Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of its characters, though I wish I did! I also don't own The Story by Brandi Carlile

A/N Thanks for the reviews and alerts! I'm glad that all of you are giving this a chance! Speaking of giving this a chance, I left my laptop for two minutes and my gf was reading this story and now says its my best story lol

Chapter 3

I climbed across the mountain tops, swam all across the ocean blue…

Santana couldn't sleep, the pounding in her head was making it near impossible. Stumbling towards the kitchen, she grabbed a bottle of aspirin from the cabinet, choking it down with a mouthful of vodka that was still sitting out from earlier. She fought the urge to spit it back out, and went back to her place on the couch. She supposed it was only fitting that her and Rachel's perfect life ended with a funeral, seeing at that was how she and Rachel had finally gotten together…

7 years earlier

Santana stayed towards the back of the church during Burt's funeral. It wasn't that she didn't feel like she belonged, she and Kurt were actually close friends, though neither one of them would have admitted it during high school. Once she and Karofsky had started that anti bullying campaign, she and Kurt had grown rather close. Truth was she just wasn't the church going type and she didn't feel comfortable in a church. God didn't like gays, right? She was afraid she'd get struck by lightening or some shit like that. She was so absorbed in her own thoughts, she didn't notice a small brunette slip in the church and slide into the pew right beside her.

"Santana," she said quietly, placing a small hand on Santana's shoulder. "Am I very late? It's so good to see you, even under these awful circumstances."

Santana jumped at the touch, not expecting anyone to touch her, let alone expecting Rachel to come all the way from New York. She had to remind herself to stop staring and pick her jaw up from off the ground. Damn! New York had been good to the small girl. Her hair was shorter than it had been in high school, framing her face perfectly. Her low cut v neck black dress left nothing to the imagination, and for a moment, Santana couldn't think of anything other than what was underneath that dress. "The mass just started," she answered quietly. "Good to see you too, Berry."

Rachel smiled at the high school nick name. "Good to know some things don't change. I'm glad I'm not too late, I took the first flight I could as soon as I heard. How are Finn and Kurt holding up?"

"As good as you would expect, I guess."

Rachel nodded and turned her attention towards the priest who was done greeting everyone and had gone into a prayer.

Santana knew she was still staring at Rachel but she couldn't help it. The girl she had secretly crushed on all through high school, was now a beautiful young woman. She never told anyone about the secret crush because after all, it was freaking Rachel Berry, the girl she teased relentlessly because she knew no other way to express her feelings. She couldn't help but wonder if Rachel was seeing someone. Last she had heard, she had broken it off with Finn because the long distance thing just wasn't working. She had always thought Finn was never good enough for her anyway.

Rachel leaned close to Santana "I'm going to go find Kurt. I'd like to catch up later, if you want."

Santana looked around, noticing everyone was starting to get up and either leave or go talk to Burt's family members. Had she really spent the whole mass thinking about Rachel? "Oh yeah, sure, I'd like that Berry." Santana couldn't help but watch as Rachel made her way to the front of the church, her hips swaying gently as she walked.

"Hey, was that Rachel?" Puck asked as he walked up to Santana.

"The one and only."

"Wasn't expecting to see her here."

"Neither was I. I thought she'd never come back to Lima after experiencing New York."

"I think I'm going to try to get all of us to go out for drinks later. You up for it?"

"Think Rachel will go?" Santana found herself saying before she could stop the words from coming out of her mouth.

Puck looked at her quizzically. "Um, I don't see why not. What's it to you?"

"I'm just wondering, ok? It wouldn't be a glee reunion without our star, right?"

"Guess not," Puck said, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm going to go make sure Quinn is spreading the word about later."

"Ok." Santana made her way to the front of the church to find Kurt and Finn to give her condolences. She hung back as she watched the way Rachel hugged Finn, kissing him on the cheek. She was very good at reading people and as far as she could tell, there was nothing romantic about the kiss or between them.

"Thanks for coming Santana," Kurt said sadly.

"Of course I'd be here," she said, hugging him. "Do you need anything?"

"No, thank you. I think we have enough casseroles to last us a lifetime."

"Puck's trying to get everyone together for a few drinks tonight, if you and Finn are up for it. It'd be nice to have the whole club together again."

"It would be nice, but I think I'll just stay home with Carol and Finn tonight. Have you seen Rachel? I'm so happy she made it. She looks amazing, doesn't she?"

"New York has certainly been good to her," Santana agreed. "Speaking of New York, where's Blaine?"

"He got held up with his show, there was no way he could get here today, but he should be in tonight. I better go see how Carol is holding up. Thanks again for coming Santana. I'll talk to you soon."

"Just let me know if there's anything I can do." Santana went over to Finn to offer her condolences to him as well. "Hey Finn. You ok?"

"As ok as I can be, I suppose. I'm just trying to be strong for my mother, she's taking it pretty hard."

"I can't even begin imagine how it feels to lose someone you love."

"Hey, did you know Rachel made it back?" Finn asked.

"Yeah, I saw her briefly. How is it between you two?" It probably wasn't the best time to ask him that, but her curiosity got the better of her.

"We're ok, just friends. As long as she's happy, that's enough for me."

Santana couldn't help but smile, the wheels turning in her head. "Puck's getting all of us together for drinks and such tonight. Think you may be up to it?"

"I heard, but I think I better stay in with my mother."

"I understand. I'm going to go find the others, but if you need anything just let me know."

"San?"

Santana jumped at the sound of that voice, she knew that voice from anywhere. "Brittany!" she exclaimed, jumping into the blonde girl's arms. "I missed you so much!"

"I know, me too. I've been so busy touring in that dance group. It was just a coincidence I could make it in town for a few days. How are you?"

Santana took a step back from the hug and looked into those piercing blue eyes, those eyes who had once made her heart melt. "You look amazing. How's Jessica?" Santana asked of the blonde's girlfriend.

Brittany blushed slightly. "She's good, we're good. It's almost a year we've been together. She's living in New York right now."

"Wow, a year already. I'm really happy for you."

"Thanks, San. It means a lot to hear that from you. So what about you? Seeing anyone yet?"

"With law school and such, I don't have time. Besides, no one has really caught my eye." Santana couldn't help but glance towards where Rachel was standing, chatting with Puck and Quinn.

Brittany followed Santana's eyes and saw who she was looking at. "Oh, no one has caught your eye?" she teased. "Have you talked to her yet?"

Santana felt her heart beat a little faster, was she actually getting nervous? "Kinda, for a few minutes, right before the mass began."

"Do you still have a crush on her?"

Santana looked at her friend in shock. "How did you know?"

"Oh come on Santana. No one else may have noticed it during high school, but I knew you better than you knew you! Just because you were too afraid to come out and we never worked, didn't mean I couldn't see the way you looked at her. You looked at her the way you used to look at me, before I was with Artie."

"How is Wheels doing these days?"

Brittany shrugged. "I don't know, honestly. I haven't talked to him since graduation really."

"We're all going to head over to the cemetery now," Puck said as he walked over to the two girls.

Santana looked for Rachel, surely she was going to need a ride. "Hey Berry, we're going to the cemetery, do you need a ride?"

"Oh Santana, that would be wonderful! Do you need a ride too Brittany?"

Santana shot Brittany a 'don't even think about it' look over the smaller brunette's head.

"No thanks, I've got a car here. You look amazing Rachel."

"You do too Brittany. I'd love to catch up more later, will you be joining all of us for drinks?"

"Of course! I can't wait to catch up with everyone, even if it is under these circumstances."

"Well, we should probably get going," Santana said, grabbing Rachel's hand and pulling her in the direction of her car. Santana was silent at first, wanting to say so many things and nothing at the same time. "You look really good."

Rachel laughed. "Everyone keeps saying that. Have I really changed that much?"

"You were always pretty Rachel, I guess now you're just…you're beautiful."

"Aw Santana, who knew you could be so sweet," Rachel said, a slight blush rising up her cheeks.

"Don't let word get around, I've got my bitch image to uphold," Santana said, winking at the smaller girl. Before she knew what she was doing, she took her right hand off the steering wheel and gently took a hold of Rachel's hand. "I'm really glad you made it here today." Santana held her breath for a minute, not sure what'd she do if Rachel rejected her. If Rachel was freaked out by Santana grabbing her hand she didn't show it, and didn't pull away either, which Santana took as a very good sign.

A few hours later most of the Glee kids were crammed into Lima's only bar, and it was almost like nothing had changed. Santana had managed to make sure she squeezed between Quinn and Rachel.

"So tell us Rachel, how is the big city?" Quinn asked.

Rachel took a sip of her wine before answering. "It's wonderful, fantastic, and extremely humbling all at the same time."

"What are you doing there? Any shows or anything?"

"Finals are coming up, and then I graduate into the world of millions of other starving artists. I have some auditions coming up, some off Broadway things to start."

Santana smiled at Rachel. "I'm sure you're going to get whatever part you want! They'd be stupid not to take you on," she said, taking another swig of beer.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that. I went from being the big fish in a little pond here, to being just another female artist in a huge sea of other artists."

"I bet you'll be great," Brittany said with a smile. "Actually, I may be moving to the city when my tour is over."

"Really!" Rachel said excitedly. "I'd love to have more friends in the city. What's in the city for you? A job?"

"My girlfriend, Jessica."

"That's awesome Brittany."

"Hey guys, remember that time we were all drinking in Rachel's basment?" Puck asked.

Rachel laughed. "Not my finest moment."

Santana laughed along with the group. She remembered that night very well. Rachel had managed to look ridiculous but so hot in that stupid dress at the same time. She had actually almost outed herself drunkenly yelling how she wanted Rachel when she was singing that duet with Blaine, luckily everyone was too drunk to notice.

"It's nice to be able to get together like this, it's almost like nothing has changed. It's just too bad it's under these circumstances," Rachel said.

"Yeah, I feel so bad for Kurt and Finn," Mercedes added.

Rachel tried to smother a yawn as she finished off her wine.

"Tired Berry? Don't you party all night long in the big city?" Santana teased.

"Ha, barely. Besides, my whole schedule is thrown off with catching an early flight and then I sadly have to go back early tomorrow morning."

"Do you have a place to stay tonight?" Santana heard herself asking.

"My dads are away, I was just going to crash there and take a cab to the airport in the morning."

"That's silly. Come back with me to my place, and I'll take you to the airport."

"Really? It wouldn't be out of your way? I have a really early flight."

"Sure, I don't have any classes or anything tomorrow."

"What are you up to these days anyway?"

"Actually, I'm in law school. After finals next week, I'm all done and I just have to pass the bar. Once I do that, I already have a job offer."

"Santana, that's fantastic!" Rachel jumped up and gave Santana a hug. "I'm proud of you. I knew you could put that bitchiness to a good cause."

"I'll take that as a compliment Berry. Well, if you have to get up early tomorrow, we should get going."

Rachel looked at her watch. "I suppose you're right."

Santana waited as Rachel said her good byes to the group.

"You ok to drive?" Puck asked, walking up to Santana.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine, it was one beer. I'll talk to you and Quinn tomorrow."

"Have fun tonight," Puck said with a wink.

Santana playfully slapped him on the arm. "Don't worry, I will," she answered back with a wink of her own.

"I can't thank you enough for doing this," Rachel said to Santana as they drove towards Santana's place.

"It's nothing, Berry, really. It'd be nice to catch up a little more. So are you seeing anyone?"

"No, not currently. You?"

"No, I've been busy with school, and really, who's there to date in Lima? So whatever happened with you and Finn anyway? I only heard his side."

Rachel took a deep breath. "It just didn't work out. For one thing, being in New York with him here in Lima, just was too hard, and there may have been someone else."

"What!" Santana exclaimed in shock.

"I refused to cheat, so I broke it off with him to explore my options. She turned out to just be a fling really."

"She?" Santana asked quietly.

"Yeah, my first roommate. It was silly really, just something fun after being so serious with Finn. Other than that, I've just been really trying on focusing to make it in the big time. It's not as easy as I thought it was going to be," Rachel admitted.

Santana silently mulled over what Rachel had just told her. Rachel had been with a girl, there was hope for her. "Well here it is," Santana said as they pulled into her apartment complex.

"Wow, nice Santana."

"Yeah well my parents were impressed that I actually got into law school, so they set me up pretty well."

"I'm not surprised. I knew you could do anything you put your mind to."

Santana fumbled with her keys, trying to unlock the door. She didn't know if it was the beer or the fact that Rachel was standing so close to her, but she couldn't concentrate on anything other than the smell of Rachel's perfume. Finally she got the door unlocked and flipped on the light switch. She threw her keys on the small table by the door and kicked off her heels.

"It's lovely, Santana. I love what you did with the place."

Santana took a deep breath, it was now or never. Without warning, she closed the distance between herself and Rachel, covering her lips with her own. There was no hesitation, no time for sweet kisses. It was slightly sloppy, lips crashing into lips, teeth scraping, tongues fighting for dominance. It was years of pent up feelings all coming into this one moment.

Rachel moaned as Santana ran her hands up and down Rachel's bare arms. Their bodies intertwined as Rachel lost her hands in Santana's hair, pulling her closer than they already were.

Santana couldn't get enough of the smaller girl, she wanted them in her bed, and she wanted it now. "Rachel," she moaned. "Let's go to my room," she said breathlessly. Santana led her to room and guided her to the queen sized bed. Santana pushed Rachel to the bed and straddled her hips, loving the feeling of Rachel beneath her.

"It's about time," Rachel managed to say between moans.

"Hm?"

"You weren't that good at hiding your feelings for me," Rachel said smiling before pulling Santana close and kissing her again.

Santana was unable to say anything, too caught up in the feeling of Rachel's hands all over her body. If she had known it would have felt this good, she would have done something about it much sooner than tonight. "Don't go back to New York," she whispered in Rachel's ear as she sucked on her ear lobe.

Rachel's body jerked towards Santana's with pleasure. "I have to go back."

"Please, stay with me."

Rachel said nothing, just pulled Santana closer, kissing her with a passion she didn't know even know existed.

I crossed all the lines and I broke all the rules, but baby I broke them all for you…