Chapter 4

Racel's Pov

I was with Theo at the mall looking for the perfect Batman costume for tonight. His words, not mine. We were supposed to have a Halloween movie night but Santana convinced me to go to Time Square. So thanks to her, I've been looking for a damn Batman costume for three hours. We went into five stores and according to Theo all the costumes we found were horrible.

Right now Theo was in the changing rooms with six different Batman costumes while I sat in the store seats without feeling my legs. I hear my cell phone ringing and reach into my bag, blindly searching for the device. When I found it I saw that it was a message from Santana.

'I hope you have your costume ready. I have mine already ;)''

What? Do I have to dress up too?''

C'me on Rachel, it's Halloween! Of course you have to dress up too.'

'Ughh, you're worse than Theo. Fine, I'll look for a costume.'

'I imagine you rolling your eyes annoyed.'

'You know me too well. Now stop distracting me so I can find a costume.'

Good thing I saw a costume that caught my eye in one of the many stores I went to with Theo. It was a movie that I really liked and if Santana wanted to see me dressed up, then she would. I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard Theo's excited voice.

"This is the one, momma!"

The moment I saw him I understood what he meant by the perfect costume. He looked perfect in that Batman costume. I told him to change so we could buy the costume and once we did we went to get mine. I was pretty sure I would look great and I knew Theo loved that movie too.

"Where are we going?" He asked, looking at me confused.

"We are going to get a costume for me." Theo clapped excitedly and took my hand.

When we entered the store we quickly went to the hall where the costumes were. I took the outfit in my hands and showed it to Theo who started clapping and hopping. Without saying anything he took my hand and dragged me to the cash register where I paid for the costume.

"You're gonna look awesome, momma! I can't wait for tonight."

I smiled and took Theo's hand in mine. We went for ice cream, he made me repeat the flavors twice to choose chocolate as usual and I ordered one of strawberry cheesecake. After that we went home and watched movies until it was time to get ready.

*

Theo was already in his Batman costume while I was in front of the mirror braiding my hair. I couldn't braid it right and I needed to do it if I was to do the great Lara Croft justice. I finally braided my hair without making it a mess and walked over to the full-length mirror.

I looked pretty good in the white scoop neckline sleeveless top and the canvas shorts rolled up to the top of my thighs. I was wearing black fingerless leather gloves and two holsters strapped to the belt of my shorts. On the back a small backpack that matched the brown lace-up boots. To finish my hair was braided and on my face I had made a cut with makeup.

I turned around and looked at Theo who was playing on my bed with some superhero figures. "Are you ready, dark knight?" He looked up and nodded with a big smile on his face. "Then let's go, Tana is waiting for us in Time Square."

Time Square wasn't that far from our apartment. The streets of New York were full of people in costumes. I've never been a fan of the holiday, I always stayed home and watched movies with Theo. When Santana invited us to the Halloween parade in Time Square I was reluctant. But I couldn't kill the illusion I saw in Theo's eyes and the Latina assured me that he would be fine.

It's been a month since I ran into Santana at that coffee shop and it's been an incredible month. I figured out that Santana was so different from the person that she was at high school. I couldn't deny that she was sexy and hot but she was also carrying and beautiful. Seeing her on the phone talking about law things never failed to ignite my lady parts but what got me the most was when she was loving. She was so good with my son and he loved her so much. The best part was that Santana seemed to love Theo too.

As we were turning the corner from Time Square a red parted fringed skirt caught my eye. I looked up slowly absorbing the red and white colors forming the Cheerios uniform. When my eyes met Santana's she was smirking. Her hair pulled into a perfect high ponytail that I hadn't seen on her in seven years.

"Look at that, you can clearly still rock the bitchy cheerleader look." She giggled and twirled into place making her skirt float in the air revealing her red spankies. My breath got caught at the sight of her tanned thighs.

"What can I say? Once you were a cheerleader, you will always be a cheerleader." I shivered when her eyes roamed through my body. "But look at you! Damn, Berry, you can definitely rock the Lara Croft look."

I blushed with my eyes locked in Santana's. I came back abruptly when Theo talked, "Hey! What about me, Tana? How do I look?"

She smiled shyly at me before focusing on Theo. She put her hands on my son's shoulders and narrowed her eyes. Then she gasped in surprise and her eyes widened. "Theo, is that you? I thought I was in front of the real Batman!"

He laughed before raising his arms for Santana to pick him up. She squatted with her back to Theo and when he wrapped his arms around her neck Santana got up. She turned to look at me and held out her hand for me to take it. Our fingers intertwined and I felt our hands fit together perfectly.

"Come on, I know where to find the best Halloween candies." She said, dragging me and Theo with her.

*

Santana was yelling something about stealing her candy as she chased after Theo who was running giggling. I was sitting on a bench holding a Spiderman-shaped helium balloon that the Latina had bought for my son. There was a woman sitting next to me talking about politics and issues that didn't catched my attention. I wasn't even sure if she was talking to me, but I just nodded so as not to look rude.

"Hey, I'm talking to you. It's disrespectful that you don't even look at me while I'm talking to you." My eyes went wide. I turned around trying to find my notebook and pen in the backpack when the woman spoke again, "You should at least answer me."

I didn't even have time to react when Santana was standing in front of the woman, carrying a sleeping Theo. Her brow was furrowed, and her free hand was shaking with anger. I knew I should stop her, but something in me prevented it and all I could do was entwine my fingers with those of her free hand in an attempt to calm her rage. She looked at me and the look in her eyes softened a bit before returning her gaze to the woman.

"The one who is being disrespectful here is you, snooty old woman. Or did you bother to wait for her to give you an explanation as to why she wasn't answering you? No, you just jumped to stupid conclusions and began to judge her. For your information, wrinkled old woman, she is mute." Santana didn't wait for the woman to say something else and tugged on my hand to help me up. "Let's go Rach, we have to take Theo to bed."

We walked in silence until we reached the entrance to my apartment. I could feel the tension in Santana's body but didn't know what to do. When she came out of Theo's room I walked over and hugged her. Her arms instantly encircled my waist and she hid her face in the crook of my neck. I felt how the tension in her shoulders was disappearing but I did not move away from her, on the contrary, I held on tighter.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry." She said against my neck, her voice sounding muffled.

I pulled away looking into her watery eyes. "What in the world are you sorry for, Tana?" My hands now were caressing her face and she leaned against my touch.

"For everything. God! I told you so many times that you spoke like a walking Thesaurus and now..." She choked into her tears and all I could do was hug her tightly again. "I'm so sorry, Rach."

I took her face in my hands once more and lifted it to see her. "Read my lips, Tana. What happened to me is not your fault. Sure you were mean to me at high school but I know that you never really meant everything you said to me. We were immatures. The Santana that I started knowing a month ago is so much different from the past one. Everyone deserves a second chance and you are making this one count."

She hugged me again and we stayed like that for several minutes. When she calmed down she shared a smile with me and placed a kiss on my cheek. I blushed and she adorably giggled before leaving my apartment. I stood there staring blankly with one hand on my cheek. I always liked Santana, but now she was so different and that make me like her more. I was falling in love with Santana López… again.