Wow, I can't believe we're ten chapters in. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and alerted and favorited this story. You're all just wonderful and you keep me going.

This chapter is a little shorter than the last few have been, but I really wanted to get it up. I'm already planning out the next chapter and it should be up in a couple of days. Let me know what you think.

chapter ten

"Goddamnit Rachel, what the fuck were you thinking?" Santana yelled, pushing her way through Rachel's front door a few days after Rachel's invitation to accompany her to Lima.

Rachel rolled her eyes, shutting the door behind her. "Oh, hey, Santana. It's lovely to see you. Come on in."

Santana put her hands on her hips and glared at Rachel. If they had still been teenagers, the very mention of a Santana Lopez glare would have terrified her. But she had had all day to prepare for Santana's inevitable angry arrival. Rachel leaned against the door.

"Cut the crap, Berry. You had no right," Santana screeched and Rachel watched her clench her fists. Her knuckles were white and Rachel worried that she was going to end up breaking the skin of her palms.

"It was the only way I could ensure that you would come with me," Rachel answered calmly. She wanted to reach out and unclench Santana's fists, but she couldn't make herself move.

Santana's jaw was set firmly and Rachel was pretty sure the other girl was grinding her teeth. "And I already told you that I'm not going anywhere near Lima, Ohio," she said, her voice quieter now, but still just as dangerous. "You had no right to go to my work and talk to my boss."

"Santana, you need to come to Lima. I really believe that you could find some peace and some closure there," Rachel answered her. "You were using work as an excuse, so I simply took matters into my own hands."

Santana rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "God, that is such a high-school-Rachel thing to do. You think you know better than everyone else so you just go behind people's backs and stick your freaking nose where it doesn't belong."

Rachel, determined to hold her ground, crossed her own arms in response. "And standing here yelling at me for something that has already occurred and cannot be undone is such a high-school-Santana thing to do. The difference between then and now, however, is that you are not nearly as intimidating as you used to be and I am not nearly as afraid of you."

Santana was unmoved by her statement. "The other difference, Rachel," she spat out, "is that I have a rent and bills to pay. We don't all have nice daddies helping us out while we work part-time and pursue our Broadway dreams."

"Is that what this is about? I'll help you pay your rent next month if you need it," Rachel answered quickly, watching Santana's face morph into one of even greater anger.

"Fuck you," she sputtered, her voice still low and dangerous. "I'm not your charity case, Manhands. I don't want your money."

"Then why are you making it such a big deal?" Rachel asked smartly, cringing a bit at Santana's use of the old insult. She shifted her weight a bit, watching Santana carefully. Her whole body was tense and her hands were still clenched in fists at her sides. Her eyes were dark and angry, but there was something else there, too – it looked like desperation.

Rachel uncrossed her arms, beginning to understand what was going on – Santana was picking a fight, starting an argument to push her away. The realization made sadness settle in the pit of her stomach, but she pushed through it.

"Because you didn't have the right!" Santana answered. "I'm on thin ice with my boss on a good day. I can't just take two weeks off. This is New York City; there are millions of people here. You think I'm not replaceable?"

Rachel shrugged, putting her hands behind her back up against the door. "He said that he didn't mind."

Rachel watched some of the anger slip from Santana's face as she shook her head, her fists finally unclenching. Santana walked towards her, and Rachel fought the urge to back up – there was nowhere for her to go. Rachel bit her lip and tracked Santana's movement as the taller girl eventually came to rest beside her, leaning her back against the door and mirroring Rachel's position.

"Yeah, he didn't mind," Santana said, her voice bitter. "He said firing me was a pretty easy decision. Apparently, I'm ill-tempered and unreliable, so I would say that he didn't mind one bit replacing me with some seventeen-year-old who didn't have a friend coming by twice a day to beg for time off."

Rachel gasped and she watched Santana's face fall. She tugged on the taller girl's arm, pulling it out from behind her back, and grasped her hand. She laced their fingers together and watched Santana's shoulders slump. Santana closed her eyes but didn't pull away.

"You had no right, Rachel," she repeated.

Rachel looked to the floor, her feelings conflicted. She knew she should be embarrassed and ashamed of her actions, and she was, to some extent. But it felt like a sign, like the fates were setting the two of them up for something greater. "This could be a good thing, Santana," she eventually said.

Santana opened her mouth to scoff, but Rachel cut her off. "No, hear me out. I am sorry. I apologize for circumventing you and going to speak with your manager. If I had realized that it would cost you your job, I would have reconsidered my decided course of action."

She tugged on Santana's hand, pulling her closer until they were right next to each other. "But you have a lot of demons, Santana, and while some of them are here in New York, many of them still reside in Lima," Rachel said softly, carefully watching Santana's face for any hint of reaction.

Santana didn't say anything, so Rachel moved away from the door until she was standing right in from of the taller girl. Keeping her grip on one of Santana's hands, she raised her other one to cup the girl's cheek.

"You don't know my demons," Santana whispered. Her eyes were still closed, and Rachel silently willed them to open. Santana just stood there, expressionless and Rachel shook her head.

Two steps forward, three steps back; one step forward, two steps back. This was their game, this push-and-pull. Santana would open up and then catch herself and retreat. So Rachel would pull her out again and they would repeat the cycle. She wondered sometimes why she did it, why she was willing to work so hard.

She almost stopped pulling a couple of times, but then she would catch a bright smile on Santana's face or a look of hope in her eyes and it would remind Rachel why she went through all of this. Because that look on Santana's face filled her with warmth and happiness. It made every nerve ending in her body tingle and her breath catch and it was worth it.

Rachel brushed her thumb across Santana's cheek before running her fingertips over the dark circles under Santana's eyes. She had no makeup on and her face was pale. Rachel frowned, remembering the night Santana had fallen asleep on her couch, looking like she had the weight of the entire world on her shoulders.

"You're right, Santana. I don't know all of your demons," she whispered back and she watched Santana's eyelids flutter open. "But I do know that there is no way you could ever move past them while continuing to work at that place."

Rachel held eye contact with her, trying to make Santana understand her, finally listen to her and understand that she was better than some seedy New York strip club with a sleazy manager. Santana tried to look away from her, but Rachel grabbed her face with both hands. Santana's eyes were soft and hesitant and Rachel sent her a small reassuring smile.

Rachel leaned up and placed a soft kiss on her cheek before resting her forehead against Santana's and closing her eyes. "Please come home with me," she said softly.

She felt Santana take a deep breath, exhaling heavily. Her breath mingled with Rachel's between them and Rachel felt warmth spread across her cheeks.

"Okay."

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this."

Rachel rolled her eyes for what felt like the millionth time. Santana had been whining for practically the entire flight from New York to Dayton and Rachel had quickly learned that the fastest way to stop it was to just accept it as a necessary evil of traveling with the girl. She also quickly learned that if she didn't indulge the behavior, then Santana wouldn't say anything more.

When Rachel didn't respond, Santana just grumbled under her breath for the entire walk from the baggage claim to the rental car. A smile tugged at Rachel's lips and she tried to hide it. Something about seeing Santana pulling her suitcase behind her, stomping around and muttering what sounded like Spanish curses was oddly endearing.

Santana tried to get in the driver's seat after they put their bags in the trunk and Rachel only just managed to get in before her. "I don't trust you," Rachel said. "There's a distinct possibility that if I let you drive, you'll deliberately drive the wrong direction."

Santana shrugged, settling into the passenger seat. "It was worth a shot," she smirked.

The ride started out quietly. Santana fiddled with the radio a bit before finding a top forty station. She tried to turn the volume up, but Rachel managed to keep it at a low murmur.

After a few minutes, Rachel glanced at the girl beside her. Santana looked comfortable in her baggy jeans and tank top. Her hair was pulled back in a loose bun and she was reclining back in the seat. Even though she looked at ease, Rachel could see signs of stress in the other girl's body – her legs were bouncing up and down incessantly, her hands were gripping her knees tightly, and her mouth was set in a firm line.

"Do you want me to tell you what everyone has been up to?" she eventually asked.

When Santana looked over at her curiously, she elaborated. "I can tell you what everyone has been doing so that you have some idea of what to expect. Or would you rather wait and let them all tell you themselves?"

Santana shifted in the seat, turning the radio up a little bit. "I think I'll just wait," she responded, shifting again and staring out the window. It was obvious that she was done with the conversation.

Rachel sighed quietly. Santana looked uncomfortable and nervous and Rachel wished she knew how to calm the girl. If she was this stressed during the car ride to Lima, Rachel could only imagine what awaited them when they arrived.

Rachel reached out and took one of Santana's hands in her own. It was going to be a long two weeks.