Chapter 4: An Angel's Cry
A.N: Ok y'all, here's where everything really starts moving. I apologize in advance for any mistakes. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, followed or read. You're all awesome. Especially you reviewers; to quote a favorite fanfic author of mine, reviews are my Scooby Snaks.
The silence that Rachel left behind was deafening. Shock was at the forefront of nearly everyone's minds; they never saw Rachel downtrodden or sad, no matter the treatment she endured, and to see her crying was…disturbing. The remaining glee club members weren't quite sure what to think about the events that had just transpired. The three Cheerios looked sadly at the slightly ajar door that the distraught diva had fled through.
Brittany was the first to speak.
"That was like, totes uncool Mr. Schue."
Schuester snapped out of his bubble and stood, walking towards the piano. "Now, Brittany", he began with what could only be construed as a patronizing tone, "While I do agree that it was very inappropriate for Rachel to simply storm out after a performance like th…"
Santana snorted, stopping him mid-sentence. "She wasn't talking about Berry, Mr. Schue. She meant you."
The club stared at her. She rolled her eyes and stood as well, glaring back at them. "The hobbit told you she didn't want to sing that song. When has she ever turned down the chance for a solo? Making her sing it was, like, me-and-Quinn-PMSing-at-the-same-time cruel. No, wait. It was worse. Kudos."
Will, thrown for yet another loop as he was criticized by a student – especially a student who had shown so much animosity towards the diva - shook his head. "Santana, Rachel is prone to dramat...where do you think you're going?" She had begun to follow Rachel out the door, and he didn't want a second diva storm out.
Santana, thoroughly annoyed by this point, turned back towards him and gave him her best HBIC glare. "If you don't mind, I'm going to see if that girl who ran out of here sobbing is ok. Unlike the rest of you, the ones who call yourself her friends." Flipping her ponytail over her shoulder, she stalked out of the door.
Brittany and Quinn glanced at each other, conversing silently. As much as they wanted to race after Santana and go make sure Rachel was ok, they both knew that Santana was the one who had to do this; other than being the nurturer in their trio, she was also the most guilt ridden about how they had treated the tiny diva.
Resolving to let Santana tell them when she returned, they turned icy glares on the rest of the glee club, crossed their arms, and waited.
William cleared his throat. "Well," he began, casting a nervous glance at Quinn, who by now as looking quite murderous, "Well, yes, it seems, uh, that we should, uh, call that a meeting for today. Remember, come tomorrow with your songs ready. And, uh, don't forget your dedications!" With that jaunty reminder - finger waving and all -, he made a hasty retreat.
As soon as the door closed behind him, the entire glee club, minus Quinn and Brittany, erupted into speculations about Rachel's performance. Britt could see her blonde girlfriend getting more and more agitated as the speculations got wilder, and new she had to calm Quinn down before she did something she regretted.
Knowing that either no one was paying attention, or that it would be interpreted as her affectionate nature, Brittany slipped her arms around Quinn's waist from behind. "Calm down, sweetie," she soothed into her ear, "Remember where we are, who we're with. You need to calm down and be Quinn, HBIC and Head Cheerio, not Quinn, the girl who's in love with Rachel right now, ok? I know you want to protect her, but do it subtly."
Quinn relaxed into the firm embrace, hearing Brittany's words for truth. She sighed heavily and straightened her posture - cueing her girlfriend to release the protective hold on her - and replaced the mask she wore so often at school.
"God, you're all pathetic," she said loudly, grabbing the other glee-clubbers' attention. "Gossiping like little school girls about someone you claim to care about. Very mature."
A few of her teammates had the grace to look ashamed, even - to her surprise - the other self-proclaimed 'divas' of New Directions, Mercedes and Kurt. Tina and Mike - who had honestly been trying to do the same thing as Quinn - shot grateful looks her way, but Finn just looked constipated and confused as usual.
"I think Mr. Schue called an end to the meeting, so we'll see you losers tomorrow. Buh-bye, now." She gave them the most sickly sweet smile she could muster and watched them all shuffle through the door.
Now they just had to wait for Santana to come back and fill them in on their tiny starlet.
/-/-/
'Come on, Estrella,' Thought Santana as she hurried through the halls of the deserted school, 'Please be where I think you are. Don't choose today to find a new safe-haven…'
She had taken a split second outside of the choir room to think about all of the places Rachel usually went to find solitude, and quickly came to the conclusion that there was only really one place she would go. She wouldn't be in the auditorium; it was too close to the choir room, and the large, echoing feeling of the room was not someplace to cry your eyes out. Under the bleachers was also out, as the football team would be practicing and Rachel wouldn't want to encounter any other people. That left the bathroom. The normally deserted bathroom that Rachel had claimed as her 'slushie clean-up' bathroom since most kids avoided it.
Picking up her pace, the Latina wove her way through the hallways, hoping against hope that Rachel would talk to her. She had no idea how she was going to get the girl to believe she wasn't playing a trick on her, or trying to hurt her. She just prayed that Rachel would give her a small chance. Just this time.
Finally, she reached the bathroom she was looking for. Pressing her ear against the door, she knocked softly, not wanting to barge in and upset the distraught girl further. "Rachel?" she called quietly, "Estre…Rachel, it's me, Santana. May I come in? Please?" Silently, she prayed for a response from the tiny diva.
/-/-/
Rachel was too dazed to be surprised at hearing Santana's voice coming through the door of her hiding place. She couldn't understand why she had reacted so violently to singing her song. She had learned long ago that tears were a dangerous weakness, and crying took up too much energy to be given heed. Sure, she hadn't wanted to sing Rose's song in front of the entire Glee club, but her dramatic reaction of sobbing uncontrollably was baffling her.
She took a deep breath, calming her frazzled nerves; Santana wanted to talk with her, and Rachel found that even if it was to berate her for storming out, she desperately wanted to be around the latina at the moment. Seeing her would bring her comfort.
"Yes, Santana, of course you may."
Her voice sounded hoarse to her ears, and she hoped Santana wouldn't mention that fact. Crying, well sobbing, really, was terrible for the vocal cords.
She didn't look up as Santana entered the bathroom, choosing instead to keep looking at her knees. She had been perched on the counter, facing the restroom stalls as she calmed her breathing; she knew that her face was still wet with tears, most likely splotchy and red with emotion. She had no wish for Santana to see her like that; after all, the latina probably was only looking for an explanation for her 'diva storm out'.
"I'm terribly sorry about that," she began quietly. "I have absolutely no idea what caused me to react in such a...well, dramatic fashion. What everyone must think...Admittedly, I am quite a diva..."
She stopped speaking abruptly as a warm, soft had reached gently under her chin and tilted her face up, forcing her eyes to meet the other girl's. As she stared into warm, mahogany eyes, the hand under her chin moved to cup her cheek, it's twin gracing the opposite side. She felt gentle thumbs wiping away the tracks her tears had made while Santana whispered a soft, soothing hushing sound.
"Don't worry about that." She commanded gently, "Are you ok?"
Rachel was nearly driven to tears again; she had waited so long, so very long, for one of her girls to care for her, to notice her in a positive way. It was like a dream come true, and even if this later turned out to be some kind of horrible joke played on her (which she wouldn't put past them, as much as she loved them), at the moment it didn't matter. She was going to take whatever she could get.
"I...Yes, thank you Santana. I am fine. As I stated previously, I honestly do not know what came over me. The song is emotional, but it is hardly something worth expending such energy on. Thank you for...for caring enough to check up on me."
Santana gave a small smile, and Rachel could see the self-deprecation within it. "No problem, Tiny. Listen...I know I haven't been the best person to you, but I don't hate you. I kinda think of you as a friend, and I hope we can at least be acquaintances now that I've stopped being a complete douche." She let her hands fall reluctantly from Rachel's face. "I mean, I'll probably still call you names, 'cause I'm a bitch, and I says it likes it is, but...anyway."
Rachel gave her a soft smile. "I have always considered you a friend, Santana. I accept your offer." She slid off of the counter, rolling up her sleeves without much thought, and turned the faucet on to clean her face of evidence. As she cupped her hands under the flow of water, a tanned hand came into view and gently ran a finger over her now very obvious bruise. Her father had done that yesterday, and his fingers had left a very vivid reminder. Rachel was paralyzed with fear. She realized if she had been crying, the makeup covering the bruise on her cheek would now be visible as well, and glanced into the mirror to confirm her suspicion.
She met Santana's eyes through the mirror, seeing the look of anger on the latina's face, along with a bit of shock and worry. "Rachel...who did this to you?"
She quickly forced out a laugh. "Oh, clumsy me. I was shopping yesterday and tripped. A good samaritan was able to catch my arm before I fell, but unfortunately I hit my cheek on a shelf. Really, nothing to worry about. But I must say that's one lovely looking bruise it left, wouldn't you?" As soon as the lie was out of her mouth, she realized her mistake. The bruise was on her left cheek - the same side as her bruised arm. For her story to pan out, the bruise would have had to be on the opposite side. Cursing herself, she eased her arm away from Santana's grip and made her way to the bathroom door before Santana could realize her slip. Just as she reached the door handle however, she realized that the Latina's brain was working double time as she called out to stop her.
"Rachel..." she began, her voice soft and full of an emotion that Rachel refused to place, "Who...who is Rose?"
Rachel closed her eyes, knowing that she couldn't lie about this. She'd never hide Rose, never betray her like that. She opened the bathroom door, "Rose was my sister." And with that, she slipped into the hallway, leaving a stricken Santana behind.
And so, it begins :) Sorry about the short length of this chapter; it was quite difficult to get it out, for some reason, but I'd left you all so long with out an update that I figured if I still wanted people to read, I'd better give you something! Anyway, thanks for reading! I'll throw you some bait since it will probably be a while before I update (It's my last semester of college before I get my B.S., so I'm working on my senior project...yikes). So, cookie: Next chapter, the girls follow Rachel home, meet her dad, and make a big decision.
So, thanks again! Oh, and Happy new year, everyone!