Sorry I took a bit to update, a mild case of writers block hit me. Anyway here you go. Enjoy.
I didn't want to give up my bed but I also didn't want to destroy Rachel's image of me. Every time she looked at me those deep chocolate eyes of hers lit up and I didn't want to ruin that. I wasn't upset that I was going to sleep on the floor. I was embarrassed because I couldn't offer Rachel a snack or even a shower because our damn water had been shut off for just about a week. She didn't seem to mind, she never complained or gave me a look of superiority which I'm sure she felt deep down inside.
I was propped up on my elbow playing around with my switchblade while Rachel was lying down in my tiny bed occasionally looking down at me. "You shouldn't sleep with that thing? It's dangerous." She said when I put the blade under my pillow.
"Have you ever called the police?" I asked her.
"No." She said wondering where I was going with this.
"I have…out here they don't even show up sometimes. Wouldn't you feel safer if I could at least try and protect you?" I asked her. She didn't answer instead she laid back down on my bed looking straight up at the ceiling. I wondered why she did this; the only light that we could see was the artificial light of Romeo's Barber Shop across the street.
"So are you going to tell me who that man is out there?" Rachel asked.
"My brother." I said too quickly. I didn't want to talk about this. He'd caused my family enough pain and it'd be much better if Rachel didn't know.
"You never told me about-."
"I didn't think it mattered." I snapped at her unexpectedly even to myself. "Let's go to sleep…I'm tired as hell."
"Rachel get up." It was like she was hibernating. I had been trying to wake up the little munchkin for about ten minutes now and every time she moved it was to reposition herself more comfortably under the cover. I tried to yank the cover off her but when I pulled back she held on for dear life. I fell right beside the sleeping girl with one arm over her waist. Oh my god, I jumped up and walked over so that I could see her face. "Rachel! Jesus fucking Christ!" I yelled this time and she blinked twice before opening her eyes and looking up at me.
"Why are you yelling?" Rachel asked in a voice raspier than her own. Why did she look so incredibly adorable right now? Was in the way her hair was messily tangled and covering half of her face. Or maybe it was because she insisted on sleeping in some of my own clothes that were defiantly oversized.
"You wouldn't get up." I said laughing. She smiled and lifted up the covers so that she could stand up. We were only a few inches apart and for a second I thought about moving back to give her room. Neither of us moved, but we both opened our mouths to say something but we didn't. I inadvertently licked my lips and when I realized what I just did I looked down at the ground. "Come on I'll walk you to the food bank." I told her. She nodded and I noticed the pink tint fading a little from her cheeks. She bent down and reached for her clothes from the day before. "No wait…um, you can wear something of mine. I'm sure I have something smaller." I opened up my modest closet and searched for something for the smaller girl to wear. I found a pair of tight fitting jeans from my middle school days and a casual shirt, which looked like they'd work perfectly.
I turned my body around so that Rachel could change comfortably. When she was ready, I smiled at how adorable she looked. "What?" She asked me curiously. I just shook my head and we left my room without another word. My brother was lying down on the couch watching the news, which was one of two channels that we got here. He looked over his shoulder at Rachel and I and a small smug smile formed on his face.
"How was she?" He asked Rachel who began to blush ferociously.
"Jesus Christ." I muttered to myself. "Emilio por favor!" I snapped at him trying to make things less awkward for Rachel. That was not okay of him to say something like that to her. Rachel wasn't one of those girls that I occasionally bring over, she was just a friend. "We didn't." I assured him sternly before we left the apartment.
It was extremely sunny out today and I regretted wearing a jacket even if it was paper-thin. Rachel was walking on the left side of me down the sidewalk. I walked around her so that I was on her left. "Something wrong with my right side?" She asked furrowing her eyebrows.
"No I…it's something my dad taught me." I told her honestly. She eyed me curiously but didn't say anything in response. It was chivalrous; it's what guys were supposed to do when they were with girls. You always stood next to the street to protect the girl. I guess it was something my father taught Emilio, because he didn't know that I am gay. "Shit your car." I said suddenly realizing that she'd driven over to my house.
"It's okay I sort of left it at your apartment on purpose." I cocked an eyebrow and she continued. "I mean…I wanted an excuse to come back." I turned away from her, completely unsure of what she meant by that. Why on earth would she want to come back to my shithole apartment. "I enjoyed hanging out with you. It's rather fun."
"Oh…really?" I said smiling as I scratched the back of my head searching for something else to say. "Maybe after you're done at the food bank, you could maybe hang out with Puck and me? He'll just want to drink, but I mean you don't have to if you don't want to." I think she was smiling because I sounded considerate, or maybe because I sounded like a complete idiot. What was going on with me? Was it me or did I seem a bit flustered around Rachel?
"That sounds amazing, I'd love to…I mean obviously I don't want to drink, but I find Puck to be very interesting and you're a really sweet friend." I liked that she considered us to be friends. She was defiantly not the annoying rich white girl that I thought her up to be before.
I wrapped my arm around her shoulder in a playful way; she cuddled up close to me surprisingly keeping up with my longer strides. When I finally looked up I spotted a dark haired boy wearing a sleeveless back button up shirt and a bowtie along with red pants and checkered shoes. It was Blaine.
"Blaine, what are you doing out here?" I asked grabbing his arm before he could continue past me.
"Santana, come on let go." He said prying my hand off his arm. "I was just going to see my cousin. It's a free country you know." Yeah I knew it was a damn free country, but that didn't mean he could just go walking these streets alone.
"Call Trouty Mouth and get a ride. And stop dressing like that…people will know all about you if you continue wearing fucking bowties." I explained to him sternly. I'd had this conversation with him a million times but he never seemed to listen.
"Santana I'm tired of you giving me shit about this. People don't care that I'm a fag okay." Blaine practically hip checked me as he hustled by. I sighed loudly and ran my hand through my hair. It was exhausting trying to deal with him, it could wait another day.
"Do you think people care?" Rachel asked.
"People around here care. They don't like queers hanging around, it pisses them off, you know?" I tried explaining to her but the fearful expression on her face stopped me from continuing. "Hey are you okay?"
"Yeah I just…you're gay right? I mean I didn't know if you were hiding it or not because everyone seems to think you're sleeping with me." I smiled at the shorter girl.
"Yeah sorry about all that." Rachel looked up at me with worried eyes. "Is that okay? I mean that I like girls?"
"I'm worried about you…I just don't want to see you get hurt."