Chapter Twenty One

Take Me For What I Am, Part Two

"Well this... this just changes everything." Rachel whispered as she stared down at the open magazine in her lap. Her voice was emotionless, but Santana could clearly see the way that this entirely new revelation had hit home with her – how it affected her. The Latina was worried what this might possibly mean for her girlfriend and their current plans...

What if she actually really wanted to change something?

The rest of them fucking didn't! Mercedes was practically struck in her seat, completely blown away with the facts that were screaming her in the face. Puck looked smug, while Tina just seemed flabbergasted.

Sam gave Rachel a questionable look, "What do you mean this 'changes everything'? It changes nothing, Rachel!" he said, clearly avoiding to look at the magazines that had them all so riled up (Santana had a feeling that he'd seen plenty for a lifetime after he opened the first one and didn't get to shield his eyes), "Karofsky's still gonna get what he deserves, we just have more ammo to do it!"

Rachel heaved in a deep breath and shot out of her seat, thus dropping the magazine to the floor. She fidgeted with her hands in front of her chest as she paced the floor back and forth, clearly not certain whether or not they should go through with it. Her cheeks were flaming red and her strides were hard and they pushed her around the choir room in quick, round circles. Brittany followed her every move; her head going round and round as she watched their leader go. And while Santana thought that the entire scene could seem very fucking amusing, right now so wasn't the time. Because she was not going to let Rachel back out of this one.

Quinn gave her a slight nudge, clearly thinking along the same lines as her. She had a magazine spread open in her lap, which she and Lauren had spent a great time looking through for the sake of 'the plan'. Hah, as if. Santana snorted at the idea. Artie though, he seemed rather unaffected by it, as he picked another magazine up and stuck his nose all the way into it, clearly fascinated by whatever it was the he was seeing. Finn just looked downright appalled by the entire thing, while Mike was still squished against the wall, not quite having come down from the high of his ninja-mission.

The diva stopped then and motioned towards the magazines which were all in a heap on the floor along with a few very disturbing letters from Kurt of all people. Santana was still trying to piece this entire thing together inside her head, and when had that happened? (And where the fuck did Blaine get into the picture?) But whereas, Rachel seemed to have reached the final conclusion way faster than any of the others had been able to, because most of them were still in a state of complete disgust and or shock.

Karofsky is gay.

Yup, it still sounded weird in Santana's ears; no matter how many times she said it inside her head. It just didn't add up. Though it did explain why he always came onto girls, but never slept with them. Or why he'd always been so fucking mean to Kurt.

Hehehe. Dave Karofsky was gay!

"Don't you see?" Rachel questioned then, suddenly whipping around on her feet, which caused her long brown hair to hit Finn right in the face. "We can't give this to Jacob! I'd thought we'd find a mild secret, something to get him riled up, so he'd know we're serious. But this – this changes everything." she repeated, shaking her head to herself.

A lot of their friends turned to give Santana questionable looks as if to say 'deal with your crazy woman, woman!', and Santana knew that it was going to come down to her to talk Rachel out of whatever it was that the diva had convinced herself of. So the Latina took a tentative step closer and placed her hands on her hips, ready to fight. "What do you mean it changes everything, Rach? You're not fucking saying that we're not giving this to Jewfro, are you? It's frigging gold, Tiny! He'll never set foot at this school again and we'll all be free of him!"

The look Rachel shot her as soon as she was done speaking, told the cheerleader that she'd clearly said something very wrong. The diva's eyes had never been so cold and heated at the same time, and they were thin slits with only hints of flicker beneath them. Santana found herself gulping at the sight. "We're not giving this to Jacob, Santana! We're not! We can still carry ahead with the rest of the plan regarding him and Jennifer, but I'm not exposing him like this."

Puck butted in then, clearly thinking that his fellow Jew was a bit stupid about this one. "Rach – you're being fucking dumb, alright? Why don't you wanna expose him? He's been bullying you for years because of your fathers and he practically pushed Kurt out of this school!"

Rachel hit Puck hard across the stomach and stubbornly crossed her arms in front of her chest. "You're all being incredibly stupid right now. Don't you see?" she whispered, her gaze turning soft as looked over all of them, "If we expose Dave this way, it'll be just like what Jennifer did to us. I can't have it, I won't do it."

"Fuck Karofsky!" Santana argued, not caring whether or not it'd be the same damn thing. Karofsky deserved what was coming to him after being so completely homophobic for all these years while being in the closet himself. It just wasn't fair, that thing. He was a pussy, and a bully, and he had it coming. He was the sole reason that no one could be out at McKinley. Sure, Azimio was bad too, but he was hardly in league with Karofsky. If they got him to transfer schools, more students would dare to take the jump and come out.

"Yeah!" Finn added, nodding his abnormally large head, "Fuck Karofsky..." he stepped closer to Rachel then, placing one of his giant hands on her shoulder, "Rachel... Karofsky doesn't matter, it doesn't matter if we put all of those letters onto Jacob's blog. He deserves it."

Rachel huffed at him, "And I suppose Kurt's no matter in this situation at all? And Blaine, too?" she pulled herself out under Finn's hand and turned her back to them all, staring at the door. "They're a part of this too, you know."

Mercedes said, "And I know Kurt will agree with the rest of us. Expose him!"

The singer turned back around then, the fire once more shooting up in her eyes, "Well I don't think so!" she firmly told them all, clenching her fists wildly by her sides, "Why do you reckon Kurt transferred schools? Why did he invite Blaine here in the first place? I'm so stupid for not seeing it before! I've been around gays my entire life, I should've seen the signs. Kurt knew." she said to them, and Santana nodded, because yeah, they'd sort of figured that with the letters and everything, "Kurt knew and yet he... yet he didn't tell." Rachel finished, a thoughtful look on her face, as if she was still trying to make the final pieces of the puzzle fit.

Tina spoke up then, worming her way into the conversation and closing the magazine, "I think Rachel should decide this for us. She's our leader, it's her decision."

"I agree!" Mike peeped up from his place against the wall.

Puck rolled his eyes in frustration. "This is complete bullshit, Rachel! All this work for nothin'! Don't you get it? Karofsky's gay!"

Rachel huffed, "Yes, I think we've established that by now, Noah."

"I fucking can't believe it." Sam mumbled, shaking his head as he leaned back in his chair. "It's like... dude, it's Karofsky. That's so wrong on so many levels! It's just like... it's weird." he firmly finished, and Santana had to agree because – hells yeah! That's weird. Karofsky's not supposed to be gay, he's supposed to be an ugly, stupid, disgusting jock, but still straighter than straight. This was just... so odd.

Lauren bit into the snickers bar that Rachel had handed to her (as promised) the second she'd entered the choir room earlier, "Karofsky is a fine man, but what he's done is not alright, Berry. We need to squish him! Do you want me to sit on him?"

Ignoring Lauren's attempt at helpfulness, Artie spoke up, finally rejoining them after being caught up in the magazine. "Well, I think we'd be taking it a step too far to reveal something like this. Though I do want revenge, there's a way to do it, and this isn't it. Besides, he's been trying to hide this, and that's for a good reason. He's not the only homophobe at this school." he wisely finished, pushing his glasses onto the top of his nose as he shrugged.

Mercedes arched an eyebrow, "You have a point, Artie, but really? He's been keepin' these in his locker at school – that's not exactly a good place to keep somethin' you don't want to get out. He's askin' for it, keepin' 'em stacked up like that."

Puck nodded in agreement, "Fuck Rachel... I know you're a good person and everything, but you need to do this. For yourself and for all the rest of us."

Rachel just stared at him.

Brittany spoke up then, glancing between Santana and Rachel with wide eyes. "I don't want us to be mean..." she trailed off, placing her hands gently in her lap. "I saw how sad you were, San, and how sad Rachel was... I don't want anyone else to be so sad."

"I wasn't sad, Britt." Santana snapped, even though it was hardly Brittany's fault that she was feeling so on edge right now.

Finn spoke up then, taking the spot next to Rachel. "Well... we can't agree on this. So... who's for?" he asked, shrugging his shoulders, before he quickly threw his own monkey-arm into the air and waited for someone else to do the same. Santana, Puck, Lauren, Sam, Quinn and Mercedes quickly followed his motion, and the Latina turned victoriously to her girlfriend when she realised that they were seven against five.

Rachel's lips became a thin line once more. "That doesn't count!" she argued, stomping her foot into the floor. "I won't be a part of it! It's too – it's too... mean!"

"Rachel decides this for us." Tina said again, nodding her head towards the distressed diva in their midst. "This is about all of us, but it's mostly about her, because she's been bullied by Karofsky since she was a freshman, and she's gay, and there's her fathers, and... and she's our leader."

Groaning loudly, Quinn buried her head in her hands.

Puck sighed then, and turned to Rachel with a soft expression, "What're you gonna do 'bout the slushies then?"

Santana thought that this was crazy, she really fucking did. Rachel was being completely and utterly stupid right now. Gold had practically fallen into their laps, yet she refused to use it to their advantage? There was something so ridiculous about it, yet Rachel seemed adamant in her decision. The Latina most definitely wasn't happy, and she was going to make fucking sure that Rachel knew it, too. "You're a fucking moron, Tiny." she said, and she saw Brittany's eyes turn dramatically wide behind Rachel, while the diva gaped at her. "No. I mean it. I love you, but you're a moron. This was supposed to be for us, and now, suddenly, it's for all the other gay students, too, and you're refusing to do something about it? I don't know if I'll let you do that."

"Well obviously Dave is acting out because he hasn't come to terms with who he is yet." the diva said, letting the insults slide right over her head, even though Santana could see in her eyes that they hit home, "As opposed to exposing him, we should help him instead, which is what Kurt has been trying to do, I suspect. Kurt is my friend, and I'm sure he'd do what I'm doing right now. And instead of threatening Dave, we should help him! Which is ultimately why I'm going to talk to him and propose that he come by my house for a heart-to-heart with my fathers."

Santana felt her mouth fall open as the last words left Rachel's mouth in the I-know-better-way that the diva liked to talk in so often. She could see on the others' faces that they thought Rachel had gone completely off the reservation as well. Mercedes even stifled a corny gasp followed by a hand on her mouth, and Finn just gaped at the tiny girl like a complete douche.

Lauren snorted, "I knew you were stupid Berry, but I didn't think you were that stupid."

Puck added, "You're so naïve, Rachel, it's infuriating!" he stepped closer to her, placed his hands on her shoulders and gently shook her as if trying to squeeze some sense into her, "You think he'll shake your hand and thank you for the gesture? No fucking way! He's going to slushie you thrice a day for the rest of your high school career, and if you're lucky he won't beat you up!"

"Don't mess with him, Rachel." Sam added from his seat next to Quinn. "Karofsky's big, and he's... he's got a lot of temper."

Rachel simply shook her head at them. "Everyone can be reasoned with."

Quinn shot out of her seat then, striding across the floor to give it a go. Santana watched with curious eyes, hoping that at least one of her friends would be able to convince Rachel to do this, because the lesser she said in the matter, the better it would be afterwards for her and her girlfriend. "You're so damn frustrating, Rachel!" she hissed, "Everybody would do this if they had what we have. Don't you see that that's exactly what Jennifer did the minute she found Santana's phone? You're being stupid if you think that anyone would give you the same courtesy that you're giving one of your biggest bullies right now!"

Rachel's lips disappeared into a thin line. "There's no need for you to yell, Quinn, and there's no need for us to stoop to their level of childishness."

Now, Santana had never been a very patient person, so she really believed she'd given Rachel a long line at this point, yet the other girl simply wasn't getting it. She was going to make her understand the power that they held right now, so she better act on it. "Rachel!" she firmly said, and when the other girl snapped her head to the side so their eyes could meet, she continued, "We're using those pictures, and we're giving those letters to Jewfro, and that's final."

The diva arched an eyebrow in her direction, before striding over in two long steps and pushing the Latina back gently with two fingers on each shoulder; it caught Santana completely off guard though, and the thin girl practically scrambled right into the row of chairs behind her. Rachel stared down at her. "We're not using those pictures, and that's final." she firmly said, before turning on her heel to inform the rest of their friends of the next step. "We'll gather those magazines in, and I'll talk to Kurt about this. If – and only if – Dave completely brushes me off will I give you the permission to hand those things over to Jacob. But I will be no part of that, if it happens. Is that okay?"

Tina nodded eagerly in her seat, while a few other mumbled low agreements, really not agreeing at all. But no one would go against Rachel if they couldn't convince her otherwise; this was her plan, and they'd all named her the leader when they signed on, which was why she had the power to make all the decisions right now (she'd fucking made them sign a confidentiality agreement with rules and restrictions, and Santana was willing to bet her new hair extensions that they all regretted it now). All this hardly seemed fair, Santana thought, as she shot a glare in her girlfriend's direction.

"Good." Rachel clasped her hands together. "We should be ready for the next part of our plan come lunch break in fifteen minutes. I suggest everybody gets into positions. Brittany?" she turned to the ditzy blonde cheerleader, whose head shot up as she was addressed; she looked at her new friend in eager. "Are you ready for your part now?"

Brittany nodded, "Yup, I'm so, so, so, so ready right now. I know exactly what to do!"

Rachel offered her a kind smile, before she reached up and placed her earpiece back into her ear, "Alright! So that's good. Puck? You ready too? The rest of us need to carry the things to my car and hurry to the Cheerios locker room. We should get going then."

And as everybody scrambled to gather their things together and pick up the magazines and letters to carry them to Rachel's Prius, Santana sat still in her seat and glared at everybody as they moved out of the choir room. She followed right in Artie's trail as he was the last one to roll out of the room, but as she passed Rachel, a tiny hand came to rest on her elbow, and she turned to the singer with a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach.

The look Rachel gave her almost broke her down, "I'm really disappointed in you." the diva whispered, before letting her fingers drop.

Her heart was almost in her throat as she hoarsely replied, "Likewise." before walking out of the room.

x

"Approaching victim. Over." Puck's whispered voice rung loud and clear over the radio, as the eleven people inside the Cheerios locker room were holding their breaths in anticipation.

Santana was standing behind a row of lockers, a few feet behind Quinn, who was sitting proudly on a bench with her legs crossed and that superior look on her face. Her blonde hair was swept back beautifully, and her fingers were perched on top of her knee; she gave off the aura of complete control, and everyone knew that this was the true HBIC persona shining right through when they needed it the most.

The Latina leered to the other side where Artie and Jewfro were waiting, all their gear ready for action. There were several cameras placed around the locker room, and somehow they'd manage to hide all cables, which Santana thought was pretty fucking awesome. If Jewfro didn't creep her out so much, she might've thanked him for this. Tina, Lauren and Mike were hiding behind the lockers on Quinn's right side, while Sam, Mercedes, Brittany and Finn where hiding behind the lockers on her left. Rachel was standing by the end wall, right behind the open door. Santana met her eyes above Quinn's shoulders, and the diva quickly looked away.

She didn't like the feeling in the pit of her stomach. They'd had arguments before, but this... this was nothing like those arguments. Because Rachel looked absolutely furious and hurt by her actions, and Santana felt so disappointed in the other girl, that she had no fucking idea what to do about it. She'd never been disappointed in anyone like that before, so it was an entirely new feeling. How were you supposed to make it feel better? She had no frigging clue. All she knew was that when their plan finally pulled through, she wouldn't even be able to enjoy it fully, because the ice-cold stares from Rachel would put a serious damper on her mood.

Rachel bent her head to reply to Puck's comment, "We're still waiting for subject number one to enter the locker room. You must discreetly await the signal before bringing the victim here, I repeat – you must wait for the signal!" she breathed out, as if to calm herself (Santana knew that she was nervous because it was a matter of minutes before the entire thing went down), "Over."

"Roger and out." Puck replied, before the line went dead.

Tina was clutching her bucket of slushie desperately as she kept glancing at the door. "This is going to be epic, guys!" she mumbled.

Santana glanced at the makeshift instalment that the guys had made in the ceiling this morning; it was loaded with icy corn syrup and Jennifer was about to get a nice sticky shower. Coach Sylvester had probably been in here, and she'd most likely seen everything, but still – she had let it be. Santana was so thankful that their normally mean coach was so kind to them right this instant.

Quinn glanced at Brittany, "What did you say to Jennifer, Britt?"

The tall girl seemed to think about it for a few seconds, before she replied, "I skipped down the hall, Q, just like Rachel told me to do, and then I met Jennifer by her locker, and she said 'hi Brittany' and I said 'hi Jennifer', and then I told her that it was very, very, very important that she come here at twelve ten, because you needed to see her and talk to her about the Cheerios and that Coach Sylvester would be here too, except she's not really here, so that was a lie. But I know Jennifer's still coming, because she looked really scared that something was wrong. So she said 'thank you Brittany', and I said 'bye Jennifer' and then I skipped away and came right here."

"She'll be here soon then." Rachel reassured the other girl with a kind smile.

Sam swept his hair to the side and shot them all a brilliant grin. "I can't wait for this! We're gonna give Jennifer and Karofsky a taste of their own medicine!"

Brittany gave him a confused look, "Oh... but I thought we were gonna dump the slushies?"

Santana opened her mouth to try and explain to Brittany what that saying basically meant, but before she even managed to get a sound across her lips, Rachel's eyes turned wide and she motioned for everyone to be quiet. Santana crept into hiding fully, while Rachel slipped up against the wall, her lips thin and barely visible. Everyone held their breaths as Jennifer crept through the door, clearly very concerned about why Quinn needed to see her at this time of day.

"You wanted to see me?" she asked, trying to show off a cocky side, even though she was most likely shaking in her spanks.

Quinn gave a slight nod and got off of the bench with a bunch of grace. "I did want to see you. We need to talk, Connelly." she firmly said, and just like that, her eyes shot lightnings, and Jennifer knew she meant business. "I can't say I've cared much for your attitude lately."

Jennifer bit her lip. "Is this about Santana? I'm sorry, Q, but I'm just not comfortable changing with her now that I know she likes other girls!"

The head-cheerleader snorted. "Please, as if Santana would ever look your way. She has far better taste than that, and furthermore, she has a girlfriend that she loves very much." the girl snapped, and Santana felt herself smile because damn right, that was the truth.

The other girl wrinkled her nose. "RuPaul? She's hardly female!"

"Don't talk that way about Rachel." Quinn quickly hissed, placing her hands on her hips and somehow looking down at the other girl, even if she was a few inches lower. "In fact, don't ever talk that way about anyone. The Cheerios is a squad that accepts everyone for who they are, we love minorities. And the fact that you've been fighting so hard against everything lately makes me question whether or not you're really a team-player."

Jennifer's eyes turned wide when she realised which way this conversation was going, "I'm a team-player!" she quickly tried to reassure her, and the desperation was evident in her voice.

Quinn cocked an eyebrow in the way that only she was able to. "No you're not." she firmly said, closing this discussion as quickly as it begun, "I can't have that kind of poison around on my team. We need to be there for each other if we want to win Regionals next weekend. Santana is a lesbian, Jennifer. And you know what? That doesn't set her apart from you, it makes her stronger because she's going to face idiots like you every God-damned day! But love is love, and we're not going to treat her any differently. At least she's proud to admit to everyone that she's happy and in love, and not like, let's say, only writing creepy love poems in secret-"

Santana hid her snort in the back of her hand while Jennifer's eyes seemed to bulge out of her head. Damn you, Q, you had to throw that one in there, didn't you?

"-and I fucking respect that. Love knows no boundaries whatsoever. You're a negative addition to my team, Connelly, and I can't work with that. So you're off the squad. With Coach Sylvester's blessing, got it myself this morning. And you're going to leave Rachel and Santana alone, because I know a few things you'd really rather not have made public, right Mrs. Finn Hudson? Oh. And if you do decide to go against my wishes, you answer to the entire Glee Club." she tilted her head to the side, before finishing, "Because we're a team who knows how to be there for each other."

Jennifer's eyes were wide and round as she gaped at her head-cheerleader, well... her former head-cheerleader. "I – I... but Q, I -!" she couldn't even get a word across her lips, and Quinn smiled smugly at her.

Stepping out from behind the locker, Santana hid the plastic cup behind her back and stepped closer to the other girl. "Thanks for nothing, Bitch." she said, before she – fuck yeah! - reached out and threw the entire cup of corn syrup right into the other girl's face.

Jennifer blinked rapidly as she flinched and shrieked, but when she turned around to get out of the room and leave with at least a bit of dignity, Quinn's cold voice stopped her in her tracks. "You're not done yet. I still need your uniform, and you know what? I need it right now."

The younger girl looked like a deer caught in the headlights as she stared at Quinn in disbelief. "You- you don't mean-?" she motioned towards her uniform, thinking that they certainly didn't want her to strip right this instant and walk down the halls in nothing, but Santana had to admit that, of course, that was what they wanted. Coach Sylvester could be ruthless when she kicked someone off the squad, but she'd never been that cruel. Jennifer fucking deserved it though, and the Latina was enjoying every minute of it.

She took a threatening step closer to the girl, "The uniform's already stained. So get movin', Kiddo."

Gulping, the blonde girl slowly started pulling her skirt down. Quinn was absolutely enjoying every minute of this as well, Santana could tell; she loved this kind of power, the power were other people feared her for who she was, and also admired her for the way she decided to rule her squad, and – most importantly – this school. As the skirt fell to the floor, Jennifer whimpered and stepped out of it, reaching to pull the top above her bleach blonde hair.

Santana thought it could have been fucking hilarious if they'd actually decided that she needed to strip down all the way, but Rachel had been very clear on the fact that she didn't want anyone else to go through what she'd been through with her naked chest. The Latina believed it would only have been fair, but Rachel had been adamant about this one, too. That was her girlfriend though – she had such high fucking morals!

As the wet shirt hit the ground with a splash, leaving Jennifer in nothing but her spanks and training bar, Puck came through the open doorway with Karofsky in tow. Jennifer looked utterly surprised and confused at this new addition in the locker room, and quickly tried to cover herself up with her hands. Puck pushed Karofsky onto the middle of the floor then, before he stepped over and took his spot next to Quinn and Santana. When Rachel stepped out and the door smacked close, both Karofsky and Jennifer – who were both silent in stunned confusion – turned around and looked at her.

"What the fuck?" Karofsky growled, turning his head to Puck, "I thought you said you had some dip I could buy?"

Puck smirked at him. "I fucking lied."

Santana gave him a hard stare; oh, she was going to enjoy this. Enjoy throwing everything right back at him. For the one slushie he gave her, for all the slushies he'd thrown at Rachel throughout time, and for all of the slushies the other Gleeks had received from him. He was going to regret the day he picked up that first plastic up and thought he'd join in on the fun! "We need to talk to you too, Dave, because we've grown fucking tired of you and your crass comments!"

Karofsky huffed. "Well, you're asking for it, joining Homo Explosion."

Quinn arched an eyebrow. "You talking about homosexuals now? Really?" she questioned him, and even though she didn't say it, even though she didn't actually insinuate anything, or admit that they knew something, Karofsky was certain that they did. Because the tone of her voice? It said everything. That was the brilliant thing about Quinn.

And it left Karofsky speechless.

"The both of you," Santana continued, stepping around the two people to join Rachel by the other wall, "you've messed with us too many times." she placed an arm around Rachel, because that was what they were supposed to do, even though she was pretty sure that it wasn't okay with the way that they'd left things in the choir room, "Rachel's my girlfriend. I love her. We're gay, lesbians. And that's fucking okay, at least we're not snotty rich brats, or bullies who are too afraid to be themselves!"

Rachel gave a slight nod. "Yes, and we're tired of having to deal with people like you everyday. Exposing us, it was taking it one step too far, Jennifer, and you can be sure to know that you'll be adequately paid back for that. And Dave?" she questioned, tilting her head to the side, as the big football player stared at her with hatred in his eyes, "You know what? I think I get why you're so mean all the time, I do. It doesn't make it right, but I get it. And I'll be talking to you about that soon. But first? We really need to pay you back as well."

And with those words, someone – Santana wasn't even sure who it was – pulled the string behind the lockers, and before Jennifer or Karofsky knew what hit them (and this was actually literally speaking), a shitload of rainbow coloured slushie fell from the ceiling, right onto their heads. It was epic, it was – it was fucking fantastic! Santana could practically see the way that Jennifer's lower lip quivered when she realised what was happening, and how she lifted her arms to protect her head, even though her body was at the total mercy of the corn syrup. Karofsky took it all like a man, he didn't say a word, he didn't even move, he just let the cold ice wash over him from above.

As soon as the slushie was done falling, Jennifer's tear-stained face turned towards Santana, and with a tremble, she moved to rush out of the locker room. However, since the entire floor was covered in ice, she slipped in her white sneakers and fell to the ground with a loud smack. Karofsky had the curtsey to pull her up and give her a steady arm, before he turned to Santana with a harsh look in his eyes.

"Fucking dyke! You're gonna pay for this! All you freaks deserve the slushies you get – I don't!" he hissed, "I'm on the fucking football team!"

Mike stepped out from the lockers then, carrying a plastic cup in his hand. "So am I. I've been slushied, too. By you." he finished, before he threw the red ice into his face. And after that, one by one, the Gleeks stepped out from behind the lockers and paid them back. Tina's bucket of slushie hit Karofsky straight in the face, yet he didn't even move. There was something so strange and odd about the entire thing – as if Karofsky had realised that he might as well take it; that there was no way in hell he was going to get out of this before they were done.

And when they were done, Artie wheeled himself forward and looked at them through his glasses. "And just to make sure that this situation is entirely equal, I think it's safe to say that all this," he glanced around the room, "will be posted on Jacob Ben-Israel's blog before the day is over."

Finn grinned and high-fived him, "Along with some very disturbing love poems." he chuckled, "And no, I don't like you, Jennifer."

"Why are you doing all of this?" Jennifer questioned, turning her head from one side to another, to glare at all of the people inside the room. "Why are you helping them? Why do you care? It's just Treasure Trial and Lopez." she shuddered, "You hated her, and she treated you awfully. Why do you care?"

Mercedes gave her a crooked smile, "Real friends stick together, and they're there for each other."

Brittany nodded and gave the black girl a half-arm hug, "We learned that in Glee Club."

"Yeah!" Sam added with a firm fist in the air.

"And that's the way the Cheerios are supposed to work too, Connelly."

Santana's head whipped to the side towards the voice in the doorway, and she drew in a long breath when she realised that Coach Sylvester had just pushed the door open and was joining in on the fun. She gave both Karofsky and Jennifer a displeased look as she wrinkled her nose, before making a big deal of walking in a large circle around Rachel. She stopped in front of Quinn and gave her head-cheerleader a nod; it seemed like almost nothing, but to Quinn, Brittany and Santana, it meant everything. It meant that they'd done good.

"Q, B, S." she said, before turning around on her heel to glare at Jennifer; her hands were on her hips as she stared down at her from above, "Connelly," she started, "I think I need to tell you that you're off the team. As if that wasn't obvious." she glanced towards the ground where the slushie was lying in heaps of coloured ice, slowly melting into nothing, though it was remarkable how well it'd kept itself since that morning, "And like my head-cheerleader just said to you, we are a team who are there for each other. That's why you're off." she glanced at the pathetic girl and frowned, "You can keep your bra and spanks by the way, don't want 'em back, they smell hideously of mediocrity by now."

With those words, she strutted across the floor, somehow managing to do so without slipping and falling flat on her face. When she was halfway out the door, she stopped though, and turned to give Karofsky a look, "You, abnormally big football idiot, you clean this up. That's an order." she hissed, before she turned around the corner, and was out of sight.

An eerie silence followed after her little performance, but as a few seconds passed, and Santana's eyes locked with first Puck's, then Quinn's, then Brittany's, she broke out laughing, and it didn't take many seconds before everyone – except Karofsky and Jennifer – followed right along with her. As soon as everyone was laughing on their expense, the two of them somehow managed to make their way out of the locker room, both shaking profusely from the cold, and Karofsky moaning curses beneath his breath. When they were out of sight, everyone somehow broke into a giant cheer and threw their arms around each other.

In the heat of the moment, Santana couldn't deny the giant butterflies in her stomach, and she turned around to wrap her arms tightly around the little brunette by her side. She squeezed her tightly, as they sort of jumped up and down in happiness, and even though they were supposedly mad at each other, Rachel didn't seem to mind much either. So when Santana pulled back, she placed a lingering kiss on the diva's lips, before she turned around and wrapped her two best friends in a hug, and Rachel flew right into Puck's arms.

It was fucking amazing, Santana had to admit that. Something as simple as this, and it could make such a difference. By tomorrow, that freaky Jacob would have posted the poems and the recordings on his website, and everyone would see Karofsky and Jennifer get seriously humiliated. Nothing would ever be the same at this school; of course things would never be all love and rainbows, but they'd be remarkably better now that these two people were put in place. Santana knew there was till Azimio as well, and all of the others morons, but damn... she couldn't help but think that now things were finally going to start being truly okay again.

Operation Golf Lima Echo Echo Kilo Sierra was finished, and with one helluva result.

"Who wants to skip and get ice cream!" Sam cheered, as he pumped his arms into the air, his beloved crowbar clenched in his right fist.

Mike gave him a pad on the shoulder, "You really love that crowbar, don't you?"

Sam couldn't keep the grin off his face, "I do, yeah, I really do."

All of them laughed, as they followed the two boys out of the locker room and Rachel didn't even protest, when they drove five cars to the mall to get ice cream instead of attending classes. And she didn't even get angry at Finn and Brittany when they broke two of her radios while they tried to spy on the old lady at the food court.

Santana glanced across the table as she munched on her Oreo Blizzard, and there, she caught her girlfriend's playful gaze. Life was fucking good.

This chapter was a bit more serious. I couldn't exactly keep up with the playfulness of the former chapter when dealing with the issue of Karofsky. The next chapter should be the school's reaction to everything, plus... Rachel comes up with something crazy that REALLY surprises and annoys Santana. For let's just say, even though they're happy now because their plan carried through, Rachel's not exacted thrilled with the way that Santana wanted to handle the matter of Karofsky...

I know a lot of you will probably think that Rachel's being stupid for that, but I really believe that she'd never expose anyone like that. She simply just wouldn't. Santana though... she wouldn't care at all. So I hope you like the little conflict I've created here – and no worries, it's not going to be a REAL problem for the girls ;-)

Oh. And I decided that Karofsky was pretty much going to take it like a man because... well, because Quinn hinted that they all knew something, and I don't think he'd be stupid enough to pick a fight with them when he's all alone. So yeah, that's my reasons for his unusually cool temper that lead to no violence whatsoever.

Thank you so much for all the awesome love and support that you guys keep showering me with. It means the world to me, it really does. It makes me want to write faster and do better, because you all deserve the best chapters that I can give to you. You guys are the best!

Disclaimer; I don't own Glee or RENT.