so sad."
Santana crinkled her brow, not quite following. "Who told you this B?"
"Rachel. I took her some soup at lunchtime so she'd feel better. But it didn't work, she's still sad and she said she wasn't coming back."
"I'm sure she was just exaggerating; you know how she can be. Give it a few days and Slushy-me-Elmo will be back and as annoying as ever," Santana replied glibly.
The normally placid blonde's face darkened with anger. "Why were we always so mean to her?" Brittany accused angrily, still upset about seeing the small diva break down earlier. "She's never done anything to anyone."
Santana was taken aback by the blonde's vehemence. "I was just joking B."
"Well it's not funny." Brittany started to stalk away, Santana following close behind. "Leave me alone Santana, I'm mad at you."
"Me?" Santana cried. "I didn't do anything!"
"You're mean. You're mean and now Rachel's leaving." For the second time that day Santana found herself standing alone in the hallway.
"What the fuck?"
Santana was on a mission. She scanned the hallway, looking for her prey. Finally spotting her target she moved in for the kill.
"Allison," she said smoothly, sliding alongside the girl and gripping her upper arm so she couldn't dash away. "A word please?" Not giving the girl time to respond Santana dragged her off to the bathroom. She pushed the girl through the door and leaned back against it to block the other girl's escape.
The nervous girl backed up against the sink, her wary gaze locked on the Latina. Santana smirked; Quinn was going about this entirely the wrong way. If you wanted results, you had to isolate the weak from the safety of the herd. Santana let the silence drag on, watching as the other girl began to squirm in discomfort.
"So…you..um..you wanted to talk to me?" Allison finally asked, not being able to stand the awkward silence any longer.
"What happened Friday night?" Santana cut straight to the chase, not wanting to waste time getting to the point.
Allison swallowed nervously. "What do you mean?"
"With Rachel," the Latina clarified. "What caused her to bolt and run?" When Allison opened her mouth to reply Santana held up a hand to silence her. "And please don't tell me the same bullshit story that you sold Quinn. Being lied to pisses me off and trust me when I say you don't want me pissed off."
If anyone had told Santana that she would find herself practically defending Rachel Berry a week ago she would have laughed in their face. But whatever had happened to Berry was now affecting her and that wasn't acceptable. Quinn was pissed at her, vacillating between ignoring her and giving her death glares. She could deal with Quinn; she was used to her mercurial relationship with the blonde. But now Brittany was giving her the silent treatment, and that shit was not cool. Since they were both pissed about the treatment of one annoying brunette it only made sense to get to the bottom of this situation once and for all.
Allison look confused. "You really don't know?"
"Why the fuck would I know? I was inside when it happened." Santana answered crossly.
"Well, Stacy and Sarah said you guys were in on it, I just thought you would have been aware of the details," Allison replied.
Santana frowned. "In on what?" the Latina questioned impatiently. "I really don't want to stand here all day playing twenty questions, just spit it the fuck out already."
Allison shifted her feet nervously and dropped her gaze. "They said that all of the girls on the squad had to pass an initiation…prove they were loyal to the squad. They um...they said that Quinn was just dating Rachel to string her along. That it was all just a set up."
"A set up?"
"Yeah, so that we could prank her." Allison looked up to meet the Latina's gaze. "I didn't want to do it, but they said that all the girls had too."
"Do what Allison?" Santana questioned, a little more calmly. It was clear the girl was petrified; Santana screaming at her was more likely to end in her passing out then giving her the answers she needed.
"The plan was to get her to trust us, to let down her guard so that she would go skinny dipping."
Santana was getting impatient again. "But she didn't, she left instead."
"Um…not exactly."
Santana smirked and arched a single eyebrow. "Berry actually stripped down?" Allison nodded. "I don't know if I should be impressed or afraid. Okay so what? They got her to strip down and then made fun of her?" Another nod from Allison. "Well I mean that's not that bad. Berry gets made fun of more than anyone I know, the naked bit is new, but hardly worthy of her four day seclusion stunt."
"They also threw their drinks on her," Allison continued.
Santana laughed, shaking her head. "You guys are seriously going to regret fucking with Berry. Quinn is going to have you on the bottom of the pyramid and running laps until you either graduate or die"
Allison paled at the Latina's pronouncement. "There's more," she squeaked out.
"More?" Santana questioned in surprise.
"They had me take her picture," Allison finally blurted out.
Santana pinched the bridge of her nose. Okay this wasn't good. "So…what? They took a picture and threatened to blackmail her with it?"
Allison shook her head. "There was no threat. The plan was just to take the picture and then send it to the whole school."
"What!" The Latina sprung away from the door and stalked toward the now cowering girl.
Allison flinched and drew back from the advancing brunette. "I didn't do it! She was so nice to me; and the look on her face…" Allison shook her head at the memory. "I couldn't do it."
Santana halted her advance. "So if you didn't send the picture what's the big deal? I mean granted I can see why she's pissed, but given the circumstances I would expect her to send Quinn after your asses instead of ignoring her."
"She doesn't know," Allison replied quietly.
"Doesn't know what?"
"She doesn't know that the picture wasn't sent. It was the only way I could ensure that they would let her leave. I lied and told them all that it had been sent out."
Santana closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. Well that would certainly explain it. She didn't think she would want to come to school under those circumstances either. For the first time she actually felt a pang of sympathy for the small singer.
"She also thinks Quinn was in on it." Santana's eyes popped open at the announcement.
"And why would she think a crazy thing like that? Those two have been disgustingly love-sick since they started dating."
"Stacy and Sarah told her that it was all part of a plan to embarrass her."
Santana started to stalk back and forth in the small space, her mind racing. Even at the height of their Berry torment, she and Quinn would never have devised something this humiliating. And sure, she still threw the occasional insult the other girl's way, but that was mostly for show and out of habit then dislike. The reason for the brunette's silence was now painfully obvious. She stopped in her pacing and turned to face Allison.
"Okay, here is how this is going to work. You are going to avoid Quinn at all costs. Do. Not. Speak. To. Her. Run if necessary." Santana knew that if the blonde found out exactly what had happened to her girlfriend she was going to go fucking postal. She would do the same thing if it had happened to Brittany. "I am going to convince Berry to talk to Quinn, because this shit needs to be cleared up. Do you think you can manage that?"
Allison nodded her understanding. "I'm glad that Quinn wasn't a part of this, Rachel seems really sweet."
Santana rolled her eyes. "Christ, it is just a Berry love fest around here lately." Santana walked to the door and paused before exiting to turn back and address Allison one more time. "The picture?"
"I deleted it," Allison assured her.
Santana smiled. "Good girl. That might be the one thing that keeps you alive when Quinn finds out."
Rachel was once again curled up on her bed, facing the door instead of the window, because she needed a change of scenery. She was debating going down to the kitchen to grab something to eat while her father was out at the store picking up something for dinner, but she still didn't have much of an appetite.
In deference to her fathers' return she had substituted blasting her radio for her IPod. Currently the ever so apropos I Dreamed a Dream. Closing her eyes she let herself get lost in the music, trying desperately to block out everything else.
Rachel frowned, she was pretty sure that Ms. Lupone had missed a note.
Lost in her critique of the music she acted on pure instinct when she felt a hand grasp her shoulder from behind. Reaching up she grabbed the wrist of her would be attacker and tugged hard while rolling over on the bed, sending the person flying over the bed to crash onto the floor. Yanking her ear phones out she scrambled upright until her back was against her headboard.
"What the fuck?" cried a disgruntled voice.
"Santana?" Rachel questioned in disbelief, peering over the side of her bad.
"Why the fuck did you do that?" the Cheerio asked grumpily, rubbing the back of her head where it had made contact with the floor.
"I didn't know who it was. You could have been a rapist," Rachel defended.
Getting to her feet the Latina straightened her clothes. "I can assure you I am not here to steal your virtue Berry," Santana said with a smirk.
Rachel crossed her arms across her chest, the sudden appearance of another person in her room momentarily distracting her. "And just why are you here? Was Brittany sent by you and Quinn after all? Come to gloat?" Rachel fired the questions in rapid succession, her tone acidic. "You know what? I don't care, just get out." Rachel extended her arm and pointed towards the door. The still closed door. "How did you get in here?"
Santana sat down at the foot of the bed. "I climbed up onto the roof of your porch. You have a great set up for sneaking out of the house."
"I can assure you I have no need to sneak out of the house. My parents trust me implicitly," Rachel huffed indignantly. She was grateful that her irritation with the brunette was keeping her urge to cry at bay. "Please leave."
"No."
"No?" Rachel questioned in disbelief.
"No. We have to talk."
"I have nothing to say to you," Rachel insisted.
"Great. Maybe that means I will actually be able to get a word in edge wise."
Rachel glared at the cheerleader. "Did you only come up here to insult me? Was this weekend's escapade really not enough?"
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about actually. Brittany came to see me after lunch and she said you were upset and that you weren't coming back to school." Santana settled more comfortably onto the bed, figuring she might be here a while.
"I'm not."
"I didn't peg you for the drop out type," Santana taunted, calling the smaller girls bluff. There was no way Rachel Berry was going to end up a high school dropout.
''I am not going to dropout," Rachel replied icily. "I am going to transfer."
"Transfer?" Santana asked, sitting up straighter.
"Yes, to a high school for musically gifted teens. I considered it before freshman year but I didn't want to be away from my fathers. Given recent developments however, I have reconsidered my position, and while I will be a bit behind I am confident that I will be able to catch up."
"Berry you can't transfer," Santana insisted, concerned that the brunette seemed completely serious.
"I can and I have. I leave at the end of the week, my fathers' pulled in some favors and got my application expedited." Rachel paused to glare at the Latina. "I'm sure you and the rest of the squad won't have any trouble finding a new loser to harass." Rachel couldn't bring herself to actually say Quinn's name, afraid her voice would break.
"So you are just going to run away? Without even talking to Quinn?" Santana questioned.
"Why on earth would I want to talk to Quinn?" Rachel bit out.
"Because for reasons totally unknown to me she likes you, and has been walking around like a bi-polar she-demon since Friday."
Rachel snorted. "She has a funny way of showing it."
Santana looked at the singer in concern. They had done a lot of shit to her over the years, but she had always let it roll off her back and continued on, apparently unfazed. The girl sitting before her seemed brittle and broken.
"Quinn had no idea what was going to happen that night." Rachel snapped her attention to the Latina, searching her eyes for the truth behind the statement. She wanted to believe that what she said was true, but after the disastrous results the last time she had trusted her instincts, she was afraid to believe.
"Sure she didn't. It's just so much more plausible that she suddenly realized that she's been crazy about me all this time," Rachel sneered. She wasn't going to fall into this trap again.
"She didn't. Furthermore Allison never sent that picture." Rachel's eyes widened in surprise. "Seems she fell for your weird Berry charms and she actually likes you. She deleted the picture instead of sending it."
"But she said…" Rachel trailed off, torn between hope and fear. "How do I know this isn't all just a ploy to get me to come back to school? I'm sure that must have been the coup de grace for the plan, it must be frustrating that I've ruined the finale."
"Berry, if I had wanted to humiliate you we wouldn't be sitting here having this conversation. You wouldn't have even seen it coming. Do you really think that any plan I was involved in would have been allowed to be botched so badly?"
Rachel had to concede that Santana did have a point, but her suspicion won out. "I'm not going to fall for this Santana," Rachel insisted, crossing her arms across her chest.
"Okay, I can understand why you wouldn't take my word for it, but what about Quinn's?"
Rachel shook her head. "I already told you, I have nothing to say to her." Coming face to face with the blonde, and seeing the contempt in her eyes would crush her.
"Do you really think so little of her? After all the time you spent with her this summer, you really think she could do something like this?" Santana persisted.
Rachel glared at Santana coldly. "What's a few months compared to years of past behavior?" Rachel's heart clenched as she remembered those few wonderful months. She tightened her jaw, determined not to let her resolve be clouded by sentiment. Quinn had lied. It was all just a joke, none of it was real.
Santana looked at the brunette with disgust. "So you are just going to run off without listening to her side of the story?"
Rachel nodded. "Yes."
Santana glared at the diminutive brunette. "Yeah, that's not going to be happening."
"Excuse me?"
"I will tie you to your desk chair and gag you if I have to, but you are going to hear Quinn out. You owe her that much," Santana informed the now spluttering singer.
"I don't owe her anything!" Rachel cried, springing up from the bed. She stalked over to the cheerleader and poked her in the chest. "I have spent years, years, being the brunt of every joke and mean spirited prank the two of you devised. I am done being the same stupid, trusting, naïve Rachel!"
Santana held her ground, wincing slightly as the singer's finger dug into her chest. Between her kung-fu action Yoda moves and her surprising strength, Santana was beginning to reconsider constantly trying to get a rise out of the other girl. "Fine. You found us out. It was all an elaborate plot to humiliate you." Hearing the Cheerio finally admit the truth, Rachel paled and backed away. Santana just looked at her and shook her head. "The getting to know you, the spending time with you, dating you, kissing you, all of it was just to get you naked and to her house so she could snap a picture which would then be sent to the student body."
Rachel deflated even further and went back to collapse on her bed, hanging her head down and staring at her feet. She felt tears start to well, but fought them back, determined not to break down in front of Santana.
"Tell me Rachel, how hard would Quinn have had to work to get you to strip?" Santana asked mockingly. Rachel snapped her head up and glared at the Cheerio. "If the only thing Quinn wanted was a naked snap shot something tells me she could have gotten it done a hell of a lot sooner, and saved herself a hell of a lot of time. And if Quinn and I had been behind this plan you never would have seen it coming. The first hint of it would have been when you walked into school on Monday."
The small brunette was quiet for a few moments. "You called me Rachel," she finally said softly.
Santana blinked in surprise. "I did?" Rachel nodded. "Well, I was trying to make a point, don't get used to it Berry. I swear on B, Quinn had nothing to do with this, and Allison never sent that picture." Santana looked around the room. "Didn't you wonder why you haven't been getting inundated with texts? Do you really think that if a picture like that was out there you wouldn't have been flooded by now?"
Rachel clasped her hands in her lap, still refusing to look up. "I don't have my phone."
The Latina frowned in confusion. "Why not? Where is it?"
"When I left Quinn's they wouldn't let me grab my stuff. I assume it's still there."
Santana shook her head. "It's not there. When Quinn went to talk to you on Friday B and I cleaned up after the other three left, we didn't come across any phone. Plus Quinn sent like 200 text messages this weekend, she would have found if it were at her place."
Rachel finally lifted her head and looked at the Cheerio; she looked genuinely puzzled. "Well I don't have it. Hopefully it's with the rest of my stuff, I don't care so much about the clothes but I spent a lot of time decorating that phone case."
"They made you leave without your clothes?" Santana asked, her voice rising in outrage.
Rachel was confused. Santana was a passable dancer, but she had never shown any aptitude for acting and she seemed genuinely pissed. Rachel simply nodded in response, eliciting a whistle from the Latina.
"They are so fucking dead," Santana snickered. "Quinn is going to unleash Armageddon on their asses." Santana looked over to the now quiet diva. "Will you please just talk to her? I can bring her here that way if you want her to leave you can get your fathers to kick her out." Santana rubbed the back of her still sore head. "Of course you might not need your dads help with that."
"I'm very fit," Rachel replied absently. She drew a deep breath and closed her eyes, torn about what to do. She wanted to believe what Santana was telling her. So badly that it scared her. She had spent the entire weekend building up her defenses against the blonde's betrayal. If she lowered those walls, and allowed herself to trust, and it all turned out to be a lie she didn't know if she would survive it.
Looking deeply into the Latina's eyes, hoping to detect any trace of artifice, Rachel asked, "You swear on B's life? She didn't do this?"
Santana maintained eye contact unflinchingly and raised her hand. "May I be struck celibate if I'm lying."
Rachel let out the breath she had been holding. She had to know. Though she feared for her sanity, she believed the Latina. Now that doubt had crept in she knew that the possibility that Quinn was innocent of wrongdoing would torment her if she didn't find out. "Okay. I'll talk to her."
Santana smiled. "Great." She looked down at her watch, if she hurried she could catch the blonde before she went home after Cheerio's practice. Fuck. The practice that she had missed. Sylvester was going to kill her. The things she did for love.
"I'll be back with Quinn in a half hour, try not to hop any planes before then." Santana turned back towards the window, prepared to make her exit.
"Santana," Rachel called out with a barely suppressed laugh. "You can use the door."
Santana paused before turning back. "Oh. Thanks….Rachel."
"…."
"…"
"That was weird," Rachel finally broke the awkward silence.
Santana nodded her head emphatically in agreement. "Fucking weird. I think once was enough, let's not do that again."
Rachel nodded her head. "Agreed." Rachel smiled at the Latina, some of her former self finally shining through. "Thank you Santana."
Santana paused, her hand on the door knob. "Don't mention it. And I mean that literally, if anyone at school finds this out I will never live it down."