You guys are getting an earlier update today! I am going to be busy all day and didn't want to risk not being able to later :)
So this chapter ended up being fluffier than I meant it to, oops.
This ended up all being in Rachel's POV, it just worked better that way.. Santana's POV is up next!
Thank you soo much for all the support! you guys are amazing! The amount of reviews, alerts and favorites are mind blowing! Thank you all so much!
A huge thanks goes out to my beta GE0309!
Disclaimer: I do not own glee :(
Chapter 21
Rachel's POV
"What do you mean he's been back for a year?" I scream.
"He came back right before prom last year. He was looking for you." Puck said looking from me to Santana. I realize now that she knew this the entire time. She's known that the father of my child has been a town away this entire time.
I turn to look at my girlfriend and she has a mixture of fear and worry on her face.
"You knew! You knew that Jesse was close, and you said nothing?" I scream.
"I didn't want to freak you out! When he came last year he was looking for you but he was told you were gone, why would he come back here to look for you again? You're safe Rachel." She tries to reason.
"And what do you think is going to happen with all this gossip and drama? Ohio is not that big of a place, people know each other here; whether they are in the same town or not! Not to mention that Finn is out for blood and Shelby is about ready to kill Jesse! If he finds out and he comes back here he can take Skylar from me!"
"No judge is going to give Skylar to Jesse St. Jackass, Rachel. Just calm down." Puck tries.
"Why wouldn't they give her to him? He has a family! He has a support system!" I scream without even thinking about my word choice.
"And you don't?" Santana says in an even voice. "You don't think you do? What about me? What about my dad, or your mother, or everyone in the Trouble Tones? For god sakes even the Cheerios have started to like you!" She yells.
"What about parents Santana? I haven't got any of those! Shelby is not my mother, by law or by relationship."
"Maybe not by law but the hell she isn't your mom anymore Rachel. She protects you, she helps you, she loves you! She's your mom, and if push came to shove she would gladly take you in if it meant that you would keep Skylar." Santana argues.
"I don't want to live with her! I just want to keep things the same! I don't want to live with another adult! I'm doing fine on my own!" I scream.
"Guys calm down before someone calls the police." I hear Shelby instruct from the curb.
Shit, how long has she been there?
"What are you doing here?" Santana asks the new arrival.
"I came to see if Rachel still wanted to have dinner with my parents tonight." She explains while walking up to where we are standing.
I still can't manage to look her in the eyes though. If she heard all of that, I really don't want to see the hurt in her eyes. She truly has been great recently; she has worked to prove herself and has never pushed me. If I'm being honest with myself, she has definitely been a mother figure to me, and I actually have been seeing her as such.
"How long have you been here?" I ask without raising my chin off my chest.
"I got here as the yelling was brought to the front yard. I was going to announce my presence but Jesse failing out of UCLA kind of threw me off." She tells me. I swallow audibly and continue to look at my socked feet.
"Don't worry about it sweetie, I knew that it would take work. We'll just keep working towards that type of relationship." She tells me, rubbing my back. I can hear in her voice that she's hurt by the revelation that I still don't see her as a mother. I wish I could tell her that I do see her that way, but the fear of her leaving is still there.
"I'm even more confused now. Where the hell are your dads?" Noah asks looking around for any sign of the men.
"They left. I live here alone with Skylar, which is why you can't go and hurt Jesse. If he finds out about all of this, it could turn out badly for Sky and me. Puck you need to leave him alone." I plead with him.
"How can you tell me that Jesse drugged and raped you and then expect me to sit around and do nothing?" He asks me.
"I never said he drugged me Noah! I don't know who did, but I honestly don't think it was Jesse. So please, just leave it alone!" I beg.
"Fine, but if I find out that it was him…" He leaves the threat open and I know that he is serious. I just nod my head and give him a tight hug.
"Guys lets take this inside and off of the lawn." Shelby reasons. She's probably right; this isn't really something that I want aired out in front of the whole neighborhood.
We go into the house and everyone else goes into the living room. I go to the base of the stairs first to make sure that I don't hear Skylar, before joining the three of them. I sit right next to Noah, and snuggle into his side. It's been a long time since I've had Noah around.
"I'm confused as to when you two got so close." Santana speaks up giving the two of us curious and somewhat jealous glances.
"We've always been close. The Jewish community is tiny in this hick town. When we grew up and were about to start high school, I told him to do whatever it took to get on the football team, even if it meant ignoring me at school." I say with a shrug, as if that is perfectly normal.
"You ignored your best friend for popularity?" Santana hisses. "In fact I remember you actually slushying her once!"
"You're one to talk! You slushied and tortured the girl that you claimed to love in the name of popularity!" Noah screams. Santana's face immediately falls; her anger towards Noah disappears in an instant. It's a low blow and he knows it right away.
"Noah!" I chastise as I climb off the couch and go to sit on the love seat with Santana who looks like she is about to cry. Our past has always been a point of insecurity with Santana; Noah is one of her best friends too, he should know not to use that against her.
Noah for his part looks down at his hands ashamed of himself. "The slushy was the biggest mistake I've ever made, even though she knew it was coming ahead of time. Either way, I never wanted to do all of that just to be on the football team. Rachel told me that I needed to because I could probably get a scholarship for it. I'd rather have been able to hang out with my best friend." He explains in a softer tone than before. It's as if he is reliving the situation in his mind.
"Ok, this topic is only managing to make all three of you upset, why don't we move on." Shelby offers. I actually forgot she was here for a second.
All three of us nod but I can't help but make sure Santana is ok. "We're ok Santì, nothing he said changed anything about us. I know that you love me and that's all that matters." I whisper to her while resting my forehead against her temple. She just nods her head while laying it down in my lap. I know she's still upset, but I can't fix that until we're alone. So I just start to run my fingers through her hair so she knows that I'm here, and that we will straighten it more out later.
"Rach, did you still want to have dinner with my mom tonight to see if Skylar likes her? I set it up, but if you didn't want to do it anymore I understand." Shelby asks after it looks like thing are settled between Santana and me.
I look down at Santana to see if she would still come with me. When she nods, I address Shelby again. "Yeah that would be great. Is it ok for Santana to come?" I ask.
"Yeah of course I already told my mom that it would probably be you and your girlfriend plus Skylar." She says with a smile. I am actually relieved that she told her mother and father that Santana and I are dating. It would be a little awkward if she didn't and her parents turned out to have a problem with it. I give the woman an appreciative smile.
We talk for another half hour before I hear Skylar let out a cry. I move to get up, but with Santana's head in my lap it's a little difficult. I look down to ask her to move and I see that the girl fell asleep on my lap.
"Her day with Skylar seems to have wore her out." Shelby jokes.
"Yeah Skylar did not go easy on her today. We napped before, but I don't know how much sleep she actually got, apparently not enough." I giggle and continue to run my fingers through her hair.
"Do you want me to go get the baby? She probably doesn't want to be up there anymore." Shelby offers.
"You don't have to, she will most likely need to be changed." I tell her while trying to figure out a way to get the Latina's head off my lap without waking her.
"Rach, I have a eighteen month old, I think I can handle a dirty diaper." She laughs and gets off the lazy boy she had been sitting in. I tell her which room is Skylar's and off she goes.
"She seems to be trying really hard Rach." Noah says after a moment of silence. "She really seems to only want what's best for you."
"I know. Honestly my need to be on my own doesn't stem from anything she did. I should probably have a conversation with her about it. I do see her as my mother now, at least most of the time, but that doesn't mean that I fully trust her. I saw her as my mother when she first came back during sophomore year too, that didn't keep her from leaving." I reason.
That really is my biggest fear when it comes to Shelby. I don't want to start trusting her and relying on her and then have her change her mind. I'm still going to tread cautiously, until that feeling of doubt is gone. I have to, especially because I have to think about Skylar this time around.
"She doesn't seem like she's leaving again but I guess I understand." Noah concedes.
A moment later, Shelby reenters the room with Skylar on her hip. The little girl looks adorable because she has indents from the wrinkles in the sheets all over her face. She still looks sleepy with her head on Shelby's shoulder. I smile up at her and the little girl happily returns it before looking around the room.
I was naturally expecting her to want to come to me as soon as she entered the room, but the moment she saw Noah she let out a squeal of joy and reached out for him. Noah had really grown on my little girl in a very short amount of time.
Sky's squeal managed to wake Santana up as she jumped off my lap and started to frantically look around.
"She's fine, she was just happy to see Noah." I tell her in a sift voice while rubbing her back trying to get her to calm down.
"Jesus give me a god damn heart attack why don't you!" She says while dramatically putting her hand over her chest.
"And people call me the diva." I giggle out while placing a kiss on Santana's lips.
"You guys should really watch what you say in front of her. Little people have big ears, and with her getting older she is going to start trying to mimic you. I doubt you want her first word to be a curse word." Shelby laughs out.
I think about what she is saying and realize that we really do curse in front of her on a semi-regular occasion.
"It's not possible that she will have already learned them right?" Santana asks frantically. She looks really adorable right now. I'm trying really hard to hold my laughter in.
Shelby is having more difficulty than me because she lets out a bark of laughter at Santana's reaction. "No you're probably still safe, but I would try to break the habit." She tells her. Santana gives me a stern look because I couldn't hold my laughter any longer and just rolls her eyes and nods.
When Skylar gives another squeal of joy, we all look over to her. Noah has her over his head again and is looking up at her. He really doesn't learn does he?
"Noah…" Before I even get the sentence out, Skylar lets drool leave her mouth and it falls right on Noah's nose.
"Ewwww!" He says lowering the baby back to his lap. Sky lets out another screech and starts babbling.
"You're lucky it was only drool, she could have spit up on you, that would have been gross." I giggle as Santana tosses him an ever-present burping cloth.
After another half hour of Noah and Skylar playing, Shelby tells us that we should head out for dinner. We all get off the couch and I hurry to get Skylar ready to go. Noah goes back to his own house to shower. Apparently getting baby drool on him warrants his need for a shower. Again, why do people call me the diva?
Shelby offered to drive since Santana and I would have probably gotten lost. As I drive in the back seat of the Range Rover with the baby, I feel nerves build up inside of me. What if Shelby's parents don't like me, or worse, Skylar? They're my grandparents after all, kind of at least, wouldn't it be bad if she didn't like me? If Shelby's parents don't like me, will Shelby change her mind about me also?
I guess the worry is evident on my face, because Shelby's voice asking if I'm ok breaks me from my thoughts. I look up and see that she is looking at me through the rearview mirror.
"Yeah I'm fine, just thinking." I tell her before looking back down at my daughter, who is swatting at the toys hanging down from the car seat handle. I can't help but smile a little at that.
"They are going to love you Rachel, just calm down." She tells me. How did she know what I was thinking?
"You look like you've seen a ghost Rae." Santana giggles from the front passenger seat. "Your fear is written all over your face, she's not psychic." She jokes. I just roll my eyes at them to act like I'm not worried about this meeting, but I can tell by the way Santana keeps glancing back at me that she can see right through my facade.
When we finally arrive at Shelby's mothers house Santana and Shelby both open their doors to get out of the car. I just stay frozen in the back seat. Maybe this wasn't the best idea.
I see Santana open my door and jump up on the set rail so that she is more at my level.
"Rae, just relax. Ok? Just breathe and relax. Everything is going to be fine. Shelby has been saying that her mother has been looking forward to meeting you for a while, so you have nothing to worry about. It's impossible not to love you or Sky. You're both too awesome." She says while running her fingers though my hair.
After a minute, I finally nod my acceptance and move to unbuckle Skylar from her seat. I hold the baby out for my girlfriend to take and then climb out myself. Skylar must be feeding off of my anxiety, because she reaches out for me as soon as I am firmly on the ground. I pick her up out of Santana's arms and then with my free hand grab a hold of Santana's. I need that connection with her right now. She is the only one keeping me from completely freaking out and turning back.
"Relax Rach, everything is going to be ok." Shelby says rubbing my back comfortingly then leading us towards the house.
The woman doesn't even knock before entering the house, which I guess makes sense since this used to be her house. As we walk into the foyer and go about taking off our jackets, my nerves spike again.
"Mom, we're here!" Shelby shouts through the house. Not even two seconds later, we can hear the distinct sounds of little feet coming towards us.
"Mommy!" Beth squeals while running towards her mother.
Shelby kneels down and scoops her daughter up and into her arms before stepping towards Santana, Sky, and I.
"Hey Sweetie! Do you remember Santana and Rachel?" Shelby asks the little girl.
Beth for her part nods enthusiastically. "Baby!" She points to Skylar and starts clapping.
Sky just keeps staring at the newest arrival. Her brows are smooth, but she still seems unsure about the littlest girl other than her. After a few moments, Skylar lets out a loud squeal and a smile takes over her face. Sky starts babbling to her newfound friend and starts clapping along with Beth.
"Beth this is my daughter Skylar." I tell… my sister.
"Can you say Skylar little B?" Santana asks the little blonde girl.
"Skylar" She tries with a huge smile. Clearly proud of herself even though she didn't get it right.
"How about Sky, can you say 'Sky'?" Shelby tries.
"Sky!" Beth squeals giggling. All three of us congratulate her on saying it correctly.
"Sorry, I was just putting the chicken in the oven." A woman who I assume to be Shelby's mom says as she walks into the room.
The woman actually looks more similar to Shelby than I do, well I guess Shelby looks similar to her. Either way, there is no question about whether these two women are related. The only difference is that the older woman has dark brown eyes, rather than hazel like Shelby.
"Nan! Sky!" Beth introduces still in a high-pitched voice.
"Well thanks for letting me know Beth!" Mrs. Corcoran states acting overly excited for Beth's sake. Though I could actually tell that she really was excited.
"Hello Mrs. Corcoran, it's nice to meet you." I say politely while dropping Santana's hand to offer it up to shake the woman's.
The woman just laughs at my introduction and ignores my hand while pulling me, and by extension Skylar, in for a hug. I stiffen a little in her embrace and Skylar starts whining at being so close to a woman she hasn't really ever met before.
"Mom! Stop, you're making them both uncomfortable! We talked about this!" Shelby chastises while prying her mother off of me. Once I'm free, I instantly step back and grab a hold of Santana's hand again.
They start to argue about what is and is not appropriate while meeting a stranger. Mrs. Corcoran argues that I am not a stranger. She says that since I have her blood she should get to hug me. Shelby counter argues saying that that only works if the other person is comfortable with it. I just giggle at the interactions between mother and daughter, and ignore the dull pain at knowing that I have never had that before.
Finally the older Corcoran huffs and look back to me. "I apologize if I have made you or Skylar uncomfortable." She mumbles a little petulantly.
"It's fine Mrs. Corcoran." I say with a little giggle.
"Please call me Gloria or if you are comfortable with it you can even call me Nan." She tells me.
"Yeah she's going to call you Nan while she still calls Shelby, Shelby. I think you're jumping the gun a little bit there Glor." A thin gentleman with gray hair states while entering the room, it must be Shelby's dad. I see now that Shelby's eyes come from her father.
"Nice to meet you Rachel, I'm Shelby's dad, you can call me Howard." He tells me while offering his hand for me to shake and I graciously accept it before linking hands with Santana again.
"And who is this little cutie pie?" He asks in reference to Skylar.
"SKY!" Beth tells him excitedly.
"Well nice to meet you Sky. And you?" He asks looking at Santana, who I am just realizing has been all but ignored since we walked in.
"Oh my god, Santana I am so sorry for being so rude. Mom, Dad, this is Santana, Rachel's girlfriend." Shelby introduces with an apologetic smile.
"Nice to meet you both." Santana says with a smile to both adults.
"Nice to meet you as well, Santana. I am sorry you got a little ignored there for a moment, we are just so excited to finally meet our granddaughter." Gloria says and I again start to shuffle around uncomfortably.
"Mom. Stop." Shelby demands in a strict tone shooting a quick glance to me to explain it to her mother.
"I'm sorry sweetie, I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable, I'll tone it down from now on I swear." Gloria says.
"Thank you," I say in a small voice.
"Mommy down." Beth says while squirming in Shelby's arms. Shelby relents and places the toddler on the ground. Instead of scurrying off, she turns towards Skylar and me and looks up at us. "Sky play?" She asks.
Skylar must get the gist of what is going on because the infant starts squirming in my arms, similar to how Beth was with Shelby.
"Why don't we go into the living room and you guys can play in there, Bethy?" Shelby offers. The blonde sighs but relents and walks towards what I assume is the living room. When she is about halfway down the hall she turns around and waves for us to follow. We all chuckle at the little girls' antics but follow her nonetheless.
Once we are in the living room Gloria tells us to have a seat. Santana and I sit on a love seat and I put Skylar in my lap. Unfortunately my daughter has other plans and squirms around until I finally relent and put her on the floor so she can crawl around with Beth.
"Beth be careful with Skylar ok, she's younger than you." Gloria informs the little girl who nods to let us know she was listening. She then goes about showing Skylar all of her toys.
"Well at least they seem to be getting along." Howard says smiling fondly at the two youngest girls.
"Yeah. Sky doesn't get to spend much time around kids her own age, or kids at all really." I tell them a little ashamed that I have been denying my daughter something like this for so long.
"Hey, it's hard. Don't beat yourself up over it. You were trying to do what you thought was best for your family. That's all a mother can do." Shelby reasons. I'm not sure if she meant for it to sound like she was talking about our relationship too, but it still got me thinking more about it.
When she came around the first time, she thought that I had a loving happy family, and really I did at that time. Maybe she didn't want to get in the way of that. Maybe that's why she decided to leave, so it wouldn't complicate my family.
"So girls how did you meet?" Gloria asks excitedly.
Really not the best line of conversation to be having with someone you just met. Sure couples normally have some type of epic love story, but my relationship with Santana was clearly not one of those.
"We've gone to school together since sixth grade. When we got to high school, I started crushing on Rachel but my feelings scared me so I picked on her. I didn't realize exactly what my feelings were until right before Rachel left, so when she came back I took the opportunity to befriend her and try to pay penance for my past. Eventually I was lucky enough to be able to call her my girlfriend." Santana explains with a smile on her face. When she finishes she looks at me and kisses my cheek.
I'm glad that she explained it that way, because it is the truth. Santana has a tendency to tell the story with a negative connotation, so her telling this version brings a smile to my face.
"Well that sounds very sweet." Gloria says smiling like mad.
We talk for a little while longer before Gloria goes and checks on the food. I am really surprised and grateful that neither of Shelby's parents ask about Skylar conception. I would understand why they were curious, but I really wouldn't feel comfortable talking to two people I barely know about it.
We continue to talk amongst ourselves whiles she's gone, but are brought out of our conversations by Beth.
"MINE!" She screams as she tries to take a toy out of Skylar's hands. Skylar sees the attack coming and spins her body so that Beth can't reach the toy. The older girl gets even more upset and decides that she is done playing nicely. Beth reaches forward and hits Skylar on her forehead. Sky's eyes instantly filled with tears, even though I can almost guarantee it didn't really hurt her too much.
"Beth Madeline Corcoran!" Shelby yells while getting off the couch and going over to where the girls we playing. "We do not hit! You know better than that! Now say you're sorry." Shelby reprimands. I get off the love seat and go and sit next to Skylar who crawls into my arms still crying.
"Sowwy." Beth pouts out.
"You're going into the time out chair young lady. You have a minute and a half." Shelby tells her while picking up the toddler and placing her in a brightly colored chair sitting in the hallway.
"Shh, Princess you're ok. She didn't even really hurt you baby girl; you're fine." I tell the infant as I rock her a little.
"You ok cutie?" Shelby asks the littlest brunette as she sits back down on the floor with us.
"She's fine, I think she was just more shocked than hurt." I tell my mother. The fact that I thought of her as my mother so easily didn't go unnoticed, but I'll worry about that later.
I stand up with Sky in my arms and move back to sit next to Santana. Skylar seems to be enjoying the attention her tears are bringing, because she continues the water works even as we sit down next to the Latina. She crawls off of my lap and into Santana's and looks up at her favorite person with tears running down her cheeks still.
"Ok Chica, you're alright." She tells the infant while using her thumb to wipe the tears away. After the tears are gone, more take their place, "come on Bonita, stop crying, you're fine." She tells the infant.
I start to worry, because Skylar barely cries like this.
"She's just loving the attention, she'll be fine." Shelby chuckles out. "She definitely got the dramatics from Rachel though, huh?" Shelby jokes, earning a few chuckles from Santana, which were instantly stopped when I shot her a glare. "If you ignore the tears for a little while, they will most likely stop. That's how Beth's work in these situations at least."
"Uh-oh. Why is Beth in the 'naughty chair'?" Gloria asks as she walks back into the room seeing her granddaughter in the pink chair in the hallway.
"She hit Skylar. I have to actually go get her out." Shelby says picking herself off the floor again. I can hear murmuring coming from the hallway and then a few seconds later the mother and daughter reenter the room.
The little girl walks over to where Skylar is sitting on Santana's lap. "I sowwy Sky." The little girl says while leaning forward and kissing Sky on the cheek.
The apology seems to be enough to appease the youngest girl, because the smile instantly returns to her face.
"Ok guys dinner is ready. Why don't we all move into the kitchen to eat." Gloria says.
We all get up and move into the kitchen where we find a small feast waiting.
"You really didn't have to go though all of this trouble." I tell the woman who cooked.
"Nonsense, I love cooking, it was no trouble. Only problem is we only have one highchair." She says with an exaggerated frown that showed off her teeth. I can't help but giggle at her antics.
"It's fine, Skylar hates the stupid things anyway. She much prefers sitting on my lap and disturbing my meal." I joke and move towards the table. I choose one on the side of the table that had two chairs, so that Santana could sit next to me.
When we sit down, Gloria loads all of the plates up with tons of food. I am pretty sure that she got something in every part of the food pyramid on our plates.
"I wasn't sure what type of food Skylar eats, so when I was at the store I just picked up a few different flavors. Would she prefer mashed turkey or chicken?" She asked making a disgusted face.
I laugh at the face she's making, as do both little girls. "You really didn't need to buy baby food, I always have some with me just in case, but she will probably eat either of those." I tell her and she just nods and goes to grab the food for the baby.
We spend the rest of dinner chatting and stuffing our faces. I split my time between feeding myself and feeding Skylar, as does Santana. Beth has decided to forgo her baby fork and use her hands to squash mashed potatoes into her mouth. Both her mother and grandmother chastising her did nothing to convince her to use the fork. I guess she gets that from Noah.
After dinner we move back into the living room, and Gloria takes the seat next to me before Santana can.
"Mom let her sit by her girlfriend." Shelby admonishes. I feel like their roles have been reversed for most of this dinner, it's kind of hilarious.
"The whole point of this dinner was for Skylar to get to know me better Shelby. I am just seeing how the little girl feels, so sit down and shush up." Gloria chastises right back.
Santana decides that there doesn't need to be a place for her to sit, she simply picks Skylar and me up in one go and sets us on her lap. Thank god for cheerleading.
"Hey Sky, can I hold you?" Gloria asks while holding her hands out for the infant.
Without even giving it a second thought, Sky reaches out for the woman as well, allowing her to pick her up. My entire face fills with a smile of relief.
"I figured if I let her be for most of her visit that she would trust me more than if I bombarded her with unwanted attention the entire time. It helps her trust that I am here to help, not to hurt." She explains. I give her a curious look, because that sounded like it made professional sense.
"I was a teacher before I retired, I used to work at a preschool." She tells me, when she sees my pensive look. I just smile at her and nod.
"I don't mind watching her at all, but you have to be comfortable with who is watching your daughter. So what do you think? Do you want to give it a shot?" The older woman asks.
"If you are sure you don't mind then I would love it if you could watch her. I would definitely pay you for your services." I tell her.
"Not necessary." She tells me, waving me off. I go to argue but I see Shelby shaking her head out of the corner of my eye. I figure that I already lost this argument so I just give up.
We stay for a little while longer before deciding that we should get the little girls to their beds. Gloria walks us to the door and looks uncertain of what to do. I can tell that she wants to give me a hug but doesn't want to push me (or get yelled at by Shelby again). I decide to throw her a bone since she is doing so much for me. I lean in a give her a hug. She immediately returns it.
"Thank you for everything. I will drop Sky off on Thursday morning with everything she will need if that's ok." I tell her as we pull apart.
"That sounds lovely." Gloria says while waving us off.
The car ride home is mostly quiet. Both girls fall asleep within minutes of the car starting to move. Truth be told, I am close to falling asleep right now too.
"Where do you want me to drop you off at Santana? I didn't see your car at Rachel's house." Shelby asks. I am pretty sure that she is trying to ensure that my girlfriend doesn't sleep over again. I just roll my eyes at this.
"Would you mind dropping me at my house?" Santana asks, making a pout instantly form on my face.
"You're not staying again?" I ask.
"No, I think it's best if I sleep at home tonight. For one, I haven't seen Papi all day. And also if I sleep over, we will both be late for school tomorrow." She says with a wink. I instantly turn beet red.
"Yeah, really don't want to hear that." Shelby says from the drivers seat. Santana throws her a halfhearted sorry that she clearly doesn't mean.
When we arrive at Santana's house I walk her to the door and kiss her goodbye. I don't even realize how deep it had become until Antonio steps out and pulls his daughter into the house. He kisses me on the forehead before pushing me towards Shelby's Range Rover.
When I get into the car I am blushing again, having not thought about the fact that Shelby would have been able to see us until now.
"You seem really happy with her." Shelby says as she backs out of the Lopez's driveway. "A little to happy perhaps," she mutters under her breath loud enough for me to hear.
"Yeah she makes me really happy. I really love her." I tell her in a dreamy state. Just talking about Santana turns me into a lovesick teenage girl, which I guess I really am.
"I'm glad that you found her. You deserve to have someone like her in your life."
"Thanks." I respond shyly.
After a few moments of quiet, Shelby speaks again, "Rachel, if there is anything I can do to help you feel more confident in our relationship, please let me know. I am really willing to do anything."
"I know you are Shelby, and it's really nothing for you to do. It's just hard for me to trust, especially after being hurt by someone. I'm getting there, but it's really more my problem than yours. You have been amazing since you came back and you have definitely proved to me that you are trying. I just need a little more time. But you need to know, what you overheard earlier, is not really about you. There are a lot of circumstances surrounding my need to live on my own, and at one point I will tell you all of those. Just, not yet. I'm not ready to delve into that again." I tell her without looking at her.
"I understand. Whenever you're ready." She tells me while reaching across the center console and holding onto my joined hands.
When we pull into my driveway, I get out and work on getting Skylar out without waking her up in the process. Shelby climbs out and helps me to carry everything in. Once we are in the house and I have Skylar's car seat placed on the ground with the sleeping girl inside, Shelby asks if I need anything else before she goes.
Without even thinking about it, I surprise her and even myself by giving her a goodbye hug. One that says thank you for everything, thank you for being patient with me, and one that holds promises of the future relationship that she wants. She takes a risk and kisses the side of my head to let me know she understands what I'm trying to expression. She pulls away, kisses Sky, and then walks back down the driveway with a whispered goodnight and a wave.
So Sectionals is up next! It was actually supposed to be chapter 19 but kept getting pushed farther and farther back!
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