Special thanks to stix04 for reviewing every single chapter. You made my day.

To youtellme: I've tried it too, but all I ever got in return was „are you off in la-la-land?" and „did you go into shock?"…

Count To Ten

Chapter 4

Day 3…

Another day, another success. Or, well, you know, not a total failure. Many people had given up on talking to her, never getting an answer in return. If they'd just wait around, they'd realize never was actually ten seconds later, but she couldn't fault them for not having that kind of patience. Still, it was kind of remarkable – when she was still an obnoxious talk-machine (Puck's words) they would complain, but eventually come back for more. Who would have thought that Rachel Berry not speaking was even more frustrating? And those who were still trying to converse with her got tired of it soon. After all, not everything had changed, and she was still very much the person she was before Santana decided to turn her world upside down with a simple piece of advice. She'd never gotten around to offering her help to Kurt after their fight. He'd approached her again about it the same day, but her thoughts had been occupied with Quinn, counting to ten, and, strangely enough, images of Santana and Brittany in a yoga class. Therefore, not much had been said, Kurt had again left her standing, and Rachel had concluded that Artie had been perfectly right in his assessment of angry storm-outs. The more often you executed them, the more they lost in effect.

Up to that point, her day had been a total failure. But then Quinn happened. And just like the day before in the restroom, they'd had a nice conversation and Quinn even had that look on her face again that she couldn't quite place but that was just so endearing. Then, after their second class together, they'd talked again, and it made Rachel rename her project yet again, only this time to the much more positive sounding Mission Do Whatever You Need To Do To Get More Of This. She'd have to work on her titling skills, sure, and it was kind of pathetic to read so much into a few nice words of her former arch enemy, and, really, how long would it last? Why was it even so important to her? But she simply couldn't be concerned with any of that. Not when Quinn was blushing and complimenting her and acting even more nervous than during Brittana's perv-show.

Her day was a success because her hard work (biting back the words that so desperately wanted to escape her mouth, collecting herself, calming her energetic mind and then – only then – speaking in short, clear sentences was unbelievably hard work) had finally paid off. It worked. Granted, it only seemed to work on Quinn, but that was more than enough. And yeah, something wasn't quite right about that, because Quinn shouldn't matter that much, but her usually analytical mind refused to question her feelings on that matter. Instead she found herself agreeing with yet another member of the Glee Club. Mercedes' motto of „don't question it, just enjoy it" was simple to follow when you weren't ready for the answers anyway.

And then there was the fact that she couldn't help but feel that the last few days had been some kind of build-up. Like something big was about to happen that wouldn't be happening if she hadn't talked to Santana and followed her advice. She'd always prided herself on her sixth sense even if it let her down sometimes, but this time it was not just a feeling. There was hard evidence that something was going on.

First of all, why had Santana even bothered speaking to her on Monday, let alone tried to help her? That had never happened before, so what was different this time? Maybe the Latina had been tired of watching her fail at human interaction, but if that was all, she would've said her piece and then went back to ignoring her again. But she hadn't bitten her head off for seeking her out several times in the last few days, even if she didn't welcome her with open arms. Santana had a hidden agenda, of that she was sure. For whatever reason, she was at least a little bit invested in what she had started, and that meant more was to come.

Then there was Brittany, who suddenly made it a point to send her winks, waves and grins across the hallways. Granted, Brittany had always been nice, but to Rachel it had mostly been in passing and never so frequently. Maybe it was the fact that Santana and Rachel found themselves in each other's vicinity much more often now, walking to class alongside each other (not with each other, next to each other, Santana emphasized) that made Rachel fair game for Brittany's affections, but she was sure the blonde was in on whatever went on behind the scenes.

Another clue was the whispering. Well, the whispering combined with glances at her. In itself, that wasn't really new. She was short and loud, dressed in argyle and sang in Glee Club – whispers and glances had become so normal to her over the years that half of the time she didn't even realize it any more when someone was really looking at her instead of glancing at her or talking to her instead of whispering about her. What was new was the fact that Santana, Brittany and Quinn did the whispering and glancing. The three of them usually were nothing if not forward. They'd never held back on anything where she was concerned. Whispering and glancing was simply not needed when you felt free to openly do anything you wanted your target.

Now, though? She caught I'm so excited about this whispered into Quinn's ear by Brittany, both of their eyes set firmly on her. She saw Santana nudging Quinn out of the corner of her eyes and the blonde standing beside her five seconds later, asking her about her day. A flash in the mirror of a pleased looking and nodding Santana behind her when she was freshening up her make-up in the school's bathroom and humming happily. When she found herself slushie free even after she swore she'd seen a jock advance on her with the cold beverage in hand, she looked around and found each member of the Unholy Trinity suspiciously close and busying themselves with shoelaces (Brittany), an Alcohol Awareness Week poster on a wall (Santana) and books (Quinn).

And then there was Quinn herself. The girl had been making an effort for some time now, even before that fateful Monday, but never before did she have that air of shyness around her. And never before had she seen Quinn so often in one day than she did this week. It wasn't like Quinn actively sought her out, or at least it didn't seem like it, but circumstances brought them together much more often now, the two of them bumping into each other in between classes or two seats next to each other the only ones vacant when people suddenly decided they wanted to sit somewhere else entirely. Quinn didn't seem to mind and Rachel certainly wouldn't complain, either. She liked Quinn, there was no way around that. Just like she'd told her at prom, she was the prettiest girl she'd ever met, but she was also much more than that. But crushing on someone who was so completely unattainable (even more unattainable than Finn or Mr. Schuester or any other crush she'd ever had, because this was Quinn Fabray for crying out loud!) was something not even Rachel Berry would undergo willingly, so she'd never even come close to entertaining the thought of her and Quinn becoming more than maybe, possibly friends. Even that concept was a little hard to grasp when you looked at their prior interactions with each other.

So there it was, her hard evidence and her feelings and she didn't know what it all meant, but it had to mean something. Something was happening that she wasn't aware of, and something even bigger would be happening. Soon. Because if this was build-up, the big bang couldn't be too far away.

And if she was right, wouldn't it be fair to get a little heads-up? Who in their right mind would expect her of all people to just sit back and let things go their way? Was she being played? Left in the dark about some important…

„Hey, Rach, you're drifting off into space again. Do you feel okay? You know, I really think that if you'd be eating meat, you'd feel much better. It has so much…you know, stuff…that is good for the body."

Finn. Why had she wanted to date him again?

„I'll have you know that…"

Before she could even really start her rant about the pros and cons of vegetarianism, a hand clamped over her mouth and she was pulled away from Finn. She wanted to scream, break free, but a hissed shut up, smurfette, and stop fucking kicking me revealed Santana as her capturer, and she let herself be dragged around the next corner.

„What do you think you are doing?"

She didn't respond, instead widening her eyes at Santana's hand still on her mouth. The Latina quickly took a step back, wiping her hand on her Cheerio's skirt, and waited.

„I was just speaking to Finn."

„I know", Santana rolled her eyes. „He said something to you, and what did you do?"

„I answered him", Rachel replied, not getting the point.

„And what should you have been doing?"

Ups. „Oh."

„Yeah, oh. Don't tell me you've given up?" Strangely enough, she looked genuinely worried.

„No, I was simply lost in thought and didn't think of it. I'm still very much committed to counting to ten."

„Good." Was that a sigh of relief?

„Why do you care so much?" It was a valid question, Rachel thought. Santana probably wouldn't give her a straight answer, but if she wanted to get to the bottom of things, she'd at least have to try.

„I don't care. I couldn't care less. I don't. Care, I mean. At all. Nothing could be further from my mind than caring about this. Or you." Well, that was convincing. Denial and awkward rambling. For a moment there, she'd sounded like a combination of Rachel and Quinn.

„You don't care. Okay."

„Right. I just wanted to make sure."

„But you don't care."

„Exactly." Where was Brittany when you needed her?

„So, if I were to stop now, you wouldn't care either way?"

„Why would you stop?"

„I was speaking hypothetically."

„Hypothetically speaking, I wouldn't care. But I would still advise you to keep going a little longer."

„How long? Hypothetically speaking?"

„You'll know."

„Will I?"

„Yes."

„But how?"

„Okay, you know what, let's cut the crap. Someone is going to do something nice for you. And you'll make it easier on them of you're not your usual obnoxious self. So just wait for that and then you can do whatever you want."

„Someone is going to do something nice for me?"

„That's what I said."

„A grand gesture?"

„I'm not telling you more than that."

„And you don't care. But you want this to work?"

„I just don't want you to fuck anything up. I don't care, but fuck it up and I'll hurt you."

Rachel thought for a moment. Then, she smiled.

„You're a romantic."

Santana looked appalled at that.

„I'm badass."

„That's what you want people to believe, but you're really just a fluffy ball of mush encased in a hard exterior."

„I. Am. Badass."

„No, you're…"

„I'll prove it to you. Say something to me."

„What?"

„Say something to me, anything, and I'll give you a badass reply."

„I really don't think you need any more incentive to be mean to me. You've always made it perfectly clear that you don't like me."

„It's not that I don't like you. I just don't appreciate your existence."

„I get it. You're badass."

„Yeah. And morally flexible. Answer me this: what do you do when your boyfriend runs away from you in zig-zag?"

„What, Santana?"

„You keep shooting."

„I…what?"

„Are you full-time dumb or do I just have bad timing?"

„I think you made your point."

„Are you sure? Do you understand it now? I'm badass. I'm from Lima Heights Adjacent. If I want to, I can rip you to shreds. Lady Badass: made in heaven, inspired by hell."

„Don't call yourself a lady, you've seen more beds than IKEA."

Uh oh. Had she really just said that? Was she insane? Was she going to die now? Santana was usually very easy to read: One eyebrow raised = Did you really just say that? Two eyebrows raised = Run.

But Santana didn't raise her eyebrows. She didn't raise her arms to beat the crap out of her, either. She just stood there, and then, she laughed. She laughed and laughed and she couldn't seem to stop, and Rachel soon joined in, because Santana laughing from the heart? Totally contagious.

„You're not half bad, Berry."

„I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

„Just don't tell anyone."