A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, and as for the scene with Shelby, well hopefully this chapter clears things up.
Shelby woke up and blinked as she looked around her room, until her eyes fell on Rachel sleeping. Sighing, Shelby ran her hand through Rachel's hair, knowing what had happened. Rachel only slept with Shelby when Shelby looked at the pictures.
She got up and quickly got changed and looked at the time. She mentally scolded herself when she realized Rachel was going to be late. Whenever Rachel slept with her, the internal clock she had failed and she could sleep till noon if Shelby let her. Shelby walked to Rachel and shook her lightly.
"Honey, wake up." Rachel groaned and blinked up at Shelby. She looked over at the clock on Shelby's nightstand and her eyes widened. She shot up in bed and ran out the room.
"I'm going to be late." Rachel panicked as she ran out of Shelby's room. Shelby walked to the kitchen, hearing Rachel run around the house frantically and waved at Shelby as she finally ran out of the house before Shelby could offer her a ride to school. Shelby sighed as she leaned against the counter once Rachel left. It had been a long time since she fell asleep looking at old photos but she still felt just as guilty about it as all the times before.
Rachel had barely made it to class in time, and let out a breath of relief as she slid into her seat, earning a grin from Puck. The rest of the day went by well, despite the uncomfortable feeling she got every time she was by Finn. He still refused to believe Santana was her friend, and was willing to point that out every chance he had. That and he would give Santana a death glare every time he saw the two together. Rachel didn't want to be bothered with him, so she grabbed Puck and the two ate lunch in the choir room, where Finn never stopped by. Rachel enjoyed the silence instead of the loud lunchroom and was talking with Puck when Santana walked by the room and stopped when she saw them. She walked in and sat down next to Rachel on the floor.
"Hey," Santana said and Rachel smiled at her. "What are you guys doing here?" Rachel became silent and Puck shrugged.
"It's away from Finnept." Santana clenched her fist as she thought of the tall boy and looked at Rachel.
"He didn't bother you, did he?" Rachel smiled and shook her head.
"No, nothing different from usual," Rachel looked over and saw Santana looking frustrated and she looked down to her hand. Rachel sighed and put her hand over Santana's, which was still clenched into a fist. "Everything's fine." Santana relaxed and smiled at Rachel. Rachel smiled back and squeezed Rachel's hand. Puck looked between the two and took a drink from his water bottle as he smiled at them.
"Hey, Rachel, wanna come over my house today?" Puck asked and Rachel turned back to Puck.
"Sure, Noah," Rachel suddenly had an idea and turned to Santana, smiling innocently at her. "Do you want to come too?" Santana looked at Rachel, at her smile, and found herself nodding. "Great!" Rachel at Puck and he gave her a knowing grin. Rachel turned back to her food, shivering from the cold room as she did so.
"Cold?" Santana asked, noticing the way Rachel began rubbing her arms up and down.
"It's fine, I just picked the first thing I could find, which isn't very warm," Rachel motioned towards her purple vest with the thin white button up underneath. "Because I woke up late." Rachel finished, deciding not to explain why.
"Here," Santana took off her Cheerios jacket she had been wearing since the weather started getting colder.
"No, it's fine." Rachel said, putting up her hands. Santana ignored her and wrapped the jacket around Rachel's shoulders.
"It's cold in here." Santana said and fixed the collar. Santana smiled as Rachel put her arms through the sleeve and held them out in front of her. The sleeves were rolled down, making them fall past her hands, and Santana tried to hold in her laugh. Rachel looked at her and pouted.
"It's not funny." Santana couldn't hold it in anymore and started laughing out loud. She could help it, Rachel was so small and the jacket looked way too big for her, and Santana had to admit it made her look pretty adorable.
"Sorry," Santana said and handed Rachel her books. Rachel took a few moments to fix her sleeves before grabbing her books as she thanked Santana. The three walked out of the coir room and down the hall while the other students stared at Rachel in Santana's Cheerio jacket. Santana noticed them staring and she leaned towards Rachel. "Ignore them." Rachel looked up at Santana and nodded. When the three went to their separate classes, Rachel sat down in her desk and smelled the jacket and couldn't help but smile. It smelled like Santana.
Santana made Rachel keep the Cheerio jacket, and Rachel promised to give it back the next day. Both Puck and Santana had practice, so Rachel stayed at her house until they got out. She wondered if Shelby would be home, but found that she wasn't. Sighing, she sat down on the couch and texted Shelby that she was going to be out for the day.
She got up again and walked to Shelby's bedroom and picked up the box Shelby had opened the previous night. She took it to her own bedroom and sat with it on the bed. Opening it, she took out everything until she found the first picture of her and Shelby.
She remembered walking in to her new home for the first time, still missing Santana and a little jumpy. The first day was the most awkward day in both of their lives; Rachel wasn't sure what to do and was curled up on the couch. Shelby sat in front of her, just as nervous. Finally, she decided to take a picture of them, which Rachel agreed to. Apparently, that small action took away some of the awkwardness and Rachel let Shelby close. The rest of the day was spent with the two of them watching TV and getting to know each other more and ended with Shelby bathing Rachel and letting her sleep with her.
Rachel couldn't help but smile at the memory as she looked at the picture and was snapped out of her reverie when she felt her phone vibrate. She took it out and opened it to see a text from Shelby.
Okay, I want to talk to you later. I mean, if you want.
Rachel sighed and put everything back in the box and put it back to its proper place, in Shelby's room. She closed the Cheerios jacket and walked outside, not even bothering driving to Puck's house. All she needed at the moment was a good walk, and Puck's house was close enough that she wouldn't freeze to death for too long. She knew Puck was still in football practice, but she knew his younger sister was home, and she could always use a distraction.
Puck ended up driving home after practice with Santana driving behind him. As he drove, he looked back at Santana's car from his rearview mirror from time to time. He hoped Santana spending time with Rachel would help both of them and make Santana remember more. Rachel had told him some of the stories of her time at the orphanage, all of which included Santana, and she always seemed so happy telling him of her time with Santana. But in the end she always got sad, because they both knew Santana didn't remember Rachel and Puck wished he could do something to help her remember. After all, she was his friend and it killed him to see her so sad sometimes.
He parked his car, with Santana doing the same, and they met outside. Together they walked to his house, talking about the next football game coming up and walked in. He had texted Rachel when practice was over and thought she was driving to his house. What he didn't expect was to find Rachel already there, laying on the couch holding one of Melanie's stuffed animals with the younger girl sitting on Rachel's stomach, talking excitedly.
Puck, although surprised, grinned happily that Melanie had taken such a liking to Rachel. He looked at Santana, who was staring at Rachel, looking positively entranced by the sight. Melanie looked up and saw Puck and smiled brightly. She got up on her feet, right on Rachel and digging them into Rachel's stomach. She jumped up, pushing them into Rachel, making the brunette wince in pain. Once Melanie was off, Rachel grabbed her stomach and rolled off the couch, landing on the floor.
"Hi, Noah!" Melanie ran up to him and hugged his legs as he reached down and ruffled her hair.
"Hey, Mel, what are you doing?" Melanie smiled at Puck and pointed at Rachel, who had just stood up but was still clutching her stomach.
"Rachel came over and played with me." Puck smiled and Melanie as Santana walked to Rachel.
"You okay?" Rachel nodded and sat down. She patted the spot on the couch next to her and Santana sat down as well. "We didn't see your car."
"I walked." Rachel shrugged and Santana frowned.
"It's cold though." Rachel shrugged again and wrapped her arms around herself.
"You jacket is really warm, no wonder you Cheerios wear it so much in the winter." Santana smiled at Rachel and nodded.
"It looks good on you." Rachel smiled and looked down as she blushed lightly. Just then, Puck jumped over the back of the couch and wrapped his arm his arm around Santana and pulled her closer to him.
"Hey Lopez, realizing Rachel's one hot Jew in Cheerio clothes?" Santana looked at Rachel and quickly looked away, blushing lightly, but Rachel still saw it. Santana forced a scowl and shoved Puck's arm off her.
"Whatever." Santana said and Puck laughed.
"Sure," He said as he got up and grabbed the controller. He turned back to the couch and nudged Santana towards Rachel, purposely shoving her hard than necessary. Santana glared at Puck as she bumped into Rachel and Puck grinned at her before turning to Rachel. "Here you go, bro." He held it out slightly in front of him, making Rachel reach over Santana. Just as Rachel was about to grab it, Puck moved it away.
"Noah!" Rachel aid and shifted so she had her knees on the couch. She put her hand on Santana's leg and lunged forward. She successfully grabbed the controller and collapsed on both of them. Puck laughed ruffled Rachel's hair teasingly like he had done to Melanie's.
"See, you got it." Rachel huffed as she slapped Puck's hand away.
"That was not funny," She said they looked at each other before breaking out in a fit of giggles. Rachel shifted to get comfortable and she heard Santana take a hitched breath. Remembering she was also on top of Santana, she looked back at Santana. "Do you want me to move?"
Santana looked at Rachel and gave her a shaky smile as she shook her head. Rachel looked at her uncertainly but nodded anyway. She shifted onto her back so she was more comfortable, and Santana closed her eyes and tried not to make any noise. When she stopped moving Santana opened her eyes again and looked at Rachel, who was too busy looking at the screen.
Santana put her hands in her lap, where they pressed against Rachel's leg. Santana looked down at Rachel, seeing the smaller girl relaxed as she played with Puck, and smiled. Every time she saw Rachel happy or relaxed, Santana couldn't help but smile. She didn't know why Rachel's happiness meant so much to her, but it did and it affected her by making her happy.
Lately, every time they were even slightly close, Santana couldn't help but stare at Rachel. The lightest touch seemed to be magnified by ten, making Santana's heart speed up. It didn't help that Rachel would smile so innocently and brightly at her, making Santana blush and look away to hide it. Santana was snapped out of her thoughts when Rachel shifted again.
"Gotta take a piss." Puck said and Rachel started sitting up. Before she could get off, he pushed Rachel towards Santana, making her sit on the other girl's lap.
"Noah!" Puck laughed as Rachel squeaked on Santana's lap and Santana instinctively wrapped an arm around Rachel. Rachel pouted at Puck and he winked at her as he walked out of the room.
Despite the fact that Puck left and Rachel could have easily slid out of Santana's lap, the two girls stayed in the same position. Rachel looked at her lap and Santana was finding a picture on the wall much more interesting. Rachel shifted in Santana's lap again, right on Santana's center and making her groan.
"H-hey, Rachel," Rachel jumped and looked at Santana. "Want to sit on the couch now?" Rachel nodded and moved off Santana and winced when she sat on something. Reaching under her, she pulled out a controller and laughed nervously.
"Do you, um, would you like to play in place of Noah? You don't have to, but, if you would like, you can. So, if you would like…" Rachel awkwardly held out the controller and Santana smiled, taking it from her hand.
"Sure," Rachel smiled and sat a little farther away from Santana. Santana sighed; turning back to the game, hoping it would take some of the awkwardness away and keep her thoughts away from Rachel. Soon the game started and Santana blinked as Rachel expertly played the game. "Okay, what the fuck am I doing?"
Puck had been out of the bathroom for a while, but he decided to give Rachel and Santana some alone time, so he spent time playing with Melanie in her room. When enough time passed, he walked back to the living room and saw Rachel and Santana sitting close to each other, playing the game. Grinning, he walked to the couch and looked at the game.
"So who's winning?"
"Do you even need to ask?" Santana said, glaring at Puck. Puck grinned and sat down next to Rachel. Santana spotted Rachel, and before Rachel could shoot her, Puck covered Rachel's eyes.
"Hey, that is cheating!"
"Shoot her," Puck said and Santana finally shot Rachel's character. Santana pumped her fist in the air and high fived Puck over Rachel's head. "Now that's teamwork." Puck said and Rachel pouted.
"Cheaters." The three ended up playing the rest of the day, with Santana and Puck taking turns against Rachel. Each of them would purposely mess Rachel up, which made her pout, much to their amusement. Eventually it was time to go, and Santana offered to drive Rachel home. After saying goodbye to Puck, they headed to Santana's car.
"So," Santana began, eyeing her Cheerios Jack on Rachel as they got into the car. "You going to the football game?" Rachel shrugged.
"I don't know." Santana frowned as she started driving to Rachel's house.
"You should, I'll be there and everything." Santana said quickly and Rachel's lips quirked upward.
"Yes, I know you will, like in every other football game McKinley has had." Santana blushed and nodded.
"Right, duh," She said and Rachel laughed lightly. I mean, it is the last game of the year."
"Oh? Well then, I guess I will and cheer you on." Santana smiled happily and nodded, glad Rachel could make it.
"Great, and we can, like, go somewhere after. Like Puck's party or something." Rachel nodded and soon they reached Rachel's house.
"I look forward to the game, Santana." Santana grinned and Rachel gave her a quick hug and got out. When Rachel reached the front door she waved at Santana, who waved back, and walked inside. Even after she had gone inside, Santana still had her hand in the air and a silly grin on her face as she thought about Rachel going to the game. Realizing her hand was in the air, she slammed it down on the steering wheel and drove off.
Rachel walked inside and saw Shelby sitting in the living room, sitting on the couch reading a book and the box on the coffee table. Rachel sighed and walked into the room and Shelby hadn't noticed her until Rachel sat down next to her, making the couch dip down a little. Rachel looked at the box on the table and felt Shelby's eyes on her, but Shelby didn't say anything. They sat like that in silence for a few minutes before Shelby finally broke the silence.
"Rachel…" Shelby sighed.
"Why did you look at that again? I thought you stopped." The last time Rachel caught her with the box was when she was fourteen, just had gone to high school. Rachel had thought starting high school would be a chance for the bullying to stop, to start new and have a friend again. However, that didn't happen and the bullying just got worse. She came home that day with a bruise, since her high school didn't have slushies, and she barricaded herself in her room the rest of the day. When she finally came out, she saw Shelby passed out on the couch with everything in the box all around her, and she felt guilty. She hadn't seen Shelby pull out the box after that, and Rachel was sure she stopped.
"I did," Shelby said, looking at Rachel. "But you've seemed sad again a lot, especially when I thought you were finally happy here, and I couldn't help it," Shelby shook her head. "And everything came rushing back to my head that I…" Shelby didn't finish the sentence, and she didn't have to, Rachel already knew what she was going to say.
"Look," Rachel said, scooting closer to Shelby. "It's not you, I swear. You've been amazing, it's just there's something else happening to my life right now and it's…frustrating." Shelby sighed and grabbed Rachel's hand, turning herself towards her daughter.
"You don't tell me anything, Rachel. Let me help you, I'm your mother, it's my job to help you through anything." Rachel bit her lip and nodded. She hadn't let Shelby in at all, and she was afraid too. She knew Shelby had no idea about Santana, the only other person she loved. Rachel blinked as she thought about it. Love? Santana was a great friend, back then and now, but did she ever love her like…that, as in romantically? Rachel remembered all the times she was near Santana, or touching her, and remembered being on top of Santana in Puck's house and blushed. "Rachel?" Rachel was snapped out of her thoughts and she looked at Shelby.
"Okay, yeah, um," Rachel sighed and smiled at Shelby. "I'll try and talk to you more about everything." She suddenly remembered the football game and she shifted in her seat. "Um, may I go to the football game tomorrow, and the party after?" Shelby gave her an odd look and Rachel sighed. "It is the last game, and you know I don't drink so I'll be fine at the party." Shelby sighed and looked at Rachel. It was only one party, and she knew Rachel hadn't ever been to one. Well, she never asked to go to one, but Shelby knew Rachel wasn't the type to sneak out.
"Be safe." Rachel smiled and hugged Shelby thankfully. She got up and went to her bedroom, and collapsed on the bed. She knew the football game was going to be rather eventful, and she needed as much sleep as she could get.