Author's Note: This was a prompt by reviewer PezBerryFanatic!
Six Word Story: "Why can't you love me now?"
Rachel tapped her fingers on the kitchen table as she waited for her longtime girlfriend to get home.
She sighed as she stared angrily at the clock,
2:36 a.m.
This definitely wasn't the first time Santana had been late, it happened so often it was almost a routine now.
They hadn't been the same lately, Santana seemed more distant and less interested in their relationship.
Rachel had been putting off confronting the woman for a while now, scared of what the outcome might be.
Rachel held her breath as she heard the lock being turned, knowing it was only a matter of minutes now until her entire world either fell apart or was put back together.
Rachel listened as Santana tried to quietly close and lock the door behind her, she probably even went as far as taking her heels off in the hall so they wouldn't give her away.
Rachel waited patiently for the woman to notice the stream of light in the living room from the kitchen, hoping she'd go in there.
"Rach? That you in there?" Santana called out quietly as she made her way toward the kitchen.
"Yeah, it's me. You're really late again, Tana." Rachel said softly as her girlfriend entered.
Santana frowned, "I know, I'm sorry. I had to finish some paperwork for a case I'm working on."
Rachel squeezed her eyes shut tightly, "We need to talk, Santana. I'm tired of all these excuses, okay? I'm tired of never seeing you and I'm especially tired of feeling like you're hiding something."
"Rachel, it's late, can we do this another time? I have to be up for work in like three hours." Santana said with a sigh as she turned to exit the kitchen.
"Damn it, Santana! No, we can't do this another time! I'm tired of feeling like this, I want answers." Rachel said angrily.
"What do you want from me, Rachel?" Santana yelled.
Rachel glared at Santana, "The truth would be nice."
"What do you want me to tell you? That I've been working late to avoid you? That I'd rather sit in my office reading old paperwork than come home?"
"Do you want me to tell you I don't think I love you anymore? That I think we've grown too far apart to the point where we can't fix it?"
"Is that what you want me to tell you?" Santana asked.
"You don't love me anymore?" Rachel asked quietly with tears welling in her eyes, her bottom lip quivering.
"I don't know how I feel about you anymore. It started off with actually having to work late, and then I just liked the distance, I found myself missing you less and less and now I don't know how to go back to missing you at all." Santana said.
Rachel furiously shook her head, tears blurring her vision, "No, no it doesn't work like that, Santana! You can't just stop caring, there's always a reason. Tell me there's someone else, at least if it's someone else then I know you just didn't stop caring for no reason."
"There's no one else, Rachel. I'm not a cheater, I just don't think I love you anymore." Santana said with a frown, her own tears threatening to escape.
"B-but you loved me when no one else did. You loved me when I didn't love myself, when I was a loser with no friends. You can't just stop loving me now after all these years."
"You loved me even before I knew I loved you, Tana."
"Why can't you love me now?" Rachel heartbreakingly asked.
Santana wiped the tears out of her eyes, "I just..I don't know, okay? I don't know what's going on. I just feel stuck. I need time away from you, I need space."
"But-"
"Please, Rachel. Now that it's all out in the open, I need space to think, please." Santana begged.
Rachel nodded silently, tears still falling freely.
"I'll always love you, Rachel. I just don't know if I'm still in love with you."
"I never wanted to hurt you, you know that right?" Santana asked.
Rachel nodded, "I know, thank you."
"I think I'm going to go stay with Kurt and Blaine for a while, until you figure..whatever it is out. I'm just going to pack some stuff and I'll be out of here." Rachel said, forcing a smile as she walked past Santana toward their bedroom.
"I don't want you going anywhere this late, Rach. I can go stay with Q tomorrow after work." Santana said as she followed close behind.
"No, trust me I'll be okay. I need to go, you stay here." Rachel said quickly as she tossed things into a suitcase.
"Rachel, please." Santana whispered, her hands gripping the suitcase tightly.
Rachel tugged the suitcase out of Santana's grasp and zipped it shut, "I'll text you when I get to Kurt's, okay? And then I won't bother you again until you want to talk."
She turned and exited the room quickly, grabbing her keys and cellphone on her way through the apartment.
"Have a good day at work, um, every day I guess. Please don't burn the kitchen down if you decide to cook, and don't forget to feed the fish." Rachel said as she stood at the front door and put on her coat.
"Rachel?" Santana asked as the woman was about to exit the apartment.
Rachel paused in the doorway, "Yeah, Tana?"
Santana's frowned deepened, "I'm so sorry."
Rachel nodded as she closed the door shut tightly behind her, all the built up tears now falling quickly down her face.
Santana felt sick as she watched Rachel exit the apartment, as much as she needed the space she couldn't help but feel like she just lost everything that was important to her.
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