A/N: I'M BACK! So I'm staying away from the current storyline of glee. The Valentine's Day and Superbowl ep didn't happen in this universe. Finn will be making a return to the story as well. I noticed some mistakes in the past few chapters that I will start fixing and reposting soon (like the fact that Puck was wearing jeans and miraculously had on basketball shorts by the end of the chapter). Next chapter deals with some therapy for Rachel and Santana, as well as some more of the Bella/Karofsky story. There will also be some talk about Santana's surgery to come soon too. Oh, and hopefully smut. It took me a while to get this chapter out, because there is a lot of serious dialogue. Hopefully I did an okay job with keeping my characters canon.

Thanks to all who have reviewed, favorite and alerted this fic. And thanks to all the people who emailed me to spur me on to keep up with my fic.

Please, read and review.

Chapter 18

She hadn't spoken to Puck since the night she left him drunk in his messy bedroom. He'd texted her multiple times during the break, and even went through the trouble to leave a hesitant voicemail. He found her before chemistry, leaning against the door frame with his usual mask of disinterested cool. She almost walked past him, but his hand darted out to claim her elbow; she stopped—annoyed.

"What Puck?"

He let go of her arm and pushed his thumbs under the straps of his backpack.

"Can we talk about what happened, Santana?"

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Nothing happened, Puck. I'm over it. It's done."

"Well I'm not. Can we just talk during lunch?"

The bell buzzed.

"Can't gots plans."

"Come on, Santana. I feel really shitty. I just want to—I just need to explain…"

Santana bit down on her lip, uncrossing her arms in silent surrender.

"Fine."

He nodded, walking backwards with a knowing quirk of his lips.

000 0000 000

She was excited for the new semester. She'd been terribly bored over break, and she couldn't wait for classes and extra curriculars to dominate most of her schedule again. More importantly, she couldn't wait to see Santana. They hadn't seen each other since Santana staggered into her kitchen; drunk. She had every intention of talking to her about Bella, but Santana's wandering hands dismissed all thoughts of productive communication. She'd spent most of their break avoiding the conversation, finding so many other things to talk about and do over the phone. She'd been excited about seeing her girlfriend during lunch but as she stared at the text message during her AP English class, she was upset that she'd have to wait until Glee.

Lunch was next period. She was dreading having to find somewhere to sit, as well as finding adequate food to eat since she hadn't packed a lunch. She let out a sigh as the bell buzzed, and she slowly started her walk toward the cafeteria. When she finally arrived, she settled on a plain salad and took a seat not too far from where the glee kids were sitting. She hadn't asked to sit with them since most of them had easily taken Finn's side after their breakup. Noah was nowhere around, and she knew Santana was off doing something else with her lunch period. She sighed, snapping a carrot in half before bringing it to her mouth.

"Mind if I sit here?"

That voice was definitely familiar.

"Bella?"

000 0000 000

They were by the football field sitting beneath the bleachers, the silence between them louder than the howling wind. He was toying with the loose strings on his hoodie sleeve, staring into the parking lot they were facing.

"I'm not gay."

Santana smirked, pulling her hat down lower to stop her eyes from tearing from the cold.

"Don't laugh, Santana. I'm being serious right now."

She immediately straightened. Puck rarely got serious with her anymore. She waited.

"Look, I know you think I'm a jerk for trying what I did. I was tipsy—"

"That's not an excuse to—"

"Let me finish. I've been kind of going through a lot of stuff. Ever since Quinn and Juvie…I've been having these…feelings."

He was staring straight ahead, his jaw clenching and unclenching as he spoke, his eyes avoiding her steady gaze. He sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat. She wanted to comfort him, but she knew if she didn't give him a chance to talk, he'd deflect and crawl back into himself.

"You know, this summer, Quinn and I dated. Well, I'd been trying to get some action. And not that pansy over the bra under the shirt, bull. I even convinced her that I got a vasectomy… and that I couldn't get her pregnant. Well we were making out, and she was all horny from the hormones, she was going to let me go all the way. But I couldn't get it up—"

"Is that why you…."

"Just listen, Santana. Well we blamed it on the excitement of anticipating it too long and we tried again. Nothin. It was a problem for a while, and she broke up with me before school. She said the guilt was the penance for her being a cheater, or some crap. I never missed a girl before. Like, we lived together, San. I sorta loved her. I started doing stupid stuff to get attention. You know, setting shit on fire…punching cops. Nobody cared about me, or what happened to me. I didn't know how to handle anything. Well…you know that Monday before I got locked up? I decided to pay you a visit. I mean if you couldn't get me up—no one could. But you did. And after you bit me…"

He turned to look at her for the first time then, nostalgically smirking in her general direction.

"I kind of just climbed out your window with my tail between my legs. That's when I realized that I fell out of love with Quinn. Being with you was like coming home, San."

He bumped her shoulder, his thumbs gripping the edges of his jean pockets.

"But you know we can't be that way… we aren't allowed to love each other like that, we're too much the same. Well…I got in my mom's Volvo and hit the Seven Eleven. Got wasted and decided it'd be badass to hijack that ATM. Stupid thing was a bitch to open. I even hit it a few times with my Mom's car…"

He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he continued.

"Well… I went to juvie. That place sucked. Everybody was huge and they all hated me. My cell mate, Mark, was just like me. He was a badass…but those dudes were criminals. Me and Mark stuck together. We got pretty close… and I even,"

He turned his head in both directions before continuing,

"…we even kissed a few times. I kind of liked it. When I found out I was getting out, I sort of blew him off. I mean, I'm not gay. But, when I came home…I needed to come find you. I needed proof that I – that I dig chicks. And when I got to your window and I saw you and Rach…then you stood up and I saw it. We grew up together, San. You were my first kiss, my first girlfriend. My best friend. But I couldn't help feel like the only reason I liked you now, was because you secretly had man junk. When we got drunk I was curious. I needed to know if that stuff turned me on. I know I should have just like…talked you about it. But we don't talk like we used to."

It got quiet after that. She had tears in her eyes and she didn't know why. It was so much to take in all at once, and all she could do was stand up and pull at his hands until he stood in front of her. She hugged him, pulling back to look at his face.

"Puck, its okay to like whoever you want."

"That's easy for you to say, San, you're a girl."

"Maybe you can talk to Kurt?"

"No way is this getting out, Lopez. I kept your secret you keep mine."

She shrugged.

"So this Mark guy, do you guys still talk?" Puck nodded.

"He sent me a letter. He's in there till March. He only lives a few miles away from here."

"Will you go see him?"

Puck could only shrug.

000 0000 000

"What are you doing here? Are you stalking me, Bella, because no matter how flattered I am, I can only say that stalking is still highly unsettling."

Bella smiled.

"I told my Dad I wanted to go to a co-ed school. He thinks I'm all out of my gay phase; I'm actually here to try to help Dave. Can I sit down?"

Rachel nodded. She watched the girl unwrap her peanut butter sandwich.

"So where's your girlfriend?"

Rachel scoffed.

"Don't be rude, Bella."

"Seriously Rachel, you should know me better. I'm seriously over my crush, and I made my way over here to say I was sorry. I realized how unfair I was being, and that it was time I moved on. Besides, McKinely has so many closeted lesbians I'll have my pick with the fresh meat."

Rachel chuckled, forking her dry salad into her mouth.

"But seriously, you two don't eat lunch together?"

"Well we are trying to keep our relationship under wraps, I really don't need another reason to be discriminated against and bullied on."

"Got ya. It really does suck here. I saw this kid get a slushy to the face earlier. This school has so many big egos for everyone to be so afraid to be themselves."

Rachel grunted, and swallowed the food in her mouth.

"Very true. On that front I should probably warn you that your brother may slushy me if he finds out we are hanging out together; and in public. And I honestly don't know if I should trust your word, you've already overstepped a boundary."

"I already talked to Dave. We have an understanding. And look, I am seriously apologizing for how things went down. I'm not a sit back and do nothing type person. You can't blame me for going after something I wanted. But… but I took a step back from the situation and I realized that I was being unfair to your girlfriend. If I were in her shoes and I found out stuff like that was happening, I'd freak. So seriously, I'm happy for you Rachel. Before all this stuff happened we were becoming friends. I would really like it if we could get back to that."

Rachel stared at her for a moment, contemplating her sincerity. She knew how easily things could fall back into place with Bella. They were friends before, and good ones at that. Bella was a cheerful person to be around, but still so ambitious and unrelenting. Admirable things to have in a friend, she surmised. She knew that letting her guard down could potentially set her up for another complicated situation, but she was realizing that Bella Karofsky was a seriously wonderful ally.

"Fine. What's this understanding you have with Karofsky?"

"I have dirt on him. I asked him to not retaliate against you just because we socialize. He's going to back off. I feel like crap for taking advantage of that, but he has seriously got to learn about tolerance. He hates himself so much I hate him for it. I didn't know how many kids he bullied here. Dave's seriously a really great guy."

Rachel nodded. She remembered then why that got along so well. Bella was such an understanding person. Everything she was contradicted the uptight and judgmental family she was raised in. She believed wholeheartedly in herself, and the potential other people had to be better.

"I agree. It's hard for me to come from where I come from and feel safe around him. That kind of rage is bound to explode sooner or later."

"True, but that's why I'm here. I know Dave. I don't know this football player, this big bully. I only know the Dave who'd play with my dolls and sip tea with me and my stuffed animals. Like he's my big brother, and I am the only person who knows everything about him…who doesn't judge him for it. And I know if he ever does go over the top, I'll be here to calm him down."

Rachel nodded. She understood. She had nothing to say, for once, and decided to go along into a different topic.

"Well sitting with me may get you slushied. Social hierarchy rules here."

Bella barked out laughter, startling a few kids at other tables.

"People apparently know who I am already. They are scared of Dave. They won't mess with me. And besides, I don't care about this social pyramid stuff, Rachel. It's for the birds. I always get along with everyone, no matter where I am. And come on, this is high school. I'll be fine."

She nodded again at her. Taking a moment to check her phone for text messages, she smiled when she came across one from Santana. The quick, 'meet me during your free period', made her beam up at the girl sitting beside her.

"So tell me about her? What's she like?"

Her cheeks were burning with the strain of smiling so hard, and she could feel the burn of a blush creeping up her face.

"She's great. I never really thought we would have ever gotten along so well. I like being around her…like all the time. We just sit up late and talk in the dark and it's all so, magical."

"Did you tell her you love her yet?"

"No, I don't know when it's the right time. And my parents have currently locked me in my room until I rehabilitate my behavior."

"Why? What happened?"

"We were going behind everyone's backs. My Dads got upset at me for sneaking around, so I'm grounded for a while."

"So when was the last time you saw her?"

"Like a week ago. I'll see her later during glee though."

"So she's in glee too?"

"Uh, yea." She hadn't meant to let that slip.

"That's cool. I wish I could sing, I hear you guys need members. I was actually thinking about joining the Cheerios."

Rachel blanched.

"Why would you want to? Coach Sylvester is a manipulative slave driver."

"Well, I am already in ballet and gymnastics. And I hear her reputation can put you in a few good colleges. Your girls' basketball team sucks, so that's my only option. But the season is almost over, so I'd just have to try out to sit bench till next year. I'll see what happens. I'm going to head out. Dave said we share a class next period, he's going to show me around. Call me sometime."

She nodded, watching Bella clean her table top and walk out of the cafeteria. Rachel only had two periods to go before she would see Santana.

000 0000 000

She was in study hall. She was sitting next to Brittany passing back notes like they usually did, accompanied by the random games of tic tac toe in the margins. Brittany slid a piece of paper to her.

You heard about Karofsky's sister transferring? She went to that all girls school on the skirts.

Santana rolled her eyes. Of course his sister would transfer here. She was just adding to the list of someone else trying to step on her toes. She scribbled her reply.

So what? As long as she don't get in my way we good.

She slid the paper back over to Brittany. She honestly didn't know how to feel. She hated the nervousness she had knowing that the girl would be in close proximity with Rachel. They were a grade level apart, but she was surprised when she saw the girl introducing herself in one of her AP courses. She was all tan skin and pretty green eyes. It made her want to vomit. She couldn't really tell the relation to Karofsky, though. She was dainty and girly will still managing to be all gay. It was obvious she was a carpet muncher from her wardrobe. She seemed like she'd be all bark and no bite until she started speaking up in class with spitfire questions and confrontational rebuttals. She sort of reminded her of Rachel during glee. Brittany was tapping her arm with the note she'd refolded, Santana took it and opened up a flap.

Did you know that dragonflies have six legs but can't walk? Mrs. Jenner gave me passing grade for my essay. I wrote it in Dutch. She got it translated and said it actually made sense. I don't understand why they would force me to take English when I'm from America. When are you meeting with Rachel?

Santana smirked at her best friend. She probably didn't take her medicine that day; the randomness was even evident on paper. She scribbled a reply and checked her phone. She was going to meet Rachel in the handicapped bathroom for the period, choosing to skip Spanish and make up something for Schue later. The minutes were ebbing away like hours. She didn't really know if she wanted to talk to Rachel about the whole Puck thing, or bring up the Bella thing and risk having a fight over it. Of course, they could skip the talking and just have sex… but she knew she probably wouldn't. She was putting effort into her relationship. She'd never been in an honest and open relationship so far. No one's ever known everything about her. She didn't want to ruin it by trying to keep things to herself. She knew more than anyone that most people's secrets usually come out. She picked up the paper Brittany plucked in her direction and opened it up.

Well have fun! Tell Rachel I said hi, and don't be late for glee. I'm going to tell Mr. Schuester that I want to do a tribute to Cindy Lauper. Me and Tiff are going bowling Sunday, I'm going to try to get Rachel's dad to let her come.

Santana smiled. She scribbled a quick 'okay' before the bell buzzed, and walked Brittany to her locker before making her way to the handicapped bathroom. Rachel was already inside, sitting on top of a bunch of paper towels folded up on the closed toilet seat.

"Hey."

"Hey."

They smiled at each other for a silly two minutes, and Santana turned to bolt the door and went to Rachel to pull her up into a hug.

"My Dads said I'm ungrounded. I still can't sleep over, but they said we can hang out and stuff as long as we stick to the rules."

"Cool, Britt wants us to go bowling on Sunday."

"Okay."

They kissed.

"Rachel… I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Okay, I want to tell you something too."

"Go ahead. You go first."

"Don't be silly, Santana, tell me what you were going to say."

Santana rolled her eyes.

"Well, um. Puck and I were hanging out that night I came to your house. He kinda tried to feel me up."

"What? Noah?"

"Well, he's having some issues with his sexuality…"

Rachel could only nod.

"Well I just thought I'd tell you. Like we talked about it and everything and it's all cool. He already told me it wouldn't happen again."

"Okay."

"That's it? You're not mad? You're not going to go find Puck and slap him for being a jerk? Give me a lecture- nothing?"

"No. I think you handled the situation rather well. And I know you and Noah have a… history. And he knows about us and he wouldn't do anything to hurt either of us. And besides, I got suspicious that he was confused when I went to see him at the juvenile detention center."

"You went to visit Puck?"

"Well, yes. I made him some cookies. They wouldn't let me actually give him the cookies, something about lacing baking products with marijuana. But yea, I went to see him. He seemed pretty shaken up. But he kept talking about Mark—I knew something was going on."

"Oh, I didn't know you two got along so well."

"Noah and I are get along great, he's actually one of the few glee members who stays loyal to me. Aside from Brittany."

"Yea. So what did you want to tell me?"

"Oh, yes, right. Well. As you know, Bella transferred here, and I –"

"Oh yea, I'm cool with it. I mean I know you guys are friends or whatever."

Santana was trying to come off as understanding. The nervousness in her voice made her sound like she was trying to convince herself of what she was saying.

"Well… last time I saw her, she kind of made a pass at me and I –"

"I'm going to kill her."

"Santana wait, you're over reacting."

"No, I'm really not. I'm going to find that little green eyed freak and ruin her annoying little face."

"Santana listen to me!"

It was quiet in the echoing bathroom.

"She didn't come here for me. She came here for her brother. She apologized already and we are moving on from this. She seriously said she was sorry; she even apologized for being unfair to you. She's already talking about seeing who's available here."

"That's bullshit Rachel. I got over it the first time, because she didn't give me a reason. Now she's hitting on you and thinking she can get away with it. That shit's not cool. So if I see her around school I'm seriously going to break her nose."

"Santana that's not fair. You told me what happened with Puck, I told you what happened with Bella. How can you say in the same conversation that either of us is wrong for wanting to keep our friends?"

"Whatever, Rachel. Just make sure she stays out of my way. I'm going to class. I'll see you in glee."

She walked out before Rachel could stop her.

000 0000 000

Glee quickly ended the day for Rachel. She walked in, settling in her chair and watching as Santana took her usual seat beside Brittany. Mr. Schuester was late as usual, walking in with photocopies of songs for the group. He started talking about assignments and Regionals, and was quickly interrupted by a tap on the door.

"Hi, Mr. Schuester. I'm Bella Karofsky. I was told I could sign up for glee here."

Mr. Schue nodded, putting the papers down on the piano before turning to the dark haired girl in front of the class.

"So, Bella, can you sing?"

"I can carry a tune. I was thinking I'd be a great interpretive dancer if you needed one. And I'm really good with choreography"

"All right, um, have a seat and just blend in today, we will see about setting you up with some voice coaching."

Bella sat down next to Rachel, bumping shoulders as she smiled in her direction. She heard a chair scrape against tile, and watched as Santana abruptly stood from her seat and grabbed her backpack. Mumbling in broken Spanish she stormed out of the room. Brittany followed quickly after her.

Rachel sighed.

This would be a long semester.

End of Chapter 18