AN: This is my first fanfic so sorry if it's horrible. Anywho, here are a few things about the story: this takes place after season 2, but has nothing to do with season 3. So Quinn and Santana are still in glee, Blaine isn't at McKinley (yet), and Sam didn't leave. One thing from season 3 that I'll keep is that Will & Emma are together :) This is mainly a Puckleberry story. However it does have some of the other couples sprinkled in. There's some Pezberry friendship and definitely some Fuinn bashing. Also each of the chapters is in a different POV, most of them will be from Rachel, Puck, or Santana's. And some of the chapters overlap so you can see more of what's going on, so sorry if it confuses some people. Oh, also I'm addicted to quotes so each chapter will have a quote at the top that somehow relates to the chapter. I think that's it for now. I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, sadly. If I did Finchel would meet it's end and there would be a lot of Puckleberry. Also I don't own the song "What is this Feeling?" from the amazing musical that is Wicked or any other song mentioned.

Chapter One-So Sudden and New

"Sometimes it's the smallest decisions that can change your life forever"-Keri Russell

Santana's POV

If someone had come up to me a few weeks ago and told me that I would be friends with Rachel Berry, I probably would have laughed in their face. Just a few months ago, I had been screaming in Spanish at the girl, in a hotel room in New York. That was then, and a lot can happen in a short amount of time, because here I was sticking up for the smaller brunette. But let's start from the beginning, the first of many things to change in New Directions.

~~~~About 2 weeks into the new school year~~~~

I walked into the choir room and took a seat in the back next to Britt and waited for Mr. Schue to tell us our next boring assignment that somehow was related to whatever crisis was currently going on in his life. By sitting in the back, I had a prime spot to watch everyone in the club, searching for the latest dirt, one of my favorite activities. That's when I noticed that Puck was no longer sitting next to Zizes. In fact, the bigger girl wasn't even there. Hmm, trouble in paradise; I'd have to find out more about that. But Mr. Schue's voice cut threw my thoughts, "Okay, guys, for your next assignment you are going to draw a duet partner from the hat, and I want you to get together and sing a song that best conveys what kind of relationship you have with that person. And there is an even number of you because I have been informed that Lauren will not be joining us anymore"

I laughed to myself, well, this could be interesting. Mr. Schue grabbed the black top hat he always used, and picked a name to see who would be the first to get a partner, "Ok, up first to pick a partner is, Finn."

The giant of a boy walked up to the piano and reached in the hat. Finn looked at the name and looked like he was going to pass out, "Uhh, Mr. Schue..." Mr. Schue cut him off and told him to go on so he did, "Quinn"

I looked over to the Ice Queen and noticed the smug smile on her face and as I looked at Rachel I knew I wasn't the only one who saw it. I was expecting her to throw a fit, but she surprisingly stayed quiet and the drawing went on. Tina picked Mercedes. Kurt got Artie. Then I heard my name called, "Santana, you're up"

I walked up and prayed to myself that I got Brittany, however, when I unfolded the paper I was pissed, "Berry" Rachel sat there with a horrified look on her face. Great, what the hell I'm I suppose to sing with the midget. I made my way back to my seat, taking notice of the disappointed look on Puckerman's face. I was still fuming when I felt Brit put her hand on my shoulder and smile, "it will be alright, you'll see."

The rest of the partnerships were picked, while I tried to figure out how this could end up okay. Puckerman and Evans got paired up. This left Mike and Brittany together. Before the bell rang, Mr. Schue added, "We'll be performing these at the end of the week, so get with your partner at practice. For motivation, the winners get gift certificates to Breadstix."

Partners started planning, so I figured Berry and I should do the same. We had to win 'cause I wanted to get my Breadstix on. And despite our dislike of each other, with our voices, I figured we had this in the bag. I started walking over to her, where she was talking to Frankenteen, probably about Quinn.

"Yo, Berry, when are we practicing cuz I wanna win." She tensed and Finn went to go talk to Quinn.

Rachel looked at me with indifference, "Be at my house at 5, I already have an idea about the song, does that work for you?"

"Whatever, see you then" that's when the bell rang and I walked out of the room.

At 5 o'clock, I pulled up to Rachel Berry's house and knocked on her door. A minute later, she answered the door, "Hello, Santana"

"Hey, so can we get started, I don't have all night." Really I didn't have anything to do, but I didn't want to be stuck in the Berry household any longer than I had to.

"Yes, I already got out the sheet music for the song we should sing" I noticed the small smirk that flashed unto her face.

"Whoa, hold on, I'm not letting you have all the say in this."

"Of course, but I think you'll like it, it's from Wicked and called 'What is This Feeling?'" I didn't like the sound of it and she must have noticed because she went on, "I'll play it for you and then you'll see why it's perfect." She pressed play on her iPod. Once it was over, I knew we were going to kill this assignment. It was about two hating each other, which is how we felt towards each other, it was perfect. "I'll sing Elphaba's parts and you can sing Galinda's, also we'll have to change my third solo line because you are not blonde...unless you want to wear a wig."

The next day at school, I walked into the bathroom and froze. I saw Rachel hugging Brittany, who was crying.

"What happened?" Both of the girls looked at me and Brittany answered, "They were making fun of me, but Rachel saved me."

"Who was making fun of you?" I almost yelled; I was going to kill whoever made her cry.

"It was some of the football guys" this time Berry answered, "I'm gonna go now." She walked out and left me with Brit.

"She's a good friend." Brittany said as I walked over to hug her. Okay so maybe Rachel wasn't that bad, if she stood up to some football jocks for Brit.

We started performing the duets on Thursday, but Berry and I decided to wait until Friday to show everyone the awesomeness that was our duet. The two of us had been practicing and it sounded great and I knew we would win. We weren't the only ones who told Mr. Schue they would go Friday, Finn and Quinn were also waiting. This caused Rachel to tense up. If they did something that screwed this up for us, I would kill them both. Why did Finn have to be such an idiot, whenever he was with one of the two girls, he wanted the other one. I knew it was taking its toll on Berry. Wait; why did I care, I didn't like her, she was annoying and a freak. But ever since she stood up for Brittany and since we've been spending quite a bit of time together, she didn't seem as bad as normal.

After school, we decided to practice in the auditorium. As soon as we walked through the doors and I looked up at the stage, I muttered a "shit". Up on the stage, there was Finn and Quinn making out. They heard us and looked our way, Finn immediately shot up and looked guilty. I looked over at Rachel just in time to see tears rolling down her face, before she bolted out of the auditorium. I turned and glared at the two on the stage before running after her, but by the time I got out of there she was already gone. Damn.

I reached for my phone and dialed his number and waited for him to pick up.

"What do you want, Satan?" were the first words he spoke.

"Well, hello to you too, Puckerman." I quipped back.

"Whatever, why'd you call?" he asked.

"I was calling to inform you that the shit has hit the fan, and you should probably go to your "secret" love's house and make sure she made it home ok.

"My who?" he sounded slightly angry.

"Oh, cut the crap, Puckerman, I see the way you look at her, but back to the point, Berry and I walked in on Frankenteen and the Ice Queen playing tonsil hockey. She ran out and was gone before I even made it out the doors, go make sure she's ok." the last part sounding kind of like an order and before he could say anything else, I hung up, knowing he would go do what I told him to do.

I didn't get a chance to talk to Berry until right before glee, but the news was already buzzing around the school about the official end of Finchel, or whatever the hell people called them. Every time I saw her, Kurt, Mercedes, or Sam was with her. I found the last one weird, but I wasn't really worried about that at the moment.

"Berry" I called out and all three of the people surrounding her turned and guarded her like I was going to beat her up or something, "relax, I just wanted to make sure we were good to do our duet today." She just nodded, so I said, "good" and walked away.

Once we got to the auditorium, I waited to see Rachel's reaction when she saw Finn. Whatever she was feeling, she was doing a damn good job at not showing it.

"Okay, guys, who wants to go first?" Mr. Schue asked. No surprise that Rachel raised her hand, "Mr. Schue, Santana and I would like to go first."

"Alright, the stage is yours" Mr. Schue motioned them to go forward.

Backstage, before going to opposite sides of the stage I walked over to Rachel, "we got this in the bag."

Rachel just smirked, "of course we do" With that she walked to her spot. After a minute we both walked on to the stage. Me complete with a blonde wig, and I almost broke character when I heard Brittany ask when I dyed my hair, but I didn't and started the song.

(Santana, Rachel, Both)

Dearest darlingest Momsie and Popsical...

My dear Father...

There's been some confusion

Over rooming here at Shiz...

But of course, I'll care for Nessa...

But of course, I'll rise above it...

For I know that's how you'd want me to respond

Yes, there's been some confusion

For you see, my room-mate is...

Unusually and exceedingly peculiar

And altogether quite impossible to describe...

Rachel paused for a moment before starting again.

Blonde.

What is this feeling so sudden and new?

I felt the moment I laid eyes on you...

My pulse is rushing...

My head is reeling...

My face is flushing...

What is this feeling?

Fervid as a flame

Does it have a name?

YES!

Loathing, unadulterated loathing...

For your face...

Your voice...

Your clothing...

Let's just say...I loathe it all!

Every little trait, however small

Makes my very flesh begin to crawl

With simple utter loathing

There's a strange exhilaration

In such total detestation

It's so pure! So strong!

Thought I do admit it came on fast

Still I do believe that it can last

And I will be loathing, loathing you

My whole life long!

We took out the student singing so Rachel and I just circle each other before continuing.

Well...these things are sent to try us.

I sang this while looking up to the heavens.

What is this feeling so sudden and new?

I felt the moment I laid eyes on you

My pulse is rushing

My head is reeling

Oh, what is this feeling?

Does it have a name? YES...

Ahhhh...loathing!

There's a strange exhilaration

In such total detestation

So pure! So strong!

Though I do admit it came on fast

Still I do believe that it can last

And I will be loathing

For forever loathing

Truly, deeply loathing you, loathing you

For my whole life long!

Unadulterated loathing!

Boo!

Ahhhhhh!

I jumped and acted scared.

We knew we had one this when everyone, besides Quinn and Finn, stood up and was cheering.

"Wow, ladies, that was amazing" Mr. Schue was impressed. I looked over to Rachel, who had a huge grin on her face, one that probably mirrored my own, "Yeah, we definitely got this."

"Heck yes, we do," laughing at the competitive tone in her voice. I merely stated, "You know Berry, you're actually not that bad."

She looked shocked for a second and then smiled again, "you're not that bad either, Lopez." And that was the moment I realized I had just become friends with Rachel Berry, of all people.

However, the good mood didn't last as soon as Quinn and Finn took the stage. Especially since they started singing Colbie Caillat's "I Never Told You"; I looked around to see everyone's reactions. Rachel looked devastated. Mr. Schue and Brittany looked confused, though I doubted it was because of the same thing. Kurt, Mercedes, Mike, Artie, and Tina were watching Rachel with sad expressions. Sam wore an angry look that matched mine. Finally, I looked over to Puck, he was pissed. He looked like he was two seconds away from jumping on the stage and beating the shit out of Hudson right there.

When the music stopped, no one clapped, not even Mr. Schue, who I'm guessing caught on to everyone's reaction and decided against it. So there was an awkward silence as "The Inns" came off the stage and towards the rest of us. That's about when Rachel finally burst into tears and ran out. Quinn, of course, had to make a comment about Rachel being a drama queen, but this time I wasn't having it.

"You know what Fabrey; you can shut the hell up, before I go all Lima Heights Adjacent on your skinny white ass!" And that brings us to now, where I, Santana Lopez, stood up for Rachel Berry and then proceeded to go after her to make sure she was ok. Before leaving, I took a last look at where everyone was standing, just in time to see Puckerman's fist colliding with Finn's jaw.