I don't own Glee.
The first time Michael Chang ever saw Rachel Berry cry was the day Noah Puckerman threw a slushy in her face.
She held her head high and walked away but the observant boy did not miss the way her shoulders shook slightly or the way her eyes watered. He also didn't miss the small frown on Puck's face as he glared at the empty cup in his hand or the guilt in his eyes.
So he waited until the jocks were caught up in congratulating Puck and then he followed the trail of red ice around the corner. He stopped in front of the bathroom door and raised his fist to knock, but paused as he heard the sobbing.
He tapped his knuckles quietly against the wood and spoke, "Rachel, can I come in?" When he heard a near silent yes, he pushed the door open and looked at the girl curled up in the corner.
He slid down the wall until he was seated next to her and looked over at her.
"We used to be best friends. Noah and I, I mean. I don't know what changed. Did I do something wrong?" Rachel asked, staring at him with wide, questioning eyes. The sheer pain in her eyes made his heart clench and he wrapped an arm around her.
"I've been friends with Puck for awhile and I still don't understand why he does most of the things he does. The thing about Puck is that he has a really wacked up moral code. He protects people he cares about, even if it doesn't seem like it," Mike replied, leaning his head back against the wall.
Rachel scrunched her eyebrows in confusion, "Are you saying that he did this," She gestured to her stained clothes, "to protect me?"
The Asian boy nodded.
"But…from what?"
Mike shrugged, "Who knows? But from the way he talks about you, I don't think he would ever hurt you on purpose."
The tiny singer offered him a small smile and leaned her head against his shoulder.
The second time Michael Chang ever saw Rachel Berry cry was the day Beth was born.
She was pacing back and forth backstage at Sectionals. Everyone else was at the hospital with Quinn and Puck, but someone had to wait for the results. She volunteered, mainly because it was less painful, but also because she needed to talk to Shelby.
Mike was in the hospital waiting room when he got a text from Santana, who was with Quinn in her room.
Can you go check on Rach? They're giving Beth to Shelby –xoxo, San
Dang, forreal? That sucks. Sure, I'll go. –Mike xx
By the time Mike had gotten Mr. Schue to allow him to borrow his keys and arrived to the Sectionals building, Rachel had already talked to Shelby and was now sitting in the middle of the green room with tissues surrounding her. Her nose was bright red and her eyes were bloodshot.
"Hey, Rach." He whispered, slipping an arm under her legs and lifting her up. He walked over to the couch and sat down, keeping her on his lap.
He ran a hand over her back, "Come on, sweetie, what's wrong?"
"She doesn't want me," The brunette choked out, burying her face in his neck.
It was then that the Asian realized no one had told Rachel of Shelby's impending motherhood. He gulped, knowing he was about to make it ten times worse than it already was.
"Uh, Rach, hon, Shelby's adopting Beth." He said quietly, not wanting to hurt her anymore. He felt her freeze and cringed inwardly as she stood up quickly and backed away from him with her hand over her mouth.
"What? I, I can't. I'm sorry." She stuttered out, still taking small steps backwards until her back hit the wall. She fled from the room and Mike sighed, watching her go.
The third time Michael Chang ever saw Rachel Berry cry was the day after Regionals.
The lanky Asian walked out of the choir room, smiling as he headed to his locker. The celebration party was in full swing and everybody was having a great time. He spun the lock and the door opened. He was about to grab his backpack when he heard screaming.
Frowning, he followed the noise until he reached a tiny brunette and a tall boy arguing as tears streamed down the girl's face. He rushed forward as he realized it was Rachel and Finn. The whole glee club had known that they had been fighting, but he wasn't aware of how bad.
Suddenly, the boy raised a hand and struck the tiny singer across the face. Mike clenched his fists and felt a hot rage come over him. Rachel was like a little sister to him and Finn…well, Finn was a douche. He knew the guy had anger issues, but he didn't expect him to ever hit her.
Rachel hit the ground and whimpered as she held a hand to her face. Mike narrowed his eyes and tackled Finn away from her.
As the quarterback lay on his back with the Asian's foot pressed against his throat, Mike snarled down at him, "Don't ever touch her again, Hudson. I don't know who you think you are, but you don't hit girls. Especially not Rachel. She's like the size of a smurf. If you come anywhere near her, I will kill you. Do you understand?"
Finn glared at him, but nodded and walked down the hall.
Mike turned to the cowering girl on the ground, "Rachel?"
She flung herself into his arms and hugged him around the neck as she sobbed into his shoulder. The Asian closed his eyes as he mentally cursed Finn and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Shh, it's okay, sweetie. He's gone," Mike murmured into her hair, running a hand up her spine. "I've gotcha, Rach. Don't worry. He's never coming near you again. I'll protect you, princess."
He hugged her closer as she shivered and ran a soothing hand over her head. She leaned into his touch and he smiled before releasing her and crouching down in front of her. She looked at him in confusion and he laughed.
"Come on, Rach, we have to go get ice for your cheek. Get on!" He said and she giggled before climbing on his back. As she leaned her chin against his shoulder, he tightened his grip on her and sped off down the hallway towards the nurse's office.
The fourth time Michael Chang ever saw Rachel Berry cry was a random day in the middle of January.
The tiny brunette was sitting on a bench outside of an ice cream parlor when Mike walked by. He didn't realize that it was her until he heard a familiar sniffle. He looked down to find his tiny brunette friend clutching her legs to her chest and crying into her knees.
The Asian sat down next to her and rested a hand on her shoulder in concern, "What's wrong, Rach?" He asked, as she looked up with bloodshot eyes and a red nose.
She didn't answer, but pulled out her phone and shoved it at Mike sadly. He glanced at the screen and his mouth dropped as Rachel looked at him with teary eyes. There, on the screen was a picture of Puck in a compromising position with a blond.
Puck, his best friend.
Puck, who was dating Rachel.
Puck, who was going to be a dead man if this picture was real.
He handed the phone back to Rachel, who burst into tears again. Mike wrapped an arm around her and tugged her closer to him. She nuzzled her face into his chest as he pressed a kiss to her hair. His phone rang and he held it to his ear without letting go of the girl in his arms.
"Hey, San." He greeted his girlfriend, stroking Rachel's hair as she shivered. He let go of her briefly to shrug off his sweatshirt and pull it over her head before bringing her to his chest again. He ran his fingers along her sides, trying to sooth her.
"Not Santana!" Puck choked out as he ran.
Mike raised an eyebrow, "Why are you on my girlfriend's phone?" He replied, trying to keep the venom out of his voice.
Apparently, he failed.
"Dude! Not you too! Why is everyone trying to kill me? First, I wake up and Brittany is sitting on the end of my bed with a shovel. Then, when I jumped out the window to get away from her, Matt and Sam tackled me. I barely got out of there alive!"
Mike opened his mouth to speak, but Puck wasn't finished.
"And then, I went to the store to get some gum and Kurt popped out of nowhere and hit me with his purse! So, I couldn't get my gum. The only person who I haven't seen today is you. Oh, and Rach."
The Asian rolled his eyes, "What about Artie, Quinn, San, Tina, and Mercedes?"
"Well, after I got away from Kurt, I tried to drive away and Tina and Mercedes were in my truck! How the heck did they even get in there? But I had to abandon my baby and run again. Then Quinn jumped out of a bush with a chainsaw! And that's not even the end of it! I ran away from Q, and finally got somewhere I thought was safe –my old tree house. But nope! Artie was already there and started chasing me. He kept throwing things at me and telling me all the ways that he was gonna murder me. Isn't it weird how the handicapped kid is the scariest out of our whole glee club?" Puck finished, still running.
"Dude, chill. That still doesn't explain why you have San's phone," Mike responded, squeezing Rachel closer to him as he heard her whimper.
"I'm getting there! Patience, Jackie Chan, patience." Puck said, continuing before Mike could protest, "As I was saying, so I ran for my freaking life after Wheels starting tossing baseballs at me. Those things are hard! I have a sensitive head, Chang! Anyways, so I got myself outta there and went to the mall, where there would be witnesses. But, your girlfriend dragged me into an alley. I swear your teaching her your ninja skills. So, I grabbed her phone and ran when she started pulling razor blades out of her hair."
Mike chuckled and dropped another kiss to Rachel's head, "Puck, bro, Rachel got a picture texted to her of you making out with some blond."
"What? I would never do that to her! I love Rach. She's like the best thing to ever happen to me," Puck defended himself.
The Asian sighed, "Look, if you didn't cheat on Rach, then where did the picture come from?"
"I have no idea. Text it to me…well, San." Puck replied. Mike rolled his eyes, but gently extracted Rachel's phone from her grip and sent it off to the boy. While it was sending, the Asian leaned down and kissed his tiny diva's forehead, prompting a small smile from the girl.
"Whoa, Chang, this is from like two years ago," Puck's voice chimed, "See that shirt? I haven't had that since freshman year."
Mike looked at the shirt and grinned, "Rach! He didn't cheat on you! This is an old picture!" Rachel looked up, tears still running down her face before grinning widely and grabbing for Mike's phone. He handed it to her with a laugh and kept his arm around her shoulder as she talked animatedly to her boyfriend.
The Asian looked at Rachel's phone where the picture of Puck and the unidentified blond still showed and gulped.
He quickly sent a massive text to the Gleeks before Puck actually did get murdered by the angry fools.