Fanfiction - Glee - Unexpected places 4/5

[kiarcheo]

TITLE: Unexpected places 4/5
AUTHOR: kiarcheo  
PAIRING: Santana/ Rachel
RATING: PG-13
WORD COUNT: 20000+
SUMMARY: ‘It was all Berry’s fault. She was everywhere. Every single moment of Santana’s life she was there’

SPOILERS: Season one

NOTES: Written for the Glee Femslash Big Bang Challenge.

Thanks to sky_splitz    for the patience and the help.  You are an awesome beta!

Prologue.|Chapter 1.| Chapter 2.| Chapter 3.| Chapter 4.| Chapter 5.| Epilogue.


CHAPTER 4

“Don’t count on us for dinner, mama.”

“Why not?”

“We are going out, we can’t always stay shut up here.”

Leonor sighed: this surely was different from the previous year, when Santana would go out every night… and it would be good for Rachel some diversion. “Just be careful, okay?”

“Si, mama,” Santana rolled her eyes: her mother was paranoid since Quinn got herself pregnant.

oooo

The two girls came to a halt, a hand still on their respective door handle, admiring the unusual sight of the other in a dress.

Rachel took a step towards Santana, and the girl offered her hand. “Are you ready?”

Rachel smiled shyly and nodded, “Where are we going?”

“That’s for me to know and for you to find out.               ”

“Wow, Santana, this place is beautiful, how did you find it?” Rachel asked looking around.

“I did my research. I wanted this date to be perfect.”

“It is.”

“I know, you in a dress would have been enough to make this day unforgettable.” Santana looked satisfied as Rachel blushed.

“Thank you Santana, you’re breathtaking too.”

“This is strange.” Rachel stated suddenly in the middle of the dinner.

“Why?” Santana tensed, afraid that Rachel was regretting accepting her invite.

“I’ve never been so comfortable during a date.” Rachel smiled and Santana relaxed. “But I’ve never dated my best friend either.”

“I can’t say anything, I’ve never been on a date,” Santana said quietly, looking in her plate.

“What?” Rachel exclaimed, then she lowered her voice. “How is that possible?” she covered Santana’s hand with her own.

“Well, with Brittany it was nothing serious, and the others wanted other things,” she fumbled with her words, fearful of Rachel’s judgment.

“We have to rectify the situation immediately!” Rachel was upset, but not for the reasons Santana feared “I’ll take you out on a date as soon as possible.”

“You want to take me out on a date?” Santana repeated, surprised at the notion.

“Santana, we’ve got to make something clear, if we want this relationship to work.” Seeing that she had Santana’s undivided attention she continued, pleased. “I don’t believe in the division of roles in a couple. I hate couple where one takes the male role and the other the female. It’s a male chauvinist heritage, unworthy to be perpetrated by people who are supposed to be free from any cliché . You may have a tendency towards violence and coarse language similar to the stereotypical boy, but if I wanted a boy, I wouldn’t be here with you.”

“And that means taking you out and paying for you.” Rachel added after a few second.

“I got it. To sum it up, you want us to be equal in this relationship.”

Rachel smiled at her. Jesse talked almost as much as her and everything was about him, Finn didn’t understand half of the things she said, and Noah simply stopped listening to her after few minutes. Santana really listened and understood and-

“I know, I’m perfect for you,” Santana joked, but Rachel was inclined to believe it.

“We should go, it’s an hour drive to Lima, and I’d like to have a long good-night kiss when we arrive at home.”

“Only a kiss?” Rachel teased her, before falling silent.

“What is it?” Santana asked after having paid the check.

“Do you want to…. tell people about us when we get home?”

“Do you want to?” Santana turned the question around.

“I… can we keep it to ourselves for some time? It’s just that we went from hating each other, well, you hating me, to Glee mates, from living together and ignoring each other to friends, then best friends, and now girlfriends.”

“I understand.”

“I don’t want to think that I’m ashamed and that I want to keep it hidden, I’m overly proud that you are my girlfriend.”

“Rachel,” Santana slid an arms around the shorter girl’s waist, guiding her towards the car. “I understand, really, we just need time to cope with it, it’s okay,” she said, careful to use the plurals. “Beside it’s not like I ever went around flaunting my private life to my mom.”

“Thank you,” Rachel gave a sigh of relief, berating herself for thinking that just because Santana was now her girlfriend things would have changed: she should have know that the Latina would have be chill with it “I don’t want to lie to your mother.”

“We won’t. We’ll have to be careful with PDA, and at the right time, we’ll tell her,” Santana reassured her, opening the car’s door for Rachel.

oooo

They entered in the house silently, careful not to wake up Santana’s mom, they climbed the stairs and stopped in front of Rachel’s bedroom. Santana leaned towards Rachel, kissing her.

When they emerged for air, Rachel stifled a giggle.

“What is it?” Santana asked with an indulgent smile.

“I’ve never dated someone who lived with me, this gives the whole ‘kissing at the door after a date’ a new sense. Or whom I already sleep together, for what it matters.”

“I’ll go,” Santana pointed towards her bedroom, thinking that Rachel was gently letting her know that the rules had changed now that they weren’t just friend.

“I’ll change and join you,” Rachel stood on tiptoe to brush her lips against Santana’s. “Wait for me.”

“Always,” Santana murmured, before scowling to herself for her cheesiness.

oooo

The right time to tell Santana’s mom didn’t come until September.

When Leonor asked both girls to join her, both girls were dreading the talk that would have followed. Either if she was announcing that the house was finally ready or that she had found out about the girls and she wasn’t happy, they knew that nothing good would have come from the conversation.

“I talked to your fathers, Rachel.”

“Really? Are they coming home?” she asked excited, forgetting about her previous worries.

Santana exchanged a look with her mother, and when the woman shook her head, she put her arm on Rachel’s shoulder, taking hold with her other hand of Rachel’s hand.

“No, niña, lo siento.”

“Oh.” Rachel deflated: she wasn’t really expecting a positive answer, they would have called her if they were coming, but for an instant the hope got the better of her rationality.

“They asked me and Santana to stay here to look after you and keep you company. I said that I would have asked you girls and then let them know. What do you think?”

“I’d like that,” Rachel said quietly.

“Hija?”

“Me too.”

“Vale, it’s settled then.”

“Wait!” Rachel stopped Leonor, who was already half-raised “There is something you need to know, before you decide.”

Santana looked at Rachel, asking with her eyes if she was sure. Rachel nodded and squeezed her hand.

Leonor saw the exchange and sat down again, now more curious than ever.

“I think it’s only fair that before you take a decision regarding your living arrangement for the next year, you have the knowledge of a situation that could affect your choice. I wouldn’t have a clean conscience if we keep it from you more than we already have, because-”

“Rachel es mi novia, mama.” Santana cut her rambling short.

Leonor looked at her daughter, then at Rachel, repeating the movements a couple of time “She is your girlfriend?” she finally asked.

“Yes” Santana answered, puffing out her chest as to challenge her, while Rachel nodded.

Leonor bit back a smile at her daughter’s attitude “Can I have a moment to think about it?”

“Sure,” Rachel stood up quickly, pulling Santana with her.

“Whatever you decide, it won’t change anything,” Santana said, and her mother knew that she was looking at her but she was in fact talking to Rachel.

“Girls.”

The three inhabitants of the Berry’s house were again reunited.

“I have thought about it,” she stopped.

“And?” “Cut the tease, mama,” both girls prompted her, anxious.

“And while I know that I can’t impose an open door policy or any other rules, since this is not my house, we need to settle down some common lines on your behavior.”

“Such as?” Santana frowned, while Rachel started smiling, realizing that she was going to have a live-in-girlfriend.

“No funny business outside the bedrooms.”

“Mama!”

“Your bedrooms, not mine. Mine is off-limits,” she added.

“We…we haven’t…didn’t…” Rachel spluttered.

Leonor smiled seeing the girls, and especially her daughter, flushing bright red, and in that moment you could see where Santana came from. “And you have been together since?”

“End of June.” Rachel answered.

“And you’ve never...”

Rachel shook her head, Santana leaped on her feet. “Stop answering her for God’s sake! It’s none of her business!” she yelled, before storming out of the house slamming the front door.

“Are you in trouble?”

“She’ll get over it.”

“You know, she said the same thing when you had that big fight… and you didn’t talk to her for weeks.”

“I have my ways…. that she didn’t have at the time,” Rachel shrugged, before blushing when she realized what she had just told to her girlfriend’s mother. “Sorry.”

“I was having fun embarrassing Santana, but I’m glad that you’re waiting… even if I know that it won’t take much time anymore,” Rachel avoided her eyes. “Just, don’t hurt each other, please.”

Rachel nodded, “We are trying, but it’s hard.”

“Like every relationship, niña.”

Rachel stood silent for a while. “What are you doing with your house?”

“Since it’s ready, and we won’t use it…I was thinking about renting it out.”

“Did they found out what happened?” the girl asked cautiously.

“Someone tampered with the piping, but we were already having problems with them, so when it didn’t have the hoped effects, they set fire to the living room. We were lucky that the fire didn’t reach our bedroom and destroy everything we had, but it seriously compromised the structural integrity of the apartment. This is why it took so long to fix everything”

“It was him, wasn’t it?”

They both knew who Rachel was referring to.

“Santana seems to think so,” Leonor looked at the girl’s perplexed face. “And I think so too,” she admitted.

“Any evidence?”

“Unfortunately not. He was seen around, and he knew the house, how to enter, the layout… but nothing else.”

“So they just let him go away?” Rachel exclaimed, highly indignant.

“They reinforced the restraining order. He can’t go near me or Santana, or our proprieties.”

Rachel sighed in relief. She never had the misfortune to meet the man, but she remembered a time, when her fathers were still at home, how they pushed and encouraged Leonor to leave her husband, claiming that he was no good for her and for her child.

Just thinking about Santana being around that despicable excuse of a man gave Rachel chills. She knew that part of her attitude came from having to face him for years at home. The rest was just plain Santana Lopez original.

“Did you let them know that you’re now staying here?” she asked, knowing that there was slim to no chance that he would show up there, but she couldn’t help to be terrified if she let herself thought about it.

“Yes, and I’ll remind them. Just to think that I could have avoided everything…” Leonor shook her head.

Rachel could see the guilt eating the woman away and she covered her hands.

“It’s not your fault. Everyone makes mistakes. I know that it’s not even remotely comparable, but when Jesse betrayed us, going back to Vocal Adrenaline after I did everything in my power to convince the others that he was sincere, I felt a worm. I was stupidly in love, I was so gullible that I would have chosen him over Glee…and sometimes I can’t help to think that without all the drama caused by him, by us, we could have won Regionals. We would have been more able to concentrate on rehearsal, and less on petty revenge or my hurt feelings”

“That doesn’t make much sense.”

“Exactly,” Rachel smiled a little. “I can’t change my feelings, but rationally I know the truth, so they doesn’t bother me so much. We did our best, but we were 12 while the others were at least twice our members. Not to mention that doing a tribute to the jury members was totally unfair, and against every rule.” Rachel stopped, flushing a little. “I think you get the idea.”

Leonor laughed a little. “I do.” She stood up, patted Rachel’s hand and smiled. “Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind. And now, go, I think your girlfriend is back.”

ooooo

“Santana?”

“Go away,” the muffled reply came from the bedroom.

Ignoring the command, Rachel opened the door.

“Shouldn’t you be with my mother, gossiping?”

“You know that she was baiting you.”

“And you helped her.”

Rachel sat on the bed. “Are you ashamed that after months we still haven’t had sex?” Just because she chose to ignore the rumors, it didn’t mean that she didn’t know Santana’s reputation.

“What? No!” the girl jumped up from her lying position. “We’ll do it when we’re ready.”

“You mean when I’m ready.” Rachel corrected her, self-deprecating.

“Querida, look at me.” Santana put her hands on Rachel’s cheeks, turning her head towards her. “I’m okay with waiting, really, I don’t want you to think that... do you feel pressured?” she asked worried.

Rachel shook her head, her eyes still trying to avoid Santana. “But you…”

“I?” Santana frowned before realization dawned on her “Rachel, you’re not like the others. This is not…this is different, special. I won’t leave you because you won’t put out, and even less I won’t leave you after you do.” she cringed at her crass words and she pulled Rachel in a hug. “I… I… I won’t leave you, ever,” she settled at the end, trying to convey all her love in those words.

They lied down on the bed, still embracing.

“Sorry for being stupid.”

“It wasn’t stupid!” Santana scolded her.

“Are you upset?”

“No, I’m not. Just never talk again with my mother of our private stuff, por favor.”

“I can do that… it was decidedly uncomfortable anyway.” Rachel let out a nervous laugh. “And while we are on the subject…do you want to tell Brittany?”

“I’ll invite her over when she comes back.” Santana agreed.

ooooo

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Santana anticipated her mother, entering in the kitchen.

“Okay, you’ll just listen then.”

Santana looked at Leonor, hearing her serious tone.

“She is good for you, and I can see that you are good for her too, and I’m glad that you’re respecting her. I love you both, she is like a second daughter to me… so I’ll just tell you what I told her: just don’t hurt each other.”

“We won’t.”

“Bueno.” Leonor kissed her on the forehead. “When are you going to tell Shelby?” she chuckled at Santana’s wide eyes. “You haven’t thought about it, have you?”

ooooo

“Why are you so nervous? She is just my mother!” Rachel whispered, putting her hand on Santana’s thigh.

“I’m not nervous!” Santana hissed back.

“Sure, and your leg can’t stay still because you’re having a seizure.” Rachel rolled her eyes at the denial.

“I’m not, I’m…”

“A fucking badass, I know,” she patted her thigh good-naturally. “You sound just like Noah.”

“Girls, why so serious?” Shelby entered the room, Beth on her hip.

“We need to tell you something.”

“You aren’t pregnant, aren’t you?”

“What?” “No!” Santana and Rachel exclaimed at the same time.

“Thanks God,” Shelby breathed out in relief. “What is it, then?”

“We are together.” Rachel announced.

“Together, as in girlfriends? Dating and such?”

“Yes.”

“Are you okay with it?” Santana asked cautiously.

“I gave my daughter to a gay couple, why wouldn’t be okay with her dating another girl?” she looked amused. “Although the fact that you two live together…” she frowned a little: it would take some time to get used to her teenage daughter living together with her girlfriend. “Does your mom know?”

The girls nodded.

“Did she walk in on you?”

“No!”

“Please, don’t ask any more,” Rachel pleaded.

“I wasn’t planning to, I don’t want to know about your private matters.”

“Thank God for small favors,” Santana muttered.

“I’ll tell you later,” Rachel said in response at her mom’s raised eyebrow.

“No, you won’t.” Santana glared at her, but as soon as she looked away Rachel grinned and nodded to Shelby.

“Do you think it’s a good idea? You know, living together?” Seeing their confused faces the woman specified. “What if it doesn’t work out?”

“We lived together without major problems when she hated me, when we were just friends and in those months of dating too.”

“Besides, it will work.” Santana added after Rachel finished speaking.

“You talked of months, so I suppose my objection of rushing into it doesn’t stand. Girls, I don’t want to be a party pooper, but have you thought about it? Now it seems everything is perfect and life is a bed of roses, but are you ready for what will come?”

“Mom, I know that I haven’t had the highest rate of success in relationships.”

“Baby, I’m not talking about the common hardship that every relationship faces, sooner than later. And I’m sure that you got a lecture from Leonor on that,” she waited for the girls to nod, before continuing. “But until now you lived in a bubble, where there were just you two, and your mom.” She pointed to Santana “And me and Beth… Soon you’ll have to face the world. At your school people don’t even know that you’re friends, never less that you live together… What are you going to do? Are you planning to tell people?”

“We are going to tell Brittany, when she come back, before school starts.”

“Brittany is your blonde friend, right?”

“The tall one, the other is Quinn,” Santana added unnecessary, since Shelby would obviously know the biological mother of her child.

“And what about the others?”

“We are keeping it secret.”

“Rachel is already bullied enough, and if I maintain my reputation and my social status I can continue to protect her.”

Shelby could see their reasons, but something didn’t sit down well with her. “So you’re just going to ignore Rachel at school?”

“We are thinking to ask Brittany to hang out with Rachel, so everyone will assume that I’m doing it just for B… and hopefully it won’t take much time before they will get used to see us together and we could at least act like friends.”

“You’ve given this a lot of thought,” Shelby conceded

“We’re in this for the long run.” Santana looked straight in Shelby’s eyes, dead serious.

“Do you remember the conversation we had some time ago?”

“Yes.”

“Good,” Shelby nodded, her firm stance reflecting Santana’s.

Rachel looked between her mother and her girlfriend. “Could someone tell me what is going on?”

“Nothing,” they answered at the same time, finally breaking their eye-contact.

Rachel frowned. “If you say so,” she said skeptical.

ooooo

“San?”

“Uhm,” Santana continued trailing kisses along Rachel’s collarbone, both girl clad in their underwear.

Rachel tugged at Santana’s hair, prompting her to leave her chest and raise her head to Rachel’s face.

“I’m nervous,” Rachel whispered while Santana was nuzzling her neck.

“Why, querida?” Santana licked on her pulse point.

“I’ve never done it, and I know it hurts.”

“Don’t worry,” she brushed her lips against Rachel’s, then her cheek. “Besides, it hurts only the first-” Santana leaned on her arm, while with an hand she was still caressing her hip bone, looking at Rachel “But Finn said…” she said confused.

“I told him so” Rachel looked away, but immediately turned to look at Santana again “When did he tell you?”

“I asked him if he still felt guilty about doing it with me and he said that you did the same so you didn’t have…” Santana stopped, feeling Rachel tensing underneath her.

“You slept with him,” Rachel wasn’t sure if it was a statement or a question, but Santana averting her eyes gave her the answer anyway. “Please, tell me that he wasn’t with me”

“You were with Jesse at the time,” Santana’s feeble voice matched Rachel’s one.

“I didn’t want to appear like a stupid girl who was waiting for who-knows-what, and I lied to him and I felt so guilty and dirty after he told me that he was still a virgin.”

“I’m sorry,” Santana rolled away from Rachel.

They laid down, separated and silent for a while, until Santana felt Rachel move. Expecting the worst, she closed tightly her eyes, praying that she could hold back her tears until Rachel was out of the room. She jumped in surprise, when she felt Rachel’s head on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” Santana repeated.

“It’s not your fault, it’s not you who lied to me,” the pain in Rachel’s voice was evident, as she thought how Finn dated her for months, after Regionals without telling her anything.

“I should have told you.”

“I can’t pretend to know every guy you went out with.”

Santana smiled bitterly: with how Rachel phrased it, it almost seemed as she hadn’t had sex with practically every guy ‘she went out with’ “Maybe you should.”

“Santana…”

“I don’t want you to be unready, if someone tell you something, I’m not proud of what I’ve done, but I don’t want you to get hurt by my past.”

“I don’t think I can take anything else right now,” Rachel whispered, hot tears trailing down her cheeks and falling on Santana’s skin.

“Can we stay like this?” Santana asked softly: she was glad that her girlfriend, she thanked God that she could still call Rachel like that, was still there, and she didn’t want to upset her by assuming that after that she was willing to cuddle with her practically naked.

“Please.” Rachel scooted closer as Santana encircled her in her arms.

oooooo

“S?”

“Yes B?” Santana asked, patiently waiting for her blonde friend to start talking.

Brittany looked around the room a last time, before turning towards Santana. “Are you one of those crazy guys who follow around pretty girls, doing photos, and watching them and doing creepy things?”

“Do you mean a stalker?” Rachel butted in, before disappearing up the stairs.

“Oh my God, you kidnapped Rachel!” Brittany exclaimed, bringing her hands to her mouth.

“What? Why?” Santana looked at the blonde bewildered.

“You have all these photos, all of Rachel and… you were there for her fourth birthday?” she asked puzzled, before continuing, “and Rachel is here, she just passed, I saw her.”

“Brittany, this is Rachel’s home,” Santana said calmly.

“Oh.” Brittany thought for a moment. “Then why are you here?”

“I live here. And Rachel is my girlfriend.” Santana decided to put everything on the table.

“I don’t think I’m following you.” the blonde stated confused.

“Why don’t you move to the pool while Santana explains everything?” Rachel suggested,

“B?”

“I didn’t bring a swimsuit.”

“I’d offer you mine, but I’m sure that Santana’s would fit you better.”

“Let’s go to my room. Rach, will you join us?” Santana stood up.

“I don’t think so, I’m meeting my mom.”

“Her mom?” Brittany followed Santana up the stairs. “Like Vocal Adrenaline’s coach, mom?”

“Yes, Shelby.”

“I missed a lot of things,” the blonde pouted.

“Don’t worry, I’ll update you soon. Here, try this,” Santana handed her a blue bikini. “But before I start talking, tell me about your summer”

“Oh!” Brittany tried to clap her hands excitedly, but she was still putting on her bikini, so she got tangled up in it. Undeterred she began speaking happily “I met this boy, he is a dancer, but he is from California, and there was Daniel, too, he is from New York and he was so cute, and he…”

Rachel smiled, hearing from outside the room the energized chatting, especially because it showed the clear interest Brittany harbored for the male gender.

“San, I’m going. Brit, it was a pleasure seeing you again, I hope we’ll have a chance to talk next time,” she said loudly.

“Bye Rach.”

“See you later, querida!”

“What does that mean?” Rachel heard Brittany ask and she could imagine Santana blushing as she answered, “It means beloved in Spanish.”

“Rachel knows Spanish?”

“Almost better than me. Are you ready for the pool?”

“I didn’t know Rachel had a pool.” Brittany took a towel from Santana.

“Me neither, not until I came to live here.”

“Do you think she would let me use it sometimes?” the blonde looked across the garden with wide eyes.

“I’m sure that she’ll love it.”

“I always liked Rachel, but everyone was mean to her and I thought that I was doing something wrong if I liked her.”

“About that. I need a favour.”

Brittany spread her towel on her deckchair. “What?”

“Would you mind… could you be Rachel’s friend at school?”

“You mean that I have permission to talk to her and sit with her at lunch?”

“Yes,” Santana smiled at how excited Brittany seemed at the idea, like she had always wanted to do it, but she couldn’t because what others would have thought. ‘Because of me…’ Santana thought bitterly, her smile fading.

“And you’ll be there too?”

“Yes, but, B, nobody has to know about this.”

“The pool?”

“No, about me living with Rach, or that she is my girlfriend.”

“Okay.” Brittany nodded “Why?”

“They won’t like it, and they’ll try to hurt us, or to break us up.”

“Yeah, they are mean,” the blonde nodded, “But we’ll all be friends”

“Us three, yes,” Santana confirmed.

“Cool!” Brittany splashed around. “Sooo…did you already do it?”

Santana stopped floating.

“What?” Brittany looked at her.

“Nothing, it’s just…You are the only one who didn’t assume that we were having sex.”

“Well, when Rachel asked us about Jesse she didn’t seem like she takes sex lightly,” Brittany shrugged and Santana smiled at her insightful friend.

“But you’re having sex,” Brittany grinned “How is it?”

“Amazing,” a smile threatened to split Santana’s face. “And I don’t think it’s just because it’s a recent thing, it’s… I don’t know how to explain it.”

“Better than anything or anyone else?” Brittany offered.

“Fuck, yeah! No offense, with you it was really good, but with Rachel it’s… different. Special.” Santana halted, wishing for once to have Rachel’s vocabulary.

“Because you love her,” Brittany stated with certainty.

“Yeah,” Santana widen her eyes, realizing what she had said. She frowned pondering about it, before nodding to herself. “Yeah, I love her.”

Brittany smiled brightly. “I know.”

Chapter 5.