N/A Ello again :) Nice day? I hope so. Okay, well, here's the next chapter. I hope it doesn't disappoint and also thank you once again for the reviews and all the story alerts/followers; really does make me a happy chappy, well, happy girl but you get what I mean.

P.S. So sorry for the time it has taken me to update, I don't get many days off work and if I am working, it's late nights and early starts :/ Trust me, I really do wanna write, but life sometimes has to come first. So, I hope that this makes up for it.

P.P.S. I have just finished my job (it was only a temporary contract) but am now busy with finding another job. So, I apologise in advance for not updating very quickly.

Enjoy, my little story buddies. xxx

It has been two weeks since Rachel took the Math test and now she was sitting in that stupid plastic chair, anxiously awaiting her results. One thing she didn't like was getting bad marks for something she tried so damn hard in. As she watched Mr Tanner walk slowly round the room, handing out student's papers to their respective person, Rachel thought back over the fortnight that had just passed.

It had gone really quickly in her opinion, but she thought that things were looking good. The night she got back from school with Quinn, just after the brunette's first appearance in Glee Club, she was thankful that the blonde never once mentioned what had happened and didn't ask her any questions; she thinks that Quinn silently knew that what happened was a sensitive subject to Rachel, so let it be.

Rachel's first week went fairly uneventfully; she found out that on Thursday nights a woman, whose name is Jay Rachel found out, comes to Stoneson and each person in the home has a half an hour session with her. Luckily, Rachel is allowed a month to settle into the home before she has to start seeing Jay; apparently it is procedure from the Child Protective Agency that as most of them are over 18, they have to see Jay to talk to her. Jay, the councillor, says you don't even have to speak; you just have to turn up. Quinn came out of her session with red puffy eyes; Rachel wanted to comfort her but the blonde went straight to her room.

Rachel's first Friday at Stoneson was interesting. Apparently, Friday nights are fun nights. After dinner, Rachel was all set for going up to her room, maybe writing in her journal or seeing if Quinn wanted to hang out in the lounge area like they had been doing every other night and just relaxing. Each night they talked about a different subject, the first night was about what Rachel thought of McKinley, the second night was about how Quinn became involved in Glee Club, third night was about each of their favourite films and the fourth night was about Santana and how she still hadn't spoke to Rachel since Monday.

Quinn's favourite film is 'Matilda' for various reasons of which she didn't really elaborate to Rachel and Rachel's favourite film is 'The Lion King', because well, it's The Lion King and there is music in it. The blonde had mentioned that she had never seen 'The Lion King' and Rachel truly couldn't believe what she was hearing. She made a mental note to go into town one day and buy 'The Lion King'; Quinn needed to see it… everyone needs a little Simba in their life.

Mr Tanner stopped just before Rachel and Santana's desk and sighed slightly under his breath, before slipping Santana's in front of her and then smiling as he passed Rachel hers.

Santana still hadn't spoken to her, which Rachel wasn't completely upset about, because she had got used to people ignoring her. She just wished she knew why. Quinn had tried to speak to the brunette about why she was blanking Rachel but Santana didn't give an answer, she just told Quinn to mind her own business; the blonde was used to this reaction, Santana was stubborn until she came around and forgot about it.

Rachel held her breath and then looked down at the white sheet of paper. There, staring right back at her was a perfectly written A-. She wanted to grin madly and cheer because she had worked so hard at her previous school to get her grades up, but she didn't because it was so darn quiet in the classroom that she would make a fool out of herself. So instead, she inwardly congratulated herself and looked casually over her shoulder to look at Quinn.

They had become good friends in the two weeks they had known each other; something just clicked within them. Quinn would still stare at Rachel and the brunette would get a little conscious under the gaze and Rachel would still miss lunchtimes, which then made Quinn worried, but apart from the little things, they really seemed to be getting along.

The blonde looked up from her paper at just the right moment to catch Rachel looking at her. She smiled politely and held her thumb up as she held her paper up in the other hand. B+; she was happy with that. Rachel grinned at her and mouthed, 'well done' before copying Quinn's actions and showed the blonde hers. Quinn looked a little shocked at how well Rachel did, not because she thought that the brunette couldn't do well, but because not many newbies got such a high mark in their first test. Smiling at Rachel, she mouthed 'nerd' before laughing to show Rachel she was only joking. The brunette grinned in reply, before turning around in her seat.

Santana hadn't moved. She hadn't even turned her paper over. Rachel didn't really want to look at the girl, in fear of just being rejected again. So, subtly she moved her eyes down to watch as the other brunette went to flip over her paper.

She needed to get a good grade this time, or her chances of graduating at the end of this year were minimal. Santana gritted her teeth as her slender fingers elegantly turned her paper over.

E+.

A fucking E+?!

She tried harder than that! She revised every night! Well, when she wasn't with Brittany, but still, she revised. Santana didn't want to cry, she didn't want to make a scene, but god damn it! Screwing up her piece of paper angrily, she shoved it in her bag and grabbed said bag before storming out of class, not giving a crap about Mr Tanner shouting after her.

Rachel had seen the grade, she had seen Santana's fists clench, she had seen the tears that were nearly ready to escape the girl's eyes, but she hadn't said a word. It would have only made things worse. As Santana ran through the threshold into the corridor, Rachel knew she had to go after the girl; even if said girl wasn't even acknowledging her existence.

Picking up her bag and packing her things, she explained to their teacher that she would go and help Santana. Mr Tanner didn't have much choice but to let her go. A certain blonde had observed the whole thing and wanted nothing more than to be there for both of her friends; for Santana because it was clear the brunette hadn't done well in the test and also for Rachel, because who knows how Santana will react to the smaller girl being there for her.

Shaking her head to look down each corridor as she ran, Rachel couldn't spot the brunette anywhere. As she slumped against the banister to the top floor, she saw the girl's toilet door bang shut. Found her.

Rachel brushed her hair out of her face and prepared to be completely ignored. Pushing the door open little by little, she peered round the corner. Santana hadn't noticed her yet, so she made the decision to step fully into the toilets and stood awkwardly by the wash basins.

Santana's bag had already been forgotten about, flung over a basin as the girl stormed angrily around in circles mumbling incoherent rants to herself.

"Umm, are you okay Santana?" Rachel asked quietly, fearing the reaction to her voice being known by the other girl.

Santana didn't reply, she just continued to be angry, banging a stall door every now and again.

Rachel already assumed it was about Santana's grade to the test but she didn't want to vocalise her assumption. Seeing that she wasn't going to get very far with her approach, Rachel walked further into the space and right into Santana's storming path.

"Santana, what's wrong?" she asked again, a little louder this time.

The taller brunette stood still and her eyes were getting red with the strain of holding in her frustrated tears.

"Shut up," Santana bit out, before clenching her fists and mumbling to herself again, walking away from Rachel.

It didn't affect the brunette; she had had worst stuff said to her face.

"Santana, just tell me what's going on," Rachel said calmly.

This seemed to tip Santana over the edge and she marched over to Rachel and pointed at the girl's chest.

"You had to go and cover your answers!" Santana shouted, not overly loud.

Rachel looked a little confused and brushed the girl's finger away from the threatening pose.

"Yeah, because you were cheating from me and I didn't want to lose grades because of you," she replied, believing that she definitely wasn't in the wrong here.

Santana huffs in Rachel's face and moves over to grip the sink, willing herself to calm down and not punch the brunette that seems persistent on being here.

"If you had just let me see the damn answers," Santana mumbled, annoyed.

"You can't cheat Santana, it's not the way to learn," Rachel replies, having heard the other girl's mumble.

Santana just closes her eyes, willing herself not to cry in front of someone who she was slowly starting to think was becoming a friend; an annoying little friend.

"You shouldn't have doodled and should have just tried the paper instead," Rachel says softly, trying a different approach and hoping that Santana would at least look her in the eye.

"Whatever, just because you could do the stupid paper," Santana mumbled back, becoming a little aggravated.

"Yeah, because I learned the work and put it into use. You need to revise the work and cheating isn't going to help you learn it," Rachel says back, trying to get her point across without looking too mean; it wasn't her intention.

Santana then suddenly turns around with untouched tears in her eyes and finally shouts back.

"I don't know how to learn!"

It goes completely quiet for a couple of minutes. Santana was breathing deeply and letting the tears fall down her flustered cheeks as Rachel was thinking over everything that just happened.

Taking a few tentative steps towards the other girl, Rachel stops close to Santana.

"What do you mean?" she asks gently.

"I don't understand Math; I don't seem to able to take any of it in, no matter how damn hard I try," Santana replies in an incredibly vulnerable voice and Rachel knew that this side of the girl wasn't shown often and when it was, it was to the smallest amount of people it could.

Rachel could feel the pain in the girl's voice and decided to rip down all known boundaries and go for it.

Taking the last step, she wrapped her arms around Santana's shoulders and waited until the girl reacted, whether it was good or bad. Surprisingly, Rachel felt arms lace themselves round her middle and a head rest itself on her shoulder, as a few sobs rang out through the empty room.

"I can help you know," Rachel whispered, as to not break this tender moment.

Santana seemed to blink back into reality and pulled away from Rachel slowly, wiping her eyes on her sleeve and sniffing back the last of her tears. She wasn't a person that usually hugged, only with Brittany usually, but she could get used to hugging her… friends if it felt as reassuring as that did.

"I don't want people to know," Santana said quietly, not looking Rachel in the eye.

"They don't need to know. I can tutor you. After school some days or you can come back to mine?" Rachel asked, trying to make the atmosphere more positive.

Santana didn't want to comment on the fact that Rachel was already referring to Stoneson as hers mainly because she thought that it was a moment not to ruin and also because Rachel didn't know Santana knew she lived with Quinn in a home.

"I could do that," Santana nodded, feeling a little more like herself now.

"We'll sort out times and things at lunch or whenever," Rachel smiled back.

"We're not making a colour-coded timetable or crap like that," Santana said with a raised eyebrow, glad that Rachel wasn't judging her.

"I… I wasn't… thinking about… oh please, it makes it so much easier to work with, just a little timetable?" Rachel grinned, picking her bag off the floor.

"No," Santana chuckled as they both made their way into the corridor.

"It wouldn't have any stickers, just colours?" Rachel continued as they passed the cafeteria.

"No," the other brunette flicked all her hair over one shoulder.

"How about no colours, but just a timetable?" Rachel pleaded as they passed their Math class.

"No…" Santana said as they went out the doors and headed for the bleachers, where it was silently agreed they would spend the rest of their lesson.

Quinn had watched the two oblivious brunettes walk past the Math room chatting animatedly with Santana's smirk plastered on her lips as Rachel looked like she was begging next to her.

Well, it looked like they had made up.

The blonde shook her head with a smile as she went back to sketching out a lion on her notepad.

~O~X~O~X~O~X~O~

It was lunch time, which meant that Rachel could either try and go into the cafeteria or she could go to the bleachers like she been doing for the past two weeks. It was the same routine every day; Rachel and Quinn would finish their significant lessons and then the blonde would go into the cafeteria and buy two sandwiches and a banana for Rachel and an apple for herself, before walking to the bleachers to meet the brunette who would already be sat there waiting. No questions asked; it just happened and that was one thing Rachel was so thankful for.

But today she felt a little stronger. Santana had told her all about Brittany when they had sat on the bleachers during their Math class and she had been mesmerised by listening to Santana's stories. She did get a little confused when Santana had said she had moved out from home to move in with Brittany, because the brunette had never explained why she had to move out from her house; so Rachel assumed it might have family troubles or something. The two had had a laugh and got to know each other a little better, with Rachel explaining that she had moved here on her own, but didn't go into any depth about Stoneson or her background; they weren't close enough for her to talk about that yet.

Plucking up the courage, Rachel moved down the corridor which led to the busy cafeteria. Quinn said she had to do something for Glee Club at lunch so wouldn't be able to meet, so the brunette thought this was the perfect time to try and go and have lunch with her friends. She knew Santana would be there and Mercedes, so she wouldn't be alone.

Taking a few more steps closer to the dining room that had made her panic on her first day, she felt nauseous with adrenalin. She had no idea why it was getting to her like this, she thought she had grown up and beat her feelings of anxiety, but judging by her sweaty palms, dizzy head and erratic heartbeat, she was wrong. It was something that she could fight, she had done in the past, but it was so hard. Her dad's never understood her anxieties; they didn't have them and none of her heritage had suffered from anxiety, but ever since a young age, she couldn't face crowds and rooms where she didn't have a clear exit. One thing she made sure of was that she didn't want it getting in the way of her life, so she had fought it every day and pushed herself to go into school but for some reason, it was getting the better of her lately and that sucked, that sucked real bad.

Putting her small hand up against the cold metal of the cafeteria door, she took a deep breath and looked through the small pane of glass that was in the door. People were pushing past each other to get seats, the table with all the people Rachel knew was practically full, the other exit to the cafeteria was being blocked by a group of jocks and she just remembered she forgot to get her damn lunch money allowance from Justin.

Realising that today wouldn't be the day, she started to take her hand off from the door.

"You going to stand there all day midget or are you actually going to open the door?" a voice said rudely from behind her.

"She might not know how to open the door," another male voice chimed up.

"True that, she looks like she comes from a trash site," the first boy said back.

Gripping her bag strap which rested on her shoulder, she turned around to face whoever thought it was necessary to trample on the little self-confidence she actually had.

Looking up, she realised that she really didn't want to say something back today; these three guys were big and scary and had muscles like rocks. So, she chose the sensible route and just made an excuse so she could leave.

"Sorry, I was just leaving," she mumbled, not making eye contact.

"Hold on tramp," the blonde boy said, sticking his arm in Rachel's way.

"Don't you know how to buy new jeans? You've got rips all over them," the brunette one chimed in, trying to reach for the brunette's bag, but she dodged his attempt.

"Mommy and Daddy don't take care of you?" the third boy said in a patronising manner, before they started to try and circle her.

She could feel her breathing increase and the room start to shrink around her. Their odours, their hands and their words; she could feel all of them and there was no one around to save her. She wished she had a mom and dad, she really did. God, she didn't want to cry.

The corridor was practically empty; most of the student body was in that damn cafeteria.

"Get away from me," Rachel tried to push past but they forced her back into a locker.

"No way sweetie, we're just getting started."

Her petite hands formed into fists and her eyes started to water. She truly thought that this school was going to be okay, that she would be left alone to get on with life, but no… people just had try and make her life hell.

"You could be so fit if you didn't wear tops like that," the black one mumbled.

This made Rachel look down at herself. She was wearing a purple hoody, a white top which had a small stain at the bottom and her black, ripped, skinny jeans. It was true; she looked like a mess if you really studied her clothes.

"Just let me go, I've done nothing to you," Rachel said a little louder, starting to become angry rather than scared.

They didn't know the first thing about her or what she's been through or her background. She let go of her shoulder strap and balled both hands into white-knuckled fists. She didn't want to make a scene, she didn't want to get in trouble; her grades and reputation were important to her, but these boys were really pushing her limits. She had become stronger since being bullied in her past homes.

"Calm down puke breath, you haven't introduced yourself yet," the blonde guy said, leaning closer into her personal space.

"What did you just say?" Rachel asked, feeling her mind move at one hundred miles an hour.

"I said… calm down puke breath…" the guy laughed, high fiving his mates.

The brunette's eyes felt like they were burning with the tears that wanted to fall, she felt like her mind was going to explode from all the horrible memories that were invading it and she felt like she wasn't going to achieve a perfect reputation after all.

"Now now puke breath, not so fast, you haven't had your wash yet," Emily whispered right into her ear, before licking the small brunette's ear lobe and pulling away laughing in her face.

"Now now puke breath, not so fast, you haven't had your wash yet," Emily whispered right into her ear.

"Now now puke breath, not so fast, you haven't had your wash yet."

"Now now puke breath, not so fast…"

"Now now puke breath…"

"Puke breath…"

"Just leave me alone!" Rachel screamed in the blonde's guy face, before extending her fist right into his nose resulting in a loud crack.

As the blonde guy fell back from the force, she ran through the gap and sprinted down the corridor heading anywhere she could that wouldn't lead her into a teacher or those jocks. It was times like these that she was thankful she made sure she stayed fit; her legs carried her further and further until she ended up on the bleachers… ironic.

She wanted to scream. She was just so angry at them, so hurt by them that she didn't know what else to do. She had never been violent to anyone before but now she had gone and punched a guy the size of Mount Kilimanjaro. She was dead.

Groaning into her hands, she was ready to just walk back to Stoneson on her own or find Quinn and tell the blonde what had happened. She hadn't really spoke to Quinn about personal things, not really anyway, but for some reason, she just felt the need to speak to the blonde.

"That's her!" a familiar voice shouted over the quiet, cold air.

"Oh shit," Rachel mumbled into her hands.

As she looked up, the blonde jock from earlier was walking across the field, tissue up his nostrils as a teacher followed him, looking rather bored with the whole matter.

"Miss, follow me," the teacher said, waving for Rachel to come down from the bleachers.

The brunette did as she was told, swinging her bag over her shoulder as she followed blonde guy and the teacher into the school. She knew where she was going; the principal's office, obviously.

As all three of them stopped outside the main office, the teacher turned to face the two of them.

"Right, Nick, you can go, I've heard your part. Go to the nurse to get your nose checked," the teacher patted Nick's shoulder, as he stared death-glares at Rachel before stalking off down the corridor.

"Right young lady, Mr Figgins knows you're coming, just head on in," the teacher said with a disapproving look.

"Thanks," Rachel said with a guilty smile, before opening the door to the main office.

She spotted a familiar face pretty quickly and couldn't help but laugh a little; this got the attention of the other occupant in the small waiting area.

"Whey! Rachel, what you in for?" Santana grinned cheekily, patting the seat next to her.

"Punching a kid in the nose," Rachel shrugged as she sat down.

Santana laughed thinking that it was a good joke.

"No seriously? What've you done?" Santana flicked the page of her magazine mindlessly.

"I punched someone in the nose," Rachel stated again, loving how Santana didn't believe her.

"Seriously?" the brunette turned in her seat to look at Rachel more fully.

"Yeah," Rachel replied, inwardly grimacing as she remembered the crack of Nick's nose.

"Wha… why?" the brunette asked back, chucking her magazine onto the coffee table that was in the middle of the room.

"Umm, sort of a long story; he pushed me too far," Rachel said back, hoping this conversation would end soon.

"Anyway, what're you in for?" Rachel asked quickly before Santana had chance to ask any more questions.

"Chucked some sophomore's food tray into his face," Santana shrugged as she inspected her nails.

Rachel tried not to giggle, because she felt sorry for the poor sophomore, but couldn't help but wonder what made Santana do that.

"Why?" Rachel asked.

"He winked at Brittany," Santana said back, shaking her head, "he'll never learn; second time in two weeks."

Now Rachel could laugh because the kid had it coming; he should have learned from last time.

"Miss Lopez, you can go in now," the receptionist said.

"So she does speak," Rachel muttered to herself, remembering how the woman hadn't said a word on her first day.

"See you later Rachel," Santana nodded as she got up.

The principal's office door swung open and a tall, big guy walked out, seemingly completely pissed off about something. Santana just gave him a quick nod before she slipped into Mr Figgins' office.

Rachel had already got her notepad out ready to just doodle her boredom away, but a looming figure snapped her out of her daydream.

She slowly raised her head, nervous that Nick was coming back for revenge, but calmed down when she recognised the face immediately.

"Dave?" Rachel asked excitedly, getting up off her chair.

"Rach? Wh… why are you here?" Dave said, quickly pulling her into a hug.

The hug finally ended as Rachel reluctantly let go and sat back down. Dave looked less pissed off with the presence of his old friend, as he took the seat that Santana had previously been in.

"I… I… wow, it's so amazing to see you again, I didn't think I ever would," Rachel grinned, feeling like a whole load of memories were invading her mind.

"I know, it's crazy… so why are you here?" Dave Karofsky laughed, running a hand over his roughed-up hair.

"Well, I got moved to Stoneson, a home a few miles from McKinley, it's not too bad… at the moment," Rachel smiled, twisting in her seat to get more comfortable.

"I'm happy that you've found somewhere that treats you better," Dave smiled back, "I live in a Youth Hostel down the street. When our last home made me move because I turned 18, it was the only place I could find, as Stoneson was full last year. So, then I came to McKinley and asked if I could do my senior year, even though I'm 19; it took some time but it all got sorted out and now I'm here."

"God, this is amazing! I missed you so much when you left last year. You were the only person that ever treated me nicely," Rachel ducked her head.

"You deserved it," he lifted her head with his hand, "siblings got to stick together right?"

Rachel laughed and let the small tear run down her cheek; she didn't even know she was crying. Dave had helped her so many times it was hard to count. As she smiled back at him, she let the biggest memory take over her mind.

As little 15-year-old Rachel Berry ran down the corridor hungry for her dinner, a foot skidded out from a bedroom and made her go flying onto her stomach.

She turned over after the initial pain floated away and tried to make herself breath normally, but it was hard when she couldn't feel her chest.

"Oops, sorry shorty; didn't see you coming," Josh sniggered as he lent over her menacingly.

Josh was 2 years older than Rachel and about twice her size. She would have tried to fight him away if she didn't think she would lose.

"Piss off Josh," Rachel said through her teeth as she gripped the wall to help herself up.

"No no no, we don't say rude things to Josh now do we?" he said closer to her, pushing himself into her personal space.

"Just did, now move so I can go to dinner," Rachel said, mentally trying to stay strong.

"God, you frustrate me!" Josh shouted, before slamming Rachel into the door opposite them and pushing his body up against her.

"Urgh, get off me!" Rachel shouted back, hoping that she wouldn't cry because she could feel him everywhere.

"Or… I'll get off on you," Josh whispered angrily into her ear as he tried to grab her hand.

Before Rachel had any chance to scream for help, Josh's body was ripped free from her space and shoved back into his room, sending him into a pathetic heap on his carpet.

"You will not do anything to her!" Dave threatened as he loomed over the groaning kid.

"What the hell Karofsky?" Josh said as he held his arm in pain.

"Back off from Rachel Josh, or you'll have to go through me," Dave said, before spitting on the boy's chest and going back to check on Rachel.

The brunette was still rubbing at her back from where it had hit the door knob behind her, but had a grateful and relieved smile forming her lips.

"Thank god I have you," Rachel whispered, ready to have a breakdown.

"I'm glad I have you too Rach, we need each other; in different ways. You support me mentally and I just have muscle to support you," he laughed, as he wrapped his arm round Rachel's petite shoulders.

"You're more than just your muscle Dave," Rachel said as she hugged into his side.

They reached the bottom steps of the stairs and decided to just sit down; they were both exhausted from the day of school and fighting away bullies.

"You know, I don't even know if I have any siblings," Dave piped up randomly, scratching his head in thought.

"But you lived with your dad until you were 11, wouldn't he have told you?" Rachel asked, as she stretched her back.

"No, probably not; he didn't tell me anything, he was always drunk. I could have a little sister or brother out there and I don't even know it," he replied, turning his lips down in wonder.

"I know I don't have any… I wish I did though, as we will never have the chance again," Rachel said, turning so she could look Dave in the eye.

As they connected eyes and just smiled at each other, so thankful that throughout the shit hole that was their home, they managed to find each other; friends for life some would say.

A grin then took over Dave's lips, before he cleared his throat and got up from the step. Kneeling down onto his right knee, he made his face turn into faux seriousness.

"Will you, Rachel Berry, take me, David Karofsky, to be your awesome big brother?" Dave asked, as he held out his hand with the bottle top from a beer bottle placed in his palm.

Unfortunately, the bottle top was the only thing he could find in his pocket at such short notice. Rachel didn't seem to mind though as a 100-watt grin took over her features as she tackled Dave back into a bear hug.

"Yes bro!" Rachel squeaked.

"Don't call me bro though," Dave laughed from underneath Rachel, as the brunette basically suffocated him from fierce hugs.

As the smile faded from her lips, she bent down into her school bag and brought out her basically empty purse. Unzipping the middle section, she pulled out the scratched bottle top.

"Still got it bro," Rachel winked.

"What did I say about calling me that?" Dave laughed, as Rachel put the bottle top back into her bag.

"You love it really," she grinned.

"Anyway, umm, why are you here, in terms of in the principal's office?" Dave asked, putting his feet up onto the coffee table but getting told off by the receptionist.

"I… uhh… punched a guy in the nose," she replied, really not liking having to repeat that sentence.

"Shit, why Rach?" he asked, looking a little concerned.

"He was being really harsh, like really harsh. The comments… they just reminded me of my old homes and then he was being rude and made a comment about having parents and then he called me puke breath and then… well, I just lost it," she replied, fiddling with her hands.

"What's his name?" Dave said through gritted teeth.

"Don't do anything Dave," Rachel warned, already seeing revenge written in the boy's eyes.

"I won't… I'll just give him a little warning to leave you alone," Dave cocked his head in a small shrug.

"I don't think that's a good idea, you need to have a good record at this school," Rachel joked, trying to avoid the conversation.

"Fine, I won't do anything… for you. But tell me his name so I can keep an eye on him at least?" Dave pleaded; he really didn't want Rachel getting hurt.

"Nick, Nick someone; he looked like a jock," Rachel said.

"Yeah, yeah, I know him. He has a reputation for picking on girls; we're still trying to figure out if it's because he's gay or because he's constantly horny," Dave nodded.

This comment made Rachel laugh and she was so thankful to have Dave back in her life; she missed him so much.

"Anyway, I've got to get to class as lunch is over, but keep in touch yeah?" Dave said, getting up from his seat.

"I don't have a cell yet, as I don't have much money, but I'm hoping to get a Saturday job, so I'll let you know when I have a number," Rachel smiled, "but you can pop into Stoneson anytime… you drive right?"

"Sure do, I'll catch you around Rach," Dave smiled as he lent down and hugged her goodbye.

Just as Dave finished the hug and walked off, Santana came out of the office and stopped by Rachel.

"You know Dave?" Santana asked, looking a little intrigued.

"Yeah, I knew him when we went to the same ho… school, we went to school together," Rachel smiled, before grabbing her bag and standing up.

"So, you two are friends or something?" the other brunette asked again.

"Yeah, definitely. What's wrong? You seem wary about it or something?" Rachel asked, being able to read Santana a little better since this morning.

"Nothing, it's nothing. It's just the Glee Club aren't exactly great friends with him since he sort of bullied a guy from our club; not major bullying, but just enough to make Kurt sad," Santana said, crossing her arms.

Rachel was taken aback by this information; Dave wouldn't hurt a fly. He was like a St Bernard dog; he looks massive, with muscles the size of boulders but he was just a soft, cuddly bear inside.

"Dave? He wouldn't do that intentionally…" Rachel said, more to herself than Santana.

"Well, it definitely looked intentional. It's sorted now, but the club keep an eye on him. Just thought I'd let you know," Santana shrugged.

"Yeah, um, thanks," the small brunette replied, making a mental note that she needed to speak to Dave soon.

"Anyway, see you later Rachel," Santana said as she sauntered out of the office and down the corridor.

"Miss Berry, your turn," the receptionist mumbled, already bored with life.

"Thanks," the brunette replied, walking up to the office door.

"Let's get this over with," Rachel mumbled as she pushed open the wooden door.