Chapter 16
She swung open the door after a few moments. He was standing there, smiling as wide as his cheeks would allow, waiting to be invited back inside. She moved out of the way, letting him saunter in before shutting the door again.
"Why would I date Manhands?"
"Look—I already know, so drop the crap, Santana. I know for a fact that you two have been going out—and you can't convince me otherwise."
He started pacing.
"All you have to do is repair my rep. I lose my V-Card, your secret stays quiet. You do it all the time right?"
Her face was burning. He was towering over her, his hands coming to rest on the balls of her shoulders. Her arms were still crossed, she knew if she let them down at her sides she would deck the jolly green giant. He began rubbing her arms.
"Look Santana, it's simple. Let's just go to your room and do the deed. You tell everybody what a stud I am… nobody knows about you and Rach. Same thing as last year—do it for our reps. We could be on top at school."
She was squinting at him. Her mouth was a thin line of contempt, her tan cheeks fiery red; her ears burning. How could he? How dare he? Given, she thought to herself, she never stopped the rumors from flying. She took years to build the reputation she had, if only to ward off people from her biggest secrets.
"I thought you loved Berry? I thought you were trying to get her back and all that bullshit. What changed? Seems pretty low for you to be blackmailing me—ME of all people when you don't even know half the story. What—did you guess I was dating her? No, you're too stupid for that."
"Don't call me stupid! I do love her. But it sucks—because she's gay and for some reason she likes you—"
"Who told you we were dating, Finnocence? Maybe I just popped her cherry. Maybe she's a good lay—"
His face contorted. He looked like every emotion he could have was flashing simultaneously across his features. She could see panic; she could see regret, fear, confusion and even a big hint of anger.
"Rachel's not like that. She wouldn't give up her virginity that way. It means something to her. She's not like you."
Something snapped inside of Santana.
"Like me? Like ME? Right and you're not the one in here making solicitations for forced sex. Kiss my ass, Hudson. Tell the school what you think you know—Since you obviously don't know shit."
"I'm not making salutations for sex."
Santana rolled her eyes at his stupidity.
"Look- all you have to do is sleep with me. You did it for all the other guys. And like you said, you and me on top—we could rule the school."
He grabbed her wrist.
"Now come on…" He began pulling her toward the couch.
Santana stood still. Her anger was bubbling into something uncontrollable. She snatched her arm away, backing up before pointing a finger into his face.
"I'm not having sex with you. No matter what dirt you think you have on me—I don't care. Get out of my house, and don't come back. And if I hear that you said anything to anyone about anything… I'll have your balls for lunch."
She realized then who'd told Sasquatch about their relationship. She knew Brittany wouldn't tell Finn anything—especially when Britt knew Santana's newfound hatred for the boy. That only left one person. Finn was standing there, his mouth open, hands at his sides. He knew better than to cross that tone. His shoulders sagged and he walked toward the front door.
"Look. Santana. I didn't mean it the way it came off. But you gotta understand…I'm losing everything at the same time. Sam has my quarterback position, you have Rachel, my rep is ruined. I'm tired of feeling like such a loser. You can understand that…right? Wanting to be on top?"
She chuckled.
"Get out. And tell Puck, if he decides to talk to other people about my business… I'll scrap his nuts with a potato peeler."
She made a point to slam the door behind him; walking to her cell phone to call Rachel.
000 0000 000
She had done everything on her syllabus until May. She had nothing else to do but study, her house was empty in the daytime, and she had to be home to answer the phone once an hour for Mrs. Byers to call and check up on her. Her fathers would be home at seven, and she would be sitting at the dinner table picking at whatever they decided to order out for. She watched several of her musicals, arranged dozens of songs for Glee mash-ups and planned her outfits for the next four weeks. Her dance classes and most of her charitable work was on hiatus until after the holidays, and she found herself texting and calling Santana more often than she thought she would be.
Her doorbell rang.
She knew it wasn't Santana, Mrs. Byers had agreed to be the nosey neighbor, noting when Rachel left the house, when other cars were in the driveway, when people came to visit. She knew Santana wouldn't show up unannounced, simply because the faster they served their time, the quicker they'd be allowed to see each other again.
She jogged over to the door, whipping it open to see someone she hadn't expected to see at her house again.
"Hello, Bella. Can I help you with something?"
"Can we talk?"
Rachel nodded, allowing room for the girl to come inside. She checked the neighbor's big bay window, gladly noting that she wasn't sitting there. Rachel closed the door and lead Bella to her living room. They both took a seat.
"I know this seems all… out of the blue and stuff. But I had to talk to you. I didn't know what Dave was going to do at the bowling alley, I swear. And when I found out all the stuff he's been doing at school…I felt so bad. I didn't know about any of it."
"Well that's fine, Bella. I don't blame you for what your brother does. Now if that's all…"
Rachel stood, but Bella brought her hand to her wrist to pull her back down.
"I'm not done."
Rachel nodded.
"I have been avoiding you. My dad found out what was happening with us and he flipped. When he found out Dave's been acting out in school because he likes some gay kid; he's been all homophobe."
"Karofsky's gay?"
"That's not important, Rach. Look, my dad calmed down since then, and I've decided to come out to him. We talked about it, and he's not as upset anymore. I mean, he thinks he did something wrong because both his kids are gay and all… and that me and Dave are going to burn in hell… but—he's not going to force us to be anything that we're not. I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have just stopped talking to you…but I would have gotten into trouble. Seeing how hard my dad came down on Dave, I was really scared. Like he threatened to throw him out, I was just so… I'm sorry."
Bella took a deep breath, her green eyes glinting with unshed tears.
"I really like you, Rachel. And I was wondering if maybe, we can try to be what we were going to be before. For real this time."
She hadn't even noticed that Bella was holding her hand. She didn't know what to say, what to think. A little while ago, she would have jumped at the chance to date her, openly—without thought she would have. But things were different now. She was different and she was in a different kind of situation.
Bella Karofsky had missed out on her chance. She was a beautiful girl, and the relationship that was developing was promising; but Rachel was sure that her relationship with Santana was worth more. She'd never found herself in this predicament. She was never the commodity to anyone, let alone two different people. She smiled a sad smile at Bella, before pulling her hand away to brush her hair behind her ear.
"I'm sorry, Bella, I can't…"
"Why? I know that ignoring you was wrong, I came to apologize. I mean, was I—was I an experiment, are you not…into girls?"
"No, no, Bella… you're great. Had this been over a month ago I probably would have agreed to give us a try. But I've been seeing someone since then…and it's been getting pretty serious."
Bella frowned. Her slender pointed nose bunched up, and she was running her hands through her dark brown hair.
"Who is it? Did you get back with that Finn guy? Is it even a guy?"
"No I'm not back with Finn. Look, I have a girlfriend now. And I think… I think I love her."
Rachel didn't realize the words were pouring from her mouth until they fell. She wanted to grab them up and shove them back inside. She wasn't really ready to come to terms. But she'd said it, and the realization made her nervous, suddenly. Bella broke her from her thoughts.
"I'll respect that, Rachel. I'm not that kind of person… I would never… break up a happy home. Promise something though?"
Rachel nodded.
"We can still be friends…"
Rachel nodded again, giving Bella a platonic squeeze after they both stood up.
She walked her to the door, and said her goodbyes. She heard her phone vibrating on the coffee table, grabbing it before it stopped shaking she quickly called Santana back.
000 0000 000
She had convinced her parents that she was going to Pucks. Rachel had done the same, and Santana picked her up from their usual bus stop before driving over to meet him. Santana walked in, hugging Ms. Puckerman before jogging upstairs to find Puck. Rachel followed quietly behind, waving hello to inhabitants of the house before catching up to Santana. When she walked into Noah's room, Santana had a knee to Noah's crotch and a hand full of his t-shirt in her bunched fist.
"What else did you tell the iron giant about me and Rachel?"
"I didn't tell him shit—he figured that shit out."
"Were you giving him hints, fucktard?"
"San, I can't breathe…"
She stood up, straightening out her clothes before putting her hands on her hips.
"He was complaining about his rep and crap. He said something about getting you back and he put two and two together."
Santana scowled at him.
"That's all he knows, right?"
"Look I told you I'm not going to tell anybody about your schlong. That'll ruin my rep."
He looked between the two of them, then focused on Santana.
"What did he do?"
"He tried to get me to have sex with him."
"I'll kill him."
"Don't even worry about it, it's taken care of. I just wanted to know who the hell's been telling Frankenteen about my business."
Puck shrugged, picking up his guitar and sitting at his computer desk.
"Hey, Puck… mind if Rachel and I use your bathroom for a few minutes?"
"No way—I'm not letting you bone in my bathroom."
The glare she sent him changed his mind immediately.
000 0000 000
They were parked outside the bus stop, waiting for Rachel's curfew to come before Santana dropped her off a few blocks from her house. They'd had a quickie in Puck's bathroom before making they're way back to Santana's car.
"Bella came over today…"
Santana stared straight ahead.
"So… what did she want?"
"She came to apologize. We talked and—"
"And now you two are going to give it another chance? Figures."
She started the engine.
"It figures you would think that. But I told her I was in a relationship… we are going to be friends though."
Santana shut off the engine.
"Friends… really, Rachel? Really?"
"As you know, I don't have many friends, Santana. So I'd love to keep the ones who befriend me willingly."
Santana shook her head, starting the engine and pulling off after checking her mirrors. They drove in silence, resuming the conversation at the first red light they pulled up to.
"It just seems odd, she doesn't want to be your friend, Rachel. She wants to get in close so she can strike if I ever mess up."
"Stop being so insecure, Santana. I made my decision clear that that can't happen. I doubt she sits idly by being my friend, all the while torturing herself. She knows where we stand."
"If she crosses a line…"
"She won't."
"Hey, Rachel…"
"Yes, Santana?"
"Was that our first fight?"
They smiled all the way home.
A/N: I feel like I'm in a writing mood. I may put up Dirty Fingers III and another prompt fill I was personally asked to fulfill (Santana/Will). I have a story that I have been handwriting entitled Lonely Children (Features: Rachel, Santana, Quinn and maybe (A BIG MAYBE) Mercedes). Thanks for all they great reviews, I've never had a story do so well when it comes to feedback. It makes me want to make sure these stories stay as entertaining.