Author's Note: Since I just finished chapter twelve and I'ma be busy as fuck all next week, I wanted to get this one posted for you guys =) finally had some time to myself this weekend, I'm fucking shattered so two days in bed, with only my furbabies and my laptop was sorely needed. People, and life in general, exhaust me.
Thank you so much to everyone who has left me reviews, you guys don't know how much your lovely words mean to me! I still doubt myself and my writing, especially after reading copious amounts of brilliantly written fanfic on here these last few weeks! But your reviews give me that little bit of confidence I need to keep striving to get better =)
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Wish I did. I woulda treated the characters SO much better than the actual writers *sigh *
Content Warning: Talk/mentions of assault, mental health issues, injuries,
Chapter Eleven
"Ahh here they are!" Hiram threw his arms wide in welcome as the four girls appeared at the kitchen doorway. "Perfect timing, dinner is almost ready. Rach, do you want to help your father with the table? We're using the good china for this very special occasion!" He grinned giddily.
Rachel glanced nervously at the girls stood beside her. "Can… Can I talk to you and daddy first?"
Hiram stiffened at the edge he noted in his daughter's voice. He immediately switched the stove off and turned to face the four girls stood staring at him. "LeRoy! Get in here now." He couldn't keep the slightly panic-y tone from his voice.
LeRoy appeared a second later, eyes wild. "What? What?" He spotted the girls and visibly relaxed, a smile slipping onto his face. "Well good evening everyone, how are we?" When no one answered, or made eye contact with him, his smile slowly faded. "What's going on? Rachel?"
Rachel flinched as he turned his gaze on her. Santana slipped her hand into the diva's and gave a gentle squeeze, Quinn followed suit while Brittany's hands rested comfortingly on her shoulders.
"Um… something-something happened at school today that I-I wanted to speak to you both about…"
When she didn't continue LeRoy cleared his throat and stepped closer to his husband. "Okay… we are your captive audience, Rach."
The diva nodded a few times absent mindedly as she got up the courage to keep talking. "I would also appreciate it greatly if you would hold all questions until the end."
The Berry men exchanged a confused look but both agreed readily.
"Well…" Rachel took a deep breath. "While we were at school today there was an incident involving… involving Finn."
LeRoy frowned, his eyes expertly assessing the four girls for any wounds or injuries but found nothing... his gaze landed on Santana's bandaged hand and his heart sunk. The girl did not need any more injuries than she already had, as if her week wasn't shitty enough as it was! "What sort of incident? Involving whom?" He asked pointedly looking at Santana.
"LeRoy! No questions until the end!" Hiram hissed at his husband, anxiously motioning for his daughter to go on. He was freaked out and just needed her to tell them what happened because it couldn't be worse than what he was picturing in his head.
"Sorry, sorry!" LeRoy held up his hands and fell silent.
Rachel gave her dad a small smile and pushed on, her voice getting quieter and quieter as she went. "The incident involved Finn and… and myself. He-He found me in the Auditorium at lunch, he had orchestrated a plan to remove Brittany and Quinn from my side so that he could get me alone. Then he… then he…" Her voice failed her and she looked pleadingly at Santana.
The Latina nodded and steeled herself to be as matter-of-fact as she could because if the thought of what happened made her feel sick and want to punch the fuck outta Finn then she could only imagine how much worse it would be for Rachel's fathers. She straightened and spoke clearly, reciting the story exactly how it had been told to her by Brittany. As she spoke she saw the men's faces darken, flitting between horrified and angry every few seconds. Hiram had a hand covering his agape mouth, eyes filling with tears, as his husband's hands balled into fists at his sides.
"…So I told Principal Figgins about Finn assaulting me last week and he suspended him indefinitely and banned him from school grounds while they investigate all this. I… I'm so sorry I didn't speak up sooner." Santana suddenly couldn't bring herself to look at the men, her own guilt eating at her. "You were right, Doctor Berry. I should have done something about him, he needed to be held responsible for his actions but my-my dumbass pride got in the way and now this…" She glanced sideways at the diva next to her. Rachel was looking up at her with such trust, such appreciation, when all this could have been avoided if the Latina had just swallowed her fucking pride sooner. Santana's voice was strained. "I could've stopped this… but I will do whatever I can to make this right. I know it's too little too late but-"
LeRoy held up a hand and Santana instantly snapped her mouth shut, swallowing hard as silence fell. Rachel's grip on the girls' beside her was getting tighter and tighter until she was all but crushing their hands. Neither Quinn nor Santana could look at the Berry men. Brittany rocked anxiously on the balls of her feet, her eyes going back and forth between everyone in the room so quickly that anyone else would have been dizzy.
The room felt more and more claustrophobic the longer the silence stretched on – the walls seemed to warp and crush in on them, the atmosphere was thick and heavy, like gasoline had been poured everywhere and any moment now someone was going to light a match and the whole house would go up in flames... The only sound was their breathing and pounding hearts – Rachel willed her fathers to say something, even to shout at her because that would be better than this awful, uncertain silence!
LeRoy, eyes closed, pinched the bridge of his nose so hard his fingers started to go white. He was trying to keep his breathing under control as Santana's words went around and around in his head, images of the giant brute of a boy forcing himself onto his little girl burned into his mind forever. His anger almost ate him alive and, if it hadn't been for the barely contained sobs he could hear from his husband beside him, he knew he would have gotten into his car, driven over to the boy's house, ripped his disgusting, disrespectful tongue from his mouth and throttled the life out of him. And he would have happily gone to prison for it. He wanted the boy to suffer ten, no, a hundred, no, a billion times what he put Rachel through!
Hiram found LeRoy's hand and entwined their fingers together as tight as he could. His other hand still covered his mouth as he fought to hold in his tears. He knew how hard this must have been on the girls, on Rachel especially, telling them and having to go through it. He needed them both to be strong for the moment because their daughter was looking at them with her huge watery brown eyes, pale as a ghost, as if somehow it were all her fault, as if somehow this would make them not love her anymore… they needed to keep it together for her. Later, when they were in bed together, then they could process and feel all that they needed to. But for now…
Hiram cleared his throat and took a step towards the girls, pulling LeRoy with him. "I know how… how difficult that must have been to tell us, so thank you, all of you." Four pairs of eyes homed in on him. "Rachel, our darling daughter, you are so precious to us and we would do anything at all to keep you safe, to keep you happy and ensure you know how much you are loved every single day. I need you to hear me when I say this," Hiram held his daughter's gaze and poured as much love as he could into his own. "None of this is your fault. None. Your body is yours and yours alone. No one should ever try and take that from you and if they do, it is not because of anything you have done. It is because they are a selfish, worthless pile of human-shaped trash not worth your time-"
Rachel was in Hiram's arms before he could even finish his sentence. She clung to him and he to her, neither able to hold back their tears then. LeRoy wrapped them both up in his strong arms and held them close, his anger momentarily forgotten at the sound of his family's pain. He could plot Finn's death later. Right now his family needed him more than they ever had before.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw movement as the three girls disappeared from the kitchen to give them some privacy.
Santana flopped onto the couch in the Berry's living room but immediately got up again with a hiss of pain as she knocked her throbbing shoulder. She clenched her teeth together and squeezed her eyes shut as she rode out the waves of pain radiating from it, her head and hand joining the party too because of fucking course. She felt hands cupping her face tenderly.
"San?" Brittany's worried voice came from in front of Santana. "Tell me what you need me to do to make it better."
Santana's lips curved a little at the love she heard and how earnest the tall blonde was to help, but this was her own fault for not bringing her damn meds with her and for being so fucking reckless. She shook her head and finally managed to pry her eyes open. Brittany was watching her, blue eyes so wide and so deep that Santana could happily fall into them forever. She curled her good hand around the back of the dancer's neck and tugged until their mouths met. Santana felt Brittany smile against her lips and wrap both arms so carefully around her neck. Their bodies melded perfectly together, flush against one another, as they breathed each other in so deeply and savoured the moment.
Kissing Brittany always felt like home, safety, peace... like magic to Santana. She had loved the tall blonde for as long as she could remember, and had somehow just known instinctively that she would be safe, like really, truly, be-yourself-without-repercussions safe with her. She knew that if it hadn't been for Brittany, her life would have gone a very different way, a much darker way. Brittany grounded her and made her feel light as a feather at the same time. She made her feel like she could do anything and that she wanted to strive to learn and grow and be better every day for her. When Brittany loved it was with every part of her heart, soul, body and mind.
At first it had scared the fuck outta Santana, that sort of intense love and trust was foreign to her. She didn't exactly get that shit from her family so she didn't know how to deal with it. But even when Santana had tried to push Brittany away, when she had tried to convince herself it was nothing, the tall blonde's love and trust had never wavered once. Slowly, so slowly, Brittany's unending patience and belief in Santana had proved to the Latina that the tall blonde was someone incredibly special and if she lost her or let her go, she would never find someone like her ever again. So she had made her mind up to do anything she could to hold onto the beautiful, incredible, loving person that was Brittany S. Pierce.
Santana knew all she had to do was reach out and Brittany would be there without question, with love in her eyes and a safe space in her arms. The Latina felt the dancer tug at her bottom lip as she pulled away to rest their foreheads together. Brittany dropped another few soft kisses on Santana's lips as the Latina hazily opened her eyes, fighting the tingling and the buzz at the base of her skull that Brittany always caused when they kissed like that.
"Better?" The dancer asked hopefully.
"A little, how about you do it again?" Santana couldn't help returning Brittany's beaming smile.
"How about I actually just go get your meds so you can take them?" Quinn arched an eyebrow at her girlfriends from where she sat on the couch.
"Where's the fun in that, Q?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe in the fact that you won't end up back in hospital with an infection or in screaming agony again and give me my fucking second heart attack today?" Quinn shrugged nonchalantly but her voice was laced with sarcasm and barely suppressed anger.
She couldn't help glaring up at the girls locked in their embrace. Still her stubborn girlfriend wasn't taking her recovery seriously and it made her want to fucking scream. Why did she still not seem to give a fuck about herself? Quinn let out an angry huff and folded her arms across her chest as she sat back with a scowl. Santana exchanged a glance with Brittany, who just gave her a nudge towards Quinn.
"Hey."
Quinn didn't answer.
Santana crouched down in front of her, hands bracing herself on the couch either side of Quinn's legs. "I didn't mean to make it seem like I don't give a fuck about all this, or that I'm not taking things seriously, because I am. I know I need to get better so you both stop worrying so much."
"Is that it?" Quinn's head snapped up to look at Santana. "Is that the only reason?"
Santana blinked at her. "Well… I wanna be back at school with you guys, I wanna perform at Regionals with everyone, I wanna be there for Rachel, I wanna-"
"Don't you want to get better for yourself? Don't you want to not be in pain? Don't you want to be okay again?" Quinn insisted. "Don't you give a fuck about yourself?"
"I mean… well…"
"I want the truth, S."
Santana swallowed hard and averted her eyes. "No. Outside of being able to protect and be there for you guys, no. I don't give a fuck about myself."
Quinn and Brittany's faces fell as they processed Santana's words; they finally understood so much about the girl.
"But why?" Brittany crouched down beside Santana, her hand gripping the Latina's shoulder so tightly. "You're so awesome, San. You're so full of love, and so kind and sweet to us. You should be like that to yourself too!"
"You spent so fucking long helping me find my self-worth again this summer, S. You've done so fucking much for all of us, you're our fucking world and you don't even realise it, do you?" Quinn gripped Santana's chin and made her look up at her. What Quinn saw in the Latina's eyes broke her heart – Santana truly meant what she had said. "You are allowed to be selfish sometimes, it's not always a bad thing. Isn't that what you told me?"
"If you don't look after you then you're not gonna be around to look after us, San," Brittany rested her chin on Santana's shoulder, watching her intensely. "And maybe that's selfish of us to want you around, but…"
"But we wouldn't be the Unholy Trinity without you," Quinn finished. "We wouldn't be a family without you." The blonde mumbled against Santana's lips as they kissed soft and slow.
Santana pulled away abruptly with a shake of her head, a frown marring her face. "Selfish is the exact thing I'm trying not to be! My father is fucking selfish and I hate his Goddamn guts for it! I can't be like him, Q. I can't. And if I start to put myself first then I might-"
"No you won't, S. You are nothing like that prick, I promise you!" Quinn tried to pull them back together but Santana stood and stepped away, wrapping her arms around herself protectively. "S…"
"Not today, Q. Please." Santana begged, voice strained and quiet, exhaustion hitting her like a freight train. "I can't… I can't deal with any more today, my head fucking hurts so much from everything. I can't deal with this right now too. So please-"
"Okay," Quinn held her hands up in surrender as she stood and approached the Latina hesitantly. "I know, baby. I just want this fucking day, this fucking week to be over already."
"Me too." Brittany murmured, rolling her stiff shoulders, a yawn prying her mouth open without permission.
Quinn stretched her hand out to Santana. The Latina considered it, tired eyes flickering up to the blonde's face to hold her apologetic gaze. After what seemed like an eternity, Santana slipped her own hand into Quinn's and let her lead them all back to the couch. Santana flopped down again, not even caring about her shoulder, it couldn't hurt worse than it already did. She pulled Brittany down into her lap and circled an arm around her waist, holding her as close as she possibly could; the dancer leaned heavily into her, head on Santana's shoulder as her eyes slid shut. Quinn settled beside her girlfriends, back against them and Santana's arm draped over a shoulder, across her chest and down to link her finger's with the blonde's own where her hands rested in her lap.
Their earlier nap had barely taken the edge off, and now that the adrenaline had worn off from the confrontation with the Berry clan, all three were crashing hard. Brittany already breathing deep and even, fast asleep as soon as her head his Santana's shoulder. Quinn could barely keep her eyes open; she brought Santana's hand to her lips for few sweet kisses and allowed the reassuring weight of the Latina's arm around her make her feel safe enough to drift off too. Santana sat there, head falling back on the couch, eyes staring blankly at the wall. She listened to her family breathe for a long time, matched her own rhythm to theirs and used it to try and block out the pain.
Sleep would not come though. All she could think was that she needed all her family with her, she needed all of them safe in her arms, and… and Rachel wasn't there. Now that she knew how it felt to fall asleep with the diva, with all three of them at her side, she just knew she would not be able to sleep properly any other way. But Rachel needed time with her dads, and this was just Santana being selfish, wanting what she couldn't have. And she did want that, wanted Rachel to be a part of their family, so fucking badly it hurt.
It also scared her a little that she wanted it so much, because she had no idea if Rachel would even accept them completely, never mind consent to be a part of their complex, dysfunctional, little family. And she was too afraid to ask that question because if the answer was no… she thought that might hurt more than never knowing at all. But after everything that had happened today – the way her heart had fucking shattered into a million pieces at seeing Rachel hurt and upset – Santana knew she couldn't deny the way she felt about the diva anymore.
The Berry family stayed stood in the middle of their kitchen, arms around each other protectively, comfortingly, for a long time. Eventually their tears ran dry and the men stopped feeling like their entire world was collapsing around them. When they felt Rachel's breathing even out they pulled away just a touch so they could see her.
"How are you feeling, sweetheart?" Hiram dropped a kiss onto his daughter's head, his voice gentle.
Rachel took a deep breath and let it out slowly, counting to ten before she looked up at her fathers, the brightest smile she could manage on her face. "A little better now, thank you, dad."
Hiram returned the smile fondly, his eyes softening at the girl's attempt to be brave for them. "Good. I… I know everything is still fresh and very painful right now so we do not have to talk about anything until you are ready but your father and I need you to know that we are here. For anything. No matter what."
"And we will always love you, Rachel. No matter what." LeRoy bent to kiss his daughter's head too, earning him a smile from her. "I won't lie to you, I am beyond angry about the situation and I- we will do everything in our power to make this right for you. But the choices are entirely yours to make, okay?"
Rachel gulped back the lump in her throat. "I-I'm not ready, I don't…" She shook her head hard as if she were an etch-a-sketch and it could dissolve the awful images in her mind.
"It's okay, Rach. You do not have to do anything you don't want to, but we just want you to know you have options." Hiram peered cautiously at his daughter, anguish oh-so obvious on her face. "I know Santana has already started something going with your Principal but you do not have to speak to anyone or be involved in any way. As your father, and your lawyer, I will do everything I possibly can to keep you safe."
Rachel's eyes lit up at the mention of Santana and her head whipped around to try and spot the girls. She frowned, panic seeping in when she could not see them. LeRoy noticed and put a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"I didn't hear the front door open so they're probably still here." LeRoy reassured her. "Go on, go find them."
Rachel turned but hesitated, glancing back at her fathers. "Are… Are you sure?"
LeRoy chuckled, putting his arm around his husband's shoulders and nudging his daughter with his other. "We'll be okay, and we aren't going anywhere. So go on."
"They are lovely girls, Rach," Hiram called after her causing Rachel to pause in the doorway. "I hope they stick around."
Rachel beamed back at him. That was pretty much her dad's seal of approval - none of her boyfriends or other love interests had ever managed to get so much as a smile out of him! And yet these three girls he'd only met a week ago had already managed to acquire such high praise… they really were special and Rachel was so glad her father could see that too.
Rachel dashed upstairs and into her bedroom, expecting them to be there but when they weren't a pang of loss stabbed at her. She trudged back downstairs and into the living room hoping… relief washed over her when she spotted them fast asleep together on the couch. Her heart swelled in her chest and she had to take a few moments to fight off the overwhelming urge to join them. Instead, she crept over and bent to press a kiss to Brittany's cheek, one to Quinn's forehead and one to Santana's too.
When she pulled back, she found Santana watching her with such an intense look in her dark eyes. It took Rachel's breath away and sent a bolt of arousal straight between her legs. God, why could the Latina affect her so much with just a look? She swallowed hard and tried, unsuccessfully, to tear her eyes away from Santana's.
"My apologies, I didn't mean to disturb you, Santana." Rachel kept her voice quiet, conscious of the sleeping blondes.
"You didn't. I couldn't fall asleep without…" Santana's mouth made shapes for a few seconds but no further words came out.
Rachel cocked her head, curious, wanting to get the girl, with the dark circles under her eyes, anything she needed to get some rest. Then it dawned on her. "Did you bring your medication with you?"
Santana hesitated before shaking her head, averting her eyes from Rachel.
"Oh, Santana, you must be in so much pain, I'm so sorry, I didn't even think! I can ask my dad if he has anything to help?" The diva felt awful, she had been so caught up in her own drama and need to have Santana with her that she hadn't even realised how much pain she must have been causing every time she hugged the girl, or when she had fallen asleep on top of her… Her body suddenly remembered how that had felt and ached to have Santana under her again, halting her train of anxious and guilt-ridden thoughts.
Santana's eyes zeroed back in on the diva when she stopped talking all of a sudden and she couldn't help but note the way Rachel was looking at her – longingly, desperately… Fuck, she was wet all of a sudden… No. She did her best to shut those thoughts down immediately. That was the fucking last thing the diva needed after having a lumbering giant trying to force himself on her! Jesus, what the fuck was wrong with her? She tore her gaze from Rachel's and shut her eyes tight, trying to pull her shit together.
Rachel frowned. "Santana?" She could have sworn that she saw her own need mirrored in the Latina's eyes for a second but… was that not what Santana wanted? "Hey," She moved to kneel by the arm of the couch next to Santana, Brittany's back to her, eyes glued to the girl willing her to turn and look at her.
Santana shook her head slowly, muttering something to herself under her breath so Rachel couldn't quite catch it.
The diva's heart hammered in her chest. "I'm really glad you're still here," she breathed, longing to have Santana's eyes on her again even for just a few seconds. She loved those eyes so much and she always felt safe and seen when they were watching her. "Thank you for everything today. I do not think I could have gotten through it without you, all of you."
Santana's eyes snapped open and focused in on the girl beside her. Rachel felt her breath catch in her throat.
"If it weren't for us you probably wouldn't have been in this fucked up situation in the first place," Santana spoke with such conviction and it confused Rachel. "If I hadn't stuck my fucking nose in where it didn't belong and hadn't riled Hudson up then he probably woulda just gone on moping and giving you puppy dog eyes instead of…" Santana's face darkened and she looked away.
Rachel surged forward and cupped the Latina's cheek, turning her back to face her. "That's not how I see it, Santana. Not at all."
"But how can you not see it like that, Rach? So much bad shit has happened to you since we barged into your life!"
Rachel let out a soft laugh. "Bad shit was happening long before you three wonderful people became such a big part of my life. It's just now you're noticing it because you're caught up in it too. If anyone is apologising here it should be me."
Santana raised an eyebrow at her skeptically. "And what the fuck do you have to apologise for?"
"Finn's my ex-boyfriend. It's me he's been after this whole time. Then you came into my life and got in his way. You cared about me and looked out for me, you made me feel safe and happy… all the things he never did. So he made you pay for it," Rachel's fingers lightly grazed Santana's scalp until she found the very edge of the stitches still in the girl's hair. "And you're still paying for it, Santana. You should be home, taking your meds, recovering in bed with your family. Instead you're here, on my uncomfortable couch, in a great deal of pain, feeling guilty for something that is not your fault."
Rachel's fingers were massaging gentle little circles into Santana's scalp making it near impossible to string any coherent thought together. Her eyes fluttered closed on their own accord as a shiver of pleasure ran down her spine at the touch. She fought to control herself, she really did, but when Santana finally managed to pry her eyes open again it was to see Rachel only inches from her, hooded eyes trained on Santana's face.
"Fuck, Rach. You're not making this fucking easy for me," Santana murmured, shifting a little under Brittany as she felt herself clench.
Rachel shook her head, not understanding, as her eyes flitted to Santana's, then down to her lips. The diva dragged her tongue so slowly across her bottom lip, wetting it and forcing a whimper from Santana. Those dark eyes, those full lips, that low, husky voice, all of it drove Rachel to distraction.
"Can I kiss you?"
Santana's eyes widened. "Are you… sure?"
"Please…" Rachel inched forward, closing the gap to almost nothing.
Santana swallowed thickly and nodded. Rachel did not waste another moment, she pressed her mouth to Santana's, taking the girl's plump bottom lip between her own two. Santana reacted immediately, enthusiastically kissing her back, bandaged left hand freeing itself from around Brittany to curl around the back of Rachel's neck. The diva bit down gently at Santana's lip before swiping her tongue along it and earning herself a little moan from the girl. It only served to egg Rachel on to deepen the kiss, needing to taste the Latina, needing to imprint everything about her into her mind so that maybe it could erase her earlier unwanted kiss… that thought made her flinch and she felt Santana stiffen and start to pull away.
"No, please, don't…" Rachel fought to keep their mouths together but Santana was just that bit stronger than her and separated them with a firm hand on Rachel's shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Rach, I shouldn't have-"
"It wasn't you! You did nothing wrong, I swear! Please just kiss me…" The diva tried to bring them back together desperately.
"Rach, mi estrella, I am so sorry-"
"Please don't be sorry, Santana, you are so incredible, and soft and sweet. You're perfect," The last words came out as a whisper as Rachel pleaded with the girl. "I just…"
Santana cocked her head a little, appraising the conflicted, anguished girl still struggling against her grip to get closer. "Talk to me, Rach. Tell me what's going on in your head, maybe I can help."
The Latina's earnest gaze stopped Rachel's movements suddenly. She blinked at her, considering her words. Her mouth opened and closed soundlessly. Try as she might she just couldn't make the words come out, she was afraid she would hurt Santana, or make her angry, or that she would think less of Rachel after… after she voiced her thoughts.
Santana waited patiently.
"I…" Rachel sucked in a breath and just blurted it out. "I need to get the taste of Finn out of my mouth and the memory of him touching me out of my head before it permanently engraves itself in my memory and ruins all future romantic relationships for me." She peered guiltily at Santana through her eyelashes to see the girl looking at her with raised eyebrows. "And… and you make me feel safe, you are the person I think about almost every second of the day. I just want you to kiss me until I can't think any more and hold me until I forget that he ever touched me."
Rachel waited with baited breath, hardly daring to look up at Santana, afraid to see her reaction to her garbled confession. She heard Santana laugh quietly and remove her hand from the diva's shoulder.
"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" Santana smiled gently at her when Rachel finally looked up, the Latina's eyes twinkling. "And it's definitely something I can help with." Santana patted her lap.
Rachel looked confused, the girl's lap was already claimed. "But-"
"Britt won't mind, I promise. She's dead to the world anyway, I'm pretty sure she could sleep through the apocalypse!" Santana chuckled, brushing the tall blonde's hair out of her eyes and tucking it behind her ear tenderly.
"N-No, I meant won't I hurt you? You have two people on you already and you're still injured."
"Oh." Santana considered it before shrugging. "I can deal."
Rachel didn't need telling twice! She straightened up and moved to stand in front of the couch, her eyes assessing the best route she could take that would cause the least disturbance… After some calculations and an eye roll from Santana as she shifted Brittany's legs off her and slid her over so she was half on the arm of the couch and half on Santana now, Rachel carefully slotted herself in between the two blondes. Rachel's back against Santana's shoulder and chest as she half turned towards the Latina, Quinn's head now resting on the diva instead. She wriggled in the girl's lap to get comfortable but stopped as soon as she heard her grunt behind her.
"My apologies, Santana, I didn't mean to hurt you."
"Oh, you didn't, Rach. But you really should stop that unless you plan on finishing the job!"
Rachel blushed furiously, feeling herself throb at the thought of finishing Santana…
Santana nuzzled into Rachel's neck, bringing the diva out of her lustful daydreaming. "So… I'm sorta at your mercy here, huh?" The Latina looked pointedly at her arms wrapped around and trapped by either blonde. "But you have my full consent to kiss me until you can't think any more, okay?"
Rachel couldn't help but mirror the other girl's grin. She marvelled at the stark difference between Finn and Santana. Even with all their turbulent history from the previous year, and the amount of grief she had caused the Unholy Trinity so far this year, Rachel trusted the girl, trusted all of them completely. And even though Finn was physically bigger and stronger than Santana, she felt safer with the girl than she ever had with him. She knew Santana would go to the mat for her, she knew all of them would, because they already had time and time again. Finn had never and would never, too concerned with his precious reputation.
She knew Santana had her demons, knew sometimes she couldn't control her mind or the way she responded to things, she knew there were a lot of walls to break through and a lot to learn… but Rachel wasn't afraid any more. She would happily whack away with a sledgehammer for as long as it took. She would happily read volume after volume until she had finished them all. She just wanted to feel the way she felt right then – in Santana's lap, her fingers lost in the girl's hair, mouth savouring every single kiss they shared, the two blondes warm and solid against her – for the rest of her life.
AN: I hope you guys are enjoying getting to know the girls! I've just realised how many chapters are dedicated to this one, very long Friday! There are at least two more chapters to come XD but I want to give the events of the day some closure so they can start moving forward.
Next chapter you'll get to learn a little more about Quinn and Britt's relationship as well as maybe see something more develop between Rach and one of the Trinity ;) just a little spoiler to keep y'all interested until I can post again in a week or perhaps two =S
Peace Out.
Maxx