AN: I start college and I'm moving into the dorm soon so not only will my writing be curtailed, but I will not be able to post for at least a week. Do not worry, until I have no more ideas left or end this story I will be updating at least once a month, and if I don't update within a month I will give a reason on why I'm such a despicable person.

Fair? I think so.

Oh. And yes, I know this is short, but it is a cross between fluff and show and tell, this gives the characters a little break before the rest of angst shows up.

Enjoy.

Chapter 5:

As the sun rose over the horizon, Rachel was gripped in the ugly claws of a repeating nightmare. Whimpers escaped the brunette's mouth as she clutched the lion closer and curled into herself, looking for comfort and not finding any.

It was not a sound that woke Brittany, but a feeling. She checked the two girls sleeping with her and her phone, surprised to find no missed calls and nothing out of place.

"Rachel," Brittany breathed as the feeling intensified and she realized she that the only person left was the small brunette.

The girls on either side of her jolted awake at Brittany's whisper and copied Brittany's actions, checking each other and their phones before all three exchanged a look.

They bolted for Rachel's room, bursting through the door looking like a tripped out version of Charlie's Angels. The noise from the door hitting the wall made the three girls flinch, but did not wake the diva, instead seeming to play right into the nightmare she was trapped in.

The trio circled Rachel's bed, Brittany near the tiny singer's head, running her fingers through Rachel's hair, which seemed to calm the brunette down a little.

"Quinn, wake her up."

"Why?" the blonde asked her counterpart quizzically. Brittany was closer, why didn't she just do it?

"Because if either Santana or I are the first thing she sees, we'll only frighten her more."

Taking in the thunderous scowls on the other two's faces, Quinn nodded and placed her hand on Rachel's shoulder, shaking it gently.

"Rachel, Rachel," the blonde called softly. "C'mon Rachel, time to wake up."

Rachel sat up at Quinn's first touch, terrified, eyes wide open and darting around the room as she tried to escape from the confining covers.

Santana caught the tiny singer as she lunged off the bed while still entangled in her covers.

"Shh," the Latina whispered into Rachel's ear. "It's okay, estrella, I got you."

Santana continued to whisper calm words of comfort into Rachel's ear, holding her close, until the small girl stopped trembling and calmed down enough to relax into Santana's hug. Brittany and Quinn stayed perfectly still, mostly in shock, but partially because they knew any movement could set off a secondary panic attack.

Around thirty minutes later, Rachel had dozed off in Santana's arms. The Latina managed to move the singer back into bed, but when she tried to move away, Rachel's grasp only tightened around Santana and mumbled mangled words that the three girls interpreted as, "Don't leave." accompanied by a whimper.

Santana stopped trying to move away after that and instead curled around Rachel protectively, allowing the small singer to cuddle into her side.

The clock read 5:47.

The trio attempted to go back to sleep. The blondes cuddled together at the end of Rachel's bed; no one wanted to leave Rachel alone. They fell asleep fairly quickly; soft breathing sounds reached Santana's ears within twenty minutes. Santana kept a watchful eye on Rachel for another half hour before sleep conquered her.

For a few more hours, peace reigned.

#RQSB#

Rachel woke up cocooned by a warm body. At first she thought it was a dream, the first one she'd had in over a year. Nightmares didn't count. That was until she opened her eyes and saw the dark purple cast on her arm.

The singer tried to turn around and see who held her, but the arms around her tightened and mumbled Spanish sounded close to her ear.

Seconds later, Santana yawned and stretched, allowing Rachel to turn around.

"Good morning, Santana."

"Morning, Tiny," Santana said as her jaw cracked around a yawn.

Rachel cursed her pain medication as disjointed images and memories reordered themselves into normalcy.

"How are you this morning?" Santana asked as she replaced her arms around Rachel.

The singer shrugged slightly, still waiting for all of her memories to come back and realign.

"Well if you want to talk, I'm here, ok?"

Rachel nodded.

Santana sighed softly and kissed Rachel on the forehead.

Brittany bounced through the open door before the one sided conversation could continue.

"We've got food downstairs and you better hurry up because it's after eleven."

Santana groaned as Rachel gasped.

"How is it after eleven? I set my alarm for nine!"

Brittany smiled.

"We turned off your alarm to let you sleep."

"Yeah. You're gonna spend hours watching coach kill us, why wake up early?" Santana's muffled voice came from under the pillow she had pulled over her head.

Brittany giggled and pulled the Latina out of the bed, making Rachel giggle until Santana glared at her.

"You're in for it now Berry." Santana said as she pounced on the bed and began tickling the smaller brunette.

Brittany joined in and they had a tickle war until a piercing whistle stopped them. Quinn stood smirking in the doorway.

"As much as I love watching this, we need to eat and get to practice."

The three girls looked at each other before Santana bolted for the bathroom while Brittany glomped Quinn into the hallway.

Rachel just lay in bed, trying to catch her breath and still giggling slightly. Maybe she could wake up like this every day? Rachel could only hope so; this was the quickest she'd ever been able to get over a nightmare

##RQSB##