Window
Mike always left his window open, even if only had a inch of space at the bottom it was open, it drove his girlfriend mad she would go over to his house and even if it was thirty degrees out his window would be open and he wouldn't let her close it. Because Mike Chang had a secret, well actually he had two, but the biggest and most important was that his window wasn't just a window, it was an escape route for someone he cared about more than he should, that was secret number two. A couple times a week, sometimes more, his window would be pushed up all the way and someone would stumble in close the window a little and then climb into the bed beside him curl herself up into a ball and let him comfort her as she cried herself to sleep. That person was Rachel Berry.
Rachel Berry did not have the perfect home life like everyone in school thought and were jealous over, she was spoiled rotten she fully admitted by her one father Hiram the problem was that he was never home and her other father Leroy decided to blame her for that. And the way Leroy punished her was with his fists, anywhere he could hit her and it not be seen he did, for any perceived fault be it she didn't get an A+ to she hadn't done her chores to his impossible standards, as such Rachel was hit a lot. In fact that was the reason for her clothing, the more skin on show the less places he could hit her, he was always careful to not be caught and that was what had ultimately told her that what he was doing was wrong, thinking until she was about twelve that it was normal to be beaten when she did something wrong.
Mike Chang lived next door to Rachel and the first time that Rachel had the courage to run out of her house he had been there and with tears running down her face he had listened to her story and promised her that anytime she needed to escape she could come to his. And that is where it started so a few times a week for the last four almost five years he was there for Rachel as she cried herself to sleep, there to wrap bruised or fractured ribs, and become an expert at stage makeup when she had obvious bruises to hide.
"Mike can we please close the window?" Tina demanded again.
"Uh a bit" Mike said getting up from his desk chair to pull the window down as far as it could go before it would close itself, still leaving an inch for the wind to come through and Rachel's hand to fit under.
"Mike its thirty eight degrees out can you please close the damn window!"
"It is almost closed" Mike defended "and you know I don't like my window closed"
"Fine then I'm going home" Tina snapped grabbing her bag, expecting Mike to say something about Asian couples therapy again, but he just shrugged and let her leave without a kiss slamming his bedroom door closed behind her. Turning off his light later he double checked the window and climbed into his bed, rolling over so his back was to the window ten minutes later Rachel climbed in her feet silent on the wooden floor as she slid of her clothes and quickly dressed in a pair of boxers and t-shirt he always left ready for her.
Padding on bare feet she pulled up the covers and slid in next to Mike who turned over and brushed the hair back from her face using his thumbs to brush away the tears and wincing at the sight of her new black eye.
"He never usually goes for the face" he commented lightly, pulling down the quilt a little so he could push the t-shirt up and check the bruises already forming on her ribs and stomach his gaze running down he brushed his fingers on her thighs which were just as bruised. "This is a bad one"
"Daddy isn't coming home like he promised, he won't be back until next week, Leroy didn't like it" Rachel said biting her lip as her friend gently checked her over as he always did, closing her eyes as the tears flooded them again she turned on her side facing him. They slept facing each other their only point of contact their hands which lay between them fingers tangled together, careful to not get too close as Mike had a girlfriend that would not appreciate the single Rachel from getting too close to him, even if that is what he wanted.
Blending the stage makeup into her thighs the next morning, Mike gently rubbed it into her eye, the black eye which had bloomed overnight a nasty stage of purple and blue, getting dressed quickly Rachel walked out of the room with Mike to the kitchen.
"Good morning you two" Mai said brightly pressing a kiss to Rachel's cheek, her sharp eyes catching the slight wince as she pressed against, Mai was not stupid or ignorant she knew something was going on in Rachel's life and that is why she allowed a girl who wasn't her sons girlfriend to slip into her house whenever she needed.
"Morning Mai" Rachel said quietly sitting down at the table, the stage makeup hiding not only her bruises but also her bags, sleepless nights a constant for her.
"No exercise this morning Rachel?"
"Not this morning, I will go for a run later"
"Well I insist you come over for food later, me and Mike are going out for Dim Sung Tina should come as well Mike"
"Yeah maybe" Mike said awkwardly, remembering the other week in the library when she had blown up about going out with his mom so much.
After eating breakfast with Mai and sneaking back into Rachel's house to get her books for the day the two secret friends split up and went in opposite directions to school, Mike getting in his car to pick up Tina, Rachel heading for the bus stop, her rules that they wouldn't be too close in school for him.
Mike vaguely listened to Tina as she babbled at him about something as they walked down the hallway, his mind was concentrating more on the legs he could see peeking out of Rachel's skirt as she went up on tiptoes to look in her locker, her plain black sweater clinging to her curves in a way that made Mike's mouth water.
Watching her thighs as they flexed when she reached up he wanted to run his fingers along them again as he did when he checked her for bruises last night, after making sure her bruises were still hidden he looked up and caught her eye just as she winced for reaching too high.
"You ok Rach?" he asked pausing at her locker "what book do you need?"
"Biology" Rachel said gratefully as the taller boy reached over her and picked up the book for her, passing a note he had written to her in his last class as he did, knowing she never had her phone on her during the day unless she was in a relationship.
"Come on Mike I want to see your abs before class" Tina giggled taking his hand and dragging him off.
Rachel smiled at the note as he double checked on her like he always did after a particularly heavy beating, looking up just before he rounded the corner and nodding at him telling him she was ok just before Tina dragged him away. Rubbing at her ribs gently Rachel headed to class and slipped into a seat at the back of the classroom, her various aches and bruises throbbing making themselves known as she tried to concentrate.
Three weeks later Mike wandered into Glee club, his eyes travelling to Rachel's, the same Rachel who hadn't come through his window in over a week his eyes travelling over her body worriedly, there were only two instances in which Rachel didn't climb through his window. Her father Hiram being home, or more worryingly when she was too hurt to move.
Seeing the signs of stage makeup all over her face and down her neck, he grabbed her arm that was resting on her lap and towed her out of the choir room to everyone's surprise and shock.
"Mike?" she whimpered in pain "please let go of my wrist"
Mike blanched and turned around to push up the long sleeved sweater, seeing the vicious bruise he turned and pulled Rachel into the nearest room, which turned out to be the girl's bathroom. Letting go of her wrist he pulled her by her hips in front of him and started to unbutton her sweater easing off her shoulders to leave her in strapped short vest, wetting a paper towel he took it to her skin gently rubbing at her skin and removing the thick stage makeup.
"Rachel" he breathed out in shock and sympathy as he found marks around her neck from where she had been choked, moving the towel up he rubbed at her face and found mottled bruises covering most of her cheek's all of them slightly swollen but she had obviously iced them a lot over night to keep it down.
"Daddy didn't come home the night before last and told Leroy he wouldn't be home again last night" Rachel sobbed falling into Mike who held her close "I wanted to come over but I couldn't move" she mumbled into his shoulder as he held her close "my ribs are incredible amount of pain and I can't breathe properly, and I had to go the nurses office to sleep through the first three periods and I won't be able to sing in glee"
Mike held Rachel close as she sobbed before gently easing her back and starting to pull off her string top to leave her in her bra and skirt just as Tina pushed open the door.
"Mike!" she screamed in shock
"Shut up and get in here" Mike ordered trying to ease the top up without Rachel moving her arms "I need your help to get this top of Rachel"
"Excuse me?"
"Just shut up and look at her back for fuck sake" Mike swore, easing the top up so that Rachel's mosaic of bruises were clear to Tina who gasped and hurried forward to help Mike, stretching Rachel's top to get it off as easy as possible. "Go get her roller bag" he ordered Tina who nodded and hurried away.
He leaned back away from the strangely silent Rachel and grabbed her hips to pick her up and place her onto the counter of sinks, taking delicate hold of her chin he raised her gaze to his and saw the numbness in her eyes that made his heart clench. Brushing his thumb along the one area on her jaw that wasn't bruised, he pressed a kiss to it gently, sparking her out of her mini coma and making her smile again.
"Well it would take too long to kiss all the hurting parts" he joked a little, both of them not seeing Tina walk in and stop in surprise at the intimate atmosphere in such a chaste moment considering Rachel's clothing, or lack thereof.
"Hi" she said gently making them both jump "I brought the bag, Puck let me into your locker, but I just told him you wanted you music sheets"
"Of course he did" Rachel rolled her eyes at her friend's behaviour "thank you for making an excuse though". Hoisting the bag up onto the counter Mike dug through the pink roller bag to her medical kit and grabbed the roll of strapping tape before easing her arms up a little and swiftly wound it around her ribs with practised ease.
Taking out the makeup he expertly reapplied it for Rachel before helping her back into her clothes, her now more alert status making her help him instead of Tina, who continued to watch her boyfriend who was clearly in love with Rachel.
"Come on let's get you back to the nurses office" Mike said helping Rachel down onto her feet and wrapping his arm around her to support her stumbling to the nurses office.
"How long?" Tina asked as Mike returned to the choir room and sat down next to her, arms crossed.
"How long what?"
"How long have you been in love with Rachel?"
"Years" Mike shrugged, neither of them having to voice the fact that they were now over as a couple "but she has enough drama without me adding to it, I mean what did you think about what you just saw? Because that's not the first time I've seen her so beaten up"
"It's a common occurrence for her to be covered in bruises?"
"Every few days once they start fading he starts beating again" Mike growled as Will walked in and started the meeting. Trying to catch her before the end of school to take her home though failed as her father pulled up as they left the school, Mike grabbed her hand as she moved to enter Leroy's car and shook his head "Rachel. Don't" he pleaded "if Hiram isn't back..."
"I know" Rachel said quietly leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek "as soon as I can I'll be at yours. I promise"
Slipping her hand from his hold she walked to her impatiently waiting father and slipped into the front seat, Mike bit his lip and headed for his own car before driving home, telling his mom that Rachel wasn't able to come to dinner and going up to his brothers room, camping at the window which looked out over Rachel's house.
"Are you staying there all night again?" Steve asked playing on his console.
"Yes" Mike said hopping up on the window sill, his eyes trained on the house, eyes searching for any movement. Jerking himself awake as he rolled off the window sill as dawn broke the next day, he fell onto his feet and scrambled to his room hoping to find Rachel passed out across his bed, finding his neatly made bed instead he turned quickly, for once falling over his own feet to scramble back to Steve's room, snatching up binoculars and standing at the window.
Scanning the two windows that he could see he couldn't see anything and looking at the drive the car was also missing "fuck!" he swore slamming the binoculars down and waking up his brother who started upright straight away.
"Wh...What?" he asked dumbly
"Get on the phone, call Puck tell him to get to Rachel's" Mike said flipping his phone at his brother as he pelted it outside and down the stairs out of the house to Rachel's , throwing himself against the front door frantically he jiggled the doorknob wishing it was automatically open for him. Circling the house looking for any way in he waited for Puck to turn up, who eventually did rubbing at his eyes, "fantastic, break in" Mike ordered as Puck approached the front door.
"What!" Puck demanded his tiredness forgotten.
"Please Puck" Mike begged, Puck looked at him and studied his face intently, looking for a reason to do this in his friends face, before dropping to his knees and agreeing as he studied the lock on Rachel's door, and using skills he picked up in juvie swiftly unlocked the door.
Mike pushed past Puck who followed him in and ran desperately from room to room, both of them crying out in shock as they found Rachel's bruised and bloodied body unconscious on the floor of the bathroom.
"Rachel!" Mike cried falling to his knees at her side Puck pulling out his phone to call an ambulance. "No don't!" he ordered Puck "she'll be pissed if we call an ambulance"
"So? Look at her Mike!" Puck said bluntly "now isn't the time to keep to old promises, I'm doing what you should have done the first time she was beaten" he instinctively knew that this wasn't the first time that Rachel had been beaten.
Mike nodded and turned his attention back to Rachel who was breathing shallowly and ragged, her face a bloody mess. Reaching up he wetted a face cloth and started to wipe away the blood, clearing her face and neck so they could see the full damage, within minutes of starting the ambulance turned up and after a flurry of activity Rachel was on a gurney being wheeled into the back and rushed to hospital, two policemen detaining the two boys before they could follow.
"Sorry boys, but we need to know everything that happened to your friend first, do you have any idea who would do this to her?"
"Her dad" Mike grunted reluctantly as Puck shrugged "he's been beating her for years"
Puck looked at his friend in shock and let his jaw drop "what the fuck?"
"Her dad Leroy, he beats her a lot and Hiram is like never home" Mike reluctantly explained, thinking Rachel would hate him for explaining all this when she was too weak to stop him.
"Do you know where we can find Leroy Berry?"
"No" Mike shrugged "he might be at work, he's a real estate agent"
"Can we follow Rachel now?" Puck asked bluntly as the police officer scribbled in his notebook.
"Yes, we will have to come and take your statement later on though"
Puck and Mike agreed before heading for Puck truck and following the ambulance that had left minutes before, Puck's heavy foot getting them at the same time as the ambulance, both of them following as Rachel was wheeled into an examination room and ignoring the nurse who tried to stop them.
After a cursory examination the doctor turned to the two worried teenagers with a grave face "the problem other than the bruising to the face and body is any internal damage we have to take her for both an MRI and an X-ray. Until we know more I can't tell you anything else, I will need a parental signature for the medical forms as well"
"We'll try and get hold of Hiram" Mike promised his eyes not leaving Rachel's body lying out on the hospital bed not making a move to leave the doctors to their work, grabbing his arm finally Puck towed him out of the room and to the entrance of the hospital to call Hiram, only for him to literally run into them at the door.
"Mike!" he cried clinging to the Asian lad "what is going on?"
"What is going on Mr Berry" Mike said stiffly pushing him away "is that you were so busy working that you didn't realise Leroy has been beating Rachel almost every day of her life, because his husband who wanted her in the first place was never home"
Hiram stepped back in shock at the sudden attack from a person he considered his daughters friend before his words registered and the blood drained from his face "what?" he whispered in shock.
"And today we found her passed out on the bedroom floor in pain because you didn't come home" Mike continued in a louder voice, only Puck's restraining hand on his arm stopping him from hitting the absent father. "So bruised and battered that she has to have an MRI in case of internal damage, internal damage that could kill her, do you know how many times I have had to wrap her bruised, fractured sometimes broken ribs? The amount of time I spent perfecting how to apply stage make up so that the odd black eye was hidden, and the belt that he used on her legs didn't show any marks. I never should have kept her secret but she begged me, she literally begged me that I wouldn't tell anyone because she worried about you, she worried about being taken from you!"
Mike panted as he finished his rant, turning away from the shocked father "they need your signature on papers" he grunted out before letting Puck drag him away finally and push him down onto a chair, his head dropping into his hands, Puck waiting next to him Hiram hesitantly joining them a little later.
An hour later the doctor returned with the good news that other than deep muscle bruises and fractured ribs Rachel was fine and had gained consciousness a little while ago and was asking for Mike and Puck. Flushing with shame Hiram followed the two teenage boys into the hospital room the doctor directed them to, Mike climbing up beside Rachel on the bed, Puck falling into a seat next to the bed.
"Hey" Mike said wrapping an arm around her shoulders, pressing a kiss to her hairline as Rachel's eyes met her fathers.
"I'm sorry" Hiram choked out taking in the sight of his daughter in a hospital bed covered in bruises and cuts that his husband had inflicted on her.
"I know" Rachel rasped out snuggling up to Mike who held her tightly to his side pressing another kiss to her hairline, unable to let go of her, his own shame at not telling anyone before that she was being hurt.
"I...I have to go and talk to the police, sort everything out" Hiram hesitated a little waiting until Rachel looked up and nodded.
"Ok, I'm ok daddy, Mike will look after me"
"Always" Mike promised "better than I had before" he added under his breath so only Rachel heard him.
"I'm gonna go to Rach" Puck said getting to his feet "one of us needs to go to school and sort out homework and stuff"
"Ok, thank you Noah" Rachel said accepting his hug gently before he slipped out of the room with Hiram, who had meetings with Elroy, the police and Social Services who were concerned about Rachel's care now that her abuse had come to light.
"I'm so sorry Rachel" Mike said as they were left alone "I should have stopped this years ago, I never should have let this go on"
"I didn't let you say anything" Rachel said tiredly leaning back against his shoulder and looking up "I let this happen, but now it is over, and that is all that matters. Well everything other than my ribs think that" she added wryly rubbing at the gently "can't wait for that ice pack"
Mike grinned and pressed another kiss to Rachel's head as she shifted in place again "I know that, still feel guilty, I should have done more, I should have protected you more"
"Will be easier now" Rachel smiled "if you find that you still need to protect me"
"I will always protect you" Mike promised again "I failed in the past I won't again. I'm here for you now and forever, because I love you Rachel, and from now on you are mine to protect"
"You love me?" Rachel said painfully twisting her body to look up at him, rolling his eyes Mike shifted her back to where she was before and moved himself to perch in front of her.
"I have for years Rach, and I always will" Mike said leaning forward to brush his lips against hers gently, not wanting to do a more forceful kiss with her split lip, "I love you" he whispered "and you're mine"
"Nice that I'm not getting a choice" Rachel smiled brushing her own lips against his "I love you too; can you make me a promise though?"
"Of course" Mike shrugged, his heart jumping around his chest at Rachel's admission.
"I have the inkling that I'm going to need my escape route from my over protective and clingy father from now on, so please leave your window open still"