A.N.: Oops, fell behind a bit; here's another one. This timeline works as if Quinn didn't quit glee when she went punk, just cheerios. Lauren and Puck broke up, but she's still in glee. Sam didn't move back to Lima a second time and Sugar didn't get rejected from New Directions, so the glee club never split.
Disclaimer: No ownership on my end.
Santana only made it a few minutes into her study hall before she was bombarded by blondes with questions. Even though it was well into the afternoon, it was still too early for their combined energy. The brunette couldn't even understand the pair's excited chatter.
"Alright alright, jeez. Almost made me drop my croissant." That seemed to be enough to calm the girls temporarily while they took their normal seats around the Latina.
"Well?" Brittany was practically vibrating with excitement. Quinn raised her eyebrows hopefully.
"What did he say?" Santana looked around the class conspiratorially. She laughed internally while her friends waited for her answer with bated breaths.
"He said I could do it." The two blondes hugged her while they broke out in cheers. Santana rolled her eyes, but the smile on her face remained. She was secretly relieved to have the choir teacher's permission to do a song before they dove into their weekly lesson.
Later on in the choir room, Santana stood by the piano waiting for the bell to ring and the rest of the glee kids to file in. It seemed the more glee club members filled the room, the faster her heart began to race. The ex-head cheerleader prayed her anxiety wasn't written all over her face. Santana looked over to where Quinn and Brittany were sitting for moral support. One blonde motioned for her to take a deep breath and the other gave her a nod and an encouraging smile.
I got this. I got this. I fucking got this.
Rachel was seated in the front row off to the side. Her song book lay idly in her lap as she chewed on the pen she was meant to be writing out lyrics with. The bell rang just as Santana was admiring how cute the shorter girl looked when she was thinking. Schue walked in as everyone was taking their seats.
"Alright guys, before we get into it, we're gonna give Santana our full attention as she has something she wants to sing." The choir teacher ended with a resounding clap. There was a scattered and confused round of applause while the cheerleader walked to the front of the room.
"You guys know I'm not into all the sappy crap, so I'm just gonna dive in." With a nod to the band, the slow melody of Adele's One and Only filled the room. Out of the corner of her eye, Santana saw Rachel flip her notebook closed and sit up a bit straighter in her chair.
Admittedly, the Latina had her eyes closed while she crooned out the notes of the song. In the moments when her eyes were open, she tried her hardest not to make it obvious the short starlet was the recipient of her serenade. In a moment of weakness Santana chanced a look at Rachel to see the girl was already staring at her with those twinkling eyes. She couldn't help herself and threw a wink in the Jewish girl's direction. Finn narrowed his eyes as he watched Rachel play with her hands in her lap with a light blush dusting her features. Just as the last notes of the chorus rang out, a signature crash was heard near the drum set. Another chair bites the dust.
"You've gotta be kidding me!" All eyes in the room were on Finn and the very on-brand tantrum he was throwing.
"Finn! What the heck is your problem, man?" Schue demanded, standing in between him and Santana.
"My problem has always been and always will be her!" The footballer yells, pointing a large finger in Santana's direction causing Schue to push him back by the chest. Puck could be seen in the back of the classroom with rolled up sleeves, waiting for another opportunity to teach the golden boy another lesson.
"What the hell did I do?" The brunette was genuinely confused, meanwhile Schue hit her with a no nonsense look that screamed 'Language'.
"You don't get to treat her like crap for years and then come in here and try and woo her, Santana."
"You already had your chance to woo her, butterball; two of them. You blew it and we all watched. Too bad, too sad. Go cry about it somewhere else." The tenor looked like he was about to charge at the smaller girl until Puck stood menacingly at her side.
"God, Santana, why do you always have to be such a bitch?!" the quarterback yelled over Schue's shoulder. The Spanish teacher grabbed him by both his shoulders and turned his large body towards the door.
"Alright Finn, go walk it off."
"No! You know what? Forget this, forget all of you. I'm out of here." Before the door could slam shut from where it bounced off the opposite wall, a tanned, well-moisturized hand grabbed it.
"Uh, is this where I audition for Glee Club?" Mr. Schue sighed then clapped a heavy hand on a lean shoulder with a laugh.
"Everybody give a warm welcome to our newest member, fresh out of the Warbler wardrobe, Mr. Blaine Anderson." Blaine stood in front of the class with a charming smile and one hand on his satchel wearing a very classy bow tie and sweater vest combo. The room exploded with the excitement of having a new member until Schue corralled everyone back to their seats.
"Unfortunately Blaine, we've already seen what you can do so there will be no auditions today. However, you are right on time to audition for this year's school musical which is, drumroll please.. West Side Story!" There were excited murmurs all around.
"Local businessman Al Motta has graciously donated funds to McKinley's musical theater program and I heard his daughter Sugar is interested in joining Glee Club as well. If she does decide to audition, let's make sure we make her feel welcomed, shall we?"
"Hold up, are you talking about Sugar Motta? That girl couldn't sing her way out of a paper bag." There were chuckles of agreement around the room.
"Well Finn was our captain and watching him dance made me sad." Brittany mentioned with a faraway look in her eyes. Quinn rubbed her back supportively and Mr. Schuester sighed.
"You guys know how we do things around here. Everyone who auditions gets in, that's the rule."
"He is totally letting her in for those donations." Mercedes whispered to Kurt who was swinging the hand of his that was intertwined with Blaine's.
"Can you blame the man? If I never did another bake sale in my life it would be too soon."
"She can't really be that bad, guys." Blaine chimed in from Kurt's other side. The pair of gossips rolled their eyes at his naivety.
"All I know is this better not mess up our chances at sectionals."
"Calm down Mercedes, I'm sure she'll have no problem swaying in the background like the rest of the Rachel Berry ensemble." Rachel kicked his chair and gave him a show smile when he looked at her offended.
"I heard that, Hummel." Santana laughed at how much she really was rubbing off on the shorter brunette. She laughed harder when Kurt stuck his tongue out in response. The group listened in while their teacher went over the upcoming competitive setlist requirements, but Santana couldn't help but feel slighted by the lack of response from Rachel after her performance.
"I'm cutting today's practice short guys as I have a meeting, but audition sheets for West Side Story will be going up sometime next week. We also need to vote on a setlist by the end of the week guys, so start spitballing." With that everyone began to pack up. Santana could tell Rachel was staying behind, and she was pretty hopeful it was to talk to her. She shut the door to the choir room and spotted Rachel leaning on a row of nearby lockers.
"Hey, Tiny."
"Your solo was amazing, Tana." The taller girl felt her cheeks warm under Rachel's gaze.
"Thanks, this annoying little diva has been teaching me breathing and endurance techniques all summer. I heard she likes Adele too." Rachel smiled and leaned in close.
"I heard she likes you too."
"That's awesome, because I wanna ask her out and I'm hoping she says yes."
"Well, you should go ahead and ask her while she's still swooning from your impressive performance." Santana's palms were clammy, and this all felt way more nerve wracking than when she practiced in the mirror.
"Can I take you out to BreadStix sometime, for a proper date?" The question she'd been waiting to ask granted her an award winning Rachel Berry smile in return.
"I'd like nothing else." Rachel stood on the tips of her toes to place a gentle kiss on the cheerleader's soft lips. Before Santana could wipe the no doubt goofy smile off her face, both of their phones chimed with a message from Puck.
iMessage: party my place after the homecoming rally nxt fri!
A.N.: I originally was going to write the date scene into this chapter, but holy this thing would have been long and you all have waited long enough as it is. I do, however, have an internet cookie for anyone who points out the vine reference in this chapter. Thanks for stopping by, leave a review on your way out!