When Blaine warned her about taking the extra room in Quinn's apartment, she'd told him to stop being so dramatic. It was so conveniently located in Upper East Side, Manhattan, smack dab in the middle of New York University and Columbia University, so spacious, and felt so homey, she couldn't turn it down.

Many called it a coincidence -Rachel called it fate- that after she had decided to return to school after leaving NYADA she'd come across Quinn who was trying her hand at a different ivy league, claiming that New Haven just didn't have that spark and flare New York did.

Rachel could hardly argue with that logic.

So, after discovering that her old, blonde friend was forgoing dorm life and renting out a two bedroom apartment via Blaine, she did not hesitate to offer herself up as a roommate.

Surely, their history would make the situation ideal, she had convinced herself. She knew Quinn was clean, and although she ate like a caveman, the ex-cheerio was far more considerate of others than many of the other people she had roomed herself with in the past.

Or so she had believed.

Quinn, of course, happily agreed to let her move in, citing the extra income would definitely help. But, it wasn't without her own warnings. Rachel was expecting it when the girl mentioned that she liked her privacy, and would in return respect Rachel's. Since knowing her, Quinn had always come off a little reserved, if not shy.

The warning she had not fully expected was the blonde mentioning that she had company often. It was the way her eyes widened and lips curled around the word "often" that had confused Rachel. Quinn had elaborated that it wasn't a large quantity of people, it more often than not being the same visitor.

Rachel had likened the explanation up to the aloof girl having a boyfriend that came over frequently. The idea hadn't deterred her one bit and she happily took the room, throwing in her own warnings of bedtime rituals and a tendency to stock the fridge with vegan-friendly alternatives.

What Rachel had not expected was to find Santana Lopez lazily lounging on the coach, tuned into The Bad Girl's Club, on her move-in day as she moved her stuff into the apartment. She hadn't seen the girl since graduation. The last she'd heard about her was that she was in Louisville stuck in a cheerleading skirt she hated, with girls she couldn't stand and a coach that made her miss Sue Sylvester. The update –though unwarranted as she had not asked for it- had come from Tina who had apparently made it a habit to 'not-stalk' all of them. "It's just keeping up with old friends" she had claimed.

The fiery girl had barely acknowledged her when she came in, throwing a quick "hey" at her without actually looking away from the TV. The girl was clearly not as shocked by her presence as Rachel had been of hers.

When Quinn emerged from the back of the apartment, she gave Rachel a winning smile and hug welcoming her "home" before excusing herself to grab the rest of Rachel's bags from outside. She had apparently felt no need to explain the very confusing presence of their former gleemate.

And as the two of them finished bringing the bags in, Santana never once offered to help. In fact, the girl didn't seem to have moved at all except to readjust herself on the coach.

Some things never change, I guess.

Before Rachel could finally make her confusion known, Quinn and Santana were heading out the door, the former explaining they had plans and would be back later. So, Rachel was left alone to unpack her room and dwindle in her own curiosity. She briefly considered asking Blaine about Santana, but figured the boy would be just as clueless about it as she was.

It was three nothing-out-of-the-ordinary days before Rachel's curiosity was finally sated.

She and Quinn were starting to get into a routine, having the entire weekend to get used to each other's presence. Rachel found that Quinn wasn't as quiet as she had previously believed. The blonde was actually very willing to open up to her. Rachel learned all about how Quinn had felt suffocated and alone at Yale until she'd finally gotten the courage to apply somewhere else. She also learned that Quinn worked at a local bookstore just a few blocks down, and was surprised to hear that McKinley's 'young Sue Sylvester' was as big a book nerd as she herself was a musical geek.

Finding out her new roomie was also working quelled Rachel's curiosity about where she had been the past three days. Though she was home during the mornings, she frequently left midday and didn't return until the sun had set. On the second day she hadn't come home at all. Rachel figured she'd stayed with the "boyfriend" she still had yet to meet.

Rachel, for her part, was more than happy to tell of her own misadventures to a willing ear. She told Quinn all about dropping out of NYADA, living with Kurt and Blaine, not living with Kurt and Blaine, dating a gigolo, and finally deciding to give school a second chance. When Quinn took none of the opportunities provided to ridicule her, Rachel couldn't help but feel like their relationship was changing for the better.

Santana did not come up, nor had Rachel seen her since that first day.

On the fourth day, Rachel had been at NYU to finalize her schedule and classes, before making a pit stop at the Starbucks a block from the apartment –one of the other conveniences she'd come to love- and walking home.

If she hadn't had a death grip on her coffee, it would've ended up all over her Lahaie Oxfords. Although her drink had not dropped, her jaw did as she stood in the doorway gapping at a shirtless Santana straddling who she could only assume was her roommate on the very coach she had lounged in the day she moved in.

As the girl's continued to eat away at each other's faces, either too distracted to have heard the door or choosing to ignore it, Rachel didn't know if she should leave while they all still had a chance to preserve their dignity or take this as the opportunity to appease her curiosity.

Deciding on the latter -if they were going to live together this had to be explained- she closed the door behind her and cleared her throat, alerting the preoccupied girls to her presence.

If the two were as shocked at being discovered as she was at discovering them, they didn't show it.

Santana simply slid out of the girl's lap, not before huffing her obvious annoyance at being interrupted, and averted her attention to a slightly-less-but-still-gaping Rachel. Eyes focused on Santana –and trying her best to avoid the girl's bra-clad chest- Rachel missed the way Quinn discretely grabbed Santana's missing shirt and placed it in her own lap.

There was silence as Rachel looked back and forth between the girls expecting some kind of explanation, but only received blank stares.

"What is this?" Rachel finally broke the silence.

"This" Santana spoke motioning between herself and Quinn, "is called sex. And you are, what we might call a cockblock." The girl smirked until Quinn pinched her arm for being rude. Rachel noted that Quinn did nothing to deny the claims, however.

Rachel sputtered on her words as she attempted to make sense of it all. "But-how-wha-whe-"

"English Berry."

"Santana what are you even doing here? I thought you were in Kentucky." Rachel finally got out.

"First of all, was." Santana started, "I hated it there." So Tina had been right. "Second of all, I was trying to get my mack on with my girl before her annoying roommate came home. See how that turned out." Santana finished with an eyeroll.

"Santana, please be nice." Quinn spoke up for the first time, sending a glare to the girl that had just laid claims on her.

"Wait, your girl? As in your girlfriend?" Rachel couldn't keep the shock out of her voice if she tried.

"Yup, my girlfriend." Santana repeated, mocking the songstress' voice, "As in heed-over-heels, spoils me rotten, tapping-that-every night girlfriend." She pulled the blonde towards her, nibbling on her ear as she finished, Quinn incapable of doing anything but blush and squirm under her girlfriend's ministrations.

Rachel still found she couldn't wrap her head around the whole thing, despite the proof sitting right under her nose. "I don't understand Quinn, why not just tell me? I wouldn't have had a problem with it. I might have been a bit caught off guard, but accepting nonetheless." Rachel was sure Quinn hiding her relationship was what bothered her the most about the situation. Aside from the fact that Santana still hadn't managed to put on a shirt and seemed determined to pick up where they had left off as she continued nipping the blonde's ear.

At her question, Quinn just looked confused. And then she chuckled a bit. "Sorry Rachel. I wasn't trying to hide it from you. I thought you knew."

They'd spent the next few minutes going over why Quinn had assumed there was no need to make a formal announcement about her and Santana, ranging from the fact that Santana was here the day she moved in to the fact that everyone knew, including both Kurt and Blaine.

The conversation only lasted a couple more minutes before Santana got frustrated with Rachel distracting Quinn from the hot kisses she started trailing down her neck and pulled her girlfriend to her room where they presumably finished what Rachel had interrupted.

It was another week and Rachel getting used to seeing Santana around the apartment when Rachel found out there was a lot more to Quinn that she didn't know than just her love life.

She had been on the phone with Kurt who had informed her of yet another glee reunion at McKinley. Excited at the prospect of seeing all of her fellow gleeks once more, she decided to spread the joy to her roommate. Noting the crack in the bedroom door and just a little distracted by her friend's squealing into her ear, she didn't bother with knocking.

It was a decision everyone in the room soon came to regret.

Worst case scenario, Rachel thought she'd walk in on the two making out again, but it had yet to happen. She was confident Quinn was being considerate and stopping their activities when Rachel was present.

What she found on the other side of the door was far from her worst case scenario.

She could have never guessed she would find Quinn sitting at the edge of her bed, head thrown back, pants around her ankles, with Santana crouched between her knees, lips puckered around an appendage she was pretty sure Quinn wasn't supposed to have.

Unlike when she had discovered them on the coach, she couldn't keep the objects from falling out of her hand. It was the thump of the phone hitting the floor that alerted the girls of Rachel's presence.

Unlike when they were discovered on the coach, their reaction was immediate. Santana immediately pulled away from her girlfriend's crotch as Quinn pulled up her pants, panicking. Rachel covered her eyes as she began profusely apologizing for barging in, all but running out of the room, as Santana discretely wiped her mouth.

She never got to finish her conversation with Kurt.

It was an entire four days before Quinn came back to the apartment. She assumed the obviously distraught blonde was staying with Santana. Where that was, she still wasn't sure. With school starting the next week, Rachel had thrown herself into preparing for her classes to distract her from the situation at hand.

When Quinn did come back, Santana glued to her side, they tripped and stumbled their way through a conversation that was more awkward than the one she'd had with her dads about the 'birds and bees' and sometimes the 'bees and bees.'

Despite the obvious discomfort of everyone present, including, surprisingly, Santana -apparently, the girl did have some modesty; getting caught blowing her girlfriend by said girlfriend's weird roommate slash former thorn-in-her side had clearly not been on her bucket list- they'd gotten through the conversation with Quinn feeling more comfortable telling Rachel about her condition and Rachel having a new found respect of personal boundaries.

Though she'd never admit it, she also had a new found respect for Santana. The usually cold-hearted girl hadn't left Quinn's side once the entire night and offered comfort whenever it seemed to get too much for the perturbed blonde.

It grew a tad bit more when she ran into the ex-cheerleader in her Music Theory class her first week of school. (It was a little overshadowed by the irritation Rachel felt when Santana had decided to pretend she didn't know her.)

For a while, Rachel believed that the worst was behind them and despite the circumstances, she and Quinn and even Santana had grown a little closer.

They were going on their third month of the semester when Rachel finally figured out the meaning behind Blaine's initial warning.

She supposed Quinn was now more comfortable around her, which she was sure she was happy about, because she was now witnessing more of her roommate than she ever cared to.

The first time it happened, she had come back from a run, Barbara Streisand blaring through her headphones. It was only when she removed the headphones did she get her first earful of Santana.

"Oh god, Q! Don't stop, please! Ahh, fuck, Quinn, baby, right there!"

Rachel had almost broken the earbuds with the force she used to get them back in her ears. However, no matter how loud Barbara screamed in her ears, in the back of her head Santana seemed to be screaming louder.

The second time it happened, Rachel had been on a date with Seth, a guy she'd met in her dancing class. After having been exclusive for the better part of three weeks, Rachel was confident that the date would end at his place. She was sure to inform Quinn of her intentions, despite how unwilling her roommate was to hear about her sexlife.

When the date came to an unexpected end after the boy had made the mistake of declaring that 'The Sound of Music' was a much better play than 'Wicked' Rachel found herself heading back to her apartment. She'd give him another chance, but there's was no way she could sleep with him that night after the total lack of respect he had showed theater.

What she found when she got home shouldn't have surprised her. But, it did.

Finding a panting Santana on the carpet, propped on her hands and knees, with a grunting Quinn thrusting behind her was far from what she wanted to see when she got home, especially with the way her own plans had turned out.

To make matters worse, Quinn, in an attempt to escape yet another embarrassing situation, moved forward out of instinct when she should have moved back. The unexpected –and hard- thrust had pushed the moaning brunette over the edge.

Rachel would forever have Santana's 'O' face engraved in her mind.

It was laundry day that became the straw that broke the camel's back.

Rachel and Quinn had split up most of the household chores, including the laundry which they would switch off weekly. Considering it was Quinn's week, when Rachel needed a fresh towel so she could start her nightly face routine, she assumed Quinn had yet to pull from the dryer and opted to just grab one for herself.

She was right. Quinn hadn't pulled them. But even if Rachel wanted to, she wouldn't be able to either.

Not while Santana sat on top, legs spread wide with Quinn's face buried deep in-between. Rachel was, yet again, witness to Santana's –very loud- moans. It became a two-for-one when Santana came only a few seconds later.

That night she heard Santana's voice reach octaves she'd never reached in glee when Quinn didn't come back up.

When Rachel called Blaine to accuse him of being the worst for letting her move in with Quinn, the former Warbler laughed at her.

"I warned you, Rachel."