I've finally converted this story into some chapters so deal with me while I get all 7 parts up

Santana did not want to be in this room with these people again so soon. They were all well and good during the school year but having to deal with them during the summer was not something she had particularly planned on. Especially not Rachel Berry. She could go an entire summer, entire school year, and entire lifetime without having to be stuck in the same room with her. But here she was, in the Berry's Oscar room, again, this time with absolutely no alcohol to make it easier to stomach. But when the mass text of an invite came across both her and Brittany's phone at the same time, the blonde girl all but begged Santana to go with her saying it could be fun like last time they were at Rachel's house. Santana doubted it, considering both Mr. Berrys were home, but what Britt wants, Britt gets. The soft spot for the girl was Santana's greatest weakness.

The text had read "Meeting at my house tomorrow at 8 pm. It's not mandatory but highly suggested you attend especially if you want me to back you up when you are trying to convince Mr. Shue to give you any sort of solo next year in Glee club. See you there!" That alone had made Santana want to wait outside and egg everyone who showed up, but Britt begged so here they were.

Santana had taken place on the very couch she and Sam had made out on during the party on their last visit there only this time she was sitting next to a different blonde, trying to keep her hands to herself and look bored. The looking bored part wasn't exactly hard, but the former most definitely was. Why did she have to wear those jeans and that low cut top? Why did she have to wash her hair with that damn shampoo she liked so much. It was intoxicating and really distracting.

"Alright people! People listen up!" Rachel's voice interrupted Santana's thoughts about Brittany and she just rolled her eyes, though secretly she was thankful. She couldn't be thinking about taking the blonde off into one of the spare rooms and doing unspeakable things to her.

"As you can see, we are short a few members of the club but I have excused them because they had pre-arranged obligations. Finn is at football camp, a gift from Kurt's dad for his birthday." Kurt rolled his eyes but said nothing. "Mike and Tina have returned to be counselors at Asian camp again this year." Artie sighed at that. It was how he had lost her last year. Even though he was fairly sure he was over her, it didn't mean he liked dwelling on that memory. "And Quinn said something about church camp or a retreat or something."

"Get to the point" Puck called out and the group responded with a few nods and soft agreement to the statement. Santana rolled her eyes again. Although she agreed, Puck was so impatient sometimes. Definitely one of the reasons she did not miss him. Oh, and because she was gay, but no one had to know that.

"As I was saying," Rachel scowled at Puck before her bright cheery smile returned and she looked back at the group assembled before her, "I am glad you could all come because we have been afforded an incredible chance to keep our skills sharp over the summer. I believe that if we want to rank at Nationals and go onto the next round next year we should continue without too much time between performances and practice. This way when school rolls around again we will be more ready than ever for the competition."

"Rachel, if I may" Kurt piped up, raising a single finger in the air for visual interjection. Everyone glanced at him and he continued without her permission "I am all for performing where ever and whenever, but we all deserve a bit of a break this summer-"

"Preach" Artie said, throwing his hands into the air.

"Besides, I have to work" Sam added quickly, though he never made eye contact with Rachel out of fear of disapproval.

"I understand we all worked hard," Rachel said quickly, her voice rising over the masses starting to toss in their two cents, "But we have been offered the chance to perform in a venue where thousands would see us. It would be an amazing chance for us to stay sharp, raise a little money for the club, and showcase our best performers-"

"If you say you I am going to throw my shoe at your head" Mercedes quickly piped up. Rachel twisted her face in quick shock, as if she were appalled that Mercedes would think such a thing, though by the look on her face it was obvious that was exactly what she had been thinking.

"Mercedes, we will all have a chance to perform a solo. It is an all day event!" Rachel clapped once, bouncing on her toes a bit in excitement. Though as she looked over the less than thrilled faces, she realized she had neglected to tell everyone what the event was.

"Thanks to my daddy and his hook ups with the organizers, we have been given the chance to not only have our own performance stage where we can raise money for the club, but also the thrilling excitement of having our own float in this year's gay pride parade in Cleveland!" She clapped again now that she had spilled the beans. She expected cheers but instead there was a bit of a silence that took over the room, except Kurt.

"I'm in" He said immediately, his face now bright with excitement. "I have always wanted to go to pride in Cleveland, but my dad would never let me go alone. He said it's too dangerous. He could never go with me because he said he couldn't leave the shop, but let's face it, he just couldn't bring himself to be surrounded with that much gay just yet. Blaine and I were going to go this year together but now he has to work at Six Flags-"

"Fantastic!" Rachel cut in, looking around the room with her smile that was excited with a hint of fierce determination in it too. "Who else is in? Remember this is not only fundraising for Glee but think of it as a way to fundraise for your talent. Who knows what rich experiences we will be a part of!"

"I'm in. It could be fun" Artie said with a shrug "Besides, my mom told me if I didn't leave the house this summer and spent all my time playing Halo again she would take away my Xbox for the entire school year and I just can't have that."

"Yes! Alright who else?" Rachel looked expectantly around the room, already jotting on a piece of paper as each person volunteered. Puck and Lauren thought it would be fun to run amok in Cleveland unsupervised. Sam said he would ask for the weekend off from his job, an answer that seemed to please Mercedes more than anyone expected and she signed up right away after that.

"I want to go!" Brittany piped up excitedly, bouncing on the cushion next to Santana. If it had been anyone else, Santana would have been annoyed and yanked their arm off their body to stop them, but it was Brittany so she just sat there quietly with her arms folded, her body knocking back and forth with each bounce from Brittany.

"Fantastic. I knew you would all see it my way." Rachel had just gotten down scribbling down Brittany's name, and a few notes about how to incorporate her into the numbers she was already planning for them to perform, when she noticed there was a name missing. She frowned a little and looked up at Santana. "I'm sorry Santana but did you say yes?" She looked at her, then Brittany, and just kind of assumed she had and had missed writing down Santana's name.

Everyone's eyes turned to look at the Latina now. Santana felt a heat rise in her body and she was thankful for her dark skin so no one could really tell she was flushed. She stared back at Rachel, trying not to look at Brittany, or anyone else. She could already feel their silent judgment. She felt guilty, everyone else was more than willing to do this, but something inside her was stopping her and before she could justify it she shook her head "I can't. I have something else going on." It was a lie, a really bad one, but everyone seemed to buy it.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~..~.~.~.~.~.~.

"But San" Brittany was whining a little bit as the group now chatted over their plates. As annoying as she might be, Rachel Berry was always prepared and had added a dinner into their meeting plans as a way of saying thank you to them all for signing up.

"Britt" Santana whispered, shaking her head a little bit as her eyes lifted to each person around the room as they ate, talked, and laughed with one another. She sighed, her guilt having not left the pit of her stomach since saying no. She had barely touched the food in front of her, having just spread it around her plate to make it look like she had been eating.

"Why not?" Brittany asked with the pout still firmly on her face. Santana's heart was shattering and she knew Brittany knew it. She had to keep her eyes on her food so she wouldn't be sucked into saying yes just because she physically had no ability to say no to Brittany.

"I just can't" She mumbled as she lifted her fork to her mouth and stuffed the bite of rice between her lips. Even though she wasn't hungry, the chewing would allow her time to think of an excuse as she pretended to have her mouth full of food. "

"It could be so fun. No one would judge you there. I bet you there will be like a million Lebanese girls there, no one would even notice you. We could blend it." Brittany was smiling, even if Santana hadn't looked at her she could tell by the pitch of her voice.

Before she could say no again, there was a familiar annoying voice demanding attention from everyone. A few claps and the room fell silent as everyone looked over at Rachel once more.

"After speaking with all of you and going over availability, I have put together a practice schedule. Please, take one before you leave. I expect you all to be on time for every rehearsal. If you miss any practice without excuse," She glanced at Sam knowing that he would probably have to skip one or two for work, "Then I will be forced to cut your foreground presence in any group numbers we do."

"And what if you get hit by a car accidentally on your way to ballet tomorrow, Berry? Are you going to take away your overly unfair amount of solos?" Lauren asked with a smirk on her lips, Puck nudging her with his elbow as the two silently snickered together.

"Obviously if, Heaven forbid, but if something were to happen to me I will have a back up plan where someone else takes lead," She rolled her eyes as she spoke, the very idea of something happening to her annoying her.

"Are we done here?" Puck chimed in again and after walking over to hand both he and Lauren a practice schedule, she nodded to let them know they were free to go.

Puck and Lauren left quickly after that but the rest of the group lingered, finishing their meals, and catching up on things they had already been doing that summer. One by one they started to thin out until Brittany and Santana were the only two left. Santana had wanted to go a while ago but Brittany had asked Rachel to show her how her washing machine worked. It was a hidden scheme to get a free washer ride, Santana was sure of it, but she stayed for her friend anyway.

Santana sat alone on the couch still, her legs crossed at the knee and her hand lifted with her fingers folded, pretending like she was inspecting her nails but in reality she was watching Brittany giggle as the spin cycle on the washer kicked in. She was so distracted by the stunning blonde, the way her smile lit up the room and the way her laugh carried through the basement, that she didn't even notice Rachel approaching. It wasn't until she felt the couch shift beside her with the weight of Rachel sitting that she even blinked.

"What?" Santana asked sharply, sighing with annoyance as she dropped her hand and looked over at the shorter girl next to her.

"Why can't you go?" Rachel asked softly in a tone that was surprisingly not judgmental.

Santana gave a roll of her eyes and sighed "I told you, I have something else going on."

"You can't get just the weekend off? It's two days Santana and quite frankly we need your voice to catch some attention if we hope to keep people interested all day."

"No" She bit back sharply, her brow now knitting together in a scowl.

Rachel bit her lip and sighed, nodding her head a little bit. She knew when not to test the Latina's patience and now was not the time. "You'll be missed" is all she said as she got up from the couch and headed back over to Brittany. She handed her the practice schedule, but her eyes drifted back to the sad looking girl still on her couch. She could tell there was more going on she just wasn't sure what it was.