Finally, an update. Sorry it took so long but I was having a major case of writer's block. I was also going to make this a lot longer, but decided to save the idea for the next chapter.

Anyways, sorry for the likely spelling and grammar mistakes. Enjoy :)


Santana was sitting in the back of her math class, mindlessly drawing on the corner of her page. Her eyes would glance at the clock hung on the wall, willing the minutes to pass in quick recession. The idea of seeing Rachel again was far too tempting. It had only been a few hours since the diva had shown up at her house, and yet, she couldn't ignore the flutter in her stomach at the idea of seeing her again.


After she had left Puck's late that Sunday afternoon, she walked home to her typically empty house. There were remnants that her parents had been home, as dinner was place in the oven ready to be eaten and a letter of apology for being out again was scribbled in her father's chicken scratch. The idea of being alone once again did not settle well for her. Right now, she would love to have any sort of distraction to take her mind off of Rachel. But all she had was isolation and her dizzying thoughts.

She poured herself a glass of water, her mouth dried from the alcohol. She placed the empty glass in the sink and went to her room to take a long shower, hoping the excessive heat and steam would cloud her thoughts if only for a moment.

She closed the bathroom door with a soft click before looking at herself in the mirror. Her makeup was smeared slightly from rubbing her eyes in frustration. Her eyes slightly red from the few beers she had consumed with Puck. She was reminded of her time with the boy as the bitter taste of the beer remained on her tongue. She quickly reached for her toothbrush to brush away the taste when she saw it.

Rachel's toothbrush with a small note attached to it.

She slowly grabbed the piece of folded paper off the toothbrush holder and opened it up to see the note Rachel had written inside.

Thank you for letting me stay the night. I could never thank you enough.

-Rachel

P.S You're really cute when you sleep :p

Santana smiled as her mind went back to their perfect morning. It was hard to believe that only a few hours ago, Santana was waking up to Rachel's smiling face and a steaming cup of coffee. It seemed like that memory happen days or even weeks ago.

Santana quickly tucked the note in the drawer before grabbing her toothbrush and brushing her teeth.

She quickly turned on the shower, putting it at the warmest temperature she could stand without being scalded. She let the water roll over her skin and let it redden her caramel colour. Even with the high temperatures and the excessive amount of steam, her mind could not drift far from Rachel. She stood there under the warm stream and all she could think about was the bubbly brunette and their possible future.

The worry and the dread of what was to come invaded her thoughts. The countless questions filled her mind with incredible doubt.

Did she really like me? Is she going to go back to Finn? Will I ever be enough for her? Will I ever be able to give her everything she needs?

Her sureness was washed away down the drain and full doubt made its presence known. The doubt and her fear that she had had from the very beginning. The fear and the idea that the very straight brunette would be walking off into the sunset with her quarterback boyfriend. She would walk away and leave Santana behind.

That thought killed her more than anything.

And now, that thought could very well become the reality. Puck had texted her awhile ago letting her know that Finn was heading over to talk with Rachel. Puck tried to be encouraging, saying that Finnocence was just getting his stuff and leaving, but it did anything but comfort the Latina. Santana knew that even though the boy was incredibly dumb, he had a way of manipulating people. People like Rachel. Santana had watched for years as Rachel fell for his boyhood charm and goofy smile. The way he would twist her words around, or the way he would alter her thoughts.

To say Santana was worried was an understatement.

When the water began to run cold, the Latina turned it off and stepped out of the shower. She wrapped a towel around her body to shield her from the chilled temperature of her bedroom. When she completely dried off, she reached for the closest pair of pyjamas to slip on. When she finally pulled the t-shirt over her head, her mind was invaded with the smell that was distinctly Rachel. When she looked down, she realized this was the outfit that she had loaned the diva that morning.

She quickly pulled off the t-shirt and shorts and tossed them across the room, trying to get as far away from the thought of Rachel as possible. She walked to her vanity and pulled out a fresh t-shirt and a fresh pair of cotton shorts.

She walked over to the large T.V that was in her room, too tired to go downstairs, and put in a disk of Sweet Valley High. When the show began, she slowly made her way to her bed and hid under the covers, willing her thoughts to disappear.

She was awoken by the constant knocking and ringing from her front door. Looking at the clock, she realized it was quite late. The T.V was now on the title screen, the show being done for hours now.

Santana slowly pulled herself from her bed and wiped away the sleep from her eyes. She slowly stretched her muscles and made her way downstairs towards the constant noise.

"I'm coming, Jesus Christ," she mumbled, slightly annoyed from being woken up.

Her feeling of annoyance faded as she saw Rachel berry standing in front of her.

"Hi," the small brunette said softly.

"Hey," Santana voice cracked in exhaustion. Santana wanted to burrow herself into the ground to hide from embarrassment.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I probably woke you up and...Oh my god, are your parents home?"

Santana could see the panicked look in Rachel's eyes. She had to bite the corner of her lip to stop herself from smiling and to stifle a laugh. Sure she was sleeping, but she didn't mind being surprised by the diva.

To save the petit girl, she quickly spoke to save her, "No they're not. Is everything okay?"

"If you want my honest answer," Rachel paused, "no."

"Do you want to come in?"

Santana watched as Rachel slowly made her way past her and towards the family room. She could feel her chest drop at the notion that Rachel was not okay. Did Finn hurt her? Were they getting back together? Did Rachel come here to end things?

Either way, Santana found herself following the diva and sitting next her on the large couch. They both put some distance between them, knowing that was for the best at this moment.

"Finn came over today."

That wasn't new news to Santana, but she knew the diva didn't know that, so she kept her mouth shut.

"How did that go?" Santana's voice came out slightly nervous.

"It went," Santana heard the empty chuckle and wanted nothing more than to reach over and pull Rachel into an embrace, but she stayed where she was. She was there to listen.

"He's going into the army, you know?" Santana nodded. She didn't know he was going, she had heard him talking about it, but didn't know for sure. She decided to keep her jokes and comments to herself and just let herself listen. She had to get used to all of this; feelings. It was a foreign subject for her, but she would brave it for Rachel.

"I really don't know what to think about it. I'm scared of what's going to happen to him."

"I understand that Rachel."

"He is leaving for a week to go with Burt and Carol to Fort Benning, Georgia."

"I'm guessing he is going to go check out the base there."

Santana watched as Rachel silently nodded. She could tell that this new information was a lot to take in for the small girl. It was a lot of information and Santana wanted to be there to support her; if Rachel still wanted that.

"He told me to figure out my life. More so figure out what I want between us while he is gone."

"What do you want to happen between us?"

This was it. This was the question that held so many possibilities as well as so much insecurity for the Latina. The answer to this would either crush her or lift her spirits. This answer would decide whether Rachel really wanted her or if she was just going to run back into Finn's arms.

After a moment, Rachel answered, "I want to be with you. But I think it's-"

"Too soon," Santana smiled. She knew it was too soon for either of them to jump into a relationship, but Rachel's confession told her that she did in fact want to be with her and not Finn. She just needed time and Santana was more than willing to give that. "I agree Rachel. Do I want us to be together? Obviously, but it's not going to happen in a week. I think we all need time. But just so you know, I'll be waiting for you, okay? I will wait until you are ready for this to happen. It's your call."

"Thank you," she saw Rachel smile.

"Just so you know, I am not going to stop wooing you," she heard Rachel chuckle and could think of no better sound. "Just because you're not my girlfriend doesn't mean I am not going to try for us. But, you know, it might be kind of nice to be wooed back." Santana could feel herself smiling.

"What do you mean 'be wooed back?'" Rachel chuckled again.

"You're not the only one who wants a song every now and then. Maybe I want to feel the love," Santana smirked.

"I guess I'll just have to bring my A-game," Rachel smirked and Santana laughed at the reference to that morning.

"I can't wait," Santana smiled.

Santana slowly reached her hand over and grabbed Rachel's, intertwining their fingers.

"You'll be okay, Rachel."

"We'll be okay," Santana could feel Rachel squeeze back and knew that they would be.


The bell ringing brought Santana out of her daydream. She quickly gathered her books and started heading towards her locker. It was Monday, so it was a Glee day. Santana couldn't be happier about that because it meant that she got to see Rachel. More importantly, she most likely got to hear her sing.

She walked up to her locker and entered her combination before opening it. She was about to depose of her books before quickly running to Glee club, when a piece of paper with gold stars all over it caught her attention.

It had to be from Rachel.

She carefully put her books in the locker before she quickly grabbed the note and opened it up.

Dear Santana,

You have expressed your interest in wanting to be wooed, so here is my attempt. Of course there is a song planned in your near future, but I wanted to go a little above and beyond. I am an overachiever as you should know.

Every day this week, I plan to give you a letter. Each letter will contain something that I like or love about you. The little things that made me fall "head over heels," as they say. It may be something small or something completely random, but they are all things that managed to make you stand out and managed to hold a place in my heart.

So here we go. Day 1: Your smile.

Now I know you're thinking, how does a smile make me fall in love? And it's not so much your smile as it is "the smile."When you're not smirking or giving your fake smile, it's the real one that makes my heart flutter. The one where you can tell how truly happy you are; the one that shows the true Santana. The one that shows the Santana who isn't worried about labels or popularity, but is only worried about the moment and how happy you are.

And it's not often than this smile comes out, maybe during those few solos you earned during Glee throughout the years. But when I see it, there is something so magical about it. It's like finding a unicorn really.

However, during this year, I started to see the smile more. Not only did I see it more, but every time I saw it, it was always aimed at me.

It's that smile that you do when you're so happy that your nose scrunches up, rather cutely I may add, and your eyes close to slits because you are smiling so big. You look so happy. That you could be told the worse news in the world and you wouldn't be able to find a care in the world. You would just continue to smile.

The first time I really felt the smile is after you came out. It was a smile that showed how happy you were that you were being honest with yourself and everyone. You were finally accepting yourself. You were no longer hiding behind this shell of someone you thought you should be and you were just being you.

You were being Santana.

And at the time, there was this pang in my chest; this feeling that I didn't understand. Now when I look back, I think the feeling was jealousy. Jealousy towards the fact that you were so free and open. That you could disregard everyone's thoughts and opinions because they didn't matter anymore. And I suppose I wish I could have that.

It was during this time when I started feeling things towards you that were not so platonic. But unlike you, I couldn't be honest. I had Finn and I had a reputation to uphold. And the more I thought about it, the more envious of you I got. Even with your reputation, you found a way to be happy and still keep that HBIC persona.

But I was just Rachel Berry.

Without Finn Hudson attached to my arm, I would go back to being a nobody. So I held on to something I never truly wanted, hoping one day that I would love him the way he wanted me to.

But I couldn't.

Then we sang "So Emotional" and I saw that smile again; slitted eyes and scrunched nose. I saw you sing those words to me with that smile plastered on your face. And from that point on, I knew I couldn't hide anymore. I couldn't force myself to love Finn, because the truth is, I never would.

Because I had feeling for you.

Feelings for you that I knew would erupt into something epic and great. Something out of a Nicholas Sparkes book.

That smile gave me the courage to open up to you and confess my feelings. And now, my goal is to make sure you never stop smiling like that.

Yours for as long as you'll have me,

Rachel Berry

Santana fiercely wiped away at her eyes. She was thankful that the halls had cleared awhile ago, so no one could see the tears that were rapidly streaming down her face. She knew Rachel had feelings for her, but never knew for how long. The words that Rachel had written on the page were so honest and beautiful. Rachel poured a part of her heart out of the page for her and she was never more grateful. She knew she would have to do something special for the girl to thank her.

Santana quickly folded the letter and slipped it into her backpack before closing her locker. She already knew she was a few minutes late for Glee, but she didn't care. Rachel's letter was more important.

As she walked into the full room, you could feel the absence of Finn. She felt the small pang of guilt in her chest before it quickly subsided. It was known that Finn was absent for the week and it was known that it had something to do with her and Rachel. However, she ignored the stares and took a seat next to Rachel.

"Hey," Rachel smiled.

"Hi," Santana voice cracked from the earlier tears.

Rachel could only sit and smile wider, knowing.

"Thank you for the letter. It really meant a lot to me."

Rachel reached her hand up and wiped away a stray tear that Santana had left behind. "You're welcome," Rachel beamed.

Santana was about to continue on when Mr. Shue entered the room. He immediately when into a lecture about Nationals, of which had become really repetitive over the last few weeks. The Glee club had yet to pick their set list for Nationals, and with time winding down, they really had to focus.

Mr. Shue was pulling out some Journey sheet music, which the entire club groaned at, before Rachel's hand shot up beside Santana.

"Mr. Shue, I have a suggestion for Nationals that I would like to demonstrate."

"Rachel, I love your suggestions, but not right now. This group needs to stay focused if we have any chance of winning Nationals."

"Mr. Shue while I admire your administrative role and that fact that you are finally focused on set list construction, my song would be a great addition to my solo performance. As well, it would cover the express yourself lesson that occurred a few weeks back."

Mr. Shue looked like he was ready to argue against Rachel's suggestion, but with the looks he received from both Rachel and Santana, he quickly shut his mouth and waved Rachel towards the center of the room.

Rachel took her mark in the center of the choir room and turned towards the club.

"Now while this piece demonstrates my new found feelings, I also feel that it would be a great contender for Nationals."

Rachel smiled before waving the band to begin with the opening melodies. Santana smiled at the familiar song.

One night to be confused

One night to speed up truth

We had a promise made

Four hands and then away

Both under influence

We had divine sense

To know what to say

Mind is a razor blade

Santana mind went back to the night of the party. The way the influence of alcohol brought out a whole new clarity. It ignited feelings and showed their true colours.

She was reminded of the way Rachel's lips felt against her own and the way it left them hungry for more.

To call for hands of above

To lean on

Wouldn't be good enough

For me, no

One night of magic rush

The start, a simple touch

One night to push and scream

And then relief

The night they both shared a single bed was brought to the forefront of her mind. The way she had to restrain herself from brushing her fingers against Rachel's olive skin. The kiss had ignited a spark between them, and Santana was going to all she could to keep the embers burning.

She remembered the night Rachel had shown up to her house after her fight with Finn. She remembered the way Rachel felt in her arms. She felt so small and all Santana wanted to do was protect her and to make sure no one could ever hurt her.

Ten days of perfect tunes

The colours, red and blue

We had a promise made

We were in love

To call for hand of above

To lean on

Wouldn't be good enough

For me, no

To call for hand of above

To lean on

Wouldn't be good enough

Once the last note rung out and the band stopped playing, the club cheered for Rachel's performance. Rachel chanced a look at Santana and could see the girl wiping away at a few silent tears. She couldn't help the small smile that graced her lips.

Mr. Shue made his way over to Rachel, looking quite ecstatic over her performance.

"Rachel, that was amazing! Definitely a contender for Nationals."

"Thank you Mr. Shue."

Rachel made her way back to the seat beside Santana. Her eyes were facing forward, attempting to take in Mr. Shue's ridiculous musical suggestions, when she felt a hand squeeze her thigh gently and briefly. When she looked up, Santana was looking right at her, eyes still glassed over with tears. Rachel looked down to her lips as the Latina mouthed a silent thank you. Rachel returned the gesture with a mouthed 'you're welcome' and smiled before returning her eyes to the front of the room.

It seemed like a lifetime before Mr. Shue finally let everyone out for the day. Everyone hurried out of the room, which only left Rachel and Santana in the empty choir room.

"I know I said it earlier, but thank you for that."

"You wanted to be wooed and I wooed you. Simple as that," Rachel smiled.

"You didn't have to, Rach. I mean, I am more than happy to keep doing things for you. You didn't have to do all this; the note and the song. Really, you don't have to, but thank you."

"You know, it has come to my attention that you don't get the princess treatment very often-"

"Really Rachel, the princess treatment?" Santana interrupted.

"Just hear me out, okay?" Rachel paused and waited for Santana to nod before continuing. "I noticed that whenever you are in a relationship, you are always the one taking care of the other person. Puck hardly paid attention to you back then and left you to care for yourself. You have been protecting Brittany since you were 5 years old, and while she seemed sweet, she never really reciprocated. She was there for you, but not the way you needed her to be. And I think you're so used to taking care of people, you don't know what to do when someone wants to take care of you."

Santana couldn't deny how honest Rachel's words were. A lot of the time, Santana had to take care of herself or other people, but they never took the time to take care of her. Her parents, though she loved, were absentees a lot of the time because of their jobs. While they would work the graveyard shifts at the hospital, she was left to fend for herself, alone, in their monstrosity of a house.

Puck, though she could hardly call what they had a relationship, never seemed to care for her. His caring side was left for Quinn and Beth. She was more a body to Puck and he was more a beard to her in attempts to deny her true feelings. The boy only truly started to care for her after she came out and it still hadn't reached the level she so desired for. They were bros; friends. That was it.

Brittany, though she did care for Santana greatly, never took the time to sweep the girl off her feet. She was a big process in helping Santana find herself and admit who she was, but after they got together, a lot of Santana's efforts were put towards protecting Brittany. A lot of songs she sang, a lot of gifts she bought and a lot of fights she got into were all to help Brittany. And over the course of their relationship, those actions weren't really returned. And Santana really couldn't blame anyone because she never really asked for anything in return. But with Rachel it was different.

Over the years, Santana had seen all the things that Rachel had done for Finn or for Jesse. She would sing countless songs or make those couples calendars. And for awhile, Santana thought the songs were annoying during Glee club and the calendars were borderline stalkerish. But the fact was, she was kind of jealous. She wanted someone to sing her songs and give her couples calendars with her face photoshopped onto a picture of a cat.

And now that she looked at the girl in front of her, she realized she could have all of those things. She just had to let herself be open to the idea of being wooed.

"Are you saying you want to be the one to take care of me?" Santana questioned.

"If you'd let me," Rachel gave a small smile.

"It's not going to be easy. It's going to take time to let you all the way in and to be comfortable with all that."

"It's a good thing we have 42 days than, isn't it?

"More like 36," Santana smiled.


How was it? I promise I will have better ideas coming up. I just wanted to get an update out because I am leaving on the 27th to go on vacation for 10 days! So while I am super excited, I didn't want to leave all my readers hanging without an update. I won't have access to a computer for writing, so the earliest the next update might be up is maybe August 10th or later.

So what are your thoughts for this chapter? Do you like the letter idea? Should Santana write letters back? Are there certain songs or ideas that you want to be incorporated? Let me know :)

As always, thank you for your continued support with all of your reviews, follows and favourites. It really makes this story worth writing, so thank you so much for sticking by me :)

Until next time!