A/N: Hello! Guess who's back, back again! Sorry, I promise I won't do that again. *Cringes* So... it's a new chapter! Woohoo!
I'm going to address the following Guest reviewer, so bear with me;
'Remove this from the Brittana tag then? If you like abuseberry fine but a lot don't it was the worst relationship on Glee. The only reason they probably had Santana in New York instead of Quinn was cause Diana wasn't available it felt forced the friendship between them. It's why you get more Brittana endgame asks the abuseberry. But i guess to get views gotta put it in the tag & no I don't have an actual account cause I don't want one.'
First of all, I would love to comment on your (admittedly numerous) grammatical errors, but I feel it would be inappropriate, so, let's focus on the main issue ;). There are so many things wrong with your reviews that make me feel- almost compelled to respond to them! First of all, there is no 'Brittana' tag, and though I love the pairing, canon and non-canon, I haven't yet stated who the pairings for this story are going to be, so I'm not so sure as to what you are referring to. Second of all, you do know that Pezberry is up there with the most popular pairings in the Glee fandom? No? Perhaps this may refresh your memory; 'Pezberry' was nominated for and won a People's Choice Award in 2014 for 'Favourite TV Gal Pals'. Obviously, people aren't that against them. When I choose to write Pezberry, I am not writing an abusive relationship, full stop. So, the term 'abuseberry', is highly inaccurate, and quite frankly, you're just embarrassing yourself. See, 'to get the views', again, there is no tag, so I don't know what you're talking about. Finally, if you don't have an account because you 'don't want one', then how are you following my story so closely? You reviewed just minutes after the last chapter, and it just makes me wonder... Anyway, if the story bothers you so much, I'm not forcing you to read it. I invite people to read and enjoy my stories on their own terms, so when you read, it's at your own risk. I put warnings in my chapters when absolutely necessary, and I like to think that my readers appreciate some of the efforts I put into my writing. Two of the four characters I listed for this story are Rachel Berry and Santana Lopez, so, it would have been safe to assume ahead of time that there would be some 'Pezberry' interaction in the story. I warned you last chapter that I fully reserve the right to remove any abusive reviews, and I'm sorry, but that one crossed a line for me, so I removed it. I try to be mature when I handle these things, and though you don't seem to possess the same desire, I ask you to no longer leave your reviews on this story, as they will be removed. This will be the last time I respond to your review, unless you are more respectful.
*Deep Breath*
I'm sorry that everybody had to read that. I would once again like to thank everybody who read/reviewed/followed/favourited this story! Despite what happened above, I have some of the nicest readers and I could not be more grateful for all of you guys! Every one of your lovely reviews is worth more than twenty rude ones, so thank you. I don't usually get that annoyed with my reviewers, as most of you are amazing. However, I'm not going to force myself to put up with them. I only remove reviews when I deem it 100% necessary, and in this case, it was. I do like constructive criticism though! Don't let that ^ discourage you from reviewing. I love to hear your opinions on what you like, didn't like or think I could improve on! Just please, do it in a respectful manner. I'm only human.
Now, on a more positive note;
'Hadn't seen this story before. Looks like it could be an interesting ride, so I'm on board.'-Guest
Thank you! I'm so glad you liked it! I hope you will continue to follow and enjoy this story :)
See, that is a nice review. Thank you, again.
Also, I am 10000x sorry for the huge delay. Please don't hate me...
As always, I hope you enjoy this chapter, please review if you do, I love reading them and I will see you... on the other side!-Lauren's Glee Stories x
WARNING: Character death in this chapter! I promise it isn't what it looks like, so don't freak out. Also hints of homophobic behaviour/language and an assault.
...Last Chapter... Brittany's POV
"Do you really think they can get it right this time?" Brittany asked in a hopeful tone,
Finn nodded with a smaller, more honest smile, "I really do, Britt," He replied,
"Would you like some cake?" She asked him coaxingly, nodding to the chair opposite her,
Finn just grinned at her as he sat down.
Santana's POV
The Glee club was watching them with varying degrees of curiosity and confusion written on their faces. On top of that, very much like the first time around, they were applauding the performance enthusiastically,
"Did I hit my head..?" Kurt asked from the back of the classroom,
"There a problem, Teen Gay?" Santana asked him nonchalantly,
He raised an eyebrow up at her but shook his head, "Of course not, Satan," He replied,
"Right, well then, everybody can stop acting as if Berry and I just made out in front of the class," She said pointedly,
Rachel snorted, a gesture that seemed a bit out of character for her senior year self, "Yeah, not my type," She assured the group,
Santana nodded, "Yeah, I'm more into girls that aren't three-foot tall hobbits," She concurred,
"Are you two, like... friends... or something?" Mercedes interjected confusedly,
Santana frowned a little bit but quickly wiped the look off of her face. Of course, Mercedes knew who she was, but it still stung a little to see the look of indifference on her face.
"Well, you heard how well our voices fit together," Rachel explained, "I feel as though we might have wasted a bit of time when we could have been singing together and wowing everyone with our voices years ago," She shrugged,
"What she said," Santana added with an air of indifference,
Mercedes nodded dumbly, "Right,"
Mr Schue still looked perplexed, but he clapped his hands together and smiled at the group,
"Well done, girls, great performance," Mr Schuester congratulated, "Now, who's next?" He asked cheerfully, and Rachel and Santana took their seats, next to their respective partners.
Santana walked out of Glee club at the end of the day with Brittany, when a voice boomed from the end of the hallway,
"Sandbags!" Coach Sue called out, "My office, now!"
She groaned to herself,
"Can I come?" Brittany asked curiously,
"Uh, might be best if you sit this one out Britts," Santana replied apologetically,
Brittany nodded, "Okay!" She replied, and skipped down the hallway to where Tina, Kurt and Rachel were talking,
Santana took a deep breath and strode down the hallway determinedly, walking straight into Coach Sylvester's office,
"Yes, Coach?" She asked succinctly, standing in front of the desk respectfully,
"Word on the street is that you've befriended a certain hobbit-like creature from Glee club," Sue opened pointedly,
Santana looked her straight in the eye, "Well, word on the street would be correct," She replied firmly, challengingly,
Coach Sue raised an eyebrow up at her, "I don't see why. Personally, I believe the woodland creatures that reside in Schuester's buttered hair would make better acquaintances,"
"Wh- you know, never mind," Santana muttered, "Look, you can't say who I become friends with or not; so I think we're done here," She told Sue,
"Sit down, Boobs McGee," Coach Sylvester ordered,
Santana mentally cursed and took a seat opposite her cheer coach, who pulled out a pile of paper stapled in one corner,
"Bottom of the fourth page," She informed, pushing the booklet over to Santana,
"By signing this contract, I withhold any rights to make my own friends, and acknowledge that Coach Sue Sylvester holds all rights to my friendships," Santana read slowly, raising an eyebrow at her coach disbelievingly, "I never signed a contract to join the Cheerios," She muttered to herself,
"Why of course you did, your signature is on the last page," Sue replied, taking the contract back and pointing to a (forged) Santana's signature,
"Fine then, I quit," Santana shrugged,
"You can't quit Cheerios," Sue replied indignantly, throwing her hands up, "You either die or get kicked out,"
Santana snorted, "Yeah, okay. Here's how this is going to work," She told Sue, "I can be friends with whoever I want, hobbit or not, that's up to me, and you will get your nose out of my business, or else lose your three best cheerleaders,"
Coach Sylvester leaned back in her chair, "How are you planning to get the other two to quit?" She asked sceptically, fully aware that they were talking about the same people,
Santana looked at her nails in boredom, "I have plenty of dirt on Quinn, and Britts wouldn't want to be a Cheerio without me," She shrugged nonchalantly,
Coach Sue nodded, looking almost...proud, "You know, S, you remind me of a young Sue Sylvester... Cunning, manipulative," She replied,
"Well, I can be one loyal bitch," Santana shrugged, "We done here?" She asked, nodding to the door behind her,
"It would appear so," Sue replied, "Say hello to Rachel for me," She said in dismissal,
Santana paused, "What did you just say?" She asked her Coach confusedly,
Coach Sylvester huffed, "I said; say hello to the hobbit for me," She said pointedly, looking at Santana as if she were crazy,
Santana nodded dumbly, convinced she had misheard, "Very well," She conceded, walking out of the room with her head held high; stopping only to glare at a freshman who glanced her way.
Rachel's POV
Rachel rushed out of the choir room at the end of the day in a hope to avoid any questioning about her's and Santana's developing friendship.
"Rachel!" Kurt called out from behind her,
Alas, it didn't work.
She turned around slowly to face Kurt, mentally cursing her luck, "Hey, Kurt," She greeted with a cheery smile,
"We just gonna pretend that whatever just happened in there didn't happen?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, linking his arm through hers as Tina joined them,
"Yeah, I feel like I took acid," Tina added confusedly,
"Look, I'm not as annoying as I used to be, and Santana isn't as bitchy as she used to be. It's not that unbelievable," She pointed out,
The trio stopped in their tracks and both Tina and Kurt looked at her pointedly,
"Actually, San once said that the day she would become friends with a hobbit would be the day that Lord Tubbington would join the mafia," Brittany interjected, joining the group as they walked towards the parking lot, "He has been acting strange lately, though... I think he's doing drugs," She said sadly,
"Well, maybe hell froze over and we didn't realise?" Kurt suggested,
I was still stuck on what Brittany had said when she spoke again,
"She really hated you," She said sorrowfully, "Which sucks, because even though you talk a lot and are super bossy, you're a really great friend and I don't like San being mean to you," She explained,
Britt's speech made Rachel a little teary-eyed, and she linked her free arm through Brittany's,
"It's okay, Britt, I don't mind. Not really," She assured her,
"I feel like I'm in the twilight zone." Kurt deadpanned,
"I know what you mean," Tina replied in agreement,
"You should hang out with us some time after school," Brittany said excitedly, "We could double date!" She suggested as though she had as covered the cure for cancer,
Rachel shivered a little at the thought of Finn and Santana going on a double date,
"Maybe, Britt," She replied thoughtfully,
"What's everyone doing tonight? We could have a girls night at my place?" Kurt suggested, digging his car keys out of his bag,
Rachel tilted her head in consideration, before deciding against it,
"Sorry," She replied apologetically, "My dads wanted to take me to dinner tonight," She shrugged, lying only because she knew she probably should talk to Santana,
Kurt shrugged with a smile, "It's okay, we can have fun without you," He teased,
Rachel faked being upset,
"Mean," She sniffed, nudging him playfully,
"Do you want a lift with us, Britt?" Kurt asked her curiously, "I know Santana dropped you off, but she's talking to Coach Sue at the moment..." He trailed off,
Brittany considered the offer before nodding eagerly, "Thanks Kurty, I'll text San and tell her," She agreed, pulling out her phone,
"My dads said they would pick me up," Rachel lied, knowing that Santana had driven to school that day,
"Cool, see you tomorrow?" Tina checked, walking backwards towards Kurt's car,
"Of course," I replied with a blinding smile, "Bye Guys!" I farewelled, waving as they walked to the Nav and drove off,
"I hope Santana doesn't take long," She muttered to herself, grabbing out her phone to tell her dads not to expect her home until late,
She shivered slightly, wishing she had worn a thicker jacket,
"Rach!" Santana called out from behind her a few moments later,
"Santana!" She called back, "Did you get Brittany's text?" She checked, walking over to her,
"Yeah," Santana confirmed, "Said she was catching a ride with Lady Hummel and Asian," She shrugged,
"I figured I'd wait for you," Rachel told her,
"Yeah, well we could have coffee and go to breadsticks for dinner?" Santana suggested, "I haven't been there in ages, and I'm pretty sure I'm breadstick deficient,"
Rachel nodded, "Sounds good," She agreed, "Come on, I know the perfect place for coffee," She told Santana,
"Cool," Santana agreed.
After they grabbed their coffee, they headed to BreadstiX for dinner.
Rachel looked around warily, checking to see if there was anyone they knew at the restaurant,
"Chill, Hobbit," Santana said to her, "It doesn't matter," She shrugged,
"But what if-" Rachel objected,
"Don't make me change my mind," The Latina replied semi-threateningly,
Rachel narrowed her eyes but conceded, "Fine,"
They headed over to a table and the waitress eyed Santana warily before handing over the menus,
"Uh, our specials today include-" She started before Santana interrupted,
"No thank you," She replied rudely, before smiling pointedly at the waitress until she got the idea and scurried off,
"Why did you have to be so rude?!" Rachel admonished,
Santana shrugged, "I have a reputation to protect," She defended,
Rachel rolled her eyes,
"I know we're back in high school, but remember where acting like this got you the first time?" She reminded, scanning over her menu,
Her friend glared at her,
"Thank you for that," She said through gritted teeth, "I needed that reminder that the first time round acting like this killed my girlfriend and your boyfriend,"
"You know that's not what I meant," Rachel sighed,
"Whatever," Santana grumbled,
They ate the rest of their meals making small talk or simply not talking. The silence wasn't necessarily awkward, but the two girls had annoyed each other to the point where they thought it best to be civil as possible so as not to cause a scene.
They split the bill and headed out of the restaurant at around 9:30 in the evening,
As they walked to their car, which was parked several streets away, Rachel shivered and looked up at the stars,
"Do you ever wonder where we were the first time we did this?" She asked Santana curiously,
She nodded, "Yeah, it's weird. I kind of wish I'd kept a journal or something so I could remember more," She sighed,
"I feel like I'm missing something important that happened today, but I can't remember," Rachel admitted, pulling her coat tighter around herself,
Santana tilted her head in thought,
"I was probably just hanging out with Brittany," She shrugged,
"And Kurt invited me to a sleepover tonight, maybe that happened in both timelines?" Rachel replied questioningly,
Santana looked a bit uneasy, a weird look for her, but nodded, "Yeah, most likely,"
As they passed a familiar looking house they could hear sirens ringing in the distance, but they sounded far away,
"So..." Rachel trailed off,
"Um," Santana replied,
"Help!" A voice called out from somewhere in front of them, making the girls freeze as their blood ran cold,
"Shut up," A quieter voice growled at the person,
Rachel looked at Santana with wide eyes,
"Fire?!" The voice called out again, sounding like a female,
They eyed each other warily,
"Shut up, Dyke," The other voice growled once more,
Santana surged forward and Rachel hurried after her,
"Santana!" She whisper-shouted, "Stop, let's call the police!" She said pleadingly,
"She could be dead by the time they get there!" Santana insisted,
"Shit," Rachel cursed, and as the pair approached they could hear the kind of thumping sound of someone being hit, or possibly kicked, and the female-sounding voice crying out more quietly than before,
They turned around the corner of the alley and saw a man kicking at a woman that was lying on the floor,
"Hey!" Santana shouted,
"Please stop," Rachel pleaded, "Is it money you're after? We can give you ours, and if you stop we won't call the police," She promised, holding out her hands as the guy turned to look at them,
"Oh, really?" He asked, nudging the woman's limp body with his foot, smirking at them with an evil glint in his eye,
"Yes, really," She assured, trying to diffuse the situation as Santana looked like she was about to charge at the guy,
Suddenly the guy smirked at something just beyond the two girls, and Rachel felt something cold against the back of her head, hearing a click,
She raised her hands high in the air, and could see Santana do the same in her peripheral vision,
"We don't want any trouble," Santana said through gritted teeth as Rachel fought to control her breathing,
"Please, we haven't seen your faces, we won't tell anyone if you let us go," Rachel begged,
"What d'ya think, boss?" The man from behind Rachel asked,
"Yeah, we gonna do this the hard way or the easy way?"
The boss just nodded,
"Looks like it's your lucky day, girls," The guy from behind Santana said, "Boss says to let you out the easy way,"
Rachel breathed a shaky sigh of relief as the gun pulled back from her head,
"Tha-"
Was the last thing she said before her body hit the ground, blood pooling around her from a single shot to the head. They were the last words she spoke.
Santana's POV
Santana woke up on the floor, extremely disoriented and aching all over,
"Sorry," Someone apologised as they bumped into her, clearly not looking where they were going,
She suddenly remembered what had just happened and sat up with a gasp.
Where she was expecting to see a dark alleyway, or perhaps a hospital, she saw the familiar halls of McKinley High School.
"What the fuck," Santana muttered, rubbing her throbbing head,
Her mind was racing.
What the fuck had just happened?
Had she fallen asleep at school?
That was a dream... right..?
If this wasn't a dream, where the fuck was Rachel, and what the fuck was going on?
"Rachel!" She shouted out suddenly, jumping up and running past a confused looking Brittany and down the hallway, speeding up when she heard screaming coming from what sounded like the choir room,
When she burst into the room she instantly assessed the situation.
Rachel was curled up on the floor screaming, and the people in the room, all Glee members, were crowded around her trying to comfort her,
"Out of the fucking way," She demanded, pushing her way through everyone and kneeling down next to Rachel,
"What are you doing?" Finn demanded,
"She's having a... uh, panic attack... My dad's a doctor, everyone just back off. Tina, get the nurse," She explained, "Now!" She shouted when the girl didn't move, and she ran off,
"Rachel," Santana said softly, "Can you hear me? Everything is okay, we're at school," She assured her, keeping her voice calm and steady despite her fear, "Remember?" She added in a strained voice,
Rachel shifted to look at her with wide eyes, shaking and breathing heavily, with slight recognition shining in her eyes,
"Hey, you're okay, everybody's okay," Santana assured her, "Nobody's hurt, we're all completely fine,"
"Santana?" Rachel choked out,
"Yeah, Rach, I'm here. We're all here. We're all okay. You are okay," She reassured, "It wasn't real," She added pointedly, both needing to ensure Rachel didn't speak about what happened and assure her that she knew what she was freaked out about,
Rachel nodded shakily, her breathing steadying slightly as she relaxed,
"Yeah, you're okay, you're fine," Santana muttered, offering her arm to Rachel and pulling her up,
Rachel tried for a smile, but it looked pretty pained,
"Sorry, guys," She managed, "I'm okay," She assured,
"Rach, you had us scared shitless," Finn replied, kneeling down next to the pair, with Santana moving out of the way to give them some space,
"I'm fine, Finn, it was just a little anxiety attack. I've had one before," She tried to calm him,
"Little anxiety attack?" Kurt interjected, "Rachel, sweetie, we thought something was seriously wrong with you," He told her, a shade paler than usual,
Rachel smiled at him weakly and slowly got to her feet, "I'm okay," She assured him, "I'm sorry," She apologised again,
"Don't apologise, Jew Babe," Puck told her, and they all murmured in agreement, "You just freaked us out," He shrugged, seeming shaken himself,
"Yeah," Quinn laughed awkwardly, "Even Santana was worried, and that's saying something," She joked,
There were half-hearted laughs from the Glee club,
"I'm sorry, I'm just not feeling great now, I'm going to head to the nurse," She decided,
"Uh, I'll go with her," Santana decided, "I can tell the nurse what happened,"
Finn looked like he wanted to object, but the two girls marched past him before he had the chance.
Without talking, the two mutually decided that they weren't going to the nurse, but in fact the nearest bathroom.
They checked the halls were quiet before ducking into the nearest girl's bathroom, checking it was empty before locking the door,
"Is this a dream?" Rachel asked desperately, "I mean, what happened? Did you see what I saw?" She asked quietly,
Santana blew out a shaky breath and nodded, "We were in an alley and we got shot," She recounted,
Rachel put her hand over her mouth and nodded,
"That's it," She agreed quietly, "Did we die or something? I was shot in the head," She whispered, "I was shot," She repeated,
"I know," Santana muttered, "He shot you first," She admitted, "You were dead before you hit the ground. He waited a couple of seconds before shooting me too," She explained,
"You watched me die?" Rachel asked in a horrified tone,
Santana nodded numbly,
"Oh, San," She whispered, moving towards her and wrapping her in a hug, "What the fuck is happening?" She asked softly,
"Uh," A voice interrupted awkwardly, making the pair jump, but not let go of each other, "We might be able to explain that..."
A/N: Well, that was an eventful chapter. Fun fact! I was in a self-defence class for a year or so (I know, I did super well at quitting) and one of the only things I remember is this tiny bit of advice the instructor gave my class: "If you are ever feeling unsafe, or are in an unsafe situation, calling for help ain't going to help you. People hear the cry for help and assume something bad, and likely dangerous is occurring. Instead, scream 'fire' at the top of your lungs." That piece of advice actually saved my life once, but that's a whole other story. It's a pretty 'known' fact, but I thought I'd tell that story as I used the line briefly in this chapter... Anyway...
So, I am once again extremely sorry for the delay in uploading. If it's any consolation, I am appalled at the amount of time I took to get this up. This isn't going to be one of those stories that has five chapters but takes 6 years to actually write and post. I can guarantee that. However, I can't promise that there won't ever be a long gap again. My aim is always to upload, at the very least, once a fortnight, but shit happens. That shit, in this case, is my life, but that's a long story. I will endeavour to close the huge gap between chapters to the best of my ability, and I hope that this didn't put any of you off of reading my story.
As you can see Rachel and Santana aren't dead, but rightfully so, are very confused. I told you not to worry :).
Also, did you like it? I did, but I might be a teeny bit biased... Oh well. I loved it! I'm thrilled with where this story is heading and there is going to be a lot of drama before we get to our ending! You guys know the drill; I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review if you did as I love reading them, and I will see you all next time! Byeee!
-Lauren's Glee Stories x