9

Dinner at the Lopez' household was considerably happier that Saturday night. Abuela was back home and Santana was making dinner with her mom to celebrate her recovery. After setting the plates on the kitchen table (they rarely used the dining room) and helping Alma sit down at the head of the table, the three Lopez women and Santana's dad Antonio started putting food on their plates. Before they could start eating though, Alma put up her hand. "Un momento, I think we need to say a prayer." Maribel quickly looked at her daughter and husband and saw them slightly nod, so she said "Ok mamita, let's hold hands." Alma closed her eyes and held Santana's hand as tight as she could, and Santana squeezed her mom on the other side for strength. "Señor, we thank you for the food on our plates. I know you are looking after me and helping me get better. I also want to thank you for my Santanita." Santana looked up from her lap and stared in stunned silence to her abuela and back at her mom, who had the same startled look in her eyes. Neither of them knew what Alma was going to say, but Alma didn't seem to notice. "You gave her wisdom to see past our differences and come with an olive branch to me. And I thank you for giving me a second chance to be here for her and show her that I love her." Santana blinked her tears away and beamed. "Amen". Everyone repeated the last word, and finally Alma opened her eyes and looked at Santana. She put her hand under her granddaughter's chin and looked in her eyes. "No more tears ok, mi niña? Let's eat and you can tell me all about your life in New York." "Si abuelita." They ate in comfortable silence for a while, until Antonio looked up from his plate. "So, hija, tell us about your job, how are you getting on in New York?" Santana dabbed her lips with a napkin before answering with a grin, "It's wonderful pa, it's a lot more work than LA, but it's also more responsibility, and I'm learning a lot from my new boss, Eileen. We have a lot of cases and so I have to stay late from time to time, but no complaints here! I love it." She finished with a satisfied grin on her face and looked around the table to find three mirror smiles looking at her with pride. Maribel reached across the table and grabbed her hand. "That's wonderful mija, we are very happy to see you so excited about your career! And of course we're very glad you are now a lot closer to home."

"She's right Sanny, mamá and I are very proud of you." "

"Thanks pa, thanks ma… I'm also happy to be closer to you guys, maybe sometime soon you can come visit me?" she asked shyly. Her parents looked at each other having a silent conversation, and then they both turned to their daughter and exclaimed "We'd love to!" and laughed. Santana then turned to look at her abuela and bit her lip without adding "And I'd really love it if you would come too, abuelita. So we can spend some time together."

Alma saw those hopeful brown eyes looking at her, timidly waiting for an answer to show approval. She smiled and nodded "Of course, mi niña, I'll visit you as soon as the doctor tells me I can travel." Santana got up so fast she almost toppled her chair and went over to hug her abuela with tears in her eyes. "Gracias", she whispered in her abuela's ear before giving her a kiss on the cheek and sitting back down.

After that, dinner went very smoothly and all four Lopezes went to bed a lot happier than they had been the day before.

Santana turned and turned in bed, unable to shut her brain off. She had texted Brittany a while ago telling her all about dinner, but the blonde hadn't answered yet. So Santana texted the person she had wanted to talk to all night. She really wanted to hear her voice, but she thought she would break down and cry from all the emotions if she actually had to talk to her. So instead, she took a long time to write her initial text.

S: Hey Rach, sorry if I wake you but I couldn't sleep… just had dinner with my folks and my abuela and it went really well. I'm very happy I came back home this weekend.

She set her phone down and stared at the ceiling smiling. When her phone buzzed just minutes later, she had to take a few deep breaths to calm herself down.

R: Aww, that's awesome San! And don't worry; I couldn't sleep either, so I decided to take a bath to see if it would relax me.

Santana blushed at the thought of Rachel naked in a tub texting her. She bit her lip and decided to have some fun.

S: Wanky, Berry!

R: Oh, grow up! You're SUCH a child…

S: C'mon Berry, I'm not the one in a pink bathtub wearing a hairnet…

Rachel couldn't help but chuckle at how spot on Santana was.

R: First of all, it's not a pink bathtub. It's faded salmon. And second of all… my hairnet broke when I was getting in L

Santana laughed so loud she had to put a hand up to her mouth so she wouldn't wake her parents. She had been kidding, but now Rachel kept adding details to the mental picture and Santana was feeling a little flushed.

S: You're so predictable…

R: I'm not, you just have a way of figuring me out.

S: Is that a bad thing?

R: I didn't say that…

S: So it's a good thing…

R: I didn't say THAT either ;)

Is she flirting with me? Santana was just messing around to see what Rachel would respond, and now she didn't know how to react. Fuck it.

S: How's the bath going? You feeling more relaxed yet?

R: Hmmmmm some… I actually just got out.

S: Want me to let you get some sleep?

R: No, I'll just lay here waiting to air dry for a while. Tell me about your weekend, San.

She could tell Rachel was deflecting, ending their little flirty exchange, but she didn't mind. The thought of Rachel in bed in nothing but a towel was more interesting than her in a tub.

S: It sounds weird, because of everything that went down with my abuela, but I'm actually more relaxed. It feels nice to be back in Lima, I haven't come home in a while.

R: Why not?

S: The flight from LA is too damn long… haha

R: I can tell that's a half truth, but I'll let it pass for now ;)

How does she know that? The truth is that Santana hadn't come home in a year or so because the last time she was there, she had run into Finn and he had cried to her about Rachel and how much he missed her. She had been so uncomfortable that she had avoided Lima altogether.

S: Touche, Berry. How was your show tonight?

R: Oh, a pain… Mrs. Strakosh sprained her ankle in the middle of a scene, so we had to sort of wing it so she didn't have to move so much. But I hope tomorrow she'll be all right. Hey, um, can I ask you something?

Fuck

S: Sure, what's up?

Rachel tossed her phone from hand to hand for a while, thinking how to phrase it… She knew it was a stupid question but she had to ask.

Santana noticed how long it was taking Rachel to text back and she began to worry. It was going to be about her stupid date comment, she knew it. And she started thinking about a plausible answer, when her phone buzzed. She stared at it, too scared to see what it said.

R: Why did you come to my show that night when you had been in New York for three months already?

She definitely wasn't expecting that at all. She let out a deep breath and furrowed her brow thinking about what to say. She wanted to tell Rachel the truth, but it seemed wrong to do it by text. And yet, Rachel had asked about it now, so maybe she owed it to her to say it?

S: Well… truth is, I don't have a right answer for that, Rachel. I guess I didn't want to tell you I was in New York until I was settled in.

R: Oh. Why?

S: My apartment was a mess, work was really stressful because I was struggling to keep up the pace and I didn't really have any time off.

It was only a half truth, but she didn't want to say the rest by text.

R: I'm just glad you did. I was starting to worry I would only get to see you during holiday seasons.

S: I don't know about you, but I sure as hell am NOT going back to Quinn and Puck's this Thanksgiving… I still get a headache thinking about that night!

R: We DID drink a lot, huh? I'm surprised Quinn's neighbors didn't call the police from our "excessive karaokeing" as Puck put it. LOL

Santana remembered that night fondly. All her friends had gathered at Quinn and Puck's house in Boston, and after too many bottles of champagne, Rachel and Mercedes had taken control of the karaoke machine insisting they all went through their old Glee Club songs together. Of course, after all that alcohol, they only came out shrill and filled with bursts of laughter.

S: Well, you and Cedes really went all out with that one.

R: Hey, I remember YOU singing too! And you were enjoying it, don't lie.

S: haha, I was… you're cute when you're drunk

Nononononononono DON'T SEND THAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT! Too late. She had pressed send before she processed what she had written. She laid face down and buried her head in her pillow, wishing to be sucked in by the bed. When her phone buzzed with Rachel's answer, she just closed her eyes tighter and let out a muffled cry. She grabbed her phone without looking at it. She held it for a while, still with her eyes closed, not knowing whether to read the text, turn off her phone or crawl out the window and die. When it buzzed again in her hand, she groaned and willed herself to look at her phone. She opened her eyes just a smidge, and pushed the button.

R: um, thanks

R: listen, I think I'm gonna turn in now. Call me when you're back in NY so we can grab lunch, ok? Night, San.

Santana flung her phone across her bed and buried her head in her pillow again to let out a muffled frustrated groan.

She reread her last text. "listen, I think I'm gonna turn in now. Call me when you're back in NY so we can grab lunch, ok? Night, San." She didn't really want to sleep – she was now fully awake to be honest – but she had frozen at what Santana had said to her. You're cute when you're drunk. Had she said it without thinking? Or was it intentional to see how Rachel would react? She knew they had been flirting a bit back and forth, and she had enjoyed it, because it felt natural and easy. But she had chickened out when she read those 5 words. Damn. I shouldn't have ended the conversation. Rachel figured it was too late now to say anything else, because it had been almost twenty minutes since she had sent Santana that text, and Santana hadn't even replied. Was she embarrassed or hurt? This confusion was too much for one Rachel Berry to endure. She needed to sort this Santana thing once and for all, because it was messing with her head. She couldn't do it during lunch because they were going to be out in public and she didn't want to make a scene. Instead, she decided right then and there to go pick up Santana from the airport, drive her home and tell her everything she was itching to tell her since that night she showed up at the theater. Since she had booked Santana's flight for her, she knew when the plane arrived, so it would be easy for her to wait at the airport. It was now 2 am and she still had 7 hours before Santana's arrival, but she knew she wouldn't get to sleep anymore until she got her head sorted. She pulled out a notebook from her nightstand and started scribbling everything she wanted to tell Santana the next day. After 14 pages and 35 minutes, she finally felt her body relax a little and willed herself to get some sleep before a very very exhausting Sunday.

It was 4 am before Santana finally fell asleep. And what seemed like minutes later, her alarm went off and she reluctantly opened her eyes. She hoped that last night's conversation with Rachel had been a wild dream, but seeing her phone on the floor across her room reminded her of what she had said. Fuck Lopez. Nice going… Now what? She knew she was probably getting ahead of herself thinking that Rachel was going to freak out, but this was the effect Berry had on her. She second-guessed herself at every turn and she didn't like that. She wanted to be completely honest with her petite friend but it was difficult to let the old Santana Lopez walls down. And now she was going to see her for lunch that day, and she didn't know how they would act around each other.

Santana went down the stairs to the kitchen to grab some coffee, and she found her dad already sitting at the table sipping orange juice and reading the paper. "Buenos días, papi." She went over to give her dad a light kiss on the temple before turning to the coffee maker. Antonio looked up from his paper to put one arm on his daughter's shoulder. "Buen día, mijita! How did you sleep?" Santana let out a sigh as she poured her coffee and sat next to her dad on the table.

"Fine, I guess. I just didn't fall asleep until late, that's all." Antonio pushed his plate of toast to his daughter, so she could grab one. Santana immediately reached over and started buttering a piece of toast but Antonio didn't take his eyes off his daughter, studying her.

"That's weird. You are usually out like a light. Something on your mind?"

Santana wondered if she could tell her dad what was bothering her. She usually talked to him about school or work, but not about this.

"Just… life, pa."

Antonio folded his newspaper and set it aside, giving his daughter his full attention.

"Girl trouble? Don't look so surprised at me, I can tell when your heart is worried…"

Santana chuckled and sipped her coffee quietly while thinking how to phrase it.

"Well, there IS this girl…" Antonio leaned back in his chair, a triumphant smile on his lips and said, "I knew it!"

"Let me finish, pa!"

"Sorry, mija, go on."

"I've known her since high school and no, it's not Brittany, dad, stop looking at me like that, and well, I like her, really like her, but… I don't know what to do about it."

"What's the problem? Is she with someone else?"

Santana shook her head and played with her mug.

"Not that I know of, no. She hasn't mentioned anyone to me."

"Is she… not… like you?" After all these years, he still couldn't say "gay" and it made Santana laugh, because she knew her dad fully supported her, but she also knew it was hard for him to say that out loud.

"I honestly don't know if she's gay, pa. And yes, I'm afraid to ask her that, but mostly… I'm afraid to tell her because of our history. I wasn't very nice to her in high school, dad, or after it, for that matter. And I know that all my taunts and mocking hurt her deeply, and now I'm trying to make amends because I realize that I only did that because I was afraid of my feelings for her, but what if she hates me now?" She said that last part really quietly, and she didn't know if her dad had heard it. It was her biggest fear and it was the first time she had said it out loud.

"How does she act with you, mija? Is she friendly?"

"Yeah, I actually apologized to her the other day about all the things I put her through and she forgave me, said that she was glad we could be friends now…"

"So there's your answer, mijita. High school was a long time ago, and if she has found it in her heart to forgive you, then there is no reason for you to fear that she might hate you."

Antonio leaned forward as she noticed that his daughter's eyes had started to fill with tears she was fighting to push back. He grabbed Santana's hand and forced her to look him in the eyes.

"I know this sounds rough, Santana, but the worst thing that can happen is that she says no. And although I doubt she will, if she does, at least then you can move on with your life and get over her. You deserve to be honest with her and mostly with yourself, mijita linda. Get this off your chest. Just like you did with me."

Santana nodded slowly and pursed her lips, like she always did when something tugged at her heartstrings and she found new determination.

"Gracias pa, I'll do that"

Her dad just patted her hand and smiled at his beautiful daughter.

"Now eat some more toast Santana, you look skinny." He unfolded his paper again and vanished behind it to hide the few stray tears that were falling down his cheeks. Santana chuckled, rubbed her eyes and bit into the toast again. After a few minutes of comfortable and familiar silence, Maribel came into the kitchen and kissed her daughter good morning. She made Santana some eggs and forced her to eat them before they left for the airport. After she had said goodbye to her abuela, Santana jumped in the backseat of her parents' Honda and talked and laughed with them all the way to the airport. When she hugged her dad at the terminal, he whispered in her ear "Stay strong, mija, and call me when you have that conversation with the girl to let me know how it ends!" She nodded and kissed him once again as a thank you for helping her clear her mind. Maribel fussed with Santana's hair one final time before she handed her ticket to the security guard and waved at her parents, knowing that they were going to come visit her in New York soon.

When she settled in her aisle seat, she closed her eyes and started taking deep breaths. Herdad was right, she needed to talk to Rachel sooner rather than later and start to figure out what this was. She just had to find a way to talk to her so they can go to lunch and not be awkward about their little conversation the night before. She rolled her eyes when she saw that the mom with the screaming baby sat right behind her and pulled out her iPod from her purse. Every damn time… it's like I'm a magnet for wailing brats. She blared her music and tried to clear her mind for the remainder of the flight.

When the plane landed, Santana jumped off her seat and walked to the front to be one of the first ones to get out. She wasn't really claustrophobic, just that small crowded spaces started getting to her after a while and she felt she needed actual air and not just from the a/c. Once she got off the plane and got her suitcase back, she started walking towards the exit, wanting to hail a cab and get home but she was stopped short when she saw a figure in a green dress and matching hat standing in the middle of the hallway with one foot nervously crossed in front of the other. When Rachel saw her, she waved timidly and Santana automatically walked towards her. She tried to hide the shocked look on her face by shaking her head a little, but she didn't think she'd managed. When she was level with the petite brunette, she just said "Hi".

Rachel swallowed and tried to put on a nervous smile. "Surprise! I hope it's ok, I borrowed Stanley's town car to come pick you up…" Rachel made a move to grab Santana's suitcase, but Santana had a firm grip on it, so Rachel just pulled her hand back. Santana knew she had to break the awkward silence, but she was afraid her voice had checked out of her.

"Um, thanks! Sorry, I'm just… I wasn't expecting to see you here"

"Hence the surprise…" Santana saw that Rachel was a little hurt by the way she was reacting, so Santana took a deep breath and smiled.

"Thanks for coming Rachel, it's really nice of you." Rachel relaxed a little and motioned Santana to follow her out to the car.

They drove back to Santana's apartment making polite conversation all the way there. Santana was telling Rachel about her abuela and what the doctors had said, and both of them tried to avoid talking about their late night texts.

When they arrived at Santana's apartment, Santana excused herself and went to her bathroom to freshen up. Rachel sat in the white couch in the living room and folded her hands on her lap, feeling nervous about what was to come.

In the bathroom, Santana splashed water on her face, checked her reflection and gripped the sink with both hands, steadying herself. Ok Lopez. The fact that she showed up at the airport means she's willing to move on from what happened last night. Just take deep breaths and see where the conversation leads. She stared at her reflection and said out loud You can do this.

Then she straightened her red shirt and walked back out to the living room.

"Hey Rach, do you want something to drink?" Rachel smiled when she turned to see Santana walk over to her, noticing the tall woman was more relaxed.

"Just some water is fine, thanks."

As Santana moved to the kitchen to grab some water from the fridge, she called back to Rachel.

"So, tell me about your weekend, is that Mrs. Whatever her name is ok now?"

Rachel chuckled.

"Mrs. Strakhosh, that's the character… Yeah, after the show she went to get some cortisone shots so she should be fine tonight. It's a good thing that the show is ending in a couple of weeks so she can rest." Santana set the tray a little too hard on the table as she stared at Rachel.

"WHAT? Your show is ending? Why?"

Rachel let Santana sit down and she smiled at her friend's concern.

"Relax, San. It's the end of the run, Stanley says we need to make the public want us back. It's for a couple of months or so, nothing bad happened."

"So, how do you feel about it?"

Rachel drank some water and took a moment to think about that.

"Well, I'm sad obviously. I'm gonna miss Fanny and the excitement of playing her 8 times a week. But on the other hand, I'm kind of looking forward to some time off, to try and find some other role to play. I feel like I have a chance to do more with my craft now that people have seen what I can do."

Santana saw Rachel's eyes light up as she spoke and her heart started beating faster. She looked so beautiful when she was talking about Broadway.

"In that case, I'm happy for you, Rachel. You're gonna be great in anything you do, you know that."

Santana reached over to pat Rachel's hand and when she locked eyes with her, she felt a shudder through her spine. Somehow their gaze made the touch feel more intimate than it was supposed to be. Rachel turned her hand so her palm was upwards and intertwined her fingers with Santana's. Santana's thumb started caressing Rachel's hand as both of them stared at each other holding their breath and just holding hands, feeling the electricity in the room. Santana didn't want to break eye contact, because it felt both exciting and terrifying, but Rachel looked away first and took her hand back to grab the glass of water. But her hand was trembling slightly and she dropped the glass and it shattered at her feet.

"SHIT!" Santana jumped up as Rachel grabbed her right wrist with her left hand.

"Shoot, I cut my finger!" Santana quickly swept the shards of glass and set them aside as she sat next to Rachel and gingerly grabbed her right hand and held it up. Rachel was wincing in pain.

"Shhhh Rachel, let me see it ok?" Santana softly held Rachel's palm close to her face, her brow furrowed. "I don't think it's too deep, so you won't need stitches. Let's get it cleaned up and I'll bandage it." Rachel nodded sadly and stood up. Santana guided her to her master bathroom and washed her hand with warm water and soap. "This is gonna sting a little, but I need to disinfect the cut." Rachel just bit her lip as Santana washed her hand as gentle as she could. When she was done, she took out a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and some gauze and dressed the wound.

"There. All better!" Santana looked up to meet Rachel's eyes for the first time since before the glass shattered and smiled sweetly at her. Rachel's eyes were red but twinkling.

"Thank you, San… sorry about your glass." Santana shook her head.

"Don't worry about that, I'm just happy you didn't need stitches." She chuckled and saw Rachel smile. Santana was still holding Rachel's wounded hand and making small circling motions.

Rachel lifted her other hand to Santana's chin and forced the tall woman to look her back in the eyes. This time, Rachel wasn't smiling anymore. Santana swallowed the thick knot in her throat as she looked into the tiny brunette's eyes. Her stomach felt like lead and she couldn't form a proper thought. Santana looked down to Rachel's lips and saw that they were lightly parted. They looked so inviting that Santana started leaning forward, barely noticing that Rachel was leaning forward too. Their lips were almost touching, and Santana could feel Rachel's ragged breath on her lips. She closed her eyes and slowly pressed her lips into Rachel's. She felt the room spinning when she applied a little more pressure to the kiss and she felt Rachel's healthy hand travel to the back of her head to steady it. Rachel's fingers tangled her hair as her lips bore into hers. Santana readjusted her body so she was fully leaning on the wall and put her hand in Rachel's waist. Rachel immediately pushed her body closer to Santana's as their lips continued to get acquainted. Santana couldn't help but smile into the kiss, and she felt Rachel do it too. Yet she didn't want to open her eyes because she didn't want this moment to end. In what felt like no time at all, Rachel pulled back from the kiss and pressed their foreheads together. Santana willed herself to look at Rachel, scared of what might happen now. The two girls looked at each other as they tried to control their breath. Santana looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry." Her voice was barely a whisper. She tried to push Rachel back, but the tiny girl wouldn't budge. "Sorry for what?"

Santana could feel tears forming in her eyes and she hated it. "Sorry I did that, I… I shouldn't have." She finally moved away and left a shocked Rachel standing in the bathroom.

Rachel took a few breaths to steady herself before going after Santana, unsure of what had happened. She found Santana in the kitchen scrubbing the sink and muttering softly to herself.

"Santana?" Rachel walked timidly towards her and stood on the edge of the counter, watching Santana, who either didn't hear her or was trying to ignore her.

"Talk to me." Rachel spoke a little louder, so it was clear that Santana had heard it. The tall woman stopped scrubbing and let out a sigh.

"I shouldn't have done that, Rachel, I'm sorry." Rachel felt a tear fall down her left eye and she quickly dried it with the back of her hand.

"Why do you keep apologizing? Was it that bad?" Rachel chuckled softly, trying to lighten the mood, but Santana just shook her head. Rachel took a tentative step towards her, but stopped when she saw Santana tense up. "Look, San, you don't have to apologize for anything, we were both in that bathroom, you know?" Santana finally looked up from the floor and found Rachel's eyes. Rachel took another step forward, keeping her gaze on Santana's.

"Can we go sit down, please? I… I need to tell you something." Santana swallowed hard and nodded, unable to speak. Rachel turned around and sat on the white couch once again. Santana chose the small green armchair next to the white couch, so they weren't so close together. Once she sat down, she started wringing her wrists as she waited for Rachel to talk. Rachel kept both hands on her lap, forcing her body to stay calm. After a few minutes, she finally spoke up, but her voice was barely a whisper.

"I knew you were in New York long before you came to my show." Santana felt her heart stop and she looked at the petite girl, how she was biting her lip as she talked and shooting furtive glances at Santana to see how she would react. When Santana didn't say anything, Rachel continued, "Quinn told me, because Brittany told her, but I didn't know much more about it, I was just waiting to see if you'd contact me."

Santana hadn't expected this turn of events. She didn't know if she was angrier at Brittany for babbling or at Rachel for not saying something before. "So… why didn't you say something?"

Rachel shrugged, "I didn't want to seem stalkerish or anything, I was just waiting to see if you wanted to talk to me."

"I'm gonna kill Brittany when I see her… and Quinn is such a gossip…" Santana was shaking her head now. "is that all you wanted to tell me, Berry?" Rachel bit her lip before answering.

"I thought you needed to know that. And about what happened just now, (Santana tensed up again) all I have to say Santana, is that I wanted it to happen as much as you did." Santana's eyes widened as she locked eyes with Rachel, whose eyes were now darker with an intensity Santana had never seen. Rachel suddenly lounged forward, cupped Santana's cheeks with both hands and kissed her intently. Santana's head fell back on the armchair as Rachel straddled her to deepen the kiss. Rachel's lips were hungrily kissing her and her tongue was sliding across Santana's bottom lip, begging for entrance. Santana felt her world fade away as she grasped Rachel's hips with both her hands and began kissing her back fervently, welcoming Rachel's tongue in her mouth and tasting her lips. Santana was running her hands up and down Rachel's back, pulling her as close as she could. She darted her tongue in and out of the petite girl's mouth, exploring every inch of it and reveling on her taste and on the eagerness with which she kissed her back. Rachel's breath was ragged and she suddenly broke from the kiss to start kissing down Santana's neck, finding her pulse point. Santana let out a groan, making Rachel smile and run her tongue all the way up to her earlobe to nibble on it. Santana let herself go and succumbed to Rachel's tongue that was now traveling down to her collarbone.

Rachel just wanted to taste every inch of Santana she could, and as she traveled up to meet Santana's eager lips again, she knew she was hooked. She pulled back for air and locked eyes with the tall woman. She could see desire and passion in those brown eyes that matched what she was feeling inside. "We can stop if you want." Santana's voice was hoarse and raspy. Rachel just shook her head and smiled whispering seductively, "no way" before she started kissing Santana again. Santana put her hands on Rachel's hips to shift her slightly so she was fully straddling her and they were almost at eye level. They kissed and explored each other's lips, tongues, mouths and necks first hungrily, then slowly, like they had all the time in the world. Santana grabbed Rachel and stood up, carrying Rachel over to the large white couch, where she laid Rachel down and laid on top of her, nibbling on her neck. Their hands stayed conservatively on each other's waists, hips and stomachs, applying pressure when they wanted to deepen the kiss and using their fingers to explore their features.

Santana cupped Rachel's cheek and kissed her sweetly while opening her eyes, seeing that Rachel was looking at her as a tear fell down her side. She stopped and pulled back alarmed. "Are you ok? Am I hurting you?" Santana pushed back and sat up facing Rachel, who shook her head and reached up to lace her fingers with Santana's. "Sorry, I – I just – this is just…" Rachel took a deep breath and caressed Santana's hand. "I can't believe this is happening…" She chuckled as she looked timidly at the tall woman. Santana smiled and looked down. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Rachel leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on Santana's lips. "It's a good thing, San."

Hope you all had a nice holiday break! :)