New York

Rachel Berry was on top of the world. She had just won the NYADA Winter Showcase. She had known in her gut that her performance would be her best, but to win the whole thing? It had never been done by a freshman before. The whole thing was like a dream.

And she had Brody.

When she saw him before her performance she had felt all her panic wash away and she had realised that he was exactly what she needed. There was no confusion with Brody. From the first moment she had met him he had been completely honest with her, letting her know exactly how he felt for her and that those feelings were good. Very good. He made her feel special. He made her feel beautiful and talented and...safe.

So she kissed him. If he could be honest, so could she. She was single, she was in New York, she was about to perform in the most prestigious competition of her life, and she wanted him.

When she came off stage after her encore she stood between him and Kurt and listened as Madame Tibideux said those wonderful words and realised her life was perfect.

As Rachel ended her call with Finn she couldn't help but think of Santana. She had never been close to Santana at school, the girl had been downright cruel to her for most of it, but she was still a part of their Glee family. Sure, her part could most obviously be compared to that of the crazy bitch aunt who flew in for special occasions, got drunk and insulted everyone before staggering off in a weepy mess, but she was still there. And in the end she would have fought for every single one of them.

She realised suddenly that she wanted to speak to her.

She dialled her number.

It rang for long enough that she expected it to go to voicemail and she was just about to hang up when she heard Santana's voice.

"...Hello?"

"Hi Santana." Rachel pulled the phone back up her ear so quickly that she nearly knocked herself out. "It's Rachel."

"I see that, Berry. My phone has this new fangled invention called a contact list."

"Oh. Of..of course." Well, this was going well. "So what am I saved under? Hobbit? Yentl? Please don't say manhands…"

She heard Santana chuckle softly on the end of the line. "No, Berry. Just Rachel."

"Oh." Rachel didn't know how she felt about that.

"What am I under? Satan? Bitchface the wonder cunt?"

"Santana! That is disgusting!"

Santana full on laughed this time. "So that's a no then?"

"No!" Rachel huffed. "I would have thought you knew me well enough by now to know that I would never use such disgusting and offensive terms, especially not in such a permanent setting where anyone could view them."

"Woah, Berry, calm yourself! I apologise."

Rachel was genuinely shocked. "What?"

"Clearly I have offended you, so I apologise profusely and without reserve for my vulgarity."

"Well, I appreciate the sentiment, if not the mocking tone." Rachel conceded, rolling her eyes. "So thank you. Your apology is accepted."

"Why thank you, Miss Berry." Santana drawled. "So...what's up?"

"What's up?"

"Yeah, why the call?"

"Oh. Um, no reason. I just...wanted to hear your voice." What? Come on, Rachel. "I mean, it's nearly Christmas and I haven't really been very good at staying in touch and I just thought that maybe I should give you a call and catch up and see…"

"Yeah, yeah," Santana interrupted, thankfully because she had no idea where the sentence was going. "I miss you too, Berry."

Rachel smiled.

"So," Santana said after a beat. "You back home for Christmas?"

"No, I'm going on a cruise with my Dads." A gay cruise, but Rachel wasn't about to admit that to Santana. "You?"

"Yeah. Although I seem to be back there so often it's not really that big of a deal."

"Santana, it's Christmas! Of course it's a big deal!"

"Said the Jew…"

Rachel rolled her eyes again. "Just because I don't celebrate the holiday personally it doesn't mean I don't get caught up in the excitement of the season. There are all the parties and the music and the decorations…"

"And the shopping for all the lame gifts for people you hate…"

"Santana, I refuse to believe you are this much of a Grinch."

"Ha!" Santana laughed down the phone. "All the mean shit I have done over the years and this is where you draw the line? Christmas?"

"Yes, absolutely." Rachel smiled. "I have seen you at Christmas, remember? When we used to decorate the choir room you would be grinning from ear to ear, and singing along to all the cheesy songs, and don't think I didn't notice your festive socks…"

"Alright, alright, alright," Santana cut her off. "I love it, okay? And I am already ridiculously excited and may possibly be wearing festive socks...and underwear as we speak but if you repeat this to anyone I will end you, okay Rachel?"

"Okay!" Rachel smiled softly to herself. "And how is Kentucky at Christmastime?"

"Lame." Santana deadpanned. "It's the same shithole is usually is, just now it looks like drunk Christmas staggered in and threw up all over it. I bet New York is amazing?"

"It really is. I wish you could see it."

"Well, maybe I will someday." There was a lot of commotion going on at Santana's end of the line. Rachel heard what she assumed was Santana's hand covering the microphone and some muffled shouting.

"Santana?" More muffled shouting, and as Santana's hand was removed she definitely heard some Spanish curse words.

"Ah, Rach, I'm going have to go. My idiot roomate just got back drunk as hell and just took out half our room in what looked like a clumsy attempt to mount the wall."

"Um, okay." Rachel was a little disappointed. "Well, good luck with that. We'll talk soon, okay?"

"Yeah, definitely. Enjoy your cruise."

"Thanks, enjoy your...festive underwear."

"Oh, I will," Santana chuckled softly. "It's good to hear your voice."

Rachel smiled. "Yours too. Merry Christmas, Santana."

"Merry Christmas, Rach."

Rachel smiled as she disconnected the call. She felt great. Winter Showcase, Brody, and now she had made things right with Finn and hopefully helped him out, and managed to talk to Santana without them fighting or saying anything...inappropriate. Although she had definitely spent the latter half of the conversation trying to picture Santana's festive underwear…

Rachel shook her head softly and bounced into the kitchen for a glass of wine. With a smile she changed her mind, grabbed the bottle and headed into Kurt's room.