Santana stood in the choir room, doing vocal runs with the rest of the glee club. Regionals was tomorrow night and, while confident in her friend's abilities, she couldn't help but be nervous. After all, their opposition was her, admittedly talented, boyfriend.

"Hey."

She turned, surprised anyone was speaking to her – there seemed to be an unspoken rule that speaking to her was breaking some sort of sacred bond. "Rachel?"

Santana didn't have to look around to notice that Finn was glaring at her, ready to jump in should the need arise.

"Look, I know we're not friends, not really, but like I told you before, I don't like Sebastian, but I want to be supportive and I don't like the way everyone else is treating you. It's like you're a wicked witch or something. Oh! You're Elphaba!"

"Rachel, English, please."

"Santana, Rachel! Focus!"

Mr Schue motioned for them to come closer to the front where he could keep an eye on them, ending their conversation for the rest of the glee club meeting.

xXxXx

Santana tried to make her way to the lunch hall without meeting any of the glares of her so-called friends.

"Santana!"

She groaned, turning in the direction of Blaine's voice. "What do you want, Blaine?"

He jogged up to her, catching her elbow. "I wanted to apologise. I haven't been a very good friend lately."

"Blaine, we were never friends to begin with."

"Maybe not, but I did know about your relationship and I have spent time with you and Sebastian."

"One meal isn't spending time with people," Santana snapped, quickening her pace. She wasn't hungry but she wanted to get to the lunch hall where Blaine would be unable to speak to her lest their friends catch him.

"Maybe not, but it was long enough to realise that you two really care about each other. I saw that and I still didn't stand up for you when everyone else was yelling. I was cowardly – I didn't want Kurt to realise that I hadn't told him I knew. Or, rather, I didn't want him to know I'd been associating with Sebastian in any way. You know what he's like."

Santana rolled her eyes, her arms folded almost painfully tightly across her chest. "It doesn't matter now. Everyone's already made up their minds, and you already made your decision. I know that cheating on Brittany was wrong and I know that Sebastian hurt you but I can't help what I feel. It's not like I asked for this. I just wish people could see that."

She turned on her heel, heading as far away from Blaine as she could. She tugged her phone out of her pocket, blinking back tears as she dialled Sebastian's number.

"Santana?"

"Seb."

"Listen, Santana I'm supposed to be getting ready for a Warblers practice. Are you okay?"

"Oh right, sorry. I didn't think. It's nothing. I'll talk to you later."

"Hey – hold on Nick, this is important - Santana, what's wrong."

"Nothing, it's stupid."

She could almost hear him rolling his eyes at her.

"Santana, you wouldn't have phoned me over nothing. What happened?"

She sighed, embarrassed by her emotional weakness. "I'm just tired, you know. I'm tired of everyone glaring at me and talking about my decisions. Why can't I love who I love? Just once, I want everyone to be supportive of me and what I want and who I choose."

Santana heard rustling over the line.

"Nick, take over the meeting. I know it's our last one before regionals but some things are more important. Don't you take that tone with me! You wish! Jeff, you know the choreography. Hey, Santana, meet me in the Lima Bean in twenty minutes."

She nodded before realising he couldn't see her. "Alright, I'll see you there then."

"I love you, Santana."

Santana sighed, hanging up on him. She turned, ready to head out to her car before colliding heavily with a flustered Rachel.

"Hey!"

"What do you want, Berry?"

Rachel blinked, apparently taken aback by her tone. "I just wanted to finish our earlier conversation. Finn has football practice so he won't be bothering us."

"Look, Rachel, can this wait? I have to be somewhere."

The diminutive diva frowned at her. "I – yeah. Sure."

Santana groaned. "I'm grateful for your support, Rachel. I am. It's just I'm in a bit of a hurry. I'm supposed to be meeting Sebastian at the Lima Bean in," she checked her watch. "Fifteen minutes."

"Can I join you?" Rachel asked suddenly, surprising Santana more than she cared to admit.

She nodded, mouth agape. "I guess. Why?"

"Oh, I fancy a chai latte. And I want to see if Sebastian's really changed. Sorry, I'm curious." She looked up at Santana, embarrassment clear in her dark eyes. "Blaine seems to think it's real and I trust him, but I'd like to see it for myself."

Santana nodded mutely. "Come on, then. Otherwise we're going to be late."

xXxXx

Santana sat next to Sebastian, awkwardly sipping her coffee as Rachel babbled on about some nonsense.

"Really?"

Santana couldn't help but smile as Sebastian pretended to be enthused by Rachel's incessant monologue. He turned to her, slyly rolling his eyes before turning his attention back to the conversation.

"Hey, this is really interesting but I really need to take a trip to the bathroom, if you'd excuse me."

Rachel waved him off with a hand turning her attention to Santana as soon as Sebastian was out of earshot. "He really is different," she admitted, turning her cup in her hands. "I wasn't expecting that."

Santana smiled, staring after Sebastian. "He has. I think the Karofsky incident genuinely had a real impact on him. He's not a bad guy, Rachel."

"I see that. You know, if the others saw this side to him, they might come around."

"After what he did to Blaine?"

"Blaine might not have forgiven him entirely, but he knows he's changed and I'm sure he'd be more than willing to tell the others."

Santana sighed, irritated by Rachel's naivety. "Rachel, Blaine had the chance to stand up in the choir room when I told everyone and defend us. He didn't. He was too scared of how everyone would react. I'm amazed he told you."

Rachel grinned, looking as if she had succeeded in carrying out some master plan. "I can be very persuasive."

"I don't even want to know."

Rachel laughed. "Hey, it was totally innocent. I just promised him some gigs in exchange for everything he knew about you and Sebastian."

"That's surprisingly devious, I'm impressed." Santana startled as Sebastian sat down beside her.

Santana nodded in agreement. "Remind me not to underestimate you again, Berry."

*x*x*x*

A/N So last time I dedicated the chapter to Bluedog720 who doesn't exist, whoops. I meant to dedicate it to Bluedog270. I'm very embarrassed. In other news, I'm very proud of myself for getting this one done so quickly. Unfortunately, this is just another filler chapter. Don't worry, the action is going to pick up again. Much as I love these two, it's a lot of fun to torture them. Sorry!