AN: Thanks for reviewing and the constructive criticisms/suggestions: amazinglife18, Lovers Lymric Passions Poet, aquarius127, charisma28, frustratedwriter13, TrustInFaith, SoFlaComet, General Mac, Becca (that's a dark suggestion even for this story lol) and butterz09. Also thanks to those of you who voted, keep them coming :)
Also I think there's been some influence from Gleek1990 and her fic Secret Sky, the influenced bit is tiny and not initially intended but I'm just covering myself.
Posted: 10/5/12
She likes you Back
Light gradually flooded through the skylight into the room the next morning, gently waking Rachel. Her eyes still felt tired from the crying last night so she kept them closed. It took her a moment to realise she was still being held. She could feel soft, calmly paced breathing against the top of her head, two strong arms round her shoulders. Her own hand was fisted into the t-shirt of the other person
She actually managed to sleepily smile to herself as she remembered that she had, eventually, got some sleep with the help of Santana's comfort.
Rachel decided to just lie there, in the other girls arms, pretending to still sleep so she could savour the contact that the Latina could choose to take away at any moment; probably the moment she woke up herself.
Rachel felt sure, despite the comforting hushed words Santana had told her, she only held her to help her sleep, to stop her crying and making noise so she could get some sleep herself. That was the only logical explanation she could come up with.
She let herself relax and ended up drifting back to sleep.
It must have been only minutes later when Santana stirred from her own slumber. She subtly smiled to herself when she could still hear soft snoring coming from the other girl. It was the exact same soft noise that she had fallen asleep to the night before. It made her happy to know she had been the one to comfort Rachel, that she was able to help the girl sleep simply by holding her.
The tiny bed gave her the excuse to hold Rachel so close, for their bodies to be touching, pressed so closely together.
The Latina found herself wanting to hold the tiny brunette tighter in her arms and never let go, she also found herself wanting to press an innocent kiss to the other girls head that was just below her chin.
But she couldn't let herself do that, she didn't want to get attached forever wanting more than this moment. She couldn't do that to Rachel, Rachel needed support, a friend, not a... girl friend
'She wouldn't be interested anyway' Santana thought to herself. She mentally shook all doubting thoughts away and revelled in what she had for now.
It didn't last long however. She was disturbed by soft knocking then the door being slowly opened
"Oh sorry San" Quinn whispered when she saw one bed empty and then seeing the Latina looking at her with the shorter girl in her arms "Everyone's up... I was just checking" she excused herself and pulled the door closed again
"Q!" Santana harshly whispered to get the blondes attention before the door closed. She ringed when she felt Rachel move in her arms "Hang on" she whispered again. Quinn waited outside with the door pulled to while Santana carefully pried Rachel's hand that was still gripping her t-shirt and slipped one arm out from underneath Rachel, regrettably, so she could talk to Quinn
"I'm sorry" Quinn said again once Santana had slipped out of the room and closed the door behind her "I didn't know you two were now..."
It took Santana a moment with a furrowing brow before she realised what Quinn was getting at "What- No, no we- She was crying and I wanted to comfort her..." she sighed "It wasn't... you know" she muttered, with a hint of disappointment
"Well I feel even more sorry now" Quinn tried for some humour "Are you both okay though?"
"I'm fine, I guess last night hasn't quite hit me yet... and I saw it" that was a worrying though "She hasn't woken yet, I decided to let her sleep while she could"
"Well we all got up, and dressed. We weren't sure what Rachel wanted"
"Okay, I'll uh, I'll talk to her, we'll meet you all in the common area" she turned round to go back into her room when Quinn stopped her
"San?"
"Yeah?" she turned back to her friend
"Are you ever going to tell her?" she kept her voice quiet
Santana pondered for a second "I don't really know"
Quinn just nodded sadly in understanding "Does Brittany like Puck?" she jumped in suddenly with her next question
"What?"
"She made sure she was in the same car as him, she shares a room with us, so I wonder is it Puck she likes" she rambled lowly, just so her friend stood opposite her could here "I don't care if she does, it's not like I want him, I mean we have Beth but that's it and I just want her happy"
"It's not Puck" Santana said as she eyed the short haired blonde opposite her "And she doesn't like someone. She told me very specifically that she's in love with this person" she paused thinking as Quinn just stood there her head bowed avoiding Santana's eyes. "You like her?" Quinn nodded her head subtly, still avoiding eye contact "Like, really like her?"
"Yes, I know it's ridiculous and I feel bad about it because I've had these feelings for so long, I felt so guilty for feeling like this when you and she were together-"
"Quinn" Santana stopped her. She hooked a finger under the blondes chin, bringing those hazel eyes up to connect with her own "Q... I-"
She was cut off by the bedroom door besides them opening abruptly
"Oh, um" Rachel looked between them, Santana's hand still on Quinn's face "Sorry" she said quickly before closing the door again
It wasn't until then that Santana snatched her hand back. Santana sighed "She's gonna think I have a thing for you" she managed to chuckle
Quinn chuckled lightly too "Sorry about that"
"I already told her it wasn't you I liked in the car when we got Beth" Santana explained "She went through all the girls stopping at Tina... so she either thinks I lied when I said it wasn't you or"
"Thinks it's Tina?"
"I guess it doesn't really matter"
"Why wouldn't it matter?" Quinn asked "If-"
Santana stopped her "We weren't talking about me... you like Brittany?"
"Yeah" she was shy again
"When Rachel thought I liked you, like that, she thought I was hesitant because of how much I care for Britt, like a friend" she added "And that I wouldn't try with you because Brittany is in love with you"
Quinn's eyes snapped to the Latina's "It's me that she..." she trailed off not actually capable of saying that word just yet "Really?"
"Yes she really does. Don't ask me why, though" Bitch Santana made a quick appearance because this scene was getting too mushy, she did smirk playfully though.
"I don't understand" she wanted to smile but she just couldn't believe it
Santana folded her arms and furrowed her brow "You don't see it do you? The way she looks at you when you're sitting with Puck and Beth. You should have seen the way she looked at you when she mentioned you saving her damn cat, last night when we all sat in there" she pointed to her and Rachel's room
"How long?"
"I don't know. We talked last summer vacation. She confessed her feelings for you... and I confessed mine for..." she chose not to say in case Rachel could hear "That's when we decided to, well to, agree that it wasn't emotional between us, not anymore. Maybe it was once but after that... we just took comfort in each other" she explained softly.
Quinn actually smiled this time. Everything forgotten, all the worry, all the thoughts of the world falling down around them were gone, because Brittany reciprocated her feelings
"You will be careful, and take care of her"
And then worry was back. Not that she didn't and wouldn't take care of Brittany whether they are actually together or not, but increasing that emotional bond, wouldn't that make everything so much harder... Quinn seemed to think so
"So... are you going to talk to her" Santana tried, silent Quinn was making her uncomfortable
"No" she decided
"Bu-"
"Not yet anyway, I need to think about this first"
"Look" the Latina snapped sternly but kept her voice hushes "don't mess with her, if this is just a crush or attraction then-"
"I love her San" actually saying that word felt amazing, finally getting the truth out was thrilling... well for this girl it was "I know I do... I just need to think, weigh up the pros and cons, to see if it will work"
"This isn't some everyday decision; this is two people, with emotions, my two best friends. I don't want you thinking about this like it's what you're gonna get for lunch. I want you both happy so you should be true to your emotions" and sappy Santana was back "I care about both of you, I want you happy. So when you go for it, you're all in, there for her and she'll be there for you... and Beth"
"Okay" she nodded in thought "What about you and...?" she just gestured the door with her head
"Maybe... one day" she smirked "For now I'm going to make sure she's okay. We'll be through in a minute"
As Quinn walked back to the common area she contemplated everything she'd just learnt with everything she was sure of already. Could she had Brittany be happy in this crumbling world-
Her thoughts stopped when she turned the corner and her eyes immediately found Brittany, she was sat on one of the sofas on the far side of the area, Beth sitting quite happily on her lap, looking up at the blue eyed girl. The sweet simple interaction and contact between the blonde teenager and the blonde toddler made them look so happy, so content in their little bubble of innocence, the scene mad Quinn happy too, she could watch that forever
It was then that Quinn made her decision, she wouldn't just pounce on Brittany, well she wouldn't do that in a room full of people anyway, but that wasn't an option for any immediate future. Instead she would bond with the other girl, relax around her, let this feel normal, before she made her move.
.
Back in Rachel and Santana's room:
Santana entered the room with caution... well Rachel may have been changing. She wasn't though, Santana found her sitting on the edge of her bed with her back to the door.
"Hey" Santana said to break the silence
"Hey" She replied quietly
"Did you sleep well?" The Latina asked, moving over to her change of clothes folded on the dresser
"Um... yeah, I slept okay" she wasn't sure what was happening in Santana's mind right now. Was she going to pretend she didn't hold her all night, Rachel didn't want to pretend it didn't happen... but this was Santana we were talking about, her personality could snap back at any moment, and she'd deny it happened, like she could deny so many other things in her life "How about you?"
"Yeah, I managed to get some sleep after all... that"
'So my crying had disturbed her? Was that what she meant?' That idea made Rachel sad
"I'm gonna go get changed in another room" Santana said gathering her clothes and moving back towards the door
"Santana" Rachel turned her head swiftly as she called out the other girls name making her stop with her hand on the door handle "Um..."
"What's up?" she asked softly
"Um..." she wanted to say thank you for holding her, she wanted to talk about that, she chose a different subject "I'm sorry for disturbing you out there"
Santana couldn't help but smile, knowing where this was going
"Although I'm a little offended you lied to me I thought you could trust me"
"I do trust you-"
"You could have told me it was Quinn then"
"It's not Quinn!" Santana tried more sternly "I didn't lie. I just found out she likes Brittany back" she smiled at the happy thought of her friends getting what they want
"She does" Rachel's eyes looked hopeful for the girls too. Was it pathetic or stupid that they were in the middle of all this and all they could think about was sappy romance between people, and knowing they were happy?
"Yeah but I don't know what's going on with them, so don't say anything"
"Of course" Rachel felt a little hurt that Santana though she might blab, but she still wasn't exactly close with these people, so she wouldn't exactly talk to them about these things
"I'm gonna, go" she gestured to the door next to her with her head before slipping out
...
They were soon all gathered in the common area, they sat in the sofas, chairs even tables round the edge of the room while Rachel stood in the middle to address them all. Santana stood on the edge of the gathered circle ready to step in, or assist if she was needed.
"What happened last night?" Quinn had to ask, it was the question on everyone's mind "I mean, we all realise that... Will and Emma are gone but what happened?"
"Emma turned" Rachel stated calmly "She... killed Will, and I shot her"
"Are you sure she's dead?" Mike swallowed thickly as he looked back at the locked door
"I blew her head off, she's not coming back" She said bluntly. She'd spent all night worrying, guilt ridden, in Santana's arms. She couldn't do that again, she couldn't rely on other people like that again, she couldn't put Santana in that situation again, it wasn't fair to do that to someone, to make them uncomfortable like that "It's cliché but true, the best way to stop them is server the head or destroy the brain" she added "So that's what I did"
"I just don't know how this happened... she seemed fine" Mercedes said from the comfort of sam's arms... they'd sorted through the last of their problems so they could appreciate their time together
"Did she even say anything, complain of anything?" Mike asked
Everyone was silent, in though, their minds going back to the night before.
"Actually she looked pale" Tina commented
"She already was pale" Finn said confused
"No she was shaking, trembling more than before, li-" Tina was cut off
"Like a fever" Mercedes practically agreed "I don't get how though"
"When we were at..." Santana trailed off
"It was at my house, it must have been" Blaine stepped in to explain, knowing why Santana had stopped speaking "When she got attacked in the back yard, he- It must have got her"
"When we got back to the car, when you and Rachel weren't there, we tried to get Will to make her talk. We tried to make sure she hadn't got hurt"
"Finn tried but he was a bit rough" Blaine said, the mentioned boy looked down in shame
"No you did right, just maybe didn't handle the situation correctly... with her nervous condition" Rachel added, making the boy smile... to Santana's disliking. She scowled at him which went unnoticed by most.
Most of them just looked to Rachel for direction, just typical that they would now despite arguing against her for all those years before. Everything's different when their lives hang in the balance
"Will assured us that she was fine, but she wouldn't even let us check her arms where she might have got hurt. I mean she was holding it back with her arms and-"
"Blaine it's okay, you all did as best you could" Rachel reassured him comfortingly
"-Will, he stopped us, he told us to leave her" he continued to stress
"Then its Will's own fault" The short brunette said more sternly "We may have not always all get along but we're relying on each other now" she told the whole room "I know this is hard, there's no way to adjust, and you've all lost... people" she added the last part quieter "The point is we need to stick together, and be honest with one another. We can't let that happen again"
"So if we get infected..." Sam didn't like this but he had to ask, it was on everyone's mind
"Don't keep it to yourself" Santana answered. The group nodded in silence
"I hate to ask" Quinn interrupted the silence "But what do we do now, what's next?"
Rachel sighed running her hand through her hair, still damp from her shower that morning "Are we done here?" she asked looking at the group sat round her "Are we done with Lima?" she asked again
"There's nothing left here, is there?"
They were silent, because this meant another big step for them, leaving their home town, leaving the one place they knew they wouldn't get lost and heading out into the further unknown.
Any thoughts...
