Author's Note: I am so sorry, I meant to include this little note before my first chapter, but I completely forgot. This story is going to be slightly AU in the sense that everything from the television show is pretty much the same, except both Finn and Kurt didn't attend McKinley High School, and therefore weren't in Glee club, so Rachel has not met them..yet! They are still step brothers and will be included in the story very, very soon.

This is also definitely a Finchel story, but Finn isn't ready to show up just yet. But don't worry, he will be around in the next 2 or 3 chapters. So bear with the minor Samchel for now, it'll be worth it: :)

And lastly, I finally figured out how to add in those page breaks, so the story will be much more organized from now on.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or 50/50

For the first time since Rachel spoke her first words at the bright young age of 3 months, she was at a complete loss for what to say.

She was utterly speechless as Dr. Graham chattered on about her treatment options, how chemotherapy will work, what she should expect in the next coming months.

She was utterly speechless as Dr. Graham continued to work in words of encouragement: "I have no doubt in my mind that you are going to beat this thing," and "many people who keep a positive attitude overcome cancer all the time."

She was utterly speechless as she seemed to have floated out of the office, and somehow made her way to the bus stop.

She was utterly speechless as the blurry residents of her apartment building offered her the normal smiles and standard greetings.

Nothing felt real at all to Rachel as she ignored the confused stare from Santana, made her way into her bedroom, closed the door and sank to the floor. The words "Rachel, you have leukemia" were playing over and over in her head.

For the first time Rachel was speechless, and for the first time suddenly nothing in her life made any sense.

"I think I'm going to be sick."

"Just breathe."

"I think I'm going to throw up."

"And you say I'm a drama queen."

It had been two days since Rachel learned the startling news about her health. Two whole days that she spent shut up in her room, trying to find the words to tell the people she loved, and then trying to actually say the words, to say any words about her circumstance at all.

Two whole days, 48 whole hours, and she still couldn't believe it. Rachel couldn't fathom how one check up at the doctor's could turn her world upside down.

Rachel came up with a plan for her life when she was six years old, after her very first day of the first grade. She had decided then that she was now becoming an adult, and so she needed a road map for how her life as a grown up would be.

The plan was simple, and didn't really change much since she was six. She would finish high school, go to a college that would showcase her musical talents, then move to New York and become a star on Broadway. Everything was the exact same, except she no longer planned on marrying Josh Hartnett.

Now everything felt so different. Nothing felt simple or easy. Rachel had no idea how she was supposed to fit THIS into her life plan. When would she be able to start auditioning for shows if she was too busy going to treatment? How would she ever find time to practice her vocal exercises if she felt sick all the time?

Her life had taken a complete 180 turn, and she had no idea how to plan for it at all.

Rachel had decided to tell Santana first, and she had picked their favorite coffee shop they had frequented over the years. She knew that Santana wouldn't want to make a scene in a public place, or at least that's what she thought.

"How are you being so calm about this?" Santana asked, finally catching her breath.

"Well, I've had a couple days to cope with it," Rachel replied, "and now I'm completely fine."

Santana's eyes widened, "A couple of days? You knew about this for a couple of days and you didn't tell me?"

"I didn't tell anyone," Rachel said, "not even Sam knows yet."

Santana's gaze narrowed, "You haven't told Sam yet? Great, now I get to be around to see Trouty Mouth get all blubbery. He's gonna freak."

Rachel just shrugged.

"Well, what kind of cancer is it, exactly?" Santana asked.

"It's a type of leukemia, acute myeloid, or myelogenous. Something like that," Rachel responded, trying to remember the exact terminology the doctor had used.

Rachel swore that she saw Santana's expression darken for a second, before she quickly covered it up.

"Pfft, you know what, you're going to be fine," Santana breezed, "people get over this kind of thing all the time. That kid in our freshman class at McKinley we were always raising money for, he made a total recovery. Lance Armstrong got man cancer, and he's totally fine now, just biking away with all the Frenchies."

Rachel rolled her eyes, "Yeah, but neither of them had leukemia, San."

"Well, it's a good thing you're, like, fifty times stronger than both of them combined," Santana responded, "and besides, you never, ever get sick. This should be a breeze."

"You really think so?" Rachel asked.

"I know so, you will be back to singing and bossing everyone around on stage in no time," Santana encouraged.

Rachel smiled, even though she knew neither of them were as sure of the words Santana was saying as they were letting on. But it was nice to think this way, instead of being back in her room, alone, and not being able to picture a way for this to end well at all.

Rachel waited five whole minutes before she finally plucked up the courage to knock on the door of Sam's apartment.

He greeted her with a look of surprise, which melted down to a welcoming smile as he opened the door wider to let her inside.

"Rachel, this is a surprise, did we have a date planned for tonight? Because I must have completely forgot, I made different plans with my study group to go over the cases Professor Brown assigned us. I wish I could back out, but we have this test next week that I'm totally freaking out over.."

Rachel let Sam ramble on, not totally listening to whatever excuses he was making, as she walked into his living room. She sat down on his worn leather couch, a hand me down gift from his parents' old house in Ohio, as she tried to figure how she was going to break the news to her boyfriend.

Sam finally caught on to how surprisingly quiet his girlfriend was being, "Ok, something must definitely be up if you are letting me talk for more than a minute straight."

Rachel's smile was small as she dryly responded, "Ha ha. Very funny."

Sam sat down next to her on the couch and grabbed her hand, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is exactly wrong," Rachel started.

Sam rolled his eyes, "Come on Rach, I've known you since we were seventeen years old, I think I can tell when something is bothering you. Usually it's because you're not one to be exactly subtle with your feelings…"

"Sam, I'm sick," Rachel interrupted.

Sam swallowed a large lump that suddenly filled his throat. He had heard these words before, back when his parents were telling him about his grandmother who was dying, and then his cousin who had gotten went away to a hospital in Texas and never came back. "Sam, 'so and so' is sick" were the words he knew didn't lead to anything good.

"What do you mean you're sick?" Sam asked slowly.

"Well," Rachel began, "you know how I've been so tired these past few months? How sore my arms and legs have been getting lately? How I got that bruise on my elbow from you just pulling me out of someone's way at the theater?"

"Yeah," Sam responded, "I'm guessing all of that shouldn't be happening."

Rachel nodded, "I have leukemia, Sam. I found out a couple days ago, and I've been trying to figure out how to tell you."

Sam's mouth hung open, his expression blank.

"Oh," he said.

She continued on, "I know how sudden this all is, I thought it was just a virus, or I was working myself too hard at school. But, the good news is I think that Dr. Graham said they caught it early on, so I should have a much bigger chance to beat it, to get better."

Sam stared at her, mouth still open, his full lips in a gigantic 'O'.

"I am aware that this kind of illness does only have about a 40% survival rate for the most part, but I don't see why I won't be able to get through this. Why we won't be able to get through this together if we just keep a positive attitude. That's what Dr. Graham said, a positive attitude is key, a vital part of the recovery process."

Sam continued to stare at her; Rachel couldn't read the expression in his eyes.

"Look, Sam, I know that this is asking a lot. And I understand if you don't think that, well if you're not sure if you'll be able to…I would not blame you at all for not wanting to stick around for this. I know you're already stressed out enough with law school, and I don't want to be another burden in your life."

Sam finally spoke up, "Rachel, I'm not going to abandon you. Do you really think that I would just leave you at, like, your biggest time of need? I love you. I can help take care of you, I want to be there for you."

For the first time in two days, Rachel's face broke out into a genuinely huge smile, a Rachel Berry smile.

"I'm glad, it's so great to hear you say that. Thank you so much, I love you so much," Rachel said as she grasped Sam's hand, intertwining their fingers.

Sam smiled, and with a "Get over here," he took Rachel into his arms and rested his chin on top of her head.

As Sam rubbed his hands up and down her back, Rachel finally felt relief seep through her body for the first time since she learned that she was sick. But she couldn't help the unsettling feeling she got from how quiet Sam was being.

He was probably still in shock, like she had been at first.

She lifted her head to look into his eyes, "Don't you have a law study group meeting thing you should be getting to?"

Sam kissed the top of her forehead, "It's ok, I think I can slack off every once in awhile. Let me just go call one of my group mates."

Rachel frowned as Sam untangled himself from their embrace, walking towards his bedroom.

"But, you have your phone in your hand already," she said looking confused.

She couldn't help but notice the way Sam's eyes widened the tiniest bit, like a deer caught in headlights.

Sam stuttered, "Oh yeah, I know I do..It's just-I just don't have his number programmed into my phone yet. I'll-I'll just give him a call in my room, since I have the paper in my room with his number on it. On my notes. Which are in my room, where I am going to go and give him a call."

Rachel's brow furrowed even deeper, but managed a small laugh "Um, okay, you go do that, Sam."

Sam's face softened, "Why don't you go take a look at my take out menus on the fridge, find something you wanna order for dinner. I think I read somewhere that they were having a back to back Julie Andrews showing on TCM tonight."

The idea of watching a double feature of The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins pepped Rachel right up, and Sam couldn't help but laugh at the sight of her scurrying over to the kitchen.