Innocence is Only a Perception
Chapter 9
Santana found Rachel in the chorus room a little while later sitting on the piano bench with her back turned to the door. Santana opened her mouth to alert Rachel to her presence, but opted, instead, to walk over silently and sit down next to her.
"Hello, Santana," Rachel whispered without lifting her head to acknowledge her. Her gaze was trained on her fingers tinkling the keys of the piano and would not leave it's focus for Santana, even when the Latina spoke.
"Did I upset you, or are you just thinking now?"
"I was upset, for a little while, but now I'm just thinking," Rachel said calmly. Her hands began to play a sweet melody, one that was familiar to Santana, but she couldn't quite place it.
"Should I leave you alone then?" Santana moved to stand, but Rachel's hands stopped playing suddenly and moved to close around Santana's own hands. Without either of them saying a word, Santana nodded and settled back into the seat.
And then there was silence. A comfortable one where Rachel was able to stop thinking and lay her head on her friend's shoulder and forget about what had happened the past week. One where Santana was able to wrap her arm around the girl laying her head on her shoulder without being afraid of making her pull away. A silence that had the ability to make everything just... stop and be.
"Did you mean it?" The question causes Santana to snap back into herself, and it's so random that she has to ask Rachel what she means. "Did you mean... what you said in the song?"
"Oh," Santana says, understanding. "Yes," is her simple answer. "I will do anything and everything to make you realize that I want to be with you and that I-"
"Please don't say it," Rachel begs, closing her eyes as if in prayer. "I'm not ready to hear it. If you say it, then I might feel the need to say it too and I... I don'y know if I'm ready for that. That's what happened with Finn and- and I don't think I can do that again. You mean to much to me to put us through jumping into something too rashly and not knowing what will happen."
Santana had to chuckle a bit, "I wasn't going to say... the L word – and I don't mean Lesbians either." Rachel chuckled at that and rolled her eyes. "I was going to say, that I want you. Not just in a sexual way, but- I don't know... I just want to be with you, even if we just lay together on my bed and kiss like we did the other day." Rachel opened her mouth but Santana stopped her by saying, "Don't be a smart ass, kissing doesn't have to be sexual."
Rachel chuckled a bit again, and then the silence set back in. For a while.
"Santana?"
"Yes, Rachel?"
"I'm sorry for running away. I'm sorry that I keep running away."
Santana looks at Rachel over her shoulder, "Why did you."
"Why does anyone run? Because I was afraid," she said, lifting her head off of Santana's shoulder to look at her.
"Of what? Me? Us?"
Rachel shook her head and hung it low with a guilty expression on her face. "Finn," she said plainly.
Santana scoffed and stood up in annoyance. "Finn? Are you fucking serious? You're still worried about his fucking feelings?"
"What? No! God no!" Rachel said in a scandalized tone, as if the notion was just completely absurd. "No! I'm afraid... I'm afraid for you. The way he hit you the other day... I didn't want that too happen again."
Santana's expression softened. "Oh... Rachie," Santana sighed, walking over to the girl and pulling her into a tight hug, holding Rachel's head to her chest. "No, don't be afraid for me. I can take care of myself. I am from Lima Heights Adjacent!"
Rachel had to laugh at that, "Yeah, you just buy yourself an entire security team!"
"Already got 'em, babe," Santana said, winking at the smaller girl.
The girls laughed together and it dwindled down until the silence was back.
"Take me home, Santana?"
"Of course, baby," Santana replied, tugging on Rachel's hand. "Can I stay for dinner this time?"
"What a stupid question," Rachel responds with a playful smile.
"Daddies? We're home!" Rachel yells into the house when she and Santana walk into the foyer. Just a little ways in the girls turn the corner into the living room to find Rachel's "Dad", Leroy, the black one, sitting on the couch with his nose stuck in the newspaper and the TV on in the background – something Rachel never understood. Shaking her head at this, Rachel walked over to him and kissed him on the cheek, greeting him, "Hello, Dad. Where's Daddy?"
He just glances over his shoulder at his daughter to catch her cheek before saying, "In the kitchen. He's setting up dinner."
Rachel looked at him with a tilt to her head, "Dinner? Is it Chinese take-out again?" He just nods and Rachel has to laugh. Rachel turns to Santana and explains, "Daddy has this notion that presentation is everything and so even when he gets take-out he has to arrange all of the food onto plates like in a restaurant until it's just so."
"Hmm," Santana muses, "Sounds like someone I know."
Rachel lets out a sound of indignation and smacks Santana's arm with the back of her hand while they walked into the kitchen. "Oh, he might kick us out, that's probably why Dad was on the couch," Rachel adds before turning the corner. "Hi, Daddy!"
Hiram looks up just as he's pouring a box of fried rice onto a plate. He smiles at Rachel and sends her a kiss, but then immediately goes back to work. "How was school today, angel?"
"It was..." Rachel pauses and looks at Santana, "interesting. There were auditions for the male lead at Nationals, Mr. Schue let me help judge as I am the captain."
"Oh? Anybody stick out?" Hiram asks.
Rachel glances at Santana out of the corner of her eye – Santana doesn't miss this – and clears her throat. "There were definitely a few. Sam was very good, as was Noah surprisingly. Artie always sounds amazing." She was teasing of course, but Rachel loved the way that Santana's neck got all red when she got jealous, just like it did now.
Santana pinched Rachel's side and Rachel squeaked, causing her father to look up, finally seeing Santana. "Oh, hello. Santana, right?"
Santana smiles and nods, "Yes, sir. Rachel invited me to stay for dinner. Is that okay?"
"Oh, yes! Of course, I wish that Rachel would have called first, but-"
"I'm sorry, Daddy. Don't be rude, though, Santana can just have some of my stir-fried tofu. I never eat all of it anyways." Hiram seems satisfied with this and nods before kicking the girls out of the kitchen so he can have peace. The girls just laugh and walk out hand-in-hand – Hiram doesn't miss this.
The girls were called down from Rachel's room about ten minuets later and the girls, now with rumbling stomachs, bounded down the steps hurriedly. Upon arriving in the dinning room, they found a spread of Chinese food across the table and four place settings.
"Wow, Daddy. Nice organizing," Rachel joked and everyone but Hiram laughed.
"Very funny, Rachel, but just remember that you had to get your organizational skills from somewhere," Hiram retorted.
They all checked again and sat down to eat, immediately digging in. Santana looked around at the table awkwardly and sat with her hands in her lap while Rachel spooned some of her stir-fried tofu onto the both of their plates. Rachel noticed her awkward demeanor and asked, "What's wrong? You're usually a lot more chatty at dinner."
"That's dinner at my house though, and whenever we have dinner here your fathers are never in," Santana whispered.
Rachel giggled and kissed the girl on the cheek. "Don't be nervous, it's just my fathers."
"Yeah, your fathers that know how I treated you for three years," Santana scoffed out.
Rachel just smiled and shook her head, rolling her eyes. "So, Santana," Leroy began, "Rachel tells us that you two are finally friends now. That's a nice change of pace."
"Yeah, it's definitely better than having to pay over 100 bucks a month on dry-cleaning," Hiram says sarcastically.
Rachel attempts to kick him under the table, but accidentally hits the wrong father who exclaims in pain. "Oh, sorry Dad," she whispers as if it's a secret what she did. Leroy just nods in understanding before passing the kick along to the right person.
The rest of the meal continues in polite conversation – on pain of another kick to the shins from either Rachel or Leroy – and when everyone has cleaned their plates they migrated into the family room where the piano was located. Rachel told Santana that every time they had a family dinner it was tradition that they go into the family room and sing to each other. There was no particular reason as to why it started, it just happened one night and the next and the next and the next until it became a tradition.
Leroy and Hiram sang "Come Fly With Me", an ode to each other, and Rachel had to say "Ewwwww!" like a five year-old to get them to stop kissing when they were done singing. However, it did work, and Santana had to thank her for saving the both of them from that awkward moment.
Rachel jumped up from the chaise lounge chair she was sharing with Santana almost as soon as her fathers sat down on the love seat next to them. "Now, I actually haven't prepared anything new because I've been rather busy," Rachel looked pointedly at Santana and the girl blushed a little, making Rachel giggle, "So, Dad; Daddy, would you mind? You know what song to play."
The two men grinned at each other and walked back over to the piano and immediately started to play the opening chords of "Don't Rain On My Parade". And of course Rachel did it perfectly! So, when the smaller girl hopped over to where Santana was still sitting with rapt attention on her and her entrancing voice Santana immediately stiffened.
"Oh, no! No no no! I can't sing, not after that! How could I possibly follow... that?" Santana asked, holding her hands up in front of her to push away the grabby hands of Rachel trying to pull her to the front.
"Yes, yes! You have to sing, Santana! I want Dad and Daddy to hear what a gorgeous voice you have!"
Sighing in defeat, Santana allowed herself to be pulled up and to the front of the room – If Puck were here, hell if anyone from glee were here Santana knew she would be hearing whipping sounds. Santana looked to Rachel who was sitting back down on the lounge chair and gave a nervous look. Rachel just smiled at her and clasped her hands together and leaned forward, urging her to go on. "Umm... well, you're in luck because I was actually not sure about what song to sing this week in glee, so I have another one prepared."
Santana walked over to the piano and placed her hands on the keys, sliding her fingers over the smooth, cool surface.
"I didn't know you played," Rachel said. Santana just smiled. "I guess there's a lot of things I don't know about you..."
Santana blushed and downcast her eyes. She took a deep breath and then began to play the intro to the song.
"You make me feel like I'm losing my virginity
The first time every time when you touchin' me
I make you bloom like a flower that you never seen
Under the sun we are one buzzing energy
Let's pollinate to create a family tree
This evolution with you comes naturally
Some call it science we call it chemistry
This is the story of the birds and the bees
Even the seasons change
Our love still stays the same"
Rachel listened with rapt attention, leaning so far forward she looked like she was about to fall off of the chair.
"You give me the hummingbird heartbeat
Spread my wings and make me fly
The taste of your honey is so sweet
When you give me the hummingbird heartbeat, hummingbird heartbeat
Oh oh
Hummingbird heartbeat
Oh oh
Hummingbird heartbeat
I've flown a million miles just to find a magic seed
A white flower with the power to bring life to me
You're so exotic my whole body fluttering
Constantly craving for a taste of your sticky sweet"
Santana winked at Rachel and the smaller girl's back stiffened before a deep bush spread over her cheeks and down to her neck and the top of her chest.
"I was on the brink of a heart attack
You gave me life and keep me coming back
I see the sun rise in your eyes, your eyes
We've got a future full of blue skies, blue skies
Even the seasons change
Our love still stays the same
You give me the hummingbird heartbeat
Spread my wings and make me fly
The taste of your honey is so sweet
When you give me the hummingbird heartbeat, hummingbird heartbeat
Oh oh
Hummingbird heartbeat
Oh oh
Hummingbird heartbeat
You love me, you love me
Never love me not, not, oh no
When we hear a perfect harmony
You make me sound like, like a symphony"
Santana sang out her heart so beautifully that Rachel was sure that her face was as red as a rose and that her faced looked utterly ridiculous as she looked up at Santana will a look of complete enchantment.
"Spread my wings and make me fly
The taste of your honey is so sweet
When you give me the hummingbird heartbeat, hummingbird heartbeat
You give me the hummingbird heartbeat
Spread my wings and make me fly
The taste of your honey is so sweet
When you give me the hummingbird heartbeat, hummingbird heartbeat
Oh oh
Hummingbird heartbeat
Oh oh
Hummingbird heartbeat
Oh oh
Hummingbird heartbeat
Oh oh
Hummingbird heartbeat"
When Santana finished Rachel stood up from her seat and clapped excitedly, the enchanted look that was on her face throughout the entire song still hadn't faded, even though her fathers were staring at her, completely confused.
"Oh, Santana!" Rachel exclaimed as she ran up to the girl, throwing her arms around her waist. "That was beautiful! Wasn't that beautiful?" Rachel asked as she turned back to face her fathers. Finally she noticed their perplexed expressions. "Daddies?"
"Uh... Rachel-"
"What the hell!"
Leroy began to say, but then Hiram exclaimed over him. After getting a swat on the chest for being so impatient and direct, the men stood up and walked over to Rachel.
"Darling, you know that we love you very much, and we were so happy that you ended things with Finn, but now... we're very confused," Leroy said, cupping his daughter's face in his hands.
"Confused about what, Dad?"
Hiram crossed his arms and tapped his foot, "Is there something you want to tell us, young lady? Something about you and Santana?"
A/N: Hey, sorry I haven't updated in a few days I kind of hate myself for it, but I will definitely be writing more tomorrow and I am sorry that I had to leave you with a cliff hanger. *dodges rotten fruit* On a happy note, next chapter things will be getting hot and heavy! (no PR0NS yet , tho, sorry. *dodges more fruit*)
