Here's Chapter 3! Sorry for the wait. And shortness. To be honest I really struggled with writing this, I still feel like I'm on some sort of emotional rollercoaster - so much drama here :/ Regardless I soldiered through.

Please do let me know what you think, the next chapter will contain the long awaited smut and I can reassure you that it will be much longer than tonight's meagre offerings.

All the best

UnknownArtiste

Rachel stared at the girl in her doorway, flabbergasted by the ruffled appearance of the normally put-together cheerleader. A few stray raven locks of the girl's hair stuck to her forehead and her obviously top-brand t-shirt was extremely creased.

"Well?" the Latina barked nervously, startling the smaller girl out of her surprised trance. Rachel could only watch in confusion as the taller girl's forehead crease while she swallowed shakily. For a brief second Rachel caught a glimpse of the Santana from the locker room; eyes soft and vulnerable, hurt clear in chocolate orbs before they began to harden and the cold mask reappeared. She could see it happen once more before her as she failed to reply.

"You know what?" the Latina muttered, eyes now dark and hard "Forget it." She made to turn and Rachel was spurred into action, the other girl's movements jerking her into motion.

"Wait!"

The Cheerleader turned and Rachel was once again almost thrown back in time to the locker room. Swallowing her trepidation she smiled softly, stepping aside to clear the doorway. "Of course the offers still available." Santana stared, arms tight around her body as she seemed to assess the genuineness of Rachel's words.

"Santana," the diva said with a slight huff, "c'mon. You're going to catch a cold out there in just a t-shirt." Santana hesitated, obviously conflicted before she seemed to steal herself; taking a breath, nodding and stepping into the Berry's doorway.

The heat from the steaming cup of hot chocolate was comforting as it moved up her hands, causing her fingers to tingle. She hadn't even realised that she was cold, too busy trying to combat the image of Brittany and Artie taunting her as she'd run. She swallowed down the hurt, forcing herself to focus on her surroundings. The various pictures of the Berry family were admittedly cute and it was clear from the many bright smiles that there was a lot of love within the small family unit.

She smiled weakly at Rachel when she entered the living room, her own steaming cup in hand. The diva sat down in the comfy looking armchair adjacent to the couch the cheerleader was sitting on.

"Are you o-," "Why did you let me in?" the Latina asked with apparent confusion.

Rachel's brow furrowed, "because you obviously came to me for a reason, I wasn't going to send you away."

The taller girl let out a disbelieving sigh, "God Berry, what if I was planning to prank you or something?"

The diva swallowed, struggling to understand why the Latina was questioning her. "I try not to believe the worst in everyone Santana. You deserve the benefit of doubt."

"No," the cheerleader said softly, eyes slightly glassy as she focussed on the pictures on the wall, "I really don't."

Rachel's brow furrowed as she tried to understand where the other girl's train of thought was leading her to and why she had felt the need to come to her; the school freak.

"Has this-," the smaller brunette tried to say, nervousness causing her mouth to somehow struggle with forming the words, "has this got something to do with Brittany?"

"What?" Santana retorted harshly, eyes wide in surprise, "No-no," she tried to deny, face pinched in slight aggravation.

It was slightly creepy how Berry managed to give her that look. The same look from the locker room, like the smaller girl could look right through her.

"Santana…" Rachel murmured softly, trailing off as the Latina's vehement façade of denial crumbled. The taller girl's shoulder fell forward as she hunched over, long fingers clenching firmly on her mug as she let out a small sob.

"God," Santana said with a strangled sob "am I that obvious?"

Rachel let out a soft sigh, "Not really. I just…" "What?" The Latina retorted, looking up at her with slightly red-rimmed eyes, "you just what?"

"I just pay attention to people, that's all." The smaller brunette looked away from the cheerleader, sorrow lacing her features, "I don't really," she released a frustrated sigh, cheeks becoming pink as she realised what she was about to divulge to the other girl, "I don't really have a lot of people at school that I socialise with so…" she groaned lightly, embarrassed by her own admittance, "-so I watch. People. A lot." She avoided the Latina's gaze, unable to face her amusement or worse, pity.

Santana struggled to find a reply to the smaller girl's confession, self-disgust and guilt roiling in her gut. Logically she knew that it wasn't entirely her fault but she couldn't deny the small voice in her head that was tallying up every time she'd thrown a nasty comment or nickname toward the smaller brunette.

Or worse yet, a slushy. As minimal as it seemed in comparison to Fabray's targeted bullying, she knew that she did have a hand in Rachel's isolation.

The Cheerleader opened her mouth to apologise, releasing a huff of air as the words hung on her tongue

"I-," "It's whatever." Rachel stated bluntly, coldly even, "High School sucks for everyone, right?" Now soft chocolate brown orbs turned back to the Latina, causing the taller girl to breath in at the intensity of the diva's gaze, "Even you."

Santana could only nod, "Yeah."