Disclaimer: I do not own Glee.

I forgot to add that this if from Sam's point of view. Sorry about any confusion that may have caused.

The first thing I noticed later that day was that Rachel didn't turn up for Glee. That was weird. The others seemed to notice it too.

"Where's Berry?" Santana asked. Although she would deny it if anyone said it out loud, there was a hint of worry in her voice. Santana had been the most suspicious about Jeremy from the start. Huh, she must have good instincts. Maybe it was because she had dated so many guys.

I shrugged as I sat down. I wasn't going to tell anyone what I knew. That was up to Rachel. Besides, I didn't even know if she wanted ME to know. So I just sat down as Mr. Schue started the lesson.

Glee went as usual. It was quieter than it had been last year, but by now everyone had gotten used to the quietness. We had all gotten used to Rachel being quiet. It shocked me how oblivious we had been.

I passed my locker on my way out of the school. That was when something caught my eye. I walked over to my locker, inspecting it closely. That was when I saw, through the crack, a piece of paper. I opened my locker and the paper flew out, landing on the floor. I picked it up, unfolding it. It was a letter. My eyes grew wide as I read the letter

Dear Sam,

Jeremy hit me.

Yours sincerely,

Rachel Berry

My head began to whirl with a thousand thoughts. So I had been right. Jeremy had been hurting Rachel. And she had just indirectly admitted it. I was frozen in the spot, my hand's clutching the piece of paper. That was when I heard the footsteps and laughter of my fellow Glee Clubbers.

I quickly scrunched up the piece of paper, shoving it in my pocket, then shut my locker. That was when Santana, Finn, Puck and Brittany turned the corner. "Hey, Evans, watcha doin'?" I heard Puck ask. I turned to face them as they approached. My face must've given something away, because they became a bit more serious when they saw me.

"Oh, nothing, just a note from...someone." I answered, moving forwards to join their group. "Ooh, a secret admirer." Puck teased. Brittany giggled and I jabbed Puck in the ribs with my elbow. "Ouch, man, not cool." Puck shoved me away playfully. "What, Puckerman hasn't got enough muscle to take a petty blow from Trouty?" Santana commented, smirking. Puck glared at her.

As we left the school I began to pull back from the group. Santana noticed and joined me as the rest continued forwards, laughing as Puck made some joke. "You okay, Trouty?" Santana asked, looking forwards. One thing I had noticed from dating her was that she found it hard to talk about feelings. It made her uncomfortable. "Can you please not call me that?" That came out harder than I had intended. Santana glanced at me, surprised "Whoa, sorry."

We walked in silence for a while, Santana watching me for a while as we walked. Finally she looked away, before asking softly "Sam, are you okay?" It was the first time she had called me Sam in a long time. I sighed, looking at the ground as I answered "Yeah, everything's find, San." I could never look people straight in the eye as I lied. Something in my face always seemed to give it away. Which is why I had always gotten in trouble as a little kid.

Santana watched me again for a while. Her eyes scrutinized me, searching for the faintest hint of anything "Seriously, San, can you not do that? It makes me uncomfortable." I asked. I knew if she did that for much longer I was bound to give something away. Thankfully, Santana looked away, sighing "You're not gonna tell me anything, are you?"

"I told you, there's nothing wrong."

"But if there was, would you tell me?"

"Nope."

Santana sighed again. For a moment, we walked alongside each other, staring at our feet as we walked. Then, looking up again, Santana spoke "Well, seeya, Trouty." She broke into a run and was ahead with the others before I could tell her not to call me Trouty.

That night, I was lying on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. It was past midnight, I knew, and my whole family was asleep. But I couldn't sleep, not with everything I knew. I knew I had to do something about Rachel's situation. But I didn't know what to do. I hadn't expected Rachel to reply, let alone come right out and admit it. I suppose I should've thought this through better.

That was when I heard a quiet tap-tap from downstairs. I quickly got up to check it out. I didn't want my parents or siblings to wake up and get it when I was already awake. As I walked past my siblings' bedroom door, I heard Stevie mutter "Mmm, who's that?" I stopped, wondering what I should do. "Uh, no one, Stevie. Just go back to sleep." I quickly whispered "Mmm, 'kay, Sam." I heard the reply before the sound of someone shifting in bed. I sighed with relief. I really didn't feel like little kids bugging me in the middle of the night.

I crept downstairs, trying to make as little noise as possible. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I froze, listening for a sound. Nothing from upstairs, but still a quiet tap-tap from the front door. I frowned, wondering who it could be. Who could possibly be here at this time of night? A thief? No, they wouldn't knock. Or...

"Rachel!" I whispered as I opened the door and somebody flung themselves into my arms. I recognized her immediately. I hadn't noticed before, but it was raining outside, and Rachel was soaked. But that wasn't the only thing that worried me. Rachel was sobbing, barely managing to stay on her feet. In fact, I think she would've fallen over by now if I wasn't here.

"S-sam.." She stammered through sobs. I didn't know what to do. I felt incredibly awkward. What was I supposed to do? I had never really been good with crying girls. I decided to just do what I did when Stevie stole Stacy's barbie doll or something and just wrapped Rachel in a big hug.

After a while, she calmed down, her sobs becoming softer and more spaced out. I released Rachel from my hug, but as soon as I had I wished I hadn't. She fell to the ground on her knees. I crouched down, looking at her closely. I realised that, although she was still wearing sunglasses, there where purple and black bruises on one side of her face. They hadn't been there earlier.

That was when I realised it. Jeremy had hit her. Again. I felt the anger inside of me rising, but I pushed it down again. I needed to look after Rachel now. I didn't really know if she could get herself in side, so I just scooped her up in my arms. She was lighter than I had thought she would be. Maybe it was because she was so small.

I set her down on the couch, then placed a finger to my lips, signalling for her to be quiet. She nodded, quieting her sobs, tears still running down her face. I went into our small kitchen. It didn't have much, a sink, stove, counter, fridge and below that, a freezer. I went to the freezer now, pulling out the only thing I could think of. An icepack. I wrapped it up then bought it out to Rachel.

She nodded, mouthing the words 'Thank You' before taking the icepack. She placed it tenderly against her face, wincing at the first touch. I sat down on the ground opposite her and studied her. I could tell she was in pain, more than she must've been at school. I desperately wanted to know what had happened, but I decided just to give her some time.

After about a minute of sitting in silence, I decided to talk to her "Rachel, do you need anything else?" I asked softly. She shook her head, her tears beginning to finally stop. "Th-thank you, Sam." She stammered, taking a few deep breaths. I peered at her face closely, and that's when I saw something.

Her sunglasses covered most of it, but I caught a glimpse of it as she spoke. It was just beneath her left eye, mixed in with all the black and blue. But it was more than just bruised skin. It was darker and more shaped.

I leaned forward, peering closer. Rachel realised I must've seen something and turned away. I realised then that she wasn't trying to hide the bruises. She was actually scared. Of me. Scared of me, Sam, her friend "Rachel, it's okay. Just let me do this." I quietly said, reaching forward to slip the sunglasses off her face. She moved backwards slightly, trying to keep my hand away from her face "Rachel, I won't hurt you. Trust me." I murmured, reaching for the sunglasses again.

She seemed to remember that I wouldn't hurt her, and reluctantly let me pull them off her face. I had to stop myself from gasping when I saw her face. I had known she was injured, but I hadn't the extent of the injuries. Now I saw how bad they were.

The skin around her left eye was nearly completely black, that was how bruised it was. The skin around the left eye wasn't as bad, but was still a scary mix of black and purple. The darker shaped part I had seen was exactly what I had thought it was. It was broken skin. Her face was cut.

My face must've given something away again because she broke down in tears. She seemed to remember what I had told her before though, and kept her sobs quiet. "Hey, Rachel, it's okay" I comforted. I probably would've sat next to her or patted her on the back or something, but after seeing how scared she was of just letting me take off her sunglasses, I decided against it.

"B-but Sam, i-it's..." She didn't finish her sentence. She was crying too much "Rachel, it's okay. I'm gonna take care of you. And when you want them to, the rest of New Directions will too." This seemed to help her, and after a few deep breaths, she stopped crying.

"S-sam, I think I need to go." She whispered. I nodded, standing up. I held my hand out to help her up, and she took it. We walked to the door, and there I gave the sunglasses back "Rach, are you sure you want to go? You can stay here if you want." I was worried about her. I didn't want her going near Jeremy again. I found it kind of strange that I was so protective of her, when I wasn't even dating her. I had never dated her. But, if I did date her, I bet she wouldn't go behind my back and do stuff with other guys (Or girls) like Quinn and Santana had.

"Y-yes, I have to. My dads will be v-very angry if I don't come home." She took a deep breath. She still looked like she could break down any moment "Okay, but if you need me, call, okay?"

"Yes. Goodbye, Sam."

"Bye, Rachel. Don't worry, I'll sort Jeremy out."

Rachel looked slightly worried at this. I frowned, confused. Wouldn't she want Jeremy out of her life, after what he's done to her? But, before I could say anything, Rachel turned and began walking away. She stopped halfway though and turned "Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"Please don't get hurt. I wouldn't be able to bear it if you did."

I nodded, smiling. She returned a weak smile before turning again and walking out of sight.

I shut the door behind me as I walked inside. I sighed. What was I going to do? Things were worse than I thought. I had a feeling it was going to take more than one mind to figure this out.

Thanks for all the reviews everyone! Just because they made me so happy, I got this one out early! You're welcome!

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