"Actually there's something I have to do, I'll meet up with you guys in Glee later."
There was still 30 minutes before Glee started and she was hoping that Santana wouldn't slash her with words if she tried to talk to her about the day before. She had thought about going to the dressing room again at lunchtime to see if she could catch her then, but she needed to talk to her friends and Mr. Schue about her absence from Glee and her overall distant behavior. She did not tell them everything, but shared as much as she was comfortable with. After all, she did not think she could handle Mercedes and Kurt thinking she was a cry-diva or having Mr. Schue and Finn thinking that she was some damsel in need of saving.
As expected they were all very supportive. It made her wonder to a point why she had pushed them away in the first place. Kurt and Mercedes made a point of telling her that she was still just as talented as she was before that performance, or maybe even more now that she had gone through such a big experience. Mr. Schue had smiled his toothy grin and assured her that she was, despite her shortcomings, still the Glee club's brightest talent. It was all comforting ... or at least most of it was.
As she walked to the cheerleader's locker, she couldn't help but feel as though she was walking into the den of a lion. Maybe she was making a mistake and making a bigger deal of everything than she should be. Despite yesterday, and even the text, Santana was still Santana. The same Santana that made fun of her clothes and was part of the gang of cheerleaders that slushied her regularly.
She sighed and her shoulders drooped at the memories. Maybe she was making a mistake. Maybe this was some sort of prank or maybe Santana would just make fun of her for thinking so highly enough of the situation that she needed to be thanked.
'Don't you have friends Berry?' she could already hear Santana berating her with her icy cold snark.
Before she could think more on it, she found that she was already just down the hallway from the other girl's locker. She could see Santana leaning against the locker next to hers while scrolling through her phone. Her locker door was ajar and hid away most of her face.
With a deep breath and a reassuring nod she took brisk steps in Santana's direction. When she was a short distance away Santana looked up and her brows knitted together as she looked around and over her shoulder before settling her gaze back on Rachel.
"I believe we should engage in a brief chat Santana," Rachel let out before she could think. Santana opened her mouth to respond but then hesitated for a moment before replying.
"Follow me," she whispered out as she grabbed the smaller girl's wrist and dragged her to the nearest closed door.
Rachel gulped as she blindly followed Santana to ... a supply closet. The door behind them shut harshly as they now stood face to face. The room was dimly lit by a single bulb that hung from the ceiling. Santana was looking everywhere but at Rachel and the other girl took notice of that. For a moment, Rachel's mind went completely blank. All she could hear was the thrumming of her heart beating loudly in her ears, blocking out any attempt of stringing words together to form a sentence.
"So ..." she started, hating how shaky her voice came out. She let out a deep breath before looking up at the cheerleader and continuing. "I wanted to express my gratitude to you Santana, for the measures that you took yesterday that may or may not have been purposefully undertaken for my benefit," she continued. By the time she was done with her verbose talk she found a pair of eyes looking back with a mischievous glint.
"You really are a talker huh Rachel?" Santana shot back with an amused smirk and her arms crossed against her chest. Rachel sighed.
"I'm trying to thank you Santana," she replied with a pointed look.
"Oh I know, I just find it funny how you always tend to use 50 words when you only need 3," she responded with a small chuckle before straightening out her face with a slight shake of her head. "About yesterday, you really didn't have to thank me and you certainly don't have to tell me anything. But-uh if you want to .. I got ears?" Santana continued sounding a bit unsure of herself.
"Thanks .. I think," Rachel replied with a small smile. She was sure Santana was trying to offer her a sturdy should to cry on but was uncertain of how to offer considering where their relationship, or lack thereof, currently stood. To alleviate the awkwardness and tension that was practically shooting off of the cheerleader, she opened the door to the closet and gestured for Santana to exit, before following her to the choir room.
During Glee Club, Santana sat in the back of the choir room with Puck and Quinn, while Rachel sat in the front row next to Finn. Despite the distance between them, Rachel still found herself stealing glances at the other girl, even going as far as to lean back in her chair while turning completely sideways under the ruse of a stretch to do so. Mr. Schue had sent them off in pairs to peer review their progress on the assignment for the week. After about 30 minutes of talking and singing with their partners they'd reassembled for a group discussion.
Rachel had managed to keep her glances under wraps for most of glee, until the last few minutes when she nearly found herself spilling from her chair as she was caught off-guard by brown orbs staring back at her. The mishap did not go ignored as both Finn and Mr. Schue made a show of making sure that she was okay. Once she was sure that their attention was back on the discussion at hand she took another chance glance at the girl in the back. Santana was seemingly engaged in the discussion, but the amusement dancing in her eyes told Rachel otherwise.
'Way to not appear dolt Rachel' she thought.
It was not until later in her room, while tucked in under her covers did she begin to question her recent behavior.
'What on Earth is going on with me' she mentally exclaimed as she threw her comforter over her head, as if to shield her away from her bizarre feelings.