Ditto, by Aradia Firehawk

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of its characters; those belong to Ryan Murphy et al. I do, however, borrow those characters for this story. If you are not a fan of Pezberry, please go somewhere else. If you don't like girl-on-girl, look away. However, if you are a fan of both of those things (and almost definitely some Finn-bashing) then please proceed.

This story is slightly AU in that I changed a couple of events to fit the direction my version of the characters took me. I love Brittana, but obviously they do not really fit in line with a Pezberry fic, so in this world Brittany never broke up with Artie at the end of Season 2. Santana still slept with Finn and he still lied to Rachel, but she never cheated on him with Puck. They did lose at Nationals, but only because Finn kissed Rachel and she proceeded to slap him once they got off-stage, and just because I think it was a stupid turn of events, Quinn did not go crazy punk. Finally, this takes place pretty much where it did in Glee, but the only difference is that Brittana is not together when Finn outs Santana for being in love with her.

Sorry, that was a long intro. Assume anything I did not mention is something I changed for the story or created because it fits, or that it just is not relevant to my tale. Thanks and read on! Please review (constructively).

Chapter 1: "She Couldn't Wait"

Santana stood there, staring at the one place in the world she really wished she did not have to be right now. However, she knew one thing for sure: if she did not walk through those doors today, the day after her world crumpled around her, she would never be able to recover. Not emotionally, fuck that, she was Santana Lopez and this was just a blip on her radar, but if she failed now, her reputation at McKinley would never recover.

"All right, bitch, pull your shit together and move your feet. You're from Lima Heights Adjacent and all these people are just sheep. You don't care jack-shit about what they think."

With that said, Santana Lopez put on her best HBIC glare, lifted her head high and walked through the front doors of McKinley High School.

As she walked down the hallway, people parted like they normally did, knowing that if they failed to move fast enough Santana would squash them like a bug. However, there were definitely more stares than normal, and a whole hell of a lot more whispering as she passed. Steeling herself against the nausea that she was too bad-ass to admit she was truly feeling, Santana opened her locker and began to pull out the books she needed. God, she really wished Brittany was there to help her through this. Her best friend was still deliriously happy with Wheels, and while Santana had hated her for a long time for rejecting her, she knew that there was nothing more she could do to win her back. Brittany had the biggest heart in the world, and Santana had been banking on that: meaning she would wait for her forever. She hadn't counted on Brittany's heart being so big that she would fall in love with someone else.

Shaking her head to snap out of her memories, of the look in Brittany's eyes as she told her she was in love with Artie, Santana gathered her books, slammed her locker closed, and turned around. That's when it hit. The event itself was not out of the ordinary. No, just something that happens every day at McKinley: someone got slushied. However, this time, the event silenced everyone in the vicinity, because this time, the slushy hit Santana full in the face.

Time seemed to stop and everyone held their breath as the hockey jocks burst out laughing. "Maybe you can get your girlfriend to lick it off, dyke!" They high-fived each other and kept walking down the hall – mostly out of self-preservation. They had seen Santana after someone had made fun of Brittany: there was not much left of the idiot afterword. Santana just stood there and her eyes started to burn. At first, she thought, Fuck, that stuff really does sting when it gets in your eyes! With dawning horror, she realized that she was starting to tear up, not from pain, but from the desire to cry. Sure, she cried when she was drunk, but that could be laughed off as an effect of the alcohol. This-this could not be explained away. This would only be seen as one thing: weakness.

As she was gathering herself to pick her books up off the floor and trying not to look anyone in the eye, someone swept by her and grabbed her arm, quickly pulling her into the bathroom. Her books were set down by the sink and a wet paper towel started to dab at her face and neck. After a few minutes, she was shocked to realize that the person was trying to lift off her shirt.

"Hey, Hobbit, hands off the goodies!"

"I'm sorry, Santana, but I thought you might want to change your outfit before your shirt starts to dry. Slushie is very sticky, and I speak from experience when I say it is not a good idea to wait until later to change."

Santana blinked as Rachel handed her what suspiciously looked like her extra Cheerios uniform, the one she kept in her gym locker. "Where'd you get this, midget?"

"I asked Coach Sylvester yesterday afternoon if I could borrow it, in the event that this might happen. She actually acquiesced quite willingly, which at first was surprising, but then I suppose she feels partly responsible for the situation that you are in."

Santana glared at Rachel and grabbed the paper towel she was holding. "Situation?"

"Santana, you are currently speaking to the girl who was slushied every day for most of her high school career. Now, I maintain that much of that was due to misplaced jealousy, as I will be leaving much of this small town behind, but I also know that the fact that my fathers are gay played a part in it."

As Rachel started wetting more paper towels, Santana stared at her. She actually had something in common with Rachel Berry. When she shivered, she thought at first it was due to her shock at this revelation, but then she shivered again and realized that it was because the slushy was starting to make her really cold.

"Yeah, whatever, Berry. Hand over the uniform." Santana removed her Cheerios top. At least, she attempted to. However, the slushy had already started to dry, and it really was getting almost impossible to remove the material from her body as it had begun to mold the material to her body. As she struggled, Rachel stepped forward and gripped the base of her shirt. "What did I say about the goodies, Berry?"

"I believe your exact words were 'Hey, Hobbit, hands off the goodies!' which is actually rather inaccurate and unfair, since you really are only 3 inches or so taller than me. I am also rather average in height for most women, so I have always found your nicknames for me with regard to my height or lack thereof pretty nonsensical and misplaced. However, in response to your original question about your 'goodies', I am actually attempting to hold your shirt down in the front, so that it is easier for you to grip the sides and pull it up over your head. Would you prefer I just sit back and watch you struggle with it alone? Speaking from experience, it is really very difficult to attempt on your own."

Processing that incredibly long paragraph Berry just recited, Santana blinked and then mumbled out a reluctant "Fine." With that said, she allowed Rachel to once again grip the front of her uniform shirt while she gripped the sides. She slowly slid it up and off her body, and as she did so she could swear she saw Berry close her eyes and take in a deep breath, as if being near her was some sort of struggle. Shrugging it off – after all, there was slushy all over her and she wanted to get it cleaned off as soon as possible – she stepped back and slid off her Cheerios skirt. Reaching her hand out, she took more of the wet paper towels from the brunette's hand and finished rinsing her body off as well as she could. She would shower later in the Cheerios locker room, but for now she had to show she could recover from an event like this, and she refused to look weak in front of the entire school by trying to sneak out of the bathroom still covered in slushie.

She grabbed the clean uniform and was fully dressed once more in minutes. As she straightened her newly damp ponytail she thought, Damn it's a pain to get that shit out of my hair. She glanced in the mirror at Rachel and said: "You didn't have to help, and God knows I've done some bad shit to you including getting you slushied like this. So…thanks."

Rachel smiled. "I'd like to think that we've gotten closer over the last three years, Santana. We haven't always agreed and I am not completely blameless, since I did call you a stripper once, but I know that if I really needed it, you would be there for me too."

"Yeah, well, we need your voice for Nationals, and I would be lying if I didn't tell you that your annoying ability to push us in Glee is actually mildly helpful in the long run. Just don't tell anyone I said that, or I'mma cut a bitch."

Berry smirked, actually smirked, and said, "Sure, Santana. I won't say a word. I know you've got those razor blades in your hair."

As Santana made ready to leave the bathroom they had been holed up in for almost an entire period now, Rachel reached out and took her wrist in a small but firm grip. Cocking an eyebrow and waiting to see what would come next out of this weird experience, Santana saw Rachel pause and swallow. She then looked up at her very seriously and whispered, "Don't forget, Santana, you have people who care about you."

"Of course, I'm hot shit. Everyone wants up on this."

"Seriously, Santana, just because Brittany is with Artie—that doesn't mean she doesn't care."

Santana ripped her wrist away and snarled, "What do you know, Berry? You don't know shit about my relationship with Brittany."

"I know that it hurts when the person you love rejects you, and it makes you feel like you have no one else. But you do. We're all here for you Santana."

"Sure, Berry, you're here for me, especially since I took Finnocence's V-card and ruined your relationship. You're totally there for me."

"You may have been a part of it, Santana, but that does not change the fact that Finn lied to me about it afterward, even when I told him the truth about Jessie and me. Was I mad at you for the occurrence and for how you told me? Yes, but upon further reflection your revelation was just one of many issues that Finn and I had. You simply helped me see them."

Santana just stared at her. "I don't get you. I really don't."

"You don't have to, Santana. You just have to know that I, and the rest of the Glee club-"

"Minus Finn."

"Okay, minus Finn, but I really think he just hasn't thought about the consequences of his actions, of how he uses his words, and I really don't think he meant to out you to the whole school, let alone the whole town-"

"Berry!"
Taking a deep breath, Rachel squared her shoulders. "I apologize. What I was trying to say is that we are all here for you. Please know that. You are not alone."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, Berry. I gotta get to class or Coach will kick my ass if she hears I'm slacking off on my school work. If I don't attend classes then I don't stay on the squad. No me gusta."

As Santana turned to leave, she paused before opening the door and said, "Rachel?"

Rachel snapped her head up. Santana never called her by her first name. "Yes?"

After a long moment, Santana looked up into her eyes and said, "Ditto," and with that she spun around and was gone.

Rachel stood there for a few minutes more and then, slowly, she let a smile slip out. Others might not have understood that one word, but Rachel did. With that one word, Santana Lopez had acknowledged, thanked, and returned her offer of support. As her hand still tingled from where she had held Santana's wrist, Rachel could not help thinking that things were only going to get more interesting before graduation.

She couldn't wait.