"I am looking for friends. What does that mean - tame?'

It is an act too often neglected,' said the fox. 'It means to establish ties.'

To establish ties?'

Just that,' said the fox. 'To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world..." Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Rachel was revolted yet fascinated by how human Santana was. The darker brunette had become much softer toward her in the past few days. She was much more vulnerable. She would still explode in rage now and then, but with the help of Brittany Rachel had found new ways to prevent Santana from showcasing her hot temper. Not only was she starting to crack down Santana's shell, she was making interesting discoveries about her enemy, and most importantly she was getting closer to her.

If Santana's relationship with Brittany seemed to be very helpful to Rachel, it was not the same of her relationship with Quinn. Even though the Cheerio captain was polite to her, she was also very distant. Their friendship was becoming a strong obstacle to Rachel's plan because she had no control over it. Therefore, she did not know how it would affect her future interactions with Santana.

Rachel couldn't stop thinking about it. She did not know how to get of rid of Quinn. The two girls had spent months without talking. Why did they have to rekindle their friendship at that moment in time? Rachel couldn't stand seeing them walking side by side down the hallway or whispering secrets into each other's ears. She had to find a way to break their friendship up. It shouldn't have been that hard.

Still, she had no idea how.

On another matter, after months of spending time at Santana's house, she finally caught a glimpse of her relationship with her parents. Until then they had seem completely absent of their daughter's life. They never seem to be there and Santana never talked about them.

One day, as they were entering Santana's house, Rachel heard some loud talking coming from down the corridor. She was going to ask about it to the other girl when Santana pressed a finger to her mouth enjoining her to silence. Her dark brown eyes flickered nervously from Rachel to the direction from where the voices were coming. She motioned one of her hand towards the ceiling.

"Go to my room," she mouthed and she ushered her towards the staircase.

"Wait there," she whispered into her ear. "It shouldn't be long."

Shocked by Santana's apparent anxiety, Rachel didn't even think of questioning her and did as told. She walked up the stairs as silently as she could but curiosity took the best of her. When Santana was out of view, Rachel stretched over the ramp and tried to catch morsels of the conversation that was taking place a bit further down the hall. In a strange mix of Spanish and English was speaking two vibrant voices. A third one, much more discreet, joined them after a while. Even though Santana was speaking in a tone that was very different from her usually defiant way of talking, it was easy for Rachel to recognize her. Santana was speaking in such a low voice that Rachel was barely able to make out what she is saying. She caught a few words here in there but nothing that could help her understand what caused this sudden switch in her classmate's behaviour.

"I'm going to go get it upstairs," Rachel heard Santana say.

Afraid she would be caught in her indiscretion, she ran the last few steps, across the wooden floor, and into the Latina's room. There she jumped on the bed, pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. Her hands started running subconsciously up and down her calves in a nervous motion. She was on edge. Her nails were raking her skin and her heart was pounding loudly in her chest. She was trying not to look too suspicious.

Santana entered the room swiftly. She didn't even glance at Rachel. Her step was quick and her red skirt was flowing against her thighs. Her eyes were wide with obvious apprehension.

"What's going on?" Rachel asked.

"There's this binder where I keep all my tests. They want to see it."

Santana sighed, opened a few desk drawers, found what she was looking for, walked out of the room, and closed the door with a loud bang.

She came back a while later looking defeated. She dropped face down unto the bed, right next to Rachel, and growled into a pillow. The sound of screeching tires reached Rachel's ear. Santana's parents were gone. They were alone again.

They stayed in complete silence for a while. Rachel was observing the motionless form on the bed, wondering what had just happened. She could guess by the few hints that she had had that Santana's parents were not only very absent but probably also very exigent. Was there more to it? She had no idea, but it was obvious that this difficult relationship was affecting the Latina.

Rachel crawled towards the unmoving body and extended her hand forward to remove the dark locks that were hiding Santana's face. She cautiously pulled away a damp strand of hair that was following the brunette's cheekbone and sticking to her mouth. The Latina's eyes were tightly shut and it was obvious that she had been crying.

Rachel brushed her fingers down the other girl's cheek and travelled gently across her skin to settle on the nape of her neck. She lied down and pressed their foreheads together, running her fingers through Santana's hair in a gesture that was meant to be comforting.

"Your parents seem pleasant," she whispered sarcastically after a moment.

Santana chuckled slightly. Her lashes fluttered open. Rachel smiled when she noticed that they were decorated with small pearls of water. Santana cleared her throat as if she was about to say something but no words came out. Instead, she curled on herself and her dark brown orbs searched Rachel with curiosity, with honesty, and with an obvious need to be reassured. She looked so small, like a child seeking to be hold.

Rachel almost laughed at the sight. This Santana was far from the girl she had once feared so much. She thought of herself month ago curled in her bed in the exact position Santana was in because of something the Latina had said to her. She thought of all the people that had been in that same position because of her. Santana had hurt so much people. She had no reason to take pity of her situation.

Rachel gave Santana a tender smile and snaked her arms around her waist to pull her against her chest. A few seconds later, Santana was clinging unto her almost desperately. Rachel felt her sighing in the crook of her neck. She closed her eyes and swallowed thickly. She was feeling highly uncomfortable. She had never really comforted someone before and she never thought that one day she would be trying to comfort her worst tormentor.

She rubbed awkward circles on her back. She could feel that Santana's body was tense but could tell that it was probably much less stiff than her own. Everything was getting so complicated and even in the quietness of the moment, Rachel couldn't stop thinking about Quinn.

"Thanks Rachel. You're a really good friend." Santana mumbled against her neck before shifting into a more comfortable position against her.

Rachel didn't reply but she took Santana's hand into her own and squeezed it firmly. She felt the Latina relax into her embrace.

"I'm happy to be there for you San," she said after a moment of peaceful silence.

Then, Rachel's thoughts drifted towards Quinn. She had to do something to undermine their relationship. She curled one of Santana's dark lock around one of her fingers and kissed her on the forehead. The darker brunette giggled slightly and looked up at her. Rachel smiled when she saw how adoring those eyes were

"I hate to be the one telling you this but you should be more careful with whom you decide to spend your time with."

Santana frowned at her words and propped herself up on her elbow to look at Rachel. Her puffy eyes were expressing annoyance and confusion. Her cheeks were still red from her earlier break down. She didn't seem receptive at all.

"What do you mean?"

Rachel hesitated a little, but she realized that she couldn't back away in front of Santana's awaiting gaze. She closed her eyes and a shaky breath escaped her mouth as she tried to find her words.

"Quinn," she started but anxiety took over body. She should have thought about what to say earlier. She should have rehearsed it. Now she did not know what to say.

"What about her?" Santana asked a bit aggressively, throwing her hair behind her shoulder in an abrupt motion.

"Don't you think she's a bit of a hypocrite? And she did steal your spot as captain at the beginning of the current school year."

Santana shrugged her shoulders and laid her head back down on the pillow.

"Is that all?" she asked with a bit of exasperation creeping into her voice. When she realized there would be no reply to her question, Santana rolled on stomach, picked up her cell phone, and started texting.

"Who are you texting to?" Rachel asked innocently.

"Quinn." Santana replied bluntly.

Rachel sat up.

"What? Why?"

Santana huffed before answering: "None of your business."

Rachel felt panic rising into her chest at the sudden wedge her words had seem to create between Santana and her. Her dislike for Quinn was starting to take disproportional proportions.

"San?" Rachel said as softly as she could, but Santana didn't even bother to glance at her.

She hated those moments.

"San?" She tried again.

Rachel sighed. Her relationship with Santana was exhaustingly frustrating. It was so hard to deal with the other girl's temperament. She stared at the Latina fingers as she typed replies to Quinn's messages at a very furious pace.

Rachel bit her bottom lip, trying to think at what Brittany would have done in this situation. Unlike her, Brittany was not much of a talker so she obviously did not use that kind of approach. She would probably have made some adorably innocent face. Rachel furrowed her eyebrows. It probably wouldn't have agreed with her. Instead, she tried her own way to be endearing. She walked her fingers across Santana's back over the red fabric of her cheerleading outfit. She scooted a little bit closer to the Latina and gave a small peck on her cheek.

"What are you doing?" Santana asked, turning her head towards her.

"I'm right here next to you and you're not paying attention to me," Rachel whispered before leaning towards her enemy, nuzzling her nose, and kissing her lightly on the mouth.

Santana's features softened a little and a small smile played on her lips.

"Rach, you've got to realize that I really don't like when you're dissing my friends like that." Rachel nodded and lowered her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking."

Santana got up on her knees and tied her hair up in a ponytail. She glanced at her reflection in the mirror and wiped the mascara under her eyes with her thumb before crawling out of the bed.

"My parents left some money. What'd you say we order some food?" She asked as she stood near the door with her hand on her hips.

"That would be great," Rachel replied with a smile, relieved to see that she was starting to be better at handling Santana's mood shifts.