so it's been a while since i updated this story and i just want to let people know i haven't ditched it. i just can't write in order. i have stuff written for it just nothing that could've came next. then i wrote this :). if people are still waiting for this then i hope you like it. as always thanks to everyone who read and reviewed and alerted and all that good stuff. also i have some oneshots for faberry in the process but i'm not making any statements about when those might be posted just giving a heads up if you're interested. so enjoy (it's an order).

After the sleepover, Rachel and Lucy became inseparable. Every waking moment they could they were together and when they weren't together there was a constant stream of texts and phone calls that kept them connected. Lucy even joined Rachel's ballet class so they could spend even more time together. That one took some persuasion on Rachel's part.

"But I can't dance." Lucy insisted when Rachel suggested she join.

"Everyone can dance." Rachel countered.

"Not me. I don't know how."

"That's what the class is for. They'll teach you."

"I'll be behind. Everyone will be better than me."

"Trust me no in that class is that good except for me of course but no one can compare to me." Rachel said and fluttered her eyelashes at Lucy which earned her a beautiful laugh in return.

"Fine."

"Fine?" Rachel questioned disbelievingly.

"It'll make you happy to have me there?" Lucy asked uncertainly.

Rachel nodded her head eagerly.

"Then I'll join."

Rachel squealed with delight and threw her arms around her best friend.

"We have class tomorrow. We'll have to get you the appropriate clothing for it. I'll have my daddy drive us to the mall." Lucy groaned inwardly. She hated clothes shopping. The clothes themselves were beautiful but nothing looked good on her.

After several painful hours walking around the mall in Lima, Lucy had what Rachel deemed both an "appropriate and cute" outfit for ballet. While it certainly looked appropriate to Lucy she wouldn't consider anything she wore cute. It wasn't the clothes' fault. It was her body's.

She spent a sleepless night tossing and turning in her bed worrying about what the next day would bring. The one time she did doze off she had an awful nightmare. She entered the ballet classroom and was easily double the size of any of the other students. As she moved she knocked over all the bars and smashed all the mirrors. She couldn't control her limbs and all the students and the teacher cowered in fear in a corner, even Rachel. She woke up in a cold sweat and reached for her phone. She thought about calling the brunette but stopped herself when she saw it was three in the morning.

The next day at school the nerves were apparent to Rachel although Lucy tried to hide them. During their study period Rachel suggested they sneak out to the football field. Lucy didn't ask why. Rachel wasn't one to skip any classes even a study so she instantly agreed.

"You really don't have to come today if you don't want to." Rachel said once they settled themselves under the bleachers.

"I think I want to. I'm just scared"

"Of what?"

"Really Rachel? You see how the kids treat me at school. What if it's the same thing? And I can't hide like at school behind books and in the back of the class."

"I'll be right there by your side. And if I recall I too get made fun of but the kids in ballet are different. They're focused on themselves and dancing. And I'll be there." Rachel reminded her again. She smiled and grabbed Lucy's hand.

"I like that part."

"I think you'll end up liking the whole experience. Ballet is really fun."

"I don't think I'm coordinated." Lucy admitted.

"You won't know until you try."

"Yeah."

Rachel leaned her head against Lucy's shoulder. "Did I make you feel any better?" She asked unsure.

"Just being near you makes me feel better." Lucy said and pink tinted her cheeks and Rachel, well her smile practically split her face. "Will you read to me?"

"Of course." Lucy pulled out the book they were currently in the middle of and began. Rachel sighed and closed her eyes content to listen.

As they neared the end of the study period Lucy finished up the chapter she was on and put her book away. Rachel finally opened up her eyes and smiled at the other girl.

"Someday you're going to fall asleep like that."

"Nope. I can picture it better with my eyes closed. I get to that point where I'm half in between asleep and awake and it feels like the story's real. Your voice just wraps me up and takes me there." Lucy could feel heat rush her face at the comment and the butterflies in her stomach started going berserk. What was this girl doing to her?

Lucy's next class was US history and she didn't share this one with Rachel and for once since she met the brunette she was glad for the distance. She needed time to think, time uninterrupted, time where she wouldn't get distracted by the way the girl's hair shimmered when the sun hit it or where Rachel would turn around and give her a goofy smile. Lucy shook her head away from those thoughts. She needed to think.

She was straight obviously. She was a good Christian girl, an avid churchgoer. She liked boys. She just hadn't liked any she met because they were jerks. She was waiting for the right boy, a good boy. She didn't like Rachel. Rachel was a girl and Lucy was no lesbian. She was normal.

Then why did her heart race whenever she was about to see the girl? Why did she get butterflies whenever the girl said something nice about her? It was because no one had ever said anything nice about her, Lucy rationalized. She didn't know what it was like to have a friend. That's all this was, friendship. Maybe that's how it started she wondered even though there was that hidden part in her mind telling her that wasn't right, that what she felt for Rachel wasn't simply friendship but Lucy refused to give in to that part. She wasn't gay. She couldn't be.

Ballet class went well. Lucy caught on fast and found out she was more coordinated and graceful than she could've ever hoped. The instructor would walk by and tell her good job and Lucy beamed. Rachel watched with a proud look.

"That was so much fun." Lucy gushed after it was over. "I had fun and now I'm kind of tired but I feel good. Maybe it'll help me lose weight and I won't be so fat." She pondered and Rachel opened her mouth to say Lucy was perfect the way she was but Lucy cut her off. "I know what you're going to say. I'm fine the way I am but more exercise means I'll be healthier." She rephrased and Rachel couldn't argue with the fact that exercise did indeed make you healthier.

"That's not why I wanted you to join you know." Rachel wanted to clarify.

"I know." And Lucy really believed that.

"I just wanted to introduce you to something new and okay I wanted to spend more time with you." She smiled at the taller girl.

"I know, Rach. You don't have to explain yourself." Rachel's heart all but melted at the use of the nickname. "So Nathan's cute." Lucy stated.

"What?" Rachel asked confused. They had never talked about boys before. She supposed other girls their age did but Rachel was fourteen and she had known for two whole years that she was interested in girls. She figured growing up with two gay dads helped her admit this to herself more easily. She and Lucy were friends but Rachel would be lying if she said she didn't have feelings that were a bit more than friendly for the girl. She had never really thought about Lucy's sexuality. She just knew Lucy seemed as in to her as she was in to Lucy. Besides Lucy had never talked about boys before but maybe Rachel had read the whole thing wrong. She decided to go along with the conversation anyway. She didn't want to lose Lucy as a friend.

"Yeah he is pretty cute."

It was the response Lucy thought she wanted, it was the one she had been fishing for, but she couldn't help the little pang of jealousy that she felt.

"Yeah." Lucy said and the conversation ended at that, neither girl sure how to continue it since neither girl really thought Nathan was cute or thought about him at all.