A/N: Took a break from writing for the holiday and spent time with my family. I'm starting to catch up with myself because I had to combine a couple of chapters I had for word count. That means updates might be slower depending on how fast I can write.
This was a fun chapter for me to write and I was definitely writing it for my own entertainment so keep that in mind if you think it's weird or uneeded LOL
…
Rachel stopped at the library on her way home, not quite ready to be in the silence yet. It made her feel vulnerable, being there all by herself and she hated that because she was going to have to do that daily soon enough, and in New York, of all places. It didn't matter, she supposed, maybe she was just making a big deal about nothing. A prank is just a prank; something designed to scare her and she'd let it, even though she'd told herself she wasn't going to.
She spent hours browsing through different sheet music, making copies and labeling them things such as 'Maybe Santana' or 'Noah could sing this' or 'See if Mercedes can hit a high A'. A quick look at her phone told her that it was nearing six and she decided - rather than going home - to get herself dinner and maybe a coffee and maybe, just maybe, by the time she got home she'd realize she'd been avoiding her house for no reason.
She entered Breadstix and sighed. It was the only restaurant worth a damn in the area, but their vegan selections were sorely lacking. Still, she was sure she could cobble together a meal from the sides and add ons. Menu in hand, she stood off to the side to peruse her options, ignoring the people that filtered in and out around her.
"Look Britts, a Hobbit escaped from the Shire." The unmistakable sound of Santana Lopez finally drew Rachel's attention to her surroundings.
"They're not allowed to leave?" Brittany's eyes widened.
Santana's smirk faltered and she gave her best friend a befuddled look.
"...Anyway." Santana blinked and returned her attention to Rachel, giving her a once over.
Rachel waited patiently, but when nothing was forthcoming, she turned back to the menu in her hand.
"What are you doing here?" Santana finally asked. It sounded kind of defensive, but Rachel could tell she was trying to be conversational.
"My family is very committed to takeout," Rachel murmured, repeating a line she had parroted often.
It was true, her fathers didn't cook very often. They were rarely home to do so. Rachel had learned a few easy things like sauteing vegetables, but it was much easier to use the stack of menus in the drawer by the fridge.
"Oh cool. Me and San are getting takeout too and then we're gonna go watch a movie at her house. Can she come too, San?"
Santana opened and closed her mouth, her face rapidly coloring red in both anger and embarrassment. "No me gusta, Britt. Tonight was supposed to be just us. You know how hard it's been at school. I needs my relax time."
"I agree," Rachel quickly interjected before Brittany could throw in a pout to make Santana cave. "Santana has faced the full brunt of ignorance at McKinley and she should be the most comfortable when she's not there. She needs to unwind."
"Are you calling me uptight?" Santana snapped, eyes flashing with something Rachel might have called hurt if she thought the cheerio cared enough about the things she said.
"I…" Rachel stopped herself from vomiting a long paragraph of explanations and froze, unsure of how to respond. "No. I just know what it's like to need to be able to go home and just…be."
Santana's face softened briefly, but it instantly closed off again and she crossed her arms over her chest like a shield. "Whatever." She flicked her ponytail as she jerked her head to the side.
Brittany frowned, looking between the two of them anxiously. "Well, Rach is my friend now. Right, Rach?" She waited for the hesitant confirmation before she continued. "So…we get to hang out, right?"
Santana clearly didn't like where this was going. "I don't have to be BFFs with her just because she finally stood up to Finnept," she muttered sulkily.
"Then be BFFs with her cause she's awesome like I am!" Brittany responded brightly, perking up with a smile.
"You are pretty awesome, Britt," Santana conceded, looking out the side of her eyes at Rachel. "I dunno, though, I plan on getting my drink on tonight and forgetting the names of every single meathead that eye fucked me today while calling me a dyke."
Rachel gasped, appalled that the Cheerio had actually had to deal with that. That anyone would have the gall to walk up to the Santana Lopez and say words so cruel. She briefly wondered if they were still alive.
"What do you say, Berry, you a drinker?" Santana arched an eyebrow.
Rachel hesitated. She'd had a couple of drinks before. Plus that disaster of a party at her house where they'd all drank way too much. She probably shouldn't do that again. "Noah says I probably party too hard, considering the last time I loosened up and drank, everyone stayed drunk for a whole week."
"Noah is dumb. That week was awesome until me and Britts threw up. Your fault, by the way."
"Maybe Rach shouldn't mix any drinks tonight," Brittany said quietly.
Santana snorted.
Before Rachel had a chance to politely decline because she was sure that's what Santana wanted her to do, Brittany was called up to grab her order and she skipped away with a smile.
"I am fully prepared to tell Brittnay no and be the bad guy," Rachel assured her.
Santana's expression was unreadable for a moment. Rachel's phone chirped in her pocket and she absently fished it out, still focused on the girl in front of her who seemed to be warring with herself.
Glancing down at her phone had been a mistake. An ugly text message glared back at her, reading 'I see you. Stay away from that bitch. You are better than that.'
She swallowed heavily, unable to stop her head from jerking up and glancing around wildly. Who was it? Who in the restaurant had seen her and was messaging her. No one stood out immediately. No one was even looking at her except for Santana who suddenly seemed concerned.
"Um…Berry?" Her eyebrows shot up. "You good? You just went totally pale."
"Yeah." Did she sound breathless? "I don't think I can eat anything here," she muttered, feeling sick.
"Look. If you…" She took a breath and then nodded to herself. "If you wanna hang out with me and Britts tonight, I don't care. Really. But you have to drink. You can't talk about Finn unless it's to laugh when we make fun of him. And you can't cry. Only I can cry tonight." She ticked off her requirements on her fingers and then smirked at her. "Cool?"
Rachel heard her phone chirp again, muffled by the walls of her purse as she shoved it inside aggressively. "Absolutely." She offered an award-winning show smile. "I would love to get drunk with you and Brittany tonight."
The raven-haired cheerio regarded her critically for a moment and then nodded. "Yeah. Ok. This could be interesting."
…
After she followed them back to Santana's house, she sat in her car for a moment and pulled out her phone. Her curiosity was going to kill her but she could just leave the message unread on her phone. Another had come through while she was driving, but the radio had been turned up loud enough to drown out her thoughts and she hadn't heard it.
'Far from the world where no one knows I watch you from my telescope. I will find you. [6:36]'
Then about 15 minutes later.
'Maybe I'll pay your garden a visit tonight. It has to be lonely since no one will be home. [6:50]'
She drew in a sharp breath through her nose, hand clutched around her phone. Whoever it was definitely knew her dads weren't home for the week. Did that mean they were in Glee? Had Noah told anyone else? Maybe this person had overheard somehow. They seemed fairly adept at going unnoticed.
The knock on her window made her drop her phone and shriek.
"Relax, Berry. Are you actually going to get out of your car and come in?" Santana arched an eyebrow. Her expression was torn between irritated and concerned.
Rachel nodded rapidly and tried to swallow. Her mouth was far too dry for that. She scrambled out of the car and followed Santana into the house.
"Welcome or whatever." Santana waved an arm around while she flicked the front door shut with her other hand. "Britt is already in the living room setting up shots. We're gonna turn on trashy tv, drink til we don't have to think and we're probably gonna make fun of Finn. Sorry, not sorry."
Rachel couldn't help the giggle that slipped out, though she had tried to keep it clamped between her lips.
Santana offered a genuine smile, her face glowing. As quickly as it was there, she was spinning on her heel and walking off into the living room.
Rachel hesitated in the front hall for a moment. She really had no idea what she was doing here. Drinking with Santana, a girl who had spent the better part of high school bullying her relentlessly didn't seem like a logical idea, and yet it seemed like the best one she'd had all week. She could only hope that Brittnay served as an adequate buffer, should Rachel rub Santana the wrong way.
"I'm already one shot down, hobbit, let's go!" Santana called from the living room. "Now you have to catch up."
She quickly hurried into the living room, feeling the back of her neck heat up. She wasn't sure if she should sit or keep standing. She wasn't very sure how far the camaraderie was going to stretch but decided that if she was going to be drinking then she at least wanted to be seated. Going the safe route, she took a seat on the floor in front of the table where Brittnay was pouring more shots.
"Two down. Your shot." Santana shot one back and then handed a shot to Rachel.
"It's not poison, right?" she joked weakly
Brittany laughed but Santana huffed and folded her arms across her chest.
"Just take the shot, Berry."
Before she could really let herself overthink it, she took the shot, grimacing as it burned the entire way down and settled in her stomach like a weight. She shook her head as if she could shake the taste out of her mouth. It was, however, spreading a pleasant warmth around her body.
Santana pushed another shot towards her but didn't demand she take it. Rachel stared at it for a moment and then heard her phone chirp in her purse. She felt the bottom of her stomach drop and she quickly grabbed the shot and swallowed it, hoping it would stem the sudden flow of panic.
Both girls in front of her seemed surprised. Brittany set about mixing real drinks and Santana folded her arms over her chest. Her typical defensive pose.
"You're popular tonight," she notes, acknowledging the few times she's heard the phone.
Rachel shrugged her shoulders weakly.
"Is it Finn?" She asked bluntly.
"I don't want to talk about it." Rachel felt her entire body tense. She didn't need either one of them laughing at her because of a prank or someone being weird. It was just something else that would potentially get held over her head.
Santana's eyebrows shot up to her hairline. She was going to press further, but Brittany pushed a drink towards her and another towards Rachel.
"Ok. It's time to talk about other things anyway," the blonde declared happily, sipping her own drink out of a little straw.
Rachel nodded. Her phone went off again and she steadfastly ignored it.
Santana's eyes darted to her purse and for one wild moment, Rachel thought she was going to snatch it. She didn't. She grabbed her glass and took a long, slow drink. "Answer your phone, Berry!" she barked, setting down her cup and running her tongue smoothly across her lips to catch any stray drops.
Rachel swallowed heavily and nodded, absently noting how warm the alcohol had made her face. She reached into her purse and fished out her phone, really not wanting to know what other messages she had waiting for her.
The first text message was merely an image. It was of her own backyard and one of her chrysanthemum plants had been shredded. Petals littered the yard like drops of blood. It looked like a crime scene. Ever the actress, she kept her face blank in front of the present company.
The second message caught her off guard.
'Don't speak. I know what you're thinking. I don't need your reasons. Don't tell me cause it hurts. [7:34]'
She didn't know why, but that just felt threatening. Involuntarily, her eyes shot to Santana and then to Brittany. They were whispering to each other and Santana was smiling softly. She looked up and caught Rachel's eye, her smile immediately falling into a frown at whatever she saw on the diva's face.
"You good, Hobbit? You haven't even drunk that much." Santana looked wary.
Rachel stared at them in silence for a moment, her phone clutched in her hand. What was she supposed to do? Was she putting them in danger? Was she in danger?
"Fine!" She perked up and put on a show smile. "I think that last shot might have gone to my head a bit, but I am recovering nicely." She picked up the drink in front of her and downed nearly half of it. "What shall we discuss?"
"How about we talk about how pathetic that performance from Finn was today?" Santana smirked, lifting an eyebrow.
"The eye contact was super weird." Brittany nodded and then shrugged her shoulders. "I guess it didn't sound that bad, though."
Santana scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Ok, but did you see how his eyes kept straying?" she looked pointedly at Rachel.
Rachel averted her eyes. She hadn't noticed, actually. She'd been too busy avoiding eye contact with him.
"I think he wanted Quinn to know he was for sure single and was all deep and emotional about it and like…sorry and stuff." Brittany made a sour face and drank deeply from her glass. "Just in case Rachel really sticks by ending things this time." She added, smacking her lips together to suck in any extra liquid.
"Let's be honest. Finn makes himself a consistently available choice no matter if he's free or not," Rachel muttered into the rim of her cup, eyes locked on her drink.
"Totally." Brittany nodded. "He went out with me and Santana right before he broke up with you the first time."
"Oh right, his 'rockstar' phase that fell flat as soon as he realized Rachel had immediately caught the eye of someone else." Santana snorted and rolled her eyes.
Rachel heard her name come out of the cheerio's mouth and perked up with a smile, despite the topic of conversation. She was almost certain that had been the first time the other girl had called her by her first name.
"Right… Mr. Shue's son?" Britt wrinkled her nose.
Santana grinned softly. "Not really but he was a dead ringer, right? We all know Berry had a thing for Shue for at least a week, maybe it was just projection?" She suggested with a laugh.
"Oh my god," Rachel mumbled, covering her burning face with her hands. Her head shot up again a moment later, a horrified look on her face. "Oh my god, what if it was?"
Santana cackled loudly and took another long drink from her cup to cover it up. "But seriously, you and Q toss Finn around so much, I'm surprised y'all haven't just had a threesome and gotten it over with."
Rachel knew the snark was an automatic defense mechanism to protect the girl from feeling vulnerable, but that didn't mean it didn't sting sometimes. "Well, I do believe that someone told me that sleeping with him would be like sleeping with a sweaty sack of potatoes."
"I stand by that. Emphatically."
"Rachel and Q would be totally hot together, Finn would mailman too fast," Brittany pointed out.
Santana bit her lip and wrinkled her nose. "That's gross."
Rachel was quiet but couldn't help but tell them the story of her first interactions with Finn, even though she knew the ridicule would come afterward. "When Finn first joined Glee club, I was helping him run scales in the auditorium. He was so close to hitting that high B which is the golden note for a male lead of outstanding caliber. He never hit it. He wanted to stop practicing. I had anticipated that and brought drinks and snacks."
Santana snorted. "You were trying to be domestic. That's cute. And sick."
Rachel winced. "Yeah. I knew he was with Quinn but I still told him he could kiss me if he wanted to. Cause then it wouldn't be my fault. It was his choice. I wasn't as passive in all that as I tried to pretend like I was. I just wanted to be…better. I just wanted someone to choose me. Want me. I was so stupid." She scoffed, feeling the lazy drag in her head that let her know she was moving beyond buzzed and most definitely into inebriated.
"Did he kiss you?" Brittany asked after everything was silent for a beat.
"Yeah. He did. And then he kind of jerked around and ran off, telling me not to tell anyone."
Santana looked impressed. "Damn, you made him cum that fast with a small kiss? Quinn had full makeout sessions with him before he jizzed his pants."
Rachel flushed. "Maybe it was the thrill of secrecy." She shrugged her shoulders.
Brittany looked deep in thought for a moment and then shook her head. "Nope, you're in Puck's top 5. I saw the list."
"Top 5…what?" Rachel felt a spark of surprise.
"Best kissers, of course." Brittany grinned. "I'm at the top of the list, obviously, cause I've had so much practice." She raised her arms in the air and cheered. "Reigning champion, baby! I've kissed the most people out of anyone. Even kissed the janitor."
Rachel gaped at her. "Britt, that's really illegal."
"It's okay, it was just a quick one." Brittany shrugged her shoulders. "I haven't kissed you, though, Rach." She perked up with a grin. "I've even made out with Kurt."
That made Rachel morbidly curious. "What was that like?" She picked up her glass and drained the rest of it.
"Soft," the blonde said after a moment. "Even his hands were soft, like a baby."
"He has a very strict moisturizing routine," Rachel acknowledged with a nod.
They spent the next couple hours talking like they'd been friends for longer than a day and drinking quite heavily. It was nearing 10 when Brittany decided that they just HAD to sing because all three of them were awesome singers so it made sense.
They spent another hour debating on what song they could all three sing together and ran through a couple of very quick practices and loose choreography. It took another twenty minutes to convince them to let Rachel record it for her video page. As Rachel was setting up her phone on a tripod that Santana had for unannounced reasons, she realized this was the first time she'd ever sung with another person for her personal page. That seemed kind of sad.
"Wait!" Brittany cried before Rachel finished setting up. "We need costumes! We need to look totally sexy!"
Santana grinned widely and stumbled to the side as she stood up, revealing how drunk she actually was. "Yes!"
Rachel stood up fully and took a step away from the camera, feeling a sinking feeling in her stomach. "I didn't bring anything else," she tried softly.
"I'm gonna find you the best outfit ever, Berry," Santana assured her.
Rachel bit her lip. "I'm not…" She took a deep breath and sighed. "Sexy." She whispered the word, waiting for the laughter and the adamant agreement.
"Rach." Brittany was in front of her and smiling. "You're totally hot but like…it feels weird to think that when you kinda look like a toddler. No offense. Like…office toddler chic."
Rachel furrowed her brow and looked down at her clothes. A simple plaid skirt and a fluffy sweater that had an owl on it. There may have been bright white knee-high socks but surely that was excusable because it was getting cold outside. It certainly was far from the realm of being considered sexy, though.
Santana had tears in her eyes when she stepped closer to Rachel and she vaguely recalled Finn telling her that Santana was a weepy drunk. Everything made her cry. "I swear you are hot, okay? I'm going to grab us all costumes and prove it. Don't make that face anymore!"
The raven-haired cheerio ran off quickly, leaving Rachel and Brittany in silence for a moment.
"I hope you know she cares now," Britt said, looking over to Rachel. "She's not great at showing it, but you chose to protect her over siding with your own boyfriend - you even broke up with him - and you guys weren't even friends. That really meant a bunch to her. Like. a lot. It made her question things and she's…she's trying, okay? She doesn't want to be mean to you anymore and I'm not going to let her."
"I believe you," Rachel said with a simple smile.
…
Santana came back and passed out clothes, they all separated to change and when Rachel slipped into her outfit, she was stunned. The pants were pleather, so at least they were vegan friendly, but they molded to her every contour and curve like she'd painted them on. The black shirt didn't reach her midriff and was iron tight around the bust, rounding out her small chest above the top of the dipped collar. It had loose straps that hung off the shoulders.
When she reentered the living, her cheeks stained red and her eyes permanently fixed on the carpet, she missed the stunned look on both girls' faces. She looked up as the silence stretched and was greeted with unwavering and unapologetic stares.
"I see why you don't dress like this at school," Brittany finally said.
Rachel raised her eyebrows, wrapping her arms around her stomach self consciously. Santana nudged her best friend with a frown.
"Not like that. I mean like… no one would ever get anything done. They'd all just be staring at you all day long." She thought about it for a moment "like that day you got your Britney on and wore that Baby One More Time outfit."
"That look was the wet dream of some shady businessman with a very specific fetish," Santana remarked. "Wanky."
Brittany giggled.
"Besides," Santana continued. "I couldn't let her go to school wearing that. Finn would cum in his pants instantly and I don't want to be even partly responsible for that. Again." She wrinkled her nose.
This time it was Rachel who laughed, a loud happy sound that made her shake her head. Santana stared at her in wonder for a moment before composing herself and raising a questioning eyebrow.
"You and Noah are so similar." She continued to laugh mirthfully. "He told me the same thing about my sleep shorts when he picked me up for school this morning."
"Oh yeah." A curious look crossed Santana's face. "Are you two like…a thing now? How did you even get him to come to school on time?"
"Noah and I are friends. Nothing more. He has expressed that he wouldn't be opposed to a one-night stand or casual hook up but he knows I don't do that and he's totally fine with that. I guess he's what you would call a 'bro'." She gave exaggerated finger quote marks. "We just understand each other. I'm an annoying diva that tries too hard and gives too much and he's a laid back, foul-mouthed, sex fiend, that just happens to have a soft spot for his favorite people."
"He really seems to have completely changed around you," Brittany noted.
"He told me that when he got locked in that port-a-potty he promised to start being nicer to people if God would help him out of there. Then he realized that being nicer to people would be too hard so he narrowed it down to just Jewish people and then he remembered that Jacob Ben-Israel was Jewish and he narrowed it down to just me." She couldn't help but laugh at his logic causing the other two girls to laugh as well.
The why of Puck being at her house this morning was lost in the conversation and Rachel was relieved and grateful that neither of them noticed enough to push further.
"So are we gonna do this song?" Rachel asked hopefully.
"Yes!" Santana cheered.
"I poured us more shots." Britt produced another round of shot glasses and handed them around. They all knocked back their drink and hurried to the mini stage they set up in the middle of the living room, having produced microphones from somewhere. Well - Rachel had hers in her book bag already. There were always opportunities for impromptu performances.
Rachel started the camera and gave a brief introduction to what they would be covering. It was probably more than obvious that they weren't sober, but she didn't care. She didn't care if her eyes were glassy or if her movements were a little more off balance. She was here having fun and nothing else could matter more than that.
Brittany started the music and Rachel took her position, ready to start the first verse. She was feeling a bravado she'd never really felt before. Maybe it was the alcohol.
"I've been waiting patiently like all my life. Yeah. Nobody ever seems to get it right." She cocked a single eyebrow, her tongue resting on her bottom lip. "It's like I'm the only one that knows just what I like." She pointed at herself and smirked, walking past Santana and Brittany with a sway in her strut. "What can I say? I just can't help it. Tonight, I'm feeling selfish!"
Santana stepped forward, taking the pre-chorus and catching Rachel's eye. They grinned at each other.
"What I do shouldn't phase you. No. It's just human nature. Yeah. Do I invalidate you? I don't need your love to love me." Santana held both of her arms cocked in a faux-innocent shrug, a fake sweet smile not reaching her icy eyes. "Need my own celebration, yeah. Solo stimulation. Yeah. Use my imagination. I don't need your love to love me." She wagged her finger at the camera and flicked her hair over her shoulder as she turned away.
All three of them stood together and started singing in harmony on the chorus. With only a little bit of practice as they threw it together and worked out the parts, they blended well if Rachel did say so herself. She had an excellent ear for harmonies. "I've been spending time on everybody else."
Santana stepped forward singing "It's time I did it for me!" while Rachel and Britt stayed in the background harmonizing 'love, sweet love' in a low tone. "Oh baby!" she let her voice ring on that note and it filled Rachel with warmth.
The three of them joined together again. "Never keep my magic all to myself. So now I'm gonna give it to me. When it's said and done, I'm going to show me some. Love, sweet love."
Brittany stepped forward, snapping her head around with attitude. "I'm gonna give it to me. Give me some of that - love, sweet love." The other two girls harmonized in and then Rachel stepped up.
"Yeah, I'm gonna give it to me. Give me some of that - love, sweet love." They harmonized again and then Santana joined them, wrapping her arms around the two of them.
"Yeah, I'm gonna give it to me. Give me some of that - love, sweet love. I'm gonna show me some!"
Santana took the front for the second verse this time.
"Now I think I should spend a little time on me." She let out a sharp exhale and turned her head to the side, wrapping her arms around her waist and hiding her face from the camera. "I like him but he ain't nothing but a guy to me." She looked back at the camera under her lashes and then shook her head, tossing her hair around. "So me and my tips gonna get me all I need." She popped her chest, swiveling her hips, and dropped before springing back up, taking a step forward and snaking her neck at the camera, the tip of her tongue touching her upper lip. "What can I say? I just can't help it. Tonight I'm feeling selfish!"
Rachel took the pre-chorus this time, feeling breathless as they fell in time with the beat, leaving her to slide cleaning in front of them. "What I do shouldn't phase you. No. It's just human nature. Yeah. Do I invalidate you? I don't need your love to love me." She gave a firm look to the camera, meaning every single word of it. She could have been singing directly to Finn. "Be my own celebration, yeah. Solo stimulation. Yeah. Use my imagination. I don't need your love to love me." Her hands traveled slowly across the skin-tight clothing along her sides with a smirk as she turned her head, curls bouncing into her face and hiding it from view.
They nailed the chorus and then, finally, it was Brittany's turn to display her vocals on the bridge. "Gonna show me love. Gonna show me love. Gonna show me love. Gonna show me." The blonde pumped her fist in the air repeatedly in time with the beat. "Wanna feel the rush, not gon' keep it hush. I'm the one and the only. Nobody knows me like I know me. Don't need a man to hold me." She smirked and ruffled her hands through her loose hair, making it bounce around as she strutted around both Rachel and Santana. "I'm taking over and no I ain't asking for help…Hey!"
They charged up the chorus again, taking turns with their riffs, and ended in three-part harmony, completely acapella.
Rachel scrambled to shut the video off, aware of how hot the room had gotten. All three of them were sweating, red in the face, and panting like they'd run a marathon.
"That. Was. Amazing." Brittany said in between gulps of air. "I want to see the video. Now now now!" She clapped her hands excitedly and hurried to grab the phone so they could watch the finished product.
Rachel had to admit that watching the playback was just as great as she thought it sounded during the performance. That couldn't just be the alcohol telling her that, right?
"Wow." That was the only remark from Santana as her eyes roved the screen.
"I don't think I've ever had that much fun with a glee number," Rachel admitted, fanning herself gently. "We sounded so good together. You guys really don't mind if I post it?"
"Of course not," Brittany exclaimed. "That was so fun. I can't wait to see what people say!"
Rachel's eyes immediately sought Santana's, not missing the flash of panic that crossed her face. It was gone in the blink of an eye.
"As if anyone could say anything bad about this." Santana scoffed. Her voice was unwavering, but there was still uncertainty in her eyes.
Brittany couldn't wait, she uploaded it from Rachel's phone proudly before handing it back to her. "Maybe Mr. Shue will let us sing that at Sectionals!"
Rachel accepted her phone back, staring at it with trepidation. It hadn't chirped all night since the last message with the lyrics. It had only just occurred to her that this video would definitely gain the attention of whoever was messaging her. It didn't go off immediately like she was expecting and she could feel the tension bleed out of her shoulders. Maybe there wouldn't be anything to say about it? It was just an exemplary performance by three very talented women, what could be said about it besides 'good job'?
She was being naive, she knew. But it was easier that way.
It only took a couple of minutes before a couple of comments popped up. It was how she knew that people had an alert on her page. Not always for great reasons.
The first comment was from Kurt and it was a large-eyed emoji and several hearts before he sent, in all caps, 'WHERE DID THIS COME FROM?'
The next comment was from Quinn. 'Wow. That is…quite a performance.' It was followed by a shocked emoji and a thinking emoji.
The comment after that, however, was from Azimio Adams and it was rather vulgar but he'd titled it with 'Homo Explosion ft. The Queerios!'
Rachel turned off the screen on her phone and moved to flop down on the couch, thoroughly exhausted and quickly losing the buzz she'd had.
Santana sat down next to her, close enough that their thighs brushed together. It was warm and the security of the weight pressed against her felt good. It made her sleepy.
"We should get to bed," Brittany said, breaking the relaxed silence. "I can't wait for Glee!"
"I don't know if I can drive home yet," Rachel admitted, sitting up slowly.
The girl next to her looked at her like she was crazy. "You've been drinking, Berry, you're not going anywhere. You can stay here tonight and we'll all go to school together in the morning."
Rachel felt her head buzz with insecurity. "I'm sure I'll be fine. Plus, you have Cheerios practice in the morning and-"
"So come watch." Santana shrugged like it was no big deal. "Practice is always entertaining. At least three girls cry every time."
"Not even the same girls," Brittany added. "I think she picks from a list at random to inspire terror."
Rachel reeled back slightly, appalled. "I'm glad Mr. Shue isn't like that."
Santana scoffed and folded her arms across her chest. "He might not be in your face about it like Sue, but trust…he is just as bad."
She quietly contemplated that for a moment and had to agree that a lot of unfair moments took place in Glee.
"Come on, Hobbit, all three of us can fit in my bed. It's a California King. Papi got it specifically for sleepovers when I first started high school." She grinned happily and jumped off the couch, grabbing both Rachel and Brittany by the hand.
As Rachel was changing into some borrowed sleep clothes, her phone chirped ominously from the counter where she'd set it. Slowly, she finished dressing and couldn't stop her hand from reaching out and grasping her phone tightly. It took a couple more seconds before she convinced herself to actually open the phone.
'I can't believe you did a video with them and I can't help but feel you wore that outfit as a cry for attention. You wanted this message. I bet you've been waiting for it all night. [1:02]'
She frowned because she had been waiting for the message, but that didn't mean she wanted it. She could help herself from typing back an angry reply.
'I can do whatever I want and I don't know who you are. Leave me alone. You've gotten your prank. [1:04]'
The reply took a couple of minutes and she was already easing down into her sleep spot when she saw it.
'This is no prank. You are going to be mine, Rachel Berry. [1:10]'
Rachel felt her heart sinking into her stomach and she quickly replied. 'Why would I be yours if I don't even know your name? [1:11]'
The alcohol that was slowly leaving her system was making her drowsy. Brittany was nestled into her side and already asleep. Santana was beside Brittany and watching the both of them with bleary eyes.
"Good night, Rachel." She whispered the girl's name like a secret.
"Night, Santana." Her response was just as quiet and tentative.
Having turned her volume off, her phone vibrated in her hands, lighting up with the response she'd been waiting on.
'All in good time, my love. Don't be so eager. [1:15]'
Her stomach churned uncomfortably and she stuck her phone on the side table, intent to ignore any other messages that might come through.
...
Song:
Love (Sweet Love) - Little Mix