A/N: Again, thanks for the reviews here's the next chapter. I don't really have anything to say other than that, except that I'm frustrated about new episodes of Glee being interrupted for weeks now.
Rachel sat in her car and gripped the steering wheel so hard her knuckles turned white. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, trying to calm herself. The memory of what happened between her and Santana was still fresh in her mind. She still remembered everything, how Santana was fine one second and the next it seemed like she was going to kill Rachel. Rachel sighed and brought her head down on the steering wheel with a groan, wondering how the hell she was going to face Santana. The best scenario was that Santana would apologize, but Rachel highly doubted that. Worst case might be that Santana would kill her in her sleep, which seemed possible. Or Santana could just ignore her completely for the rest of her life.
Rachel wasn't sure she would be able to handle that.
She sat up and let out one last deep breath before stepping out of the car. She made her way to the school and made her way to her locker, surprised that a slushy hadn't hit her yet. For a second she was naïve enough to think maybe Santana was the reason why, that maybe Santana realized what she had did and maybe, just maybe, Rachel. That idea went away the second she turned around and got hit with a slushy from Karofsky. Rachel sighed and turned toward her locker as everyone else laughed and saw that some of it had gotten on her locker. By the time she turned around Karofsky had already left and Rachel walked to the bathroom like always.
When she walked in all the sinks were occupied by a group of cheerios doing their hair and make-up in front of the mirror. They all stopped and looked at her at the same time, making Rachel think of them as Barbie machines, and they looked at each other and giggled. Rachel rolled her eyes and walked to the end of the bathroom, leaning against the wall waiting quietly for them to finish. They purposely took longer and stole not so subtle glances at her before chuckling quietly again. Rachel just closed her hands into fists and looked down and closed her eyes so she didn't have to see them staring at her like she was just some bug. After hearing a few more giggles and a "loser" out of one of the girls, she heard the bathroom door open and Rachel thought maybe they were leaving and looked up, only to look down just as quickly. Of course, of all people to walk in it had to be Santana. The cheerios still laughed and just kept doing what they were doing before, and Rachel was afraid Santana would join them in making fun of her, but Santana had other plans instead.
"Out." Santana spoke with such coldness that all the other cheerios became dead silent. Rachel's eyes were still closed, but she imagined them looking at Santana with open mouths and wide eyes. There was more silence until Santana spoke again. "Are you deaf? I said get out." They started speaking quietly to themselves and Santana ordered them out for a third time. "Now." Third time was the charm, because Rachel heard them all hurrying out the door, not wanting to face the wrath of Santana Lopez. Rachel heard her walk closer to her and she squeezed her eyes shut even more.
"Ya know, Berry, you're going to hurt yourself like that." Rachel opened her eyes to see Santana with a hint of a grin. Rachel looked down again and nodded, afraid of what could happen next. Santana grabbed Rachel's hand and led the smaller brunette to the sink. "Put your head down in there." Rachel looked at Santana questioningly and the Latina rolled her eyes. She reached up and gently pushed Rachel's head into the sink. Santana turned on the faucet and Rachel felt her fingers thread through her hair as her hair was being washed. She shuddered at the feeling of Santana's fingers and the other girl paused in the hair washing. "Too cold?"
"N-no." Rachel replied. Shocked that Santana was caring enough to ask, or even notice. Hell, she was shocked that Santana was even washing her hair to begin with. Santana didn't say anything else after that, and neither did Rachel, and the only sound coming from the bathroom was the water. Santana turned off the faucet and squeezed the water out of Rachel's hair. When she let go, Rachel was about to stand up properly, but put her hand behind Rachel's head.
"Wait." Rachel nodded and tried to see what Santana was doing, but her wet hair had gotten in the way. Rachel heard Santana's backpack open and she quickly found a towel dumped on her head. "There." Rachel leaned up and grabbed the towel and looked at Santana. Santana just rolled her eyes and yanked it out of her hand. "If you don't want it-"
"No, I, um, I do." Rachel stuttered quickly after, taking the towel back and drying her hair. Rachel turned towards the mirror and saw Santana staring back at her with unreadable eyes. Rachel cleared her throat and looked down. "Santana, why are you here?" Santana didn't answer at first, and Rachel thought that maybe she wasn't going to say anything at all. Santana finally groaned and rubbed the back of her head.
"Okay, listen, I'm…sorry." Rachel blinked and turned around.
"What?" She knew she had Santana apologizing as one of the things that could happen between them, but it was still a shock.
"I said I'm sorry about yesterday," Santana said quietly, suddenly looking uncomfortable. "I kinda went all psycho on you, and I shouldn't have done that." Santana let out a long breath of air and relaxed again.
"O-oh, um, well thank you for apologizing, it really does mean a lot-" Santana just rolled her eyes and scowled, getting right up in Rachel's face.
"Whatever Manhands," Rachel winced at the nickname, but Santana didn't notice. "I don't apologize because I'm Santana fucking Lopez, so this never happened and you don't mention this to anyone, got it?" Rachel nodded and Santana's face softened a little bit and she took a step back. "Good, see you in Glee." Santana turned around and walked out the door. Rachel sighed and reached up to move her hair out of the way when she felt the towel. She grabbed it and ran out of the bathroom to catch up to Santana, only to find her lost in the crowd of students. Rachel sighed and walked back in the bathroom to change her shirt.
Brittany skipped into Spanish class with a not so happy Santana behind her, which she had been doing since the day started. Brittany walked to her desk and sat down and watched Santana sit down next to her with a giant smile on her face. Santana just rolled her eyes at her friend and looked away, unfortunately, the looking away meant looking at the direction of Rachel's desk, which was currently empty. Brittany giggled and Santana mentally cursed.
"San, it's like you can't get away from Rachy. It's like you're meant to be." Santana wanted to barf.
"Um, hells no Britt. I'm not meant to even get near that midget." Brittany frowned before smiling again.
"But you apologized to her." Santana sighed.
"That's cuz Q made me, and you took her side." Brittany nodded happily.
"Can we see the ducks later today?" Santana sighed.
"Sure Britt."
Rachel was walking down to Spanish later than usual when she bumped into Puck, literally. Puck just grinned at her and grabbed a piece of her hair.
"Slushie?" Rachel just nodded and the two walked to Spanish class together. "Feeling better?" Puck asked, and Rachel thought about what happened in the bathroom with Santana.
"Good…I think."
"Think?" Rachel sighed and remembered she never exactly told Puck about her and Santana's blow-up the previous day, and she decided now was a good time as any.
"Yes, well, when I was feeling down, that was because Santana kind of…yelled at me the other day and I was worried I ruined my chances of her remembering me, but today she apologized, so that's good, right?" Rachel asked the last part looking up at Puck with hopeful eyes. Puck just grinned and raised his hand for a high five.
"Yeah that's good, see you got this, c'mon, high five," He suddenly thought better and lowered his hand so it was closer to Rachel, then closed it to a fist. "Even better, fist pump." Rachel grinned and hit her fist against his just as they walked into Spanish class. Santana, who had been looking in that direction, saw Rachel and looked away. Brittany saw the two and waved at them, shouting out their names, making everyone look at her. Rachel smiled and waved back with obvious less enthusiasm, and Rachel wondered how the girl always had it in her.
Once Spanish was over, Santana rushed out of the room as usual, and Puck and Rachel walked out together. They walked down to the cafeteria and Rachel expected Puck to leave her for his usual table, but instead he chose to follow Rachel. Everyone at the table stopped eating and stared at him in surprise. It wasn't that he was too high on the social ladder to sit with them, once he joined Glee he was as low as the rest of them, but he was still on the football team and accepted there. If anything, he was just a more popular Glee loser.
"Surprised to see you here." Mercedes said and everyone nodded.
"I just want to spend time with my bro." Puck said with a shrug as he sat down and started going through his backpack.
"You two have gotten pretty close." Rachel and Puck looked at each other before grinning.
"Hot Jews stick together." Was all Puck said and everyone rolled their eyes, except Rachel who had gotten used to the things that come out of Puck's mouth. She just laughed at him with a shake of her head. Puck finally got what he wanted and took out a rubber duck then called Brittany's name out. Brittany's head snapped up toward him from the Cheerios table and she smiled when she saw what was in his hand. She jumped up from her spot in between Quinn and Santana and made her way to Puck.
"You found Ducky!" Brittany jumped up and down as she grabbed the duck and rubbed it against her face.
"Not me, Rachel did." Puck said pointing at Rachel. Rachel suddenly felt herself be engulfed in a hug from behind.
"Thanks, Rachy," Rachel just nodded as her cheeks flushed a red. "I'll make sure Santana's nicer to you." With that, Brittany left and walked back to the table she was sitting at. Rachel and Puck watched her sit down and show the rubber duck to Quinn and Santana, both of which smiled at Brittany. Santana smiled at Brittany and brought her head down on the table again as Brittany showed Quinn and the other blonde playfully petted the rubber duck like it was a real pet.
"Worked like a charm." Puck said as the two turned back around. Rachel just sighed and moved closer to him and spoke softly.
"I don't even know what I'm doing, or how to get her to remember me." Puck just grinned and leaned in as well and snuck a glance at Santana.
"That's why you got me to help you out." Rachel was about to say something when Kurt spoke up.
"Wait, are you two together?" He asked and Rachel gaped at him. Puck just snorted and rolled his eyes.
"Oh please, she's my girlbro, and bro's don't do that with each other."
"Exactly," Rachel said with a nod. "We are only friends, that's all." Puck looked at Rachel and grinned at her seductively.
"But bro's can occasionally make out." Puck wriggled his eyebrows at her, which earned him a slap to the back of his head. "Never mind." Everyone just laughed at Puck's usual antics and spent the rest of lunch listening to his crude jokes, making them all be stuck between disgusted and amused at the same time.
For the rest of the day every time Rachel saw Santana, the Latina was giving her a death glare. Each time they crossed paths, Santana shoved the smaller brunette, usually into lockers, with Brittany frowning and giving Rachel an apologetic look. Finally it was time for Glee and Rachel headed to her locker before going to the choir room. She put her books away and closed her locker and jumped. In front of her was Finn, sporting his usual dopey grin that supposedly made him look adorable and hovering over her, not knowing the definition of personal space.
"Hey Rachel, it's been pretty hard to find you lately, but I did now." Finn said, obviously proud of himself. Rachel gave him a shaky smile and nodded.
"Yes, Finn, you did. Um, let's go to Glee then." Fin nodded and walked next to her down the hall. Rachel saw Puck across the hall flirting with some Cheerio, with his arm up on the lockers and her one of her hands on his other arm that was at his side. Puck looked over just as he was laughing at something she said, and Rachel looked at him with pleading eyes. Puck subtly nodded and turned his attention back on the Cheerio so fast that she didn't notice. Puck shoved something in her hand as he said one last thing and walked off to Rachel without a look back. He walked up to her easily and playfully brought his arm around her shoulders, and Finn noticed.
"Hey man, what the hell?" Finn said angrily, and Puck moved his arms away from Rachel.
"I'm just saying hi to my girlbro," Puck looked down at Rachel and winked at her. "Hey Jewish Princess." Rachel raised an eyebrow but smiled at him anyway.
"That's a new name."
"Just thought of it." Finn watched the exchange with an obvious frown. The rest of the walk was in silence on Finn's part, and when they walked in Rachel and Puck sat at the end, with Rachel sitting on the very last chair and Puck sitting next to her. Finn opened his mouth to say something but one look from Puck made him close it again and sat behind Rachel and glared at the floor. Soon Mercedes, Kurt, Tina, and Artie, the only other ones that were usually earlier than the rest, walked in and sat around Rachel and Puck. They each gave Finn an odd look but mostly ignored him and talked in a little group. Soon after Mike and Matt walked in talking, and Mike and Tina looked at each other for a moment before looking away shyly. Mercedes noticed and began whispering in Kurt's ear, and the two moved somewhere else for gossip. Finally, Brittany walked in talking excitedly with Quinn, and Santana sulking in after them. Rachel looked up Santana, but the other girl was staring at the floor. Finally, Mr. Schuester walked in and walked to the front of the piano.
"Alright guys, time to get with your partner and work on that duet." He said excitedly and everyone got up and split apart. Rachel sighed and slowly got up and walked to Santana, who was still sitting down and staring at the floor. Rachel stood directly in front of Santana and cleared her throat, making Santana snap her head up. Santana rolled her eyes and patted the empty chair next to her. Rachel smiled and sat down and faced Santana.
"So, what would you like to do for our duet project? Maybe we can pick a specific genre today, or do you have songs as of this moment for duet possibilities? We would probably have to-"
"Manhands, shut up already." Rachel closed her mouth and looked down frowning. Santana pinched the bridge of her nose for a few moments before sitting up and facing Rachel too. "Alright, I got nothing, so what about you?" Rachel looked up and thought for a moment before shaking her head.
"Unfortunately, nothing." Santana nodded and leaned back in thought and Rachel did the same. Suddenly she sat up again. "I believe Barbra Streisand has done some duets." Santana groaned and looked at Rachel.
"No, there's gonna be no Barbra Streisand crap with me, got it?"
"Fine…"
"There's got to be something else you like that isn't Streisand." Rachel thought for a moment before shrugging at Santana.
"Seriously?" Rachel nodded and Santana looked around the room before leaning into Rachel. "Fuck, okay I can't work with someone who listens only to Streisand, so I'm going to have to show you other music." Rachel cocked her head to the side and looked at Rachel questioningly.
"How?"
"You're coming to my house and I'm going to teach you something about normal people music." Rachel's eyes widened and she stared at Santana in shock.
"R-really…?" Santana scowled and glared at Rachel.
"Don't make me say it twice, Manhands." Normally Rachel would frown or, if Santana said it mean enough, flinch at the name, but she was in too much shock and she ended up just nodding to Santana. Santana leaned back and crossed her arms as she stared at the clock. Rachel snapped out of her gaze and looked at the clock as well.
"You know, staring at it makes time pass by slower." Santana just scoffed.
"Whatever, there's nothing else to do until you get to my house this weekend." Rachel frowned and looked at Santana.
"I have to wait until the weekend?" Santana just rolled her eyes and shrugged. Rachel pouted and looked back at the clock with a huff. "Fine, the weekend." Rachel couldn't wait until it came; luckily she didn't have to wait long.