A/N: I hope you all know how grateful I am to have such amazing readers like you lot. You mean the word to me. Thank you for all your support.
Rescue Me, Love Me, Mr Hudson
Unpacking was the best thing about moving, it brings back all the memories, all the laughs, all the tears, all the happiest moments. Santana and Rachel were sat on the floor in their New York apartment, legs wrapping around the same cardboard box, carefully removing the contents, laughing when they remembered what happened with each small item, each sculpture, and each photograph.
"Having fun?" Finn asked them, as he leant against the doorframe, both girls turned their heads to look at him, Rachel came him a soft smile, and Santana shook her head, pulling the final items out of the box.
"We're done," Santana told him as she put the photograph, sculptures and trinkets on her shelving unit that hung over her bed. She helped Rachel to her feet, and laughed as Rachel kicked the empty cardboard box across the room. They'd spent the week unpacking, decorating, arranging and rearranging furniture, and now the apartment was perfect, just in time for them starting college the following week. They'd all just collapsed onto the couch in front of their new plasma screen TV when the door bell rang, and they all groaned in unison.
"Not it!" Rachel and Santana yelled at the same time, and laughed as Finn pulled himself up to answer the door.
"Hello, Mr and Mr Berry," Finn said, loudly, making Rachel scrambled to her feet, and rush to hug her dads.
Santana stayed in the living room, it wasn't her moment, and the Berry Men hadn't seen their daughter since the day she revealed that she and Finn, her ex Spanish teacher, were in a serious relationship, and that she was moving in with him in New York. Santana knew that they weren't horrified by Rachel's announcement and they had actually taken a liking to Finn over phone calls and email conversations. The four of them entered the living room, and Santana waved her tiredness clear as day in her eyes.
"So have you chosen on a major?" Rachel's dad had asked, it wasn't directed at anyone, it was just a general question.
"Santana and I are doing Theatre at Tisch, and Finn is doing Sociology," Rachel explained, both her dads nodded in understanding. Finn finished the tour of the apartment as Rachel sat beside Santana on the couch.
"We're finally here," Rachel whispered, pulling her feet onto the couch. Santana smiled at her, New York had always been her dream, and Santana sprung from the couch and disappeared. She returned quickly with a white envelope with the letters R and F draw on it in an elegant script. Rachel was puzzled by the gift but opened it anyway. Inside were four tickets to go and see Spring Awakening on its opening night, which was tonight. Rachel squealed and threw her arms around Santana, thanking her for the present. Finn walked in a few moments later, sharing a smile with Rachel's dads.
"Finn, Daddy, Dad," Rachel addressed the three men, they all looked at her a little panicked, " we have tickets to see Spring Awakening tonight, all thanks to Santana." They all beamed happily, and thanked Santana. The Berry Men left to go get ready, and Rachel dragged Finn upstairs to make sure he dressed respectably for a Broadway show. Santana stalked into the kitchen, and looked for something to eat, the cupboards were full of Vegan food, Rachel had tried to get Finn and Santana to convert, but it wasn't working but Rachel was still insisting that she bought Vegan food in. Santana slammed the cupboards shut, and went back into the living room. She heard the water turn on, and then Finn came into the living room, dressed in a suit that actually suited him.
"Looking good Hudson," Santana said, curling up under the blanket they'd decided to store under the couch, the remote control for the TV tucked under her arm, pillows propping her head up.
"Why didn't you get five tickets?" Finn asked, sitting on the floor, in front of the TV so that Santana couldn't see anything but his face. She sighed, knowing he wasn't go to go away.
"Because I'm always the odd one, and I know it upsets Rachel when she sees me down, so I bought four. I am more than happy to stay here and watch any old crap on the TV, I might even watch one of Rachel's DVDs," Finn and Santana burst out laughing at that last remark but then Finn's face turned serious.
"She's upset that you aren't coming, she feels like she's losing you," Finn stated, and that hurt, that hurt Santana so much, a stray tear rolled down her cheek, she was quick to wipe it away, trying to hide her weaknesses from Finn.
"She is losing me, but she's gaining you, you're going to propose, and you're going to get married and have cute little Finchel babies, and I'll just be Santana Lopez, the girl that went to New York with her best friend, and her best friends boyfriend, who did a theatre major and got nowhere in life," Santana exclaimed, hiding her face in the pillows, she hated being that honest with herself, she hated causing herself so much pain.
"How did..."
"It somehow ended up in one of my boxes, I placed it in your sock drawer, 'cause I know that where men hid things," Santana said, her voice muffled by the pillows. They heard Rachel come downstairs, and Santana quickly wiped her face, and pulled the blanket around her face, and Finn quickly got to his feet.
"Are you ready?" Finn asked, taking in how beautiful his girlfriend looked.
Rachel nodded, and saw how upset Santana looked, she could tell she'd been crying, but she knew better than to ask. She just walked over to her, and kissed her on the cheek, before they left…
A/N: these next few final chapters are going to be emotionally intense as I can get them to be, it's like this for a reason.