A/N: To the anonymous reviewer 'Guest' that was upset that I had Mickey "rescue" Santana, that definitely was not the case at all. He wasn't "rescuing" her because she couldn't defend herself, he was "rescuing" her because he cares about her. The friendship between Mickey and Santana is going to be an important one throughout the story and that interaction was to show how much he cares about her. That friendship will also lead to some one on one interaction between Rachel and Mickey. That part was not meant to make Santana seem weak, but to portray the significance of their friendship. It also resurfaces in a later chapter during a conversation between the two in which Santana makes sure to point out that she can defend herself.

Just wanted to clarify that. Enjoy this next chapter!

Santana frowned as she looked the clock. Rachel hadn't shown up all day. The brunette hadn't exactly said she'd come to the diner, but every day for two weeks, Rachel had come in for breakfast at the same time. That day, however, it was two in the afternoon there was no sign of her.

The past two weeks had been filled with the two friends reconnecting. Once Santana - under Rachel's insistence - had informed her boss of the incident with Joe, the man had been officially banned from the diner. Rachel felt better knowing that he couldn't bother Santana anymore and with that distraction out of her way, she could focus on getting to know Santana again.

Santana had thought they were getting close again, but maybe she'd misread the signs, maybe Rachel decided she didn't want to be friends with a single parent, maybe-

Santana's thoughts cut off when she heard the door to the diner open. Looking up, she smirked as she saw Rachel walking into the diner, hiding everything she'd just been thinking or feeling. "You're late." she said, all of her fears immediately leaving.

"I know, I'm sorry."

"The Rachel Berry I know is never late for anything." Santana teased. Rachel glared. "Seriously though, Rach, you had me worried sick. I'm a mom now, I automatically get worried when someone is even three minutes late. I thought something might have happened to you." Rachel looked up, her expression softening.

"I'm sorry. I should have called the diner to let you know that I was okay." Santana held back a laugh. "You're teasing me."

"Partially. I've been slightly worried for most of the morning, but I also know that you're prepared for just about anything that could possibly happen to you." Santana pointed out. Rachel nodded.

"True." Santana smiled slightly.

"You do know you don't have to come here every day, right?" Rachel laughed.

"Of course I do, but then I wouldn't get to see you." Santana blushed, looking down.

"So why are you so late today?" she asked.

"I overslept and I've had meetings all day. It's been a hectic morning." Santana chuckled. "But now I get a chance to try your lunch menu!" Santana handed one to the brunette as she sat down.

"Drink?" she asked.

"Just a water." Santana nodded and got the drink before returning. "Do you get a lunch break? We could talk without you having to check on other tables." Rachel suggested, smiling.

"I get a break in about thirty minutes, but the lunch rush has already hit. It's calmed down significantly in the last hour." Rachel smiled softly as Santana sat down across from her. "You know, for the last two weeks, all we've talked about is myself and my kids. We haven't talked about you. What have you been up to?"

"Just work. Keeps me pretty busy." Santana nodded. They'd talked about Rachel's job, as far as what she did - Santana had been pretty impressed when she'd found out Rachel was on the fast track to becoming a Vice President of a major corporation - but that was about it.

"I bet." Rachel chuckled. "How're your dads?"

"They're good. They're divorced, but they're good." Santana's eyes widened.

"What?" Rachel nodded. "Wow. I... Never thought they'd break up."

"Neither did I." Rachel said softly, looking down.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I think so. It's been a couple of years since it happened." Santana nodded. "How are your parents? I didn't really get a chance to talk to them when I spoke to them a few weeks ago."

"They're good. My mom said to tell you that she's sorry for lying to you, by the way." Rachel raised an eyebrow. "I didn't want anyone from Lima knowing where I live. I put Lima behind me. I guess she figured that meant my best friends too. Don't worry, I told her that if you or Kurt call, she can say whatever she wants to you guys, but not anyone else." Rachel chuckled.

"Speaking of Kurt, he wants to know when he gets to see you."

"Uh..." Santana trailed off as something behind Rachel caught her eye."What the hell?" she whispered, slipping out of the booth. Rachel turned around and saw Matt Rutherford raising an eyebrow at Santana as she walked over. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I'm bringing you this month's child support." Santana scoffed.

"Every other payment has been mailed to my PO box by your secretary. Why are you bringing it to me now?" Matt shrugged.

"After Rachel came to talk to me, I started thinking about how I handled things. Leaving you shouldn't have meant leaving the twins." Santana rolled her eyes. "I want to see them more.

"What?" Santana hissed. Matt nodded. "You don't even love them. The only reason you even married me and stuck around in the first place is because your mom found out and insisted we marry instead of having a child out of wedlock."

"They're my kids too, San." Santana sighed.

"You hurt them, Matt! They didn't know where you were, you were just gone. You didn't even say goodbye to them!" Matt sighed. "Just give me a few days. Okay?"

"Fair enough." Matt said, walking out of the diner. Santana sighed and walked back to Rachel's table.

"Are you okay?" Santana glared at Rachel.

"Lilly and Miguel have finally gotten to the point where they don't ask if he's coming home. They've finally stopped crying themselves to sleep over it. Now, thanks to you and your meddling, my kids could be put in a position where they could have to go through that all over again. And I have to be the one to either put them in that position or be the one they hate when they're older and find out I didn't let them see their father after he asked to see them." Rachel looked down.

"I didn't mean to meddle, Santana, I wanted to find you. I never meant for this to happen." Santana rolled her eyes.

"Stay out of my life, Rachel." she hissed, turning. Rachel stared at the waitress as she went to take her break. Sighing, the brunette stood up and walked out of the diner, catching Santana's eye as she stepped outside. Staring for a moment, Rachel looked down and walked away.

A/N: The reason these chapters are coming out so fast is (a) I've had a lot of inspiration and have been able to write multiple chapters ahead, which is something I've never been able to do when writing a multi-chapter fic before, and (b) I'm trying to get as much of this out as possible before the semester really gets going and homework, exams, and projects begin piling up.

I'm really excited about this story and I can't wait for you all to read everything that I've come up with. This is the first multi-chapter fic I've written in a long time, so I hope you guys are enjoying reading it as much as I'm enjoying writing it!

Chapter 4 should be up within the next couple of days!