A/N: Thanks for all the reviews everyone, especially those that review every chapter. Really, I appreciate them, especially now when this story's ending. After this there might be only one or two chapters, depending if I add an epilogue (since I have a prologue). Anyway, I'm rambling now, so here's the next chapter.
Rachel's first thought was, thank god it's the weekend. She was sitting up in bed, holding her head in her hands. She had only recently woken up, and sitting up was the first mistake she did. Her head was killing her and she finally understood the big deal of hangovers.
She heard the door open and didn't bother looking up, she was too busy trying to deal with her throbbing head. She felt Shelby sit on the bed and rub her back. Rachel leaned into the touch and put her head on Shelby's chest like she would do when she was younger.
"Head hurts." Rachel said softly and Shelby ran her hand through Rachel's dark locks.
"I know," Shelby said, having had her fair share of hangovers. "Let me get you some painkillers." Shelby kissed the top of her head and left the room, she came back a few minutes later with water and the painkillers. Rachel smiled gratefully as she took them from Shelby, and as she took the pill Shelby walked to the other side of the bed and climbed under the covers next to Rachel.
Rachel put the water down and looked at her hands silently. The last thing she remembered was going to Puck's house, being on his couch crying. Then, she woke up in her bed.
"I guess you want to know what happened." Rachel said softly and Shelby nodded.
"Please do, I wasn't expecting you're friend to brink you home unconscious." Rachel frowned and looked at Shelby.
"What friend?" She wondered if Puck carried her home.
"You tell me, it was girl with dark hair, she said you two had a fight." Rachel closed her eyes and groaned. That, she clearly remembered. How could she forget?
"Santana, she…" Rachel took a deep breath. "She's from the orphanage I stayed at," She heard Shelby gasp next to her. "Remember the day you picked me up, and my friend said bye to me?"
"I remember that girl coming up and giving you the ball and…oh," Shelby said as she recalled the memory more. Then she remembered Rachel had said her name in that hallway all those years ago, in front of Shelby, Rachel had called the girl Santana. "That's why she always sounded familiar when you said her name."
"She didn't remember me, at all, we were best friends and she forgot about me," Shelby put a comforting arm around Rachel and pulled her in a sideways hug. Rachel sighed and put her head on Shelby's shoulder. "And yesterday, I finally told her and she freaked and yelled at me and told me to never talk to her again."
"Oh, baby I'm sorry.""I don't know hat to do, and I can't handle losing her again, especially when-" Rachel cut herself off and Shelby raised an eyebrow.
"Especially when what?" Rachel blushed.
"Especially when I've fallen in love with her." Rachel closed her eyes, ready for some kind of rejection or yell from Shelby for loving another girl.
"Rachel, look at me," Rachel slowly did, expecting to find Shelby angry, but instead Shelby had a small smile on her face. "I don't care who you fall in love with, because I'll still love you the same and anyone would be lucky to have you. As for Santana, if she really loves you, then she'll regret what she did and try to fix things. Just remember, I'm here for you." Rachel smiled and hugged Shelby. The two stayed like that for a long time, only breaking apart when the doorbell rang.
Shelby got up and walked to the door, leaving Rachel in her room, and opened it. On the other side was Puck, and Shelby raised her eyebrows at him. Usually, he would stand confidently with a smug grin on his face, but today he stood awkwardly as he shifted from foot to foot.
"Morning, Ms. Corcoran." Puck said nervously, remembering Rachel telling him that she and Shelby had different last names.
"Good morning, Noah, what is it?" Shelby said with a smile, he hadn't been the one to bring Rachel home,, but she had no idea what part he played in getting Rachel to the state she was yesterday.
"I, um, just wanted to check up on Rachel. I mean, if she's up for it, or if you let me." Puck fumbled with his words and Shelby sighed and walked forward, making sure to close the door behind her.
"Rachel told me what happened with Santana." Puck sighed and nodded.
"Yeah, Rachel knew it was that Santana from the first day of school, but she didn't say anything right away, ya know, didn't want to mess up any chance she had." Shelby looked at the door sadly, where Rachel was probably still in her room.
"She kept this from me this entire time…" Shelby said quietly.
"I-I bet she just didn't want to worry you." Puck said quickly, noticing the sad look she had. Rachel had explained to him her and Shelby's rocky relationship, and the last thing Puck wanted was for the older woman to feel guilty.
"Thank you, but I know it was that she didn't trust me," Shelby said sadly and opened the door again. "You can see her, if you want," Shelby said, motioning Puck forward. Puck nodded and walked inside and sat awkwardly on the couch. "I'll get Rachel," Shelby walked to Rachel's room, where Rachel was still sitting up and looking down at the covers. "Rachel," Shelby said from the doorway and Rachel looked up. "Noah's here."
Rachel blinked for a few seconds before realization caught up to her and she jumped out of the bed and nearly fell on her face. Shelby sighed and shook her head with a laugh, earning a glare from Rachel. As Rachel finished changing, Shelby walked to the kitchen and started breakfast. As Puck sat on the couch he sighed and leaned forward, resting his arms on his legs, and looked down. He wondered if coming was a mistake. Maybe Rachel didn't want to see him, or maybe Shelby thought Rachel's drunkenness was his fault. Though, as he thought about it, he did think it was his own fault she had gotten drunk.
"Hello, Noah," Puck looked up as Rachel sat down next to him and smiled.
"Hey," Puck said and leaned forward. "Are you okay?" Rachel laughed lightly and rubbed her head.
"Yes, but my head hurts," Rachel grumbled. "Like a bitch." Puck blinked and broke out in a fit of laughter at Rachel swearing. "Noah…" Rachel whined as she held her head.
"Sorry." Puck grinned and Shelby walked in.
"Hey you two, breakfast is ready," Puck got up and when Rachel didn't do the same, he pulled her up too. They walked to the table and Puck was surprised Shelby did have the same food as Rachel. He looked at her and she shrugged. "Rachel's vegan, not me." The three sat down and Puck and Shelby at while Rachel stared at her plate.
"You should eat bro." Rachel sighed and nodded. Slowly, she picked up her fork and picked at her food a bit before finally eating some of it.
Santana had locked herself in her room all last night after she dropped Rachel off, and only left her room to eat breakfast and not worry her parents. However, she ran back up to her room after breakfast and stayed there since.
She thought of going to Rachel's house, but she was sure Rachel didn't want to see her. Even if she did, what could Santana say? She wasn't furious anymore, but she was definitely still a little angry and hurt. Angry that Rachel hid the truth from her and hurt that she had snapped at Rachel and ultimately hurt the other girl more than she was hurt from Rachel's actions. Santana sighed as she rolled over onto her back and closed her eyes. Suddenly, her phone went off and she answered it angrily.
"What?" She snapped.
"We really need to work on you answering the phone nicely." Quinn said from the other line and Santana sighed. Of course it would be Quinn.
"Sorry." Santana apologized and she could hear Quinn sighing from the other side.
"We haven't seen you since Breadstix." Quinn said, worry evident in her voice.
"It's only been one day and you're that lost without me? I'm touched." Santana sad sarcastically. She knew Quinn knew what she was doing, when things got too hard or hurt too much, she put on a mask to be the bitch the school knew her to be. Quinn understood perfectly, because she would do the same exact thing. Maybe that was why they understood each other so easily, because they were exactly the same. Instead of dealing with their emotions like a normal person, they put on a mask and hurt others because they were too weak to work out things themselves.
Unlike Rachel. Santana groaned as she thought of the other girl. Rachel wasn't like Santana, Rachel was probably handling this better than her. Santana really admired her sometimes, she never treated people like dirt, like Santana had done to her, and she was forgiving. Santana thought about what Rachel might have felt, knowing the truth and not telling her, and now she saw the girl as strong. She never let the fact that Santana obviously didn't know get to her.
"Cut the crap," Quinn said harshly, making Santana wince a little. Santana had been so lost in her thoughts she had forgotten about Quinn. "I'm talking about Rachel yesterday and how you went to see her." Santana rubbed her head and shrugged.
"It's a long story."
"Well, me and Britt are going to your house anyway, so tell us then." Santana opened her mouth to protest, but Quinn hung up. Santana threw her phone on the bed and stared at the ceiling. It wasn't long after that she heard the doorbell ring and heard one of her parents open the door and mumbled voices. Soon after, she heard the footsteps walking up the stairs and the door swung open and Quinn and Brittany walked in.
"Hey S," Quinn said, closing the door as Brittany jumped on the bed. "So?"
"Yeah, did you fix everything with Rachy?" Santana bit her lip and Quinn sat down on the other side of Santana.
"I would say I fixed things…" Quinn raised an eyebrow at her and Santana groaned. "She got drunk, okay? And I had to take her drunk ass home." Both Brittany and Quinn looked at Santana with shocked looks.
"Because of you?" Brittany asked lightly and Santana nodded, making Brittany frown.
"Oh god," Quinn said. "How did her parents react?" Santana sighed.
"Not parents, just one parent. Her mom gave me a death glare the entire time."
"So," Quinn said. "You haven't checked on her at all today, have you?" Santana rolled her eyes.
"No, I doubt her mom would let me," Santana scowled and flipped onto her stomach and hid her face in her arms. "Besides, I bet she'll be fine without me. She was fine without me before she came here." Santana spat, and Brittany and Quinn looked at each other before looking back at Santana.
"Will you be fine?" Brittany asked when Quinn opened her mouth, ready to yell at Santana for her idiocy. Quinn frowned at the interruption but didn't say anything else. By the way Santana was silent, it Brittany's words seemed to have its affect.
Santana frowned as she thought about what Brittany said. She wanted to say she would be fine without Rachel. She wanted to say she was fine after Shelby took Rachel away from her at the orphanage.
Then she was adopted and became Santana Lopez, and she met Brittany and eventually Quinn. The three of them became the unholy trinity, and Santana was the hottest piece of ass in all of McKinley. She would terrorize others for kicks and because she was a Cheerio and that was part of the job description. But, as cliché as it sounded, she felt complete in Glee Club, singing with everyone else. And not once did she think about Rachel.
So yeah, she definitely wanted to say she was fine, and will be fine, but the truth was she wasn't and wouldn't be fine.
After Shelby picked up Rachel and took her away, Santana cried herself to sleep that night. After that day she got into more fights than usual, so much that Santana was almost afraid of what her life would be like now if she never got adopted.
When Santana did get adopted and Felix told her to forget everything about the orphanage, she immediately thought of Rachel, and cried herself to sleep again. Some nights, before she really did forget everything, she snuck into Felix's bed at night for comfort, but only cried some more when she remembered sneaking into Rachel's bed at the orphanage.
When she met Brittany, she had already pushed away and forced herself to forget Rachel, but she felt a sense of déjà vu hit her. At the time she didn't know what it was and just ignored it when she befriended the girl. Now, Santana knew it was Rachel she was unconsciously trying to remember.
So no, she wasn't fine then, and she definitely wouldn't be fine now.
"No," Santana said shakily as she felt the tears coming. "I won't be fine," She felt Quinn and Brittany lay down next to her and rub her back. "I'll never be fine without Rachel."
For the rest of the weekend, both girls hardly left their rooms. Puck came over both Saturday and Sunday and tried to get Rachel out of the house while Quinn and Brittany tried to the same with Santana. However, both girls refused to even leave their rooms. Puck finally gave up at the end of Sunday and just brought his xbox over and they played video games all day. Quinn and Brittany just cuddled with Santana either on the couch or in her bed and watched TV. By the time it was Monday again, neither girl didn't want to go to school, because they were afraid to face the other.
Puck sighed as she drove him and Rachel to the school. He literally had to drag her out of bed and helped her change into something wearable after she tried leaving the house in her pajamas and barefooted. Now, she wasn't talking and was slouched in the front seat of his car.
When they finally reached the school and were out of the car, Puck put his arm around her shoulders protectively. As he made his way to Rachel's locker, he noticed Santana leaning against her locker on the other side of the hallway, looking down at the floor with Quinn and Brittany protectively at her side.
Seeing Santana again brought back the memories of the weekend. He thought of walking up to Santana to yell at her, but he figured that would be too hard with Quinn and Brittany by her. Sighing, he turned back to Rachel as she closed her locker. Rachel gave him a painfully small smile that didn't reach her eyes and he put his arm back around Rachel's shoulder and led them to class.
Santana had looked up just as Puck put his arm around Rachel's shoulders and led her down the hall, making Santana growl. Quinn looked at Santana with a raised eyebrow.
"What's your problem now?" Santana scowled in the direction Puck and Rachel had gone, despite the fact that she couldn't see them anymore.
"He's got his arm all over her, touching her." Quinn sighed.
"He's just trying to help," Quinn said, putting a hand on Santana's arm. "Like we are." The bell rang and Quinn looked at Brittany, who nodded at her.
"Come on, Santana." Brittany said softly, taking Santana's pinky with her own. Quinn gave Brittany a smile before walking off to her own class and Brittany tugged Santana to their own class. As they walked in, Santana forced herself not to look in the direction of Rachel's desk.
Finally, in the middle of class, Santana gave in and looked behind her to see Rachel slumped on her desk. As Santana stared, Rachel looked up and met Santana's eyes. They stared at each other until Rachel finally looked away. Puck noticed and looked up, only to glare at Santana. Santana glared back and cursed as she turned back around.
"What's wrong?" Brittany asked quietly as she frowned and stared Santana.
"Puck hates me, and I'm pretty sure Rachel hates me too." Brittany reached out and took Santana's hand and held it throughout the rest of class.
That was how the rest of the day went. With Santana and Rachel avoiding each other, while Quinn and Brittany hovered around Santana and Puck did the same with Rachel. By the time it was for Glee, Rachel stared at her open locker long after she put her books away. Puck stood next to her and looked at her worriedly.
"You okay?" Rachel rolled her eyes at him and he put his hands up. "Sorry, dumb question." Rachel sighed.
"I don't know if I want to go to Glee, Santana will be there and I know she doesn't want to see me," Rachel closed her locker and frowned. "I'm going to the bathroom," She walked off and Puck jumped off the lockers to follow her. Rachel suddenly stopped and turned around. "Alone, Noah." Puck stopped and grinned at her.
"Hey, I'm just looking out for my bro," Puck started turning around, but stopped to look at her. "See you in Glee?"
"Yeah." Puck nodded and walked off, with Rachel laughing lightly at his willingness to go to the girl's bathroom with her. She turned around and walked to the nearest bathroom.
She didn't really need to use the bathroom, she just wanted some peace and quiet by herself. The thought of going to Glee Club, with all those people, was suffocating. Then there was Puck. She really appreciated what Puck was doing, but she needed some breathing room.
She found the bathroom and quickly walked inside. As soon as she closed the door, she closed her eyes and leaned against it. She let out a deep sigh and opened her eyes again, and froze at the sight before her.
Santana was leaning over the sink, both her hands gripping its sides, and she was staring at Rachel with wide eyes. Rachel bit her lip and looked down as she stuffed her hands in her jean pockets. Santana was the last person she wanted to see.
"I can't fucking believe this," Rachel heard Santana say and closed her eyes, waiting for the same outburst she got from Santana a few days ago when she told the truth. Instead, she heard Santana laugh lightly she opened her eyes to see Santana smiling warmly at her. "So why are you here?"
"I needed to get away from everyone." Rachel said softly.
"Me too." Santana said and looked away. The two stood in uncomfortable silence, both wondering what to say next and if the other hated them as much as they thought. When the silence continued, Rachel thought about running out the door while Santana was ready to literally climb out the window if she had to. Santana looked at Rachel out of the corner of her eye and groaned.
"I'm sorry." She said quickly, and Rachel blinked. "I'm really, really fucking sorry." Rachel looked up again to see Santana looking down again, gripping the sink so hard Rachel was almost afraid the sink would break.
Slowly, Rachel pushed herself off the door and walked to Santana. Once she was next to her, she tentatively reached out and put her hand on top of Santana's. Santana looked up and Rachel smiled.
"Me too," Rachel said softly. "I'm sorry. I'm really, really fucking sorry." Santana laughed at Rachel saying the same thing. Santana stood up straight and looked down at Rachel's hand on top of hers, and frowned.
"You hate me, don't you." Rachel frowned and looked down.
"I thought you hated me…"Santana sighed and grabbed the hand that was on top of hers. "You were so mad and said you never wanted to talk to me again," Santana closed her eyes and internally kicked herself for saying those things. "I thought you hated me so much." Santana let go of Rachel's hand and pulled the smaller girl in for a hug.
"I'll always regret the way I reacted, but know that I'll never hate you," Santana said. "I love you too much." Santana whispered the last part, but Rachel heard it. She closed her eyes and snuggled in closer to Santana as she hugged back tightly. They didn't know how long they stayed like that, but it must have been a while, because suddenly the door swung open and the three people they were running from walked in.
"Found them." Brittany said with a smile.
"And they're looking pretty comfortable." Quinn muttered quietly, but loud enough for everyone to hear, as she grinned at them.
"There needs to be some explaining." Puck said, glaring at Santana. Rachel opened her eyes and frowned when she noticed Puck's glaring. Sighing, she pulled herself away a little and glared back at Puck.
"Stop looking at Santana like that," Rachel snapped harshly, making Puck take a step back in surprise. Quinn raised an eyebrow at the outburst as she and Brittany looked at her just as surprised, they had never heard her sound angry. Santana, on the other hand, just smiled proudly. "We both apologized anyway."
"Rachel, you were broken over the weekend, because of her," Puck spat. "And what, now everything's all good and fine?" Rachel froze and looked up at Santana.
"I don't know," She said quietly and Santana looked back at her. "But we were working on it, until you three barged in." Puck seemed to deflate at the words and just sighed tiredly. Santana sighed and turned back to the other three.
"Look, we're leaving so we can work shit out, so later," Santana unwrapped her arms from around Rachel and grabbed Rachel's hand instead. Santana pulled them out of the bathroom and led them to the parking lot, where they stopped and Santana looked at Rachel curiously. "Who's house?" Santana really wanted some privacy between the two and she wasn't sure she was going to get that at her house.
"Mine, I suppose. My mom's not going to be home for a while." Santana nodded and they went to their own cars, forcing their hands to let go and making them miss the feeling already. Santana sighed as she followed Rachel to her house, they had a lot to talk about and they both knew it.