all my dreams are coming true (now that they're about me and you)

chapter seven

Santana wiped her tears away hastily before turning to face Rachel at the sound of the girl's voice. Yes, there was a lot to talk about. So much to say, and yet Santana had never been able to find the right words in situations such as these. She could always find the perfect combinations whenever she needed to insult or humiliate or intimidate, or simply push away, anyone who got her angry or made the grave mistake of just getting a little too close; it was unusual for her to want so much to find words to comfort, to soothe, to draw someone closer. But now she found herself searching for them even as Rachel sat herself down on the couch and patted the space next to her, signaling for Santana to sit as well.

Rachel smiled as Santana lowered herself down onto the couch. It was a soft, shy smile, not the huge I see you there in the back row of the auditorium smile that the Glee Club was so used to seeing; in fact, Santana got the distinct feeling that Rachel had held this one in reserve just for her, as though the girl had never known it was possible to smile in quite this way until now. It was warm and reassuring, and Santana was completely captivated by it. Any vestige of hesitance or reservation that might have existed somewhere in her body vanished at the sight.

Santana couldn't help but return a smile of her own. Suddenly she wanted nothing more than to see that smile directed at her again and again.

Now they were face to face, and Santana's breath hitched at the realization of just how beautiful Rachel was, up close. Her olive skin and deep brown eyes glowed and sparkled with the light coming in through the living room window, and Santana found that she couldn't tear her eyes away from Rachel's plump, perfect lips as they glistened. Unconsciously, she felt herself leaning forward to kiss them, but before her eyes closed, she heard Rachel clear her throat. Knowing from past experience - thanks to many, many Glee Club speeches - that this meant Rachel was about to speak, she forced herself to back away.

"First of all, I want to thank you for coming over today. This entire week has felt like a dream to me, and I would have been terribly sad if I had woken up to find that you weren't going to be here after all. I feel that there is something – I haven't been able to define what it is yet, exactly – but something is happening between us, Santana. I feel it strongly. I want – I need to know if you feel it too, or if you feel something different, but whatever the case, I have to know if this is real, or if I'm just deluding myself into believing that someone as gorgeous and popular as you could possibly have any kind of interest in me. I...I can't be making all this up in my head, can I?"

Rachel paused, wringing her hands. She knew she was rambling. She always did when she was anxious, overcome with want. That was always her problem, wasn't it? She wanted things too much. Good grades on tests, solos in Glee Club, a future on Broadway – and now Santana. But what was it, even, that she wanted with her? Did she know? Could she possibly explain it to herself, let alone the girl sitting here beside her?

Santana kept herself from laughing at the poor girl's anxiety. How could Rachel not know by now that Santana Lopez was never anywhere she didn't want to be? And how could she not know that there was nowhere she would rather be than right here, right now, because she was bewildered by their newfound connection too?

Surprisingly, Santana slowly reached a hand out to place an index finger over Rachel's lips, stilling them before more words could spill out from them. Then she brought her hand down on Rachel's head to gently stroke her long, dark hair. She felt the girl calm at the touch, saw the tension leave her shoulders, as though an invisible weight had been removed from them.

"Relax, Rachel. Okay? Just relax. I'm here, and I want to be here - and you're definitely not making anything up in your head, all right? I've told you before, when we texted on the phone – you make me feel things I've never felt before, things I don't understand. I don't even know how you do it, but...you do. And that's why I'm here today. Because we need to explore this...whatever this is. I have to warn you, though; I'm not really good at all at expressing my feelings with words. Well, that's not exactly true. I can cut a bitch with vicious, vicious words anytime, but feelings like this? The way I feel when I look at you, when I hear you sing, when I see you smiling? It's...I'm not exactly used to it, talking about good things. Happy things. Kind of unfamiliar territory for me."

"Well, I'm not exactly the poster girl for high school happiness myself, to be honest. I put up a good front, but truthfully..." Rachel said softly. She winced, as though the admission caused her physical pain. "Until the Glee Club came along, making friends...that was always hard for me. I tried to act as though it never bothered me, that I was above it all, that I didn't need anyone, that my talent was all I needed. I never realized just how wrong I was until I saw my own need reflected in you."

It was true. They needed something, each of them. Something that each could only provide the other. Santana could open her heart to Rachel, allow herself to be vulnerable in a way she had never dared to do with anyone before, because she knew that Rachel would never judge or condemn her need. Because she knew that Rachel understood that need better than anyone else could. Brittany and Quinn had always had other friends in whom they could confide, with whom they shared things, and now Brittany had grown close to Mike and Artie, while Quinn was developing an unexpected bond with Mercedes.

Santana had never really done the close friend thing, even though she called the two blonde cheerleaders her best friends. She had never truly opened up to them, never shown them the secret places in her heart. In all honesty, she had come to believe that she simply wasn't capable of being that vulnerable, that she had armored herself so thoroughly that it could never come off completely.

Seeing Rachel staring at her, waiting for a response, Santana shook herself out of her own head and considered what Rachel had said before responding.

"I get that," she began, carefully formulating her reply in her mind. "But I think maybe you let the 'future star' thing go a little too far, lost your own real personality beneath all that. I kinda did that, too, with the 'head bitch in charge' persona. People think that tough, angry person they know is the real me. It's only part of me, though. They just don't bother trying to get past it to see what else is under there."

"Oh, Santana. There's so much more to you than that," Rachel sighed, taking Santana's hand in her own, trying to ignore the charge of electricity sent through her body by the simple contact. "It's what I saw that first time we really looked at each other. It's what made me realize I needed to get to know you, that you needed someone who was willing to look beneath the surface to see who you really are, inside. And I like who you are – at least, what you've let me see of you, the real you, so far."

"And I like you too, beneath those god-awful sweaters you insist on wearing," Santana teased. Rachel pouted, and Santana chuckled as she continued, "Oh, come on, don't look at me like that. Listen, you have got to come shopping with me sometime, because I swear if you don't, I will come in here when you're out at one of your dance lessons or vocal sessions or whatever the hell else you do when you're not at school, and I will take each and every one of those sweaters far, far out into the woods and burn them."

"You wouldn't dare!" Rachel exclaimed.

Laughing openly now, Santana retorted, "Oh, yes I would, short stack. You can't keep hiding beneath that stuff anymore. If I'm going to show you who I really am, you're going to do the same. And besides, I'm Santana Lopez. I will dare anything, so don't test me."

Rachel's eyes narrowed, and suddenly it seemed as though the light in the room had dimmed, drawn into the darkness of her expression. The look she gave Santana was shocking in its intensity, freezing her in place, rendering her helpless.

"Anything, huh?" she said, her voice low and husky, and Rachel knew it was the voice of her other self speaking through her now, moving her body closer to Santana's, causing her to wrap her arms around the other girl's neck and bring their faces close together. So, so close together.

Santana shivered at the way Rachel sounded now, wondering where this Rachel had come from, where she had found this voice, so compelling, so different from the one she was used to hearing. She wanted to ask Rachel what had gotten into her, what she thought she was doing, but instead all she did was answer in her most defiant, confident tone:

"Anything at all."

Then she tilted her head and brought her lips to Rachel's, softly and sweetly. Santana instantly became lost in the taste of – what else? - berry flavored lip gloss. She felt Rachel trembling in her arms as the girl's mouth opened and a soft moan escaped, giving Santana the access she craved. Instinct took over, and her body responded more forcefully than it ever had before. The rush of excitement was incredible, a tidal wave that threatened to overtake them both, and Santana would have been happy to drown in it.

Fingers threaded through long, dark locks. Skin warmed, slickened with perspiration. It was so warm in the room. When had the sun gotten so close? And when was Rachel going to need to take a breath? God, she wasn't kidding when she was telling everyone in Glee Club how she had amazing breath control and that was how she could hold all those notes forever.

Finally, as if in answer to Santana's thoughts, Rachel broke away. Santana gasped, not even realizing until that moment how badly she needed oxygen, taking great gulps of air.

Rachel's eyes were dark, her hair was beautifully tousled, her skin glowing with a fine sheen of sweat. She was glorious, Santana thought. Like a tiny, dark bird of prey. All she wanted to do was kiss her again and again.

And then Rachel's mouth was on hers again, and the waves broke and crashed atop them, and they didn't care in the least as hours passed, the sun lowered in the sky and darkness approached.