Author's Notes: Again, things like neighborhoods and certain Halloween festivities in other towns that get mentioned are all made-up. The only spoilers for season three come for the first three episodes that have already aired; everything else is pure conjecture and only what I would like to see happen.

I want to dedicate this to ApathyandEmpathy for fangirling with me about kid!Pezberry and encouraging me to write this crazy thing out. I would also like to thank Guyana Rose for giving me a couple of ideas and inspiring me to get this done before Halloween.

Thanks to everyone who alerted and favorited the first part. A big thanks to the people who took the time to review. Comments are love. Sorry that I seemed to have broken some of your hearts with part one, but hopefully, this chapter will put it back together. ;) Let me know what you think. And a happy almost Halloween.

Rachel is sure that if last Halloween was horrible, the one her freshman year of high school is going to go down on record as the worst one ever (she decides this weeks in advance.)

Santana and Brittany have managed to segue their middle school cheerleading into high school cheerleading as the second-in-commands to the pretty blonde Quinn Fabray. No one knows Quinn when she shows up on the first day of school, her head held high and her hair up in a ponytail, but by end of the first week of school, everyone knows at least her name. The popular freshman climbs the social ladder at once, taking to it like it was meant for her.

Rachel gets pushed to the bottom of the ladder immediately. She joins the glee club because it's a chance for her to put her talent to good use, even if Mr. Ryerson is a little creepy and inappropriate. The kids are okay, too, other outcasts like her who bond over their inferior status.

She tries not to let the way people treat her bother her anymore, setting her goals a little bit bigger and longer-term than Lima, Ohio. She sets her sights on Broadway and even though she's technically not there yet, she already doesn't look back (except for one afternoon where Santana Lopez is the one to slushie her, but well, that Big Gulp hit her a bit harder and deeper than just the face.)

Halloween is a big affair among McKinley's student population, or so she's told. Tina, Kurt, and Mercedes tell her about a huge house party they heard about, one that everyone will be attending, jocks and geeks alike. Social status means less in the presence of alcohol, apparently.

Rachel doesn't initially want to go, but they manage to convince her. She opts to not wear a costume, because she knows that most of the teenagers there won't be wearing them, unless some of the girls are wearing skimpy little numbers that barely cover anything. Rachel's not really comfortable in that, so she just wears her normal clothes.

She walks to the house party with Tina, who doesn't say much. Rachel, normally very verbose, is satisfied making the short journey in silence. Halloween was one of her favorite holidays growing up, but it's lost a lot of its meaning for her.

It doesn't help her mood that the first person she sees when they walk into the house is Santana. She's gone the slutty costume route, wearing a pink and white striped nurse's outfit that just barely covers her thighs and dips low enough to show off a sufficient amount of cleavage. She's leaning against a wall, giggling at Noah.

Noah goes by "Puck" now and he has a mohawk. He's a football player on the junior squad and he tells anyone who will listen that he'll be a starter on the varsity team by the time he's a sophomore. And it looks like he's telling that to Santana now, grinning down at her and quirking an eyebrow. Puck, that ridiculous little dinosaur-boy Rachel grew up going to Temple with, is a jerk now, a veritable man-whore two months into his high school career.

From what she hears about Santana Lopez, the tall girl isn't far behind Puck in building up a reputation for promiscuity. And Rachel Berry? She's just the loud know-it-all that Quinn Fabray tells them to slushie at least once a week.

Santana catches her eye all of the sudden, giving her a strange look. Rachel stares at her with something akin to hurt until Santana turns away, grabbing Puck's arm and pulling him away. They two wander through a sea of sweaty bodies until they're out of sight and Rachel thinks about how sad it is that they all used to be friends.

Tina drags her through the hallway towards the back of the house, shouting something about Kurt and Mercedes outside. People press against them on all sides, dancing and swaying and swaggering around drunkenly. Music is blaring out of speakers in the living room, something unrecognizable but with a deep bass and pounding drums. Thankfully, no one seems to pay Rachel and Tina any mind at all.

When they step out the back door on to the patio, a burst of cool air shocks them and Rachel realizes how much cooler it is outside than inside. Other teenagers are spread out through the yard: Quinn Fabray and Finn Hudson are sitting on a bench out near the back fence; Brittany Pierce, dressed as a playful cat in minimal clothing, dances with a boy Rachel recognizes as Mike Chang; upperclassmen whose names Rachel doesn't know are separated mostly into pairs, kissing and groping each other blindly. They spy Kurt and Mercedes sitting in a couple of chairs and make their way over to them, sitting down at a small table littered with beer cans.

"Happy Halloween!" Kurt greets them, yelling a bit over the loud music that still blares out into the yard. Rachel wonders how this house gets away with such a blatant noise violation while she gets complaints for singing in her room.

"This party is crazy," Mercedes says. "I saw Robert Thomas and Charlotte Jacks go upstairs like, twenty minutes ago. And there are a bunch of girls from the celibacy club who are acting anything but celibate."

Tina nods. "I saw Jacob Ben-Israel," she stutters. They all understand her message, though. If Jacob can stay at this party unscathed, then they should be able to as well.

Kurt eyes Rachel's outfit, just another of her typical skirt and sweater combos. "So, you're being quiet tonight, Rachel," he observes.

Rachel grimaces, moving some of the beer bottles on the table away from her. "I guess I'm just not very fond of Halloween and I fail to see the fun in surrounding myself with drunken idiots and sexually promiscuous teenagers."

"Girl, we're freshman, so you better get used to it," Mercedes laughs.

"Yes, unfortunately, we've still got four more years with these neanderthals and their women," Kurt adds, fixing a pointed look at some senior football player practically dry-humping a girl against a wooden fence.

"L-let's make the best of it," Tina says. "Do you guys want to dance?"

The foursome head back into the house, Rachel casting one last look out over the yard on her way in. She spots Quinn glaring at her and rushes after her friends, eager to get away from the watchful gaze of the cheerleader. If it's even possible, there are more people at the party now, and Rachel only barely manages to keep up with her friends. Eventually, they're able to find an area for themselves in the den.

Santana's there again, in her line of vision as she dances. She's with Brittany, throwing back shots and surrounded by guys. Santana and Brittany grin at each other and then Brittany leans over and kisses the brunette, the lips pressing together with force. The boys cheer and the two cheerleaders share a few more kisses. When they pull away, they smile and Rachel sees something else pass over Santana's face quickly, something she can't quite identify but which looks like it might be serious. But then Santana's gone again, fleeing the room with Puck's hand on her back. She stumbles for a second and the boy laughs at her, guiding her out of the den. They don't come back.

Rachel doesn't drink (none of her friends do) and she dances for a bit before she grows bored. She can't find it within herself to have any fun on Halloween. It's tainted by the ghosts of too many childhood memories. They wash over her before she can stop them and she frowns. The room feels fuller of a sudden and Rachel retreats back to the patio again in search of the chance to breathe again.

No one else is outside, for which Rachel is very grateful. She's able to sit in solitude for several minutes before someone drops on to the deck next to her heavily. When she glances over, Santana is sitting there. Her hair is disheveled and Santana's half-heatedly trying to smooth it down. Her lip gloss is mostly gone, but a bit of it has smeared on to her cheek. Rachel looks away and says nothing. Santana wipes at her lip with her thumb.

Rachel can't sit next to the girl for very long without feeling nauseous, sadness building up inside of her and making her feel sick. She stands up. "Happy Halloween, Santana," she says quietly.

Santana scoffs, digging the toe of her heels into the ground. "If you say so, Berry," Santana responds, her voice slightly softer than Rachel expects it to be.

"What? No Manhands this time?" Rachel asks, crossing her arms. She knows that she should just walk away but there are so many things inside her trying to burst their way out of her chest, so many things that she's wanted to say to Santana Lopez for so long, that she can't leave. Not without something.

"Obviously not, since I said 'Berry,' didn't I?" Santana shoots back, none of the usual malice in her voice. She fixes to top of her nurse outfit and smoothes out the skirt, pressing its ruffles down against her legs.

"I have to say, this costume is very different from your normal attire," Rachel says, sitting back down on the patio.

"Shit, I haven't worn a good costume in like, years," Santana frowns. Her eyes start to water and her face contorts.

Rachel can smell the alcohol rolling off the girl in thick waves. It's mixed with the scent of cologne and as Rachel tries not to inhale too deeply, Santana starts to cry, sobs earnestly and suddenly. "You're drunk," she sighs.

"He's such an asshole," Santana cries. "I let him get to second base and ten minutes later, he's all over that Jasmine bitch. And she has big tits and she's so pretty and nice and she has a car. It's so stupid."

Rachel doesn't know what to say to Santana's rant, doesn't even know why the other girl is telling her any of this, so she looks around quickly. Sitting this close to the other girl feels like playing with fire and Santana has a tendency to burn her these days.

Santana's still sobbing, muttering until she slips into Spanish because she can't help it. At one point, she looks over at Rachel with big brown eyes full of tears and says something Rachel doesn't understand. But the look on her face is unbearably heartbroken and it reminds Rachel of how she used to look when she was a little girl, lying in her bed crying because of something her step-brother did to her, and Rachel has to stand up because she really is about to be set ablaze.

Something like nostalgia washes over her and she sighs at herself as she leans down to help Santana stand up. The girl wavers a little, stumbling over her own feet as she rises, and Rachel has to wrap an arm around her waist to keep her upright.

"Let's get you home," she says quietly.

"No," Santana whimpers, still crying. "I can't go home like this. Maria -" she stops, her lip shaking.

"Where's Brittany?" Rachel asks, because if Santana is anyone's problem now, she's Brittany Pierce's.

"I don't know," the other girl answers, her tears increasing. Rachel peers back into the house, seeing only people she doesn't know. She doesn't spot any tall leggy blondes.

"I - I guess you can stay at my house tonight," she eventually settles on. She's too nice and too kind and she hates herself for it.

Santana says nothing, but her sobs start to decrease and she takes a few shuddering breathes to calm herself. She nods.

They walk to the back gate, stepping out on to the sidewalk and heading down the street towards Rachel's home. Their progress is ridiculously slow, so unlike the way they used to walk the streets of Lima as energetic children. Santana trips over herself more than once, teetering precariously on her heels, and Rachel has to keep a steadying arm around her at all times. She gets distracted a couple of times, bursting into sudden drunken tears along the way.

"I'm going to regret this," Rachel says as they finally make it to her front porch.

"No," Santana shakes her head adamantly. She sounds like her throat is dry and raw, and its normal raspiness is deeper. Her voice cracks a little saying just one word. The taller girl thinks about it for a second and then shrugs. "Maybe."

"Probably," Rachel mutters, sliding her key into the front door.

Leroy is there in the hallway as she enters, helping Santana into the entranceway. He quirks an eyebrow at them but doesn't say anything as he closes the door behind the two girls. When he opens his mouth, Rachel raises a hand. "I know," she tells him, deciding that she doesn't need her dad to remind her that this is probably a very bad idea.

"Mr. Berry," Santana slurs, "you were always my favorite. You're just so cool and awesome."

He shakes his head and sends Rachel another look before he goes upstairs, leaving the smaller of the two girls to help the other up to the bedroom. Rachel knows that Leroy's look is the one that means "we'll talk about this in the morning" and she dreads that discussion already. She knows every question he's going to have and she doesn't really have the answers.

She sends Santana to the bathroom with a change of clothes and tells her to clean herself up. Rachel undresses quickly and slips into a clean pair of pajamas before sitting at her desk to wait for the other girl to come in. After a few minutes, Santana stumbles in wearing a t-shirt and a pair of shorts. The sight and the feeling of the moment takes Rachel back and she has to shake her head to clear the sense of déjà vu from her mind.

Santana's washed the makeup off her face and her eyes are rimmed red. She stands there awkwardly for a moment, and Rachel gestures to the bed, just so that they skip this strange moment where they're supposed to talk or something.

They crawl into bed on opposite sides, the same way they always used to. They're both taller now and they take up more space than they used to. Rachel has to resist the urge to move closer to Santana, just out of habit. No words are spoken as they lie down with their backs to one another.

There are questions burning on the tip of Rachel's tongue. She wants to ask about Camila, who's four now and likely the cutest toddler in the world. Rachel wants to ask about Noah, about what Santana is doing with him. She wants to know about Brittany, about the long lingering looks she sees between the two that look like more than friendship. She wants to ask about Maria and Diego and if Santana still can't stand to be at home with them. Rachel wants the most to ask about Santana, about her and Santana and what they've become - the slutty cheerleader and the Broadway-obsessed outcast. She bites her tongue instead, waiting until the pain is big enough to distract her.

"Thanks," Rachel hears eventually. There's movement in the bed and Santana leans over her and lays a sloppy kiss to her temple. Rachel says nothing in return and shows no sign of reaction. She's long since given up on this side of her and Santana, and she knows that nothing will change.

In the morning when she wakes, the other side of the bed is as cold and empty and she expected it to be. Rachel sighs, checking her phone and responding to some text messages from Kurt, Mercedes, and Tina about where she disappeared to during the party.

When she sits up, Rachel almost jumps out of her skin.

On her desk sits a pumpkin, one that Hiram bought her but she never touched. It's been carved into a picture – a cat that smiles cutely as it sits next to a tombstone. Rachel smiles a little bit despite herself, because even though she and Santana aren't friends anymore and she hates everything that Santana has turned into, sometimes the other girl still surprises her.

There's just something about Halloween, she thinks, something about the two of them on October 31st.

At school, nothing changes. Quinn comes up with a new nickname for her - Treasure Trail - and Santana glares at her with the same intensity that she always does.

Rachel's sophomore turn takes a dramatic turn. She gets Sandy Ryerson fired because he's creepy and he gives away her solos to other people. Mister Schuester takes over the glee club and Finn Hudson joins them, which means that she finally has a leading man to sing opposite her.

Unfortunately, Finn's inclusion in the club prompts the arrivals of Quinn, Brittany, and Santana. Mister Schuester lets them in with ease, which is ridiculous as far as she's concerned, because nothing good can come from allowing Sue Sylvester's three biggest minions to be in the glee club. It has sabotage written all over it.

By Halloween, everyone in the school knows that Quinn is pregnant and the blonde gets kicked off the Cheerios. Finn and the glee club rally around her because it's the right thing to do and Rachel hopes that falling from grace will humanize Quinn Fabray a little bit.

Rachel dates Noah briefly, but it doesn't last long because they both know they're better as friends. Not to mention the fact that they both have feelings for other people.

A few kids wear costumes to school, but there are rules against such celebratory gestures and they all end the day wearing spare gym clothes from the lost-and-found. Tina ends up among them because Principal Figgins doesn't understand that her goth look isn't a costume, but just how she dresses.

There's a party planned for the evening, but Rachel has no plans to attend. She's had enough of the popular kids she sees every day in glee. Besides, she knows how it will go. Girls will wear outfits that show more skin than they cover, costumes like "sexy kitten" and "sexy pirate" and "sexy vampire." The boys will show up in their letterman jackets, or just regular jeans and shirts, and disappear at some point to throw eggs at houses and fling toilet paper across stranger's yards.

Rachel decides to stay home and relax, to escape from all the drama that high school keeps throwing at her. She could use a nice normal evening away from people like Quinn Fabray and Noah Puckerman.

Leroy is on trick-or-treater duty, because that's always his Halloween job. He and Rachel carved pumpkins a few days ago to set out for the occasion and they strung some orange lights across their front porch. For her part, Rachel's fine with watching Funny Girl in the living room and listening to the sounds of small children scream outside.

"Rachel? You have some visitors," Leroy announces around eight.

"Who is it?" she asks, because she's not expecting anyone (people rarely go out of their way to visit her.)

"See for yourself," he says, walking back outside as two figures wander through the hallway and stand in front of her.

Rachel sees a little girl, probably around four or five, holding the hand of someone tall and slender, hiding their face beneath a mask. The little girl has pretty brown eyes and long wavy hair and Rachel doesn't need to know who's under the scarecrow mask to know that it's Santana Lopez. Camila looks just like a miniature version of the teenage cheerleader, complete with replica red and white uniform. The only different is that she smiles a little bigger and with more sincerity than Santana did when she was younger, like she's really happy in ways the older Lopez could never have been at that age.

"What are you doing here?"

Santana raises up her mask. "What are you doing tonight, Berry?"

"Nothing in particular," she answers, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Santana says, nodding. "You're coming trick-or-treating with me and Camila, and we're not taking no for an answer."

The little girl nods enthusiastically.

Rachel stutters because honestly, this wasn't anything like what she was expecting. "I'm sorry? You're asking me to come with you?"

Santana motions for Camila to stay where she is and strides over to Rachel easily. "Look, we're not friends or whatever," she starts. "But shit, Halloween was our day, alright?"

She's right and Rachel knows it. She knows that some of their best childhood times were spent in each other's company on October 31st. It was their day. But Santana's also right that they're not friends anymore and Rachel doesn't know if she wants to put herself in what might be a bad situation. It's a sad but necessary thought to wonder if this could all be some kind of set-up.

Santana sees her hesitation. "Look, we're not going to be friends. Everything won't magically be sunshine-and-rainbows tomorrow," she starts. "But Halloween parties suck and fuck, Berry. All my best Halloweens were with you, okay? There, I said it."

The taller girl looks like she'd rather have six teeth pulled than admit something like that, but she looks honest. Rachel eyes Camila standing impatiently in the hallway, bouncing up and down, and she looks like she would rather have six teeth pulled than wait any longer. Rachel wonders if Santana would bring a five-year-old into a plot to humiliate a classmate. The answer is a definite maybe.

"Camila, come here for a second," Santana says, her voice taking on a soft tone Rachel's not used to hearing from her anymore. The small girl walks over to them and takes her sister's offered hand, humming a bit.

"Santí, I wanna get candy now," she announces loudly. She wrings the handle of her bright orange pumpkin between her fingers. "Can we go?" she asks, directing the question at Rachel. Her eyes are wide and curious and Rachel thinks it's not fair that Santana has brought in this adorable child to tempt her.

"We're just waiting for Rachel, Cammie," Santana responds, looking down at her sister. "She doesn't want to go with us."

"Why not?" Camila wonders. "We's awesome."

"We are awesome," Rachel immediately corrects.

"S'what I said," Camila says.

"Look, I fucking love Halloween," Santana rolls her eyes. "It's just for one night. You can go back to hating me tomorrow."

"I'm sure you'll go back to hating me much faster than I will you," Rachel sighs. "We were best friends, Santana. I don't see how you expect -"

"Exactly," the other girl says. "We were best friends. And we're in glee together now."

"Yes, and you constantly attempt to sabotage one of the only sources of happiness in my life after you ruined my favorite holiday," Rachel shoots back, her voice rising.

"Only a little bit!" Santana cries, dropping her sister's hand. "We barely do anything to hurt the glee club. Seriously, I haven't done anything against that stupid club in weeks."

Rachel's eyes narrow. "Be that as it may, I'm sure that I can expect you to hatch some evil plan against us next week."

They both cross their arms, staring at each other. "If you tell anyone this, I'll say you made it up," she starts, her face softening slightly. "I like the glee club. It's totally lame, but it's kinda fun. You know I always liked singing and stuff."

Camila nods, looking back and forth between the two girls. "That's true," she says. "Santí said it's her favorite thing."

When Rachel looks back at Santana to gauge her reaction, the other girl's gaze is fixed somewhere away from her. She shrugs, and Rachel knows that means it's true, because that was always Santana's way of admitting things she didn't want to.

The five-year-old holds up her hand, waving it around in a childlike imitation of her older sister. "I can fix this," she says with great authority, grabbing one of Rachel's outstretched hands. "Rachel, you can be Santí's Halloween friend," she announces, putting Rachel's hand in Santana's. "There. I fixed you."

Rachel just stands there in shock when Santana doesn't immediately drop her hand. "It's just one night. And I promise on Puck's old dinosaur costume that it stays between us," she smirks. "We'll always have Halloween, remember?"

Santana looks earnest, more open and honest than Rachel's seen her look in years. There's a pit of longing in the bottom of her stomach, tucked away and ignored for years, and it pangs when Santana looks at her like that. It twitches low in her belly and wants more than anything to have something with Santana Lopez, something like what they had as kids. There were best friends once, and that hollow aching part of Rachel thinks that maybe she can live with having that again for one night. And if it turns out to be something evil and nefarious, then at least she'll have some moments to hold on to, like standing in her living room with Santana's warm hand wrapped around hers and her brown eyes looking at Rachel with the same sweetness that they used to.

"Stop doing googley eyes," Camila whines. "I wanna go get candy."

"I don't have a costume," Rachel sighs, shaking her head to look away from Santana and back down at the little girl in front of her.

Camila beams and reaches into her hollow pumpkin. "I got you a tara so you can be a princess," she says, holding out a plastic tiara towards Rachel.

"And if you don't wanna do that, I brought you a ghostface mask," Santana laughs.

The little girl pulls Rachel's hand out of her sister's grip, holding on to it and walking them towards the door. "No, I know," she grins. "Rach can wear both of them and be a princess ghostface."

Santana has a car with her, which surprises Rachel because they're not sixteen yet. "I have my permit," she explains. "And my dad said it's okay as long as I don't wreck it."

It's the same car that Santana's step-brother Diego used to drive, and a wave of nostalgia breaks through Rachel. "I'm surprised that you even get in this car," she says. Bad things used to happen when Santana and Diego were in the same place, family cars included. Rachel wonders if there's still a blood stain on the carpet in the back seat, but she doesn't turn around to check.

"They're going to get me a new car for my sixteenth," Santana says, catching her eye. She knows what Rachel is thinking about, and she shakes her head at the silent question in the shorter girl's eyes. "It's no big deal."

"Where's Diego?" she wonders aloud.

Camila makes a disgusted noise in the backseat. "He left."

When Rachel glances at Santana, she nods. "He moved out when he graduated. We haven't seen him since," she mutters.

"Good," Rachel says honestly. Santana smiles a little bit, pulling away from the curb and agreeing with her.

She drives for a solid half hour and complains every time Rachel makes her slow down when her speed edges over the limit. She turns on the radio, finding a Top 40 station that plays some songs Camila has heard. The little girl demands that they all sing together, and after about three songs, they're all shouting lyrics at the top of their lungs. Rachel is torn somewhere between bliss and heartbreak because it's a little too much like what they used to do and she knows that this is a one-time thing (she can see how adamant Santana is that it remain a Halloween-only occurrence.)

Eventually, Santana stops the car, pulling over and parking. Rachel knows the neighborhood they're in, a middle-class area on the opposite end of town from McKinley and its student body. As they get out, Rachel tries to decide if their location is a good or bad thing; on the one hand, Santana's obviously thought ahead enough to take them somewhere they won't run into anyone, so they can just enjoy the night together with Camila, but on the other hand, she feels like Santana's dirty little October secret.

Rachel bends over upon request and lets Camila put the shiny little plastic tiara on top of her head. Santana holds out a bag to Rachel and she decides to give the Lopez sisters one thing - they're definitely prepared. "So I googled it, and I found a list of candy that's vegan. I figure we can just give whatever you can't eat to Camila," Santana informs her, grinning.

Halloween Santana is different from the Santana that she's grown so used to and she just nods in response because the whole night is a little overwhelming. What she is used to is Santana smirking and slipping her scarecrow mask over her face. She gestures for Rachel and Camila to stand aside and she leans against a fence, unmoving. She's chosen a spot between two streetlights, where there's just a hint of some darkness, and Rachel realizes what she's about to do. A group of kids pass by and Santana jumps, screaming at them and grabbing their candy as they flee.

Santana hands one of the bags to her sister. "Here you go, kid," she laughs. "Go hard."

The little girl beams, but the sudden added weight makes her sway a little bit. "Carry this one," she says, handing the candy to Rachel. She takes her sister's hand and tries to go towards the front door of a house with a decorated yard full of lights and pumpkins. Santana stops her with a look. She thinks for a minute and then takes Rachel's hand, standing between the two teenagers. "Please," she adds.

The three make their way from house to house together, Camila usually standing between them and swinging their hands. They lift her up a couple of times and she giggles. A few times, Santana stops them and scares some children, sometimes taking their candy and sometimes not. Rachel can only laugh as Camila tries to help her sister by jumping out from behind her. The little girl isn't scary in her cheerleader costume, so she just kinds of jumps around yelling while her sister does all the work.

Santana and Rachel don't talk about school. They say nothing of Mister Schuester's feud with Coach Sylvester, or the rapidly approaching Sectionals. They don't talk about Finn, Puck, Brittany, or Quinn and her now very public pregnancy.

They talk instead of Halloweens past, of pumpkin carving and old costumes. They laugh and play with Camila, the five-year-old acting as a welcome buffer between them. It's fun; the whole night is just pure fun and it's more than Rachel ever hoped for.

Camila eventually gets tired and starts whining more, her legs hurting and her arms weighed down with candy. She asks Rachel if she'll carry her back to the car, and when Santana protests, Rachel just scoops the little girl up and settles her on her hip. She's small enough that it's no problem holding her and there's something about walking next to a smiling Santana while holding a child that's heavy and strangely emotional in places Rachel doesn't quite understand. So she walks quietly and doesn't even try to dissect those weird places.

Within minutes of the drive home, Camila falls asleep in the back seat, her head leaning against the window and bags of candy resting on the seat next to her. She clutches her little orange pumpkin tightly in her arms. The ride is mostly silent, Rachel trying to savor the last moments of the best Halloween she's had in years. She knows that if they do this again, it won't be for another year.

"We're not friends," Santana repeats, growing somber as she stops in front of Rachel's house.

"I know," Rachel answers.

The other girl nods, clearing her throat. "I'll see you next Halloween?"

"Technically, you'll see me at school Monday," Rachel mutters.

Santana reaches into the backseat and grabs a couple of bags, handing them to Rachel. "You know what I mean, hobbit," she whispers. If they were anywhere else and it were any other time, 'hobbit' would be an insult. But there's a soft smile playing on her face as she says it and it reminds Rachel that it was once a term of endearment.

"You really hurt me, Santana," Rachel says.

The other brunette shrugs at her. "I'll probably do it again," she murmurs honestly. "But never on October 31st."

Rachel holds out her hand. "Until next year, then."

Santana shakes it firmly, nodding at her. "Next year."

She leans across the car and kisses Rachel's cheek, because that's how they always used to end Halloween - with a kiss on the cheek or the forehead. The shorter girl watches her drive off until she's turned a corner and is out of sight.

Leroy is waiting for her when she walks in the house. "And how was your night?"

She smiles and hands him a chocolate bar. "It was good."

At school, nothing changes and they go about their lives like they always do. A few weeks later, when everything is falling apart at Sectionals and everyone is turning on their teammates, Santana admits the she likes the glee club and that it's the best part of her day. Rachel thinks about car rides with little sisters singing Lady Gaga as loud as they can, and about childhood days spent singing along to the likes of Bette Midler and Jack the Pumpkin King, and it's easy for her to say, "I believe you."

Rachel's junior year gets off to a rough start. She makes some bad decisions about a new girl named Sunshine and the whole thing almost ends with her getting kicked out of the club. Sunshine was too much of a threat to Rachel and she needs applause like she needs air.

She starts the year with Finn, the boy she's wanted for a while, and while they're not perfect, Rachel believes in his leading man potential. Leroy thinks that she loves the idea of Finn more than the boy himself (something about her being so determined to be a leading lady with a proper leading man that she'll date someone twice her height and half her intelligence.)

Finn is sweet and he tries and most people don't make half as much effort with her as he does. So Rachel tells her dad that she loves Finn and that she has fun with him, being the Janet to his Brad.

After their Time Warp performance for an empty auditorium, Rachel gets a text message from Santana and it surprises her. The two have had a handful of interactions their junior year and Rachel isn't expecting Santana to keep with their Halloween agreement. But sure enough, just days before October 31st, there's a message in her inbox telling her to be ready at five on Halloween. Almost immediately, another text comes in saying that she shouldn't dress up and should wear comfortable shoes.

Rachel spends the next several days wondering what Santana has planned for them. Finn asks her to spend Halloween with him, but she tells him that she can't (she never mentions that going to a party at Puck's house holds little appeal to her.) When he presses her, she makes up something about plans with her fathers. Rachel doesn't like lying to Finn, hates lying to anyone really, but she knows that she can't tell him about her Halloween friendship with Santana, for any of their sakes.

She dresses simply on October 31st, just as Santana told her. She wears a regular skirt and blouse and debates whether she's chosen appropriately for much longer than she should.

Leroy comes into her room just before five and asks why she keeps changing her clothes."I didn't know you had a date with Finn tonight," he teases, leaning against her door frame.

"I don't," she says simply. He quirks an eyebrow at her, and she sighs. "I have plans with Santana."

Leroy clears his throat. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" he asks.

Rachel is silent as she smoothes her pants down with her palms. On some days, when she really thinks about it or when Santana sends some biting insult her way, it really hurts that she can only be this person once a year. But on other days, she thinks about Halloween day and how much fun she has on their holiday. The glee club is her family, but they aren't always her friends, and on her more self-conscious days, Rachel will take anything she can get.

She thinks about the Santana that she knows, the sweet girl with the angry home who held her hand and shared her bed and her candy with Rachel, who kept her safe and kissed her cheek until she blushed. They had been children then, but Rachel sees hints of that Santana sometimes and it gives her hope that maybe her friend is still in there.

"Rachel?" she hears Leroy say.

"It's the best idea for today," she settles on. She bites her lip. "Don't tell daddy, please."

Leroy shrugs, striding over to her and wrapping his arms around her. She sighs into his embrace, letting his warmth and familiar scent wrap around her and calm her nerves. "I didn't last time, and I won't this time," he says. He drops a kiss to her head just as the doorbell rings.

When he swings the door open, Rachel hovering behind him, a couple of children are standing there. "Trick or treat," they chant together. Behind them, leaning against a support beam, is Santana. She's smiling at the kids as Leroy makes a big show of giving them candy. She spots Rachel and then gestures for her to join her.

Rachel kisses her dad on the cheek and grabs a jacket before she squeezes around the kids on her doorstep. "Are you ready to go?" Santana asks. Rachel nods and waves to Leroy as they stride down the pathway towards the street.

Santana has a new car this year, just like she said she would. It's some kind of black sports car that Rachel doesn't know the name of. Its leather seats squeak as she slides into the passenger seat.

"No Camila this year?"

Santana settles into the driver's side, putting on her seatbelt and starting the car. "She wanted to go trick-or-treating with her friends, and I love that kid, but I am not supervising ten little kids," she answers. "Plus, I didn't really want to make the drive with a fix-year old."

Rachel frowns as they pull away from her house. "How far are we going?"

"We're going to Columbus," Santana says. "Well, close to Columbus, so like an hour and a half."

"Wow, you're just desperate to make sure that no one sees us, aren't you?" Rachel shoots at her, hating the bitterness that seeps into her voice. She crosses her arms.

"Shit, Berry, it's not like that," Santana sighs with a shake of her head. "There's a bitchin' fall festival outside Columbus and I wants to get my corn maze on."

"Oh," the shorter girl says simply. "You could at least call me Rachel."

"Sorry," the other brunette shrugs. "Old habits die hard or whatever."

The pair makes idle chitchat as Santana drives. They have a brief disagreement about what music to listen to, and spend more time discussing it than they should. Santana eventually lets Rachel choose their music for the ride to Columbus as long as she gets the radio on the way home.

Just as they had the previous year, Santana and Rachel keep their topics superficial. They speak about school a little and about glee, but only because everything else is too deep for Halloween.

"You and Finnocence threw the duets contest, didn't you?" Santana eventually asks. "Just be honest because I know that you did."

"What?" Rachel cries. "I would never sacrifice a competition."

"Oh, you totally did," the other girl smirks. "You would never go through with something that obviously offensive. I've done mashup contests with you, Rachel. You study musical theater and shit and put way too much thought into that crap. You would never think what you guys did was a good idea."

Rachel is impressed, honestly, by how much thought Santana has put into her performance with Finn. She normally assumes that the other girl doesn't spare her much thought apart from Halloween. "And just how would you know that?"

Santana rolls her eyes. "I'm not stupid. Just because we aren't friends doesn't mean I don't know you," she says. "Plus, everyone knows me and Mercedes should've won. We killed that duet." Rachel opens her mouth and Santana holds a hand up. "I just want to know why you did it, that's all. I went to Breadstix every night for two weeks and made my peace with that loss.

"Finn and I took it upon ourselves to do something that we thought would persuade Sam to stay in the glee club," Rachel admits.

"Yeah, but now I have to watch the grandchildren of the Village of the Damned walk around everywhere," the other girl laughs.

"You mean Quinn?" she asks. Santana nods and Rachel swats her arm, smiling despite herself. "You're incorrigible."

"I'm just being honest," Santana smirks. "Sam and Quinn look like they just walked out Midwich."

"You know, I only saw that movie because of you," Rachel says, breaking through their laughter with a serious thought.

"Me?"

"Mm-hmm," she hums. "I spent one night watching horror movies because I remembered you telling me that people are meant to watch scary movies on Halloween."

"Which Halloween was it?" Santana questions. Rachel watches her grip on the steering wheel tighten.

"I was...twelve, I think."

Santana doesn't say anything, but as she drives, she pulls a small bag out from behind her seat. She drops it into Rachel's lap without a word and turns the radio up. When Rachel pulls open the bag, she finds a mask. It's a little faded from time, but Rachel knows exactly what it is. She runs her fingers across it, tracing the contours of the small pumpkin face in her hands. She feels tears sting her eyes as the mask grins up at her evilly.

"I - I threw this away," she whispers.

"Yeah, I was there," Santana murmurs softly. "I fished it out after you left."

"Why?" is all she can think to ask.

"I," the taller girl pauses. "I was wearing that mask when I met you. You were my best friend for years. God, that shit means something, okay? I'm not a fucking monster."

"You broke my heart," Rachel says honestly, because if they're having this conversation, she might as well lay all her cards out on the table. "And now you're only my friend once a year. So it must not mean very much."

Tear still sting her eyes and she bites her bottom lip. Halloween isn't supposed to be like this anymore. But it is and it makes her heart shudder and quake with pain and memories that she wants to let go.

"I can't be anything else for you, Rachel," Santana says after a moment, her expression pained. "I'm not, fuck. I'm not good for people. So this," she mutters, grabbing at the mask Rachel is holding, "this is all I can give you. And if you don't want it, just fucking say the word and I'll take you home."

Rachel doesn't know Santana well anymore, and the other girl has changed over the years, grown up in ways and through situations that Rachel doesn't even know about. But there are plenty of things that she still knows about Santana, plenty of things that she knows haven't changed that much - the mischievous tilt of Santana's head when she thinks of devious things, the smirk that comes across her face when she comes up with some biting remark for someone, the way she laughs and the very real and very full smile on her face when she sings with the glee club.

"No," she says softly, gripping the hand holding the mask and lacing their fingers together the same way that they used to. "Let's go to the festival and get lost in the corn maze together."

Santana glances over at her, the corners of her lips lifting a bit. "Okay."

Rachel feels a pressure on her hand and she smiles. There are other things about Santana that Rachel doesn't need to see to understand that they remain unchanged; she can hear every single one of them in the way the cheerleader speaks and Rachel can practically hear Maria Lopez drilling them into the other girl's head (has heard them said in person, a few times.) Everyone knows that Santana got plastic surgery over the summer and Rachel can easily imagine Maria hovering next to her in the doctor's office, telling her it's the only way for her to make anyone want her.

Santana tries to take her hand back a couple of times, but Rachel doesn't let her and eventually, she stops trying.

"What do you want to do first?" Santana asks.

Rachel takes a look around, surveying the festival. There are carnival rides set between booths selling food and souvenirs; there are some games spread out across the field they're in, each showing off large stuffed animals that can be won. And just as Santana said, there was a corn maze adjacent to the festival.

"It doesn't really matter," Rachel smiles. "Anything."

Santana's response is to drag Rachel on every ride that goes fast and/or high off the ground. They go on rides that spin and ones they have to be strapped into. A couple of them go upside down and Rachel screams the entire time while Santana laughs. The taller girl teases her playfully and they share an overpriced bottle of water.

They try their hand at a couple of games, but neither of them is any good. The only game booth where they get anything is one run by a boy their age and they only reason they get anything is because Santana flirts with him. She flashes him a seductive smile as she leans across the counter, and he easily gives her a small stuffed black cat with green eyes. She instantly gives it to a surprised Rachel before leaving the dumbfounded boy behind. The shorter girl can't help but giggle a little bit, remembering how much fun it is to be on Santana's side.

It's dark now and the entire festival is lit up. Children run around the field, ducking and weaving around their parents. Teenagers like them, mostly large groups, meander around. Rachel sees several couples walking around, of a variety of ages, many of them holding hands. She has the sudden urge to reach out and grab Santana's hand as she walks closely beside her, holding the plush cat that the other girl got her. Rachel pushes the urge down, thinking of Finn, the boyfriend she had somehow forgotten in the midst of her time with Santana.

They're walking towards the Ferris wheel when Santana suddenly grabs her, cursing. "Shit shit shit," she mutters.

"Santana? What are you doing?" Rachel asks as Santana pulls her by the hand into the corn maze, grumbling in Spanish.

"Fuck," the other girl says. "What is she doing here?" she cries, turning a couple of random corners within the maze.

Santana looks incredibly frustrated, some mix between angry and anguished, and Rachel stops suddenly, forcing Santana to as well. "What is who doing here?" she asks.

"Brittany!" Santana says like it should be the most obvious thing in the world. "And she's with the cripple! What the fuck?"

"The - you mean Artie?"

"Do you know another cripple?" Santana snaps at her. "Fuck."

Rachel frowns. This is drama that she's unprepared for. This is their holiday and their real lives aren't supposed to interfere with that. She realizes then what Halloween is like: it's some kind of dream, some world where she can pretend like nothing is wrong, like she's still a nine-year-old girl running through abandoned houses and hiding candy in shoes. They're a dream, her and Santana and what they're doing. And the dream is breaking apart.

Santana kicks at the ground, scuffing her converse across the dirt. "I can't believe she's here with him."

Rachel takes a deep breathe. There are many things she can think to say to Santana about Brittany (like everyone else in glee, she heard about them having sex during their sophomore year) but all of them are potentially over the invisible line between who they are on October 31st and who they are the rest of the year. Santana is shaking her head and looks like she might be trying not to cry and Rachel knows that the line has already been destroyed.

"You should tell her how you feel," Rachel tries, settling for something vague.

Santana's head raises and she stares at Rachel. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The shorter girl shrugs, looking down at their still-clasped hands. "I only mean that Brittany is your best friend and if you're uncomfortable with her pursuing a relationship with Artie, you should say something. As her friend," she backtracks a little bit under Santana's intense gaze, but there's something there on the girl's face that says that they both know what Rachel's really talking about.

"I'm not gay," Santana says, pulling her hand away from Rachel quickly.

"I never meant to imply that you are," Rachel answers, smiling softly. "But if you were, it wouldn't matter. It would be okay."

She expects Santana to snap at her again, but she says nothing for a moment and bites her lip. "I'm not, though," she says quietly. But there's still something there and they both know what she might mean when she follows it with a shrug.

"Okay," Rachel murmurs, reaching out to take Santana's hand again. "I believe you said something about 'getting your corn maze on?'"

Santana exhales heavily, nodding and smiling gratefully. "Yeah, let's do this."

They spend more time in the corn maze than they should, both if them purposefully taking wrong turns. Santana does it so she won't have to see Brittany and Rachel does it for Santana. At one point, Santana stops them and wraps her arms around Rachel. She presses their bodies together and holds her close until the smaller girl returns her hug.

Rachel feels Santana drop a kiss to the top of her head and she knows that it's the closest thing she'll ever get to a thank you. Rachel ignores the way Santana's body feels against hers, the way her head lies softly atop her own and her fingers run across Rachel's back while they stand there. When they pull away and Santana smiles at her softly, Rachel ignores the way her heart flutters before it seems to stop for a second.

A few weeks later, Santana snaps at her that she took Finn's virginity during Madonna week last year. She slept with Finn and Finn lied about it and an angry Rachel makes a bad decision with Noah. And when the dust settles and all the words are spoken and all the people are gone, Rachel sobs in the hallway and feels like her heart has been broken by two people and not just one.

Rachel's senior year, like so many others before it, starts with frustration and drama. She and Kurt get a rude awakening in the form of some very talented teenagers who are just as good, if not better, than they are. It's the first time she feels like her dream might be crumbling. They come up with a plan to help their resumes, a performance of "West Side Story."

Shelby comes back to Lima, bringing back both Quinn and Noah's daughter and the bitter memories of being left by the same mother twice. Rachel presses on, though, and auditions for the role of Maria like her life depends on it (and it sort of does.) She doesn't anticipate Mercedes' reaction to the decision to split the role between them, and when the other girl quits the glee club and leaves them all for Shelby's new group, Rachel's upgrade to the only Maria feels like a hollow victory.

The play's casting has an unexpected effect on her dynamic with Santana, who wins the role of Anita. Suddenly they're not just having limited interactions standing next to each other in rehearsals, but they're being forced to work together. Maria and Anita have scenes together, whole songs even, and the pair ends up spending about as much time working with the whole group as they do with each other, rehearsing in private with just Mr. Schuester or Coach Beiste (or sometimes, with just each other.)

They snipe at each other at first, because there's still some residual drama from their junior year lingering between them. Yet by the end of the first week of play rehearsals, it's harder for them to carry on the way they normally do. Rachel thinks that maybe there's just something about fall setting in, bringing with it jackets and changing leaves, that makes everything different.

They still avoid big topics, like Brittany and Rachel's sudden run against her for class president. They don't talk about Finn, either, about the drama of Santana sleeping with him and the growing feeling in the pit of Rachel's stomach that he's going to stay in Ohio while she goes off to New York. But things are still easier between them and they bond as Maria and Anita in unexpected ways.

Rachel and Santana make plans for Halloween together, talking after a long day of rehearsal and practice. Camila wants to go trick-or-treating with her big sister again, and Rachel's more than happy to accompany them. Santana tells her to not to dress in something crazy and outrageous, which seems ridiculous to Rachel considering her costume choices throughout their lives have been fairly modest. Santana makes a joke about Rachel being a generally loud person and it ends with them both laughing and getting more than a few odd looks from the rest of the "West Side Story" cast.

Rachel has to lie to Finn about Halloween again, which she hates. But Santana tells her that she has to lie to Brittany so it's all fair and even somehow. She briefly considers throwing together something crazy just to spite the other girl, but instead chooses a simple witch costume that reminds them of the year she went out with Santana and Noah.

When Finn asks, Rachel tells him that she's being dragged to a costume party with her fathers. He wonders if they would be willing to let him tag along, and when she says no, it's not a lie (if there had been a real party, her dads definitely wouldn't invite Finn.)

On October 31st, Santana and Rachel take Camila out to Northside first. Rachel watches as Santana's normal scream-and-jump tactics for scaring candy away from kids turns into a sneakier method that involves some light stalking. She tells Rachel that it's appropriate Masky behavior, but again the reference goes over her head. Camila decides that they have to show Rachel Marble Hornets soon because not know about it is "super lame," according to the seven-year-old.

Camila finds some kids that she likes and goes house-to-house with them as Rachel and Santana follow behind her, the latter occasionally drifting away to creepily follow after some kids. Rachel keeps an eye on Camila when Santana does, having long since given up on ever getting Santana to stop. Santana really just likes scaring people; the candy is a bonus.

"How's your dad?" Rachel eventually asks as they stand on the sidewalk, watching Santana's sister at the door of a well-decorated house.

"He's okay," she answers. "You know how he is; if he's not doing work at the hospital, he's doing work at home. Hiram?" she asks knowingly.

The shorter girl nods. "I'm pretty sure they're in it together," she only half-jokes, because they just might be for all the hours they both spend working.

Camila comes back to them, giggling when Santana gives her some stolen treats to put in her pumpkin bucket. The little girl leads them over to the next house, taking Rachel's hand as she does. She marches all three of them up to the door, where Santana and Rachel hold out sacks of candy that Santana's procured for them.

The small girl sometimes takes her sister and her sister's friend to the door with her and sometimes she leaves them behind on the sidewalk to go with some other kids. "Diego came back," Santana says eventually.

"Oh?" Rachel asks, her eyebrows rising. "Oh."

Santana just nods. "He got tired of Jersey or where-ever-the-fuck and moved back in over the summer," she responds, watching her sister grin in glee as more candy is dropped into her pumpkin.

Rachel follows her gaze towards the little girl. "Is - I mean, how is he with Camila?" she questions. It's a simple question, but they both know the real meaning behind it, that there are things about Diego Lopez and what he did to his step-sister that should have been reported to the police. Rachel didn't understand these things when they happened because she was too young, but when she got older, she eventually realized that they should have told someone.

"He's really good with her actually," Santana says. Camila comes back down the path to them and the three walk down the street together, the little girl babbling between them as Rachel stares at the other teenager.

"How is he with you?" she asks when the leaves them to go up to the front door of the next house they reach.

"He's not bad," Santana tells her. "Better than he used to be."

Santana remains quiet for a little bit as they walk, slipping her Halloween mask back on her face. While Camila sits with some kids comparing their candy, Rachel reaches over and tugs Santana's mask off of her head. "What are you doing?" she cries.

Rachel pulls off her witch hat, sliding the Masky face on her head before she sets her hat back in place. "Okay," she says, her voice slightly muffled. "I've spent most of my life watching you scare candy away from small children. And you're going to teach me how to do it."

Santana laughs, shooting a look over at her little sister to check that she's still okay. "Rachel, some of these little kids are taller than you are."

"Just one time," Rachel pleads, watching through the eye holes as Santana continues to giggle. "I want to see what all the fuss is about."

The taller girl just shakes her head as she laughs. Rachel steps close to her, nudging her with her elbow. "Come on, Santana. We don't have all night."

"Oh god, okay," she says, putting a hand on Rachel's shoulder and pointing towards the kids Camila is standing with. "It's not hard. Just kind of creep over there. Take your time and don't go too fast or they'll see you. When you get close enough, just kind of jump and scream and grab one of them if you want. They spread out pretty quick and it's easy to grab their bags when they're scared."

"Wow, you really have a system worked out."

The other girl nods, smirking. "Works every time."

Rachel does as she's told, edging along the fence slowly. A couple of times, Santana gestures for her to stop and she does, standing as still as she possible can. As she gets closer to Camila and the other kids, she starts to feel a little guilty for what she's about to do and she doesn't understand how Santana can enjoy it as much as she does.

As Rachel prepares to jump and yell, Santana's little sister turns around. "Whatcha doin'?" she asks, just as Rachel raises her hands up.

The teenager quickly drops her arms and pulls Santana's mask off. She hears the other girl laughing somewhere behind her and her face burns. "Nothing," she says. "Are you ready to keep going, Camila?"

It's almost nine and even the neighborhood trick-or-treaters tend to disperse when the kids from other areas have to leave. The Lopez family lives in Northside, but Santana says that they shouldn't stay out too late.

The little girl nods, grabbing her candy and waving to her friends as she stands. As Santana and Rachel begin to walk, the taller brunette teases Rachel for her failed attempt at scaring a bunch of kids, and the shorter girl happily takes her jokes because she knows they're not meant maliciously. And Santana keeps laughing and wiping at her eyes and Rachel just smiles coyly because she still knows the best way to take Santana's mind off of things on Halloween.

As the walk, Camila starts kicking at pumpkins sitting out on the sidewalk. She doesn't do any damage to them, can't even knock any of them over because she's so little. She mostly just nudges them until they're dangerously close to teetering over.

"You shouldn't do that, you know," Rachel says, a hint of warning in her voice.

"Why not?" the little girl asks, sliding into place beside her. She frowns.

"Halloween is the one night where all sorts of spirits and ghosts roam the earth," Rachel tells her. "The jack-o-lanterns are supposed to protect us from them. If you knock them over or put them out too soon, then who knows what kinds of things can get us."

Camila pouts, a look of fear coming across her face. She grabs her sister's hand, tugging on it. "That's not true," she cries. "Santí, is that true?"

Santana exchanges a look with Rachel before she stares back down at her sister with fake worry. "I would listen to Rachel if I were you, Cam. I told you, she knows all about that stuff," she says.

The girl gasps and refuses to let go of Santana's hand for a long time, eyeing every carved pumpkin they pass.

They drop Camila off at home soon after that, the little girl yawning as they reach the front door. True to her word, Rachel goes through her candy and grabs the vegan-friendly sweets before handing the little girl the rest of it. Camila wraps her arms around Rachel's legs and squeezes them before she runs inside, bringing smiles to both teenagers' faces.

When Santana pulls her car up to the Berry house, she parks and gives Rachel a hug, both of them lingering in the embrace. Santana kisses her cheek, per tradition, and Rachel feels like they're on their way towards being the kind of people who are friends every day.

West Side Story opens just a couple of weeks after Halloween, and they get a standing ovation at every performance. The first person that Rachel hugs after every single show is Santana. And they smile at each other, right there on stage in front of everyone.

By October 31st, 2012, Rachel and Finn have broken up. He proves that nagging feeling in her stomach right by wanting to stay in Ohio. He'll go to school, maybe, but if he ever does, it'll be close to home.

Rachel's dream has always been New York, always, and even though she ultimately doesn't get into NYADA, she gets accepted at NYU and is more than happy to have a musical theater program to call home. She and Finn talk about trying out a long-distance relationship, but it quickly becomes apparent that they're not the kind of people who can handle it.

Around the same time, Santana comes out officially. It's the worst kept secret at McKinley, but Rachel has never been more proud of the girl as she announces both her sexuality and her relationship with Brittany. Unfortunately, their plans diverge as Santana sets her sights on college in New York and the blonde decides to pursue a career dancing in Los Angeles. There's still too much heartache haunting stretches of their friendship and things like jealousy and Santana's never-ending privacy drive a wedge between them. They're still friends, they'll always be friends, but they decide that it's all they should be.

Santana ends up at NYU as well, setting her sights on something like political science or sociology, and she and Rachel bond over their semi-recent break-ups. They study together and Rachel makes the other girl listen to her practice sometimes. Santana goes along with it, rolling her eyes but smiling nonetheless, and Rachel thinks that being away from all the pressure of Lima is really good for her, for both of them.

There are several parties around campus, and New York is full of things to do on Halloween, but the holiday falls on a problematic Wednesday. Santana and Rachel have a midterm the next day in their shared english class, so the smaller brunette decides that they should be good students and spend the evening studying. Santana is determined to go to as many parties as she can, but Rachel promises candy and an 'A' on their test and it's enough to sway her. Rachel thinks the fact they're sort of friends on days that aren't Halloween helps convince her, even if she won't admit it.

Rachel's roommate goes out for the night and Santana comes over around seven, banging on the door loudly. "I brought pizza," she announces as the other girl opens the door. "And we can study, but shit, this is Halloween so we better watch at least one scary movie, okay?"

"I hope that you've chosen a vegan selection for this evening," Rachel says. "And is that a bag of candy? Santana, I told you that I already got some."

Santana rolls her eyes, dropping her bookbag on to the floor and setting the pizza on the coffee table. "Yeah, this is my candy," she smirks. "And of course the pizza's vegan. Give me a little credit."

They settle on the couch together and Santana flips the television on, finding a scary movie marathon immediately. "Why do I feel like you're going to be a big distraction tonight?" Rachel asks. She tucks her legs underneath her and leans against the armrest.

Santana shrugs, putting her feet on the table. "Probably because I will be."

They make idle chitchat as they eat and when the Dawn of the Dead remake comes on, Santana turns the t.v. up. Rachel hates zombies, especially fast ones, and the other girl knows it. She smirks and refuses to change the channel and Rachel ends up eating with one hand and covering her eyes with the other.

There's a knock at the door and Rachel jumps, flinging her pizza out of her hands on to the carpet. Santana laughs at her and stands up. "Oh, god, you didn't invite that chick who sits with us in class do you? Because I seriously hate that girl."

The smaller girl glares at her while she cleans up the mess. "No," she answers. "I didn't invite anyone. And for the record, her name is Danielle, and she's not that bad."

Santana's eyes narrow. "No, she's worse, and if she's on the other side of this door, I am out of here."

When they open the door, Danielle isn't standing there. There's a group of kids standing there instead, chanting "trick or treat" at the pair.

"Oh, um," Rachel stutters, grabbing the bag of sweets Santana brought. "What's going on?" she asks her R.A. She gives the bag to Santana and she passes out some candy to each kid.

"They're from the Boys and Girls Clubs of America," the older student answers. "There are groups going through all the dorms collecting candy from all the rooms that didn't opt out. You didn't say anything, Rachel. I can take you out of the rotation if you want?"

Her hall resident assistant eyes Santana curiously as she bends down and starts talking to some of the kids about their costumes. Rachel watches Santana, too, and the sight of her fixing a little boy's mask makes her smile. "No," she says. "You can keep us in."

They study very little and spend most of their time giving out their candy to the kids that come around. "I didn't know being on the other side could be fun," Santana admits a little later. "My only regret is that I don't have a costume, 'cause that shit is the best part."

And Rachel gets a ridiculous idea, a terribly cheesy thought that she can't shake. Somewhere between their sixth group of kids and fourth failed attempt at studying, she disappears to her room and returns with a little plastic tiara.

"Oh my god, seriously?" Santana laughs.

She doesn't struggle as Rachel leans up and fixes it on to the taller girl's hair. "You're the princessa now," she giggles.

"I can't believe you kept this."

"I would never throw it away," she smiles. "Camila went through all that trouble."

Santana smiles at her as there's another knock on the door. "Yeah, she asked if me and my Halloween friend could come take her out this year," she starts, shrugging. "I told her that maybe she could see my Halloween friend over Christmas break."

"I would love to," Rachel says, watching the other girl pass out candy. Santana hasn't outright invited her to anything, but Rachel understands what Santana is really saying and she quite likes the idea of turning their Halloween friendship into a Christmas friendship.

"Yeah, okay, don't get all sappy on me over there, Berry," Santana smirks, nudging her.

When Santana leaves for the night, Rachel stands on her tiptoes to kiss the other girl's cheek. She moves at the last minute and hits the corner of her mouth instead, surprising both of them.

"I'm glad that we're friends again," she says, blushing.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Santana admits, ducking her head. She bites her lip and stares at Rachel so genuinely that the smaller girl almost forgets to breathe for a second. She hugs her for a long moment and thinks that there's something magical about candy and costumes and horror films.

Rachel says nothing, but when she leans up again, her lips find Santana's, purposefully this time. The taller girl runs her hand through Rachel's hair, pulling her closer and forcing their kiss deeper until Rachel has to pull away because she really does forget to breathe. She feels Santana drop something into the pocket of her hoodie, and later, long after the girl is gone, she finds a chocolate bar and some hard candies and smiles.

Definitely something magical.

"Stop fussing, sweetie," she says sweetly, fixing the hat on top of her son's head. He has on a jumpsuit, a little sock monkey costume with a matching hat that has a face on it. Luis wiggles a little bit as Rachel picks him up, settling him on her hip.

"Are you guys ready in here?" Santana asks, peeking her head in through the door. "Are you not wearing your costume, Rach?"

She shakes her head as her wife comes in, decked out in a full black robe with a hood. "Someone has to watch our children while you play around," she smirks. "And just who are you supposed to be?"

"I'm the Grim Reaper, obviously," she answers. Their son wiggles a little more, reaching out his hands toward the other brunette. Santana takes him from Rachel, kissing his forehead. "And I watch the kids, too, isn't that right, Luis?" she sing-songs, pulling a face at the little boy.

Rachel rolls her eyes, but smiles because she can't help herself. Fifteen Halloweens after she and Santana got together, the other woman still just does things to her that make her grin like a fool and feel like a little kid all over again.

A little brunette whirlwind runs in, her cape billowing behind her. "Momma, can we go now?" the seven-year-old asks.

Rachel smiles down at her daughter. "Yes, we're ready now, Sophie," she says. "Have you got your fangs? You can't be a vampire queen without your fangs."

She hears Santana chuckle behind her as they leave and her smile widens.

As they walk through their neighborhood, Sophie runs ahead of them, meeting up with some kids she knows. Santana takes Rachel's hand, threading their fingers together, and they walk in companionable silence. The taller woman takes Luis up to a few houses and lets him hold on to a bright orange pumpkin-shaped bucket with a few pieces of candy in it while Rachel keeps a watchful eye on Sophie.

Santana pulls the little girl aside at one point and takes half the candy from her bag, dropping it into the son's pumpkin. He giggles and Sophie heads to the next house.

"What was that about?" Rachel asks.

"Puck told me about this awesome trick where you take stuff out of your kid's bag and keep it with you. Then when they go door-to-door, people give them more candy because they think, 'oh, this kid doesn't have a lot so I should give them more.' It's genius," Santana answers enthusiastically.

Rachel rolls her eyes and laughs. "There are some things I will never understand about you, Santana, and your obsession with candy is one of them."

"That just means more candy for me, huh, Luis?" she smirks, tickling the boy she's carrying.

The pair continues to walk down their street, trailing after their other child. These are Rachel's favorite Halloweens; not the ones when she was a little girl, getting into trouble with her best friend; not the ones when she was a teenager, reconnecting once a year with someone she cared about; not the ones when she was in college celebrating with her girlfriend. No, the ones where she gets to walk next to her wife through their neighborhood, playing with their children - these are Rachel's favorites.

"Halloween is the best holiday," Santana says eventually.

"Why do you say that?" Rachel asks, knowing fully well the answer. They have this same conversation every year and she never gets tired of it.

As the other woman opens her mouth, they hear their daughter shout. "Mom, that boy just took my candy!" she yells, pointing down the sidewalk.

The thief, a boy from down the street, is moving slowly, caught behind a large group of kids with their parents. "Well, go get him!" Santana yells back. "He can't get that far!"

Sophie takes off after the boy and Rachel and Santana pick up their pace just to make sure nothing goes wrong. "You shouldn't encourage her to run off like that," Rachel says, scolding her wife while she does nothing to stop their daughter.

Santana gestures ahead of them, where Sophie has caught up with the boy and is arguing with him over her bag. "They didn't get very far," she says, smirking at her wife. "And I figured, what's the worst that can happen? She meets the love of her life?"

Their daughter hits the boy in the arm and grabs her sack of candy away from him, glaring. Rachel and Santana laugh and Rachel is sure that she falls more in love every Halloween.

The End