Disclaimer: I don't own Glee

Chapter 9: Parker and Barrow

A couple days later, Rachel and Santana were finally ready to leave town. The last days had been hard, the girls couldn't go anywhere without hearing people whisper about them, especially Rachel. They decided not to meet at their usual spot, preferring to use Mary to pass little notes for them. The blonde would pretend to need herbs or material for her practice to play the messenger.

Rachel was supposed to meet Santana before dawn. She had gathered clothes and supplies, just like the Latina despite being adamant about stealing things at first. As the judging comments about her increased, she quickly understood she didn't have a choice and stealing was still better than starving if things didn't go as planed.

At night time, Rachel was met by one big obstacle: getting out of the house unnoticed. Since the incident at the fair, Abigail had been keeping a close eye on her but she knew she had to take advantage of the small opening she would have before the woman woke up. Everyday, the older woman would start her morning routine just after sun rise. She would tidy up the house, then eat breakfast before going to the shop with her, well Michelle in tow. It was like a clock work for the Bercoran lady and Rachel had memorized it well enough to know she had exactly five minutes to get out of the place. The diva took a deep breath and grabbed her bag before tip toeing out of the house.

Once outside, the brunette rushed toward Dr Quinn's house, careful to not bump into anyone or anything on her way there. She entered the place without knocking and was welcomed by an angry Santana.

"You're late!" The Latina exclaimed.

"I'm sorry but I was making sure Abigail wouldn't follow me." Rachel explained tiredly, handing her bag to the girl.

"Whatever, we need to hurry. People are going to go outside soon and I don't want them to see us." The raven-haired girl grabbed the bag and went outside to attach it on the saddle.

"Don't mind him, he barely slept. He didn't say anything but I could tell he was worried you wouldn't be able to come." Mary said as she stepped into the room.

"Oh hello, Mary." The petite girl smiled kindly. "And don't worry, I'm used to Santa…" She cleared a throat before quickly correcting herself. "…Santiago snapping at me."

"Yes, I'm sure it hasn't been easy for either of you." The doctor said, placing a comforting hand on Rachel's shoulder. "Believe me, I know what it's like to be forced out of your home. But at least you have each other, and it's obvious how much he loves you."

"Really?" Rachel said surprised, not expecting the girl to confess such a thing about her friend.

"Of course! He wouldn't be doing all this if he didn't…" The blonde pointed out before locking eyes with the diva. "It's obvious in the way that you look at each other. More so in the way you try not to."

"Hum… I…" The diva didn't know what to say. They might look like them but they weren't Santiago and Michelle, how could the girl see that? She stared at Mary, trying to come up with something to deny it but thankfully, she saw the front door open. Saved by the bell…

"Okay, we're ready to go." Santana declared as she came back inside the house. She stopped in front of the blonde. "Thanks, you know, for your help."

Dr Quinn smiled before hugging her. "It was nothing. Just be careful and take care of each other." She broke the embrace and kissed the girl's cheek before hugging Rachel. "Now go, the sun will be up soon."

"Thank you." Rachel said before following Santana outside.

Since they only had one horse, the diva waited for the Latina to get on the horse before trying to do the same, which turned out to be more complicated than she thought with her dress.

The Latina chuckled at her attempts. "Do you need a stool, midget or you're gonna join me soon?"

"Very funny, Santana." The brunette deadpanned. After a few tries, she was finally able to get on the horse behind Santana.

"Ready?" The former cheerleader asked.

The Jewish girl nodded. "Yes, let's get out of this doomed town."

"Okay, hold on to me." The taller girl instructed her.

"Hum…" Rachel hesitated for a minute, still not used to being so close to the girl who a couple weeks ago were mocking her in the hallway.

"Oh my god!" Santana rolled her eyes. "I won't bite, just grip my side so you don't fall, I don't want to stop all the time to get you back on the horse because you fell."

The diva huffed before finally resting her hands on Santana's side as the girl led the horse toward the town limit…

The girls had decided to ride as long as possible without stopping to put more distance between the town and them and decrease the risk of someone looking for them in the closest town. They rode mostly in silence, surrounded by the sound of the wind and the galloping of the horse.

Now that the sun was about to set, they needed a place to spend the night. Santana was hoping the next town would have a saloon big enough to have rooms to rent.

"Once we arrive in town, we need to change our names, just in case someone asks for us." Rachel stated.

"Seriously?" Santana shook her head. "It's already hard to call each other Michelle and Santiago and now you want us to find new names?" She pulled on the reins to slow down the horse's pace.

"Think about it, Santana. If we give fake names, Michelle and Santiago's family won't be able to find anything if they come looking for them… for us." The diva insisted. "And it's not that hard to remember a name for a few minutes in front of a clerk."

"Dios mio, I'm too tired for your shit." The Latina sighed heavily. All she wanted was to eat something and sleep, she wasn't in a mood for another one of the diva's crazy plans.

"Then just go with it." The brunette waited a bit before adding. "And we should pretend to be a married couple…"

"Oh hell no, I'm no one's wife!" The raven-haired girl shouted.

"Well, technically you'd be my husband…" The petite girl pointed out.

"I don't care, we're not girlfriends and I'm already questioning why we are friends so I won't be all over you pretending we're married. It's not your Run Joey Run video with dudes fighting for you, okay? I'm not one of your exes, I'm not Cole and I'm not Santiago." Santana said exasperated. "I'm tired of acting all the time, now that we are away from Glesswood, I need a break."

Rachel clicked her tongue. "I am aware after all your insults of how repulsed you are by my physical appearance but I'm sure you can put it aside and act for 5 more minutes."

The Latina glanced behind her and saw the hurt on Rachel's face. She rolled her eyes and sighed. Why did she have to feel bad after what she said? She had said meaner things to the girl before without blinking an eye but right now, after what they experienced, she didn't want the diva to feel sad. "Fine, whatever, I guess there're worse things in the world than being married to you. You're not that bad when you want to…"

The brunette smiled slightly but stayed silent for the rest of the ride.

Rachel and Santana reached the hotel just before nightfall. The place was a salon with a few rooms to rent on the first floor, it wasn't the best but they didn't really have a choice.

While Santana took care of the horse, Rachel made sure they agreed on their plan, repeating what they were supposed to say in front of people. Once they were ready, the diva marched toward the entrance but was quickly stopped by the Latina. She sighed in annoyance. "I know you're supposed to be my husband but I don't see the problem with me walking first into the room!"

Santana rolled her eyes. "It's not that, I just have something that might help us with our lie…" She trailed off as she grabbed the ring Santiago's mom gave her out of her pocket.

The brunette's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh my god, it's beautiful. Where did you get this?" She studied the ring before frowning. "Santana Lopez, don't tell me you stole it! We agreed to take only what we absolutely needed!"

"Oh my god, calm your tits, Berry!" The raven-haired girl exclaimed. "I didn't steal anything; Anita gave it to me, well to Santiago, for you, well no, urgh…" She sighed in frustration. "Women in her family pass the ring from generation to generation. Since she doesn't have a daughter she wanted her son to give this family's jewel to the girl he chooses to marry and I don't know why but she thinks it will be Michelle so…" She started fidgeting as she played with the ring in her hand.

"Oh…" The petite girl awed at the sweetness of the story. "Anita is a nice woman; we need to make sure she gets the ring back before we go back to the future." She smiled at Santana before raising her left hand, expectantly waiting for the Latina to put it around her finger. "My sweet wife, or should I say husband, would you do me the honor." She joked.

Santana frowned. "Whatever, it's just a ring, I'm not proposing. Let's just get inside." She put the ring in the diva's hand before entering the hotel.

Rachel crinkled her nose at the sudden awkwardness; she was just trying to lighten the mood but it seemed like the Latina wasn't very social in the moment. The tale behind the ring was sweet and she hoped she would get the chance to do the same with her family in the future. She stared at the ring, reading the quote engraved before smiling. It felt almost wrong to wear it if it didn't really have meaning, if it was given without love but it was pretty and it would help them in their lie. She slid the gold band on her ring finger and took a minute to appreciate the ring on her hand. Weirdly, the jewel fitted perfectly. When she heard Santana shout "Are you coming?" She shook her head to focus on the present and rushed inside the hotel.

A short man greeted them and Santana didn't lose a minute to ask for a room. "Do you still have a room available for my wife and I? We travelled all day and we'd like to rest."

"It's your lucky day, I have one room left." The man declared with a smile. "Can I have a name?"

"Bonnie and Clyde Barrow." The Latina announced with a proud smile.

Rachel raised her eyebrow but stayed silent, she would have the time to comment on this once they would be alone. Of course, almost 50 years were separate them from the couple of bandits but they agreed on other names and of course Santana had to be stubborn and not listen to her.

They paid for the room and quickly made their way to it. It was small room with the minimum of furniture but what caught the girls' eyes was the only bed in the room. It was a double so it meant they had to share it. They were still trying to learn how to be friends and this was way too much.

"Okay, no…" Santana said, breaking the silence of the room. "I don't want to share my bed with you, I have my limits. We rode a horse all day, I just want to sleep and forget all about this shit…"

"I don't really want to share a bed either but I won't sleep on the floor, so I am going to sleep on it." The diva stated as she removed her cardigan and her shoes.

"Berry, you can not be serious?" The Latina couldn't believe what was happening. She was exhausted from the travelling, her ribs hurt and she had to listen to Rachel repeat the same thing again and again and now she had to share a bed with her like they were best buddies, or worse, a couple. Sure two people could share a bed without it meaning anything but she had a weird feeling in her chest about this and couldn't say why.

The brunette sighed. "Do as you want, Santana but I am too tired to fight over this. Just stay on your side, I'll stay on mine…" She settled under the cover and turned her back on Santana.

The tan girl sighed heavily as she started removing her belt and clothes. "You better stay on your side or I swear…"

"Good night, Santana."

Santana growled before settling in bed, making sure to keep as much as distance as she could between them. She knew she tended to cuddle at night and she definitely wanted to avoid that tonight.

In the middle of the night, Rachel was awoken by some noises coming from the hallway. She waited until the noises stopped before settling more comfortably on her pillow. Except when she tried to squeeze it, it wasn't rough or cold like the bad pillow case she had fallen asleep on, it was soft and warm. This wasn't normal. She cracked an eye open and saw that as she had guessed, she wasn't on a pillow, but laying on top of Santana. Her eyes widened. "Oh my Barbra…" She breathed out, trying not to panic.

"Mhhh, too early…" Santana mumbled underneath her, sleepily holding her body more tightly before sighing contently.

Rachel took a deep breath to calm her beating heart. She had felt warm and safe until she realised in what position she was sleeping in… This shouldn't feel good. This, could end up deadly, it was Santana after all… She tried to move away slowly from the girl but the Latina tightened her grip.

The raven-haired girl whined. "You're comfy, just sleep."

The brunette raised an eyebrow. Was the girl aware of who she was with? Surely not and she really didn't want to suffer her wrath when she realised they had cuddled during the night. "Santana." She whispered. "Santana, wake up."

"No…"

"Santana…"

"What?" The taller girl growled, still not moving.

"You… hum… I…" The Jewish girl stuttered. She couldn't really say it at loud; it was too strange to even recognize the situation. She sighed and decided to say something else. "I heard some weird noises coming from the hallway." She tried to disentangle herself from the Latina's body again.

"So?" Santana tried to stir but as her sleepy daze slowly fade away, she realised someone was moving on top of her. And it wasn't just someone, it was Rachel. "Wait, what are you doing?" She snapped her eyes open and saw Rachel's face close to hers. She screamed, pushing the girl away and rolling to the side, falling from the bed in the process. "What the fuck were you doing on top of me, midget?" She roared, quickly standing up from the floor.

"I don't know!" The diva exclaimed, stepping out of the bed and standing on the opposite side from Santana. It was safer to keep the bed between them, just in case the girl decided to surge forward in an attempt to kill her. They might be friends now but the Latina still had a temper. "I woke up like this and when I tried to move you… hum…"

"I what?" The tan girl pressed, glaring at the petite girl.

"Held me closer…" The petite girl trailed off, shyly looking at the floor. She shouldn't feel embarrassed about this, it happened while they were asleep and after all, Santana was the one holding her but still, it shouldn't have felt this nice…

"Bullshit, I didn't." Santana quickly tried to defend herself. "You just…"

Suddenly, they were interrupted by some loud banging on the door. Santana raised an eyebrow questioningly as she looked at Rachel. The brunette shrugged. "Maybe we woke up someone with the screaming…"

"I could say wanky, but I'm so not in the mood right now for this shit." The raven-haired girl slipped on her clothes. "I'm gonna check who that is. You stay next to me in case they think I tried to murder you." She walked to the door.

Rachel frowned and crossed her arms. "Why would it be you? I could be the one tired of you because you're infuriating."

The Latina rolled her eyes. "And you're annoying, dwarf, but we're stuck with each other so I guess we'll have to get used to it." She opened the door but as she was about to ask what was wrong, she saw there was no one in sight. "Where are they?"

"Perhaps they already left." The petite girl offered.

But when the girls stepped outside the room to check the hallway, their surroundings started to swirl and everything became a blur until it finally stopped and Rachel and Santana were standing right in front of the saloon, in the middle of the night.

Feeling as if the world was still spinning, Santana leaned against the wall and glanced around her. "What the fuck happened?" She looked at the diva who seemed as confused as her. "How the hell did we travel back in Glesswood? It's a nightmare…"

Rachel looked at the empty streets around them, a lonely tear running down her face. "Oh my god, we can't leave this town, we are doomed…"