Chapter Three

She tried. Really she did, but she just couldn't do it. Sam had already arrived in the library when she arrived, and he looked like an excited kid on Christmas eve as he pulled out an entire notebook based on Navi language and Avatar notes. Rachel had just assumed that Sam had liked the film and had learnt some basic words form the language but she was wrong; he was practically fluent and it was clear that he'd just been gagging to geek out over it for a while and Rachel was more than happy to oblige him.

There were about three opportunities where Rachel was about to but in and inform him that his girlfriend was cheating on him with one of his friends but she just didn't have the heart to do it. He just seemed so happy and excited that someone had asked him for help, like he was fulfilling some kind of purpose and he seemed so in his element and content. Rachel, of course, had no actual interest in learning Navi and she had planned to sound him out (she'd of course learnt to do that upon entering the Glee club, it really helped her block out some of her less helpful peers). But, she found herself entranced by what he was saying, the way his mouth moved, the little smile at the end of every sentence and how every so often he would stop, look at her with his rather lovely light green eyes and ask if she was OK and following

Of course, Rachel was completely lost but she allowed him to continue merely due to the fact she'd just realized something rather sad. Ever since his arrival in the Glee club, Rachel had never seen Sam Evans smile, properly smile, once. And now that he was, it was the most wonderful thing in the world and she couldn't ruin that. It would be like kicking a puppy. A very good-looking puppy with great abs, cool hair and who could do wicked impersonations. Rachel vented her feelings towards Kurt later that night

"Well, you do have a few problems" Kurt said once Rachel had finished explaining what was going on "One; I'm going to have to go home and pretend to Finn that I don't know he's doing what he's doing; two, Sam's probably going to pester you about how your date with this imaginary guy went and three; Sam is still completely in the dark about Quinn cheating on him and he's going to get his heartbroken"

"It sucks" Rachel moaned "And you know, I'm not just saying that because Finn moved on so fast and it hurts and it makes me think he never really cared for me. But, I'm also saying that because I spent just an hour and a half alone with Sam Evans today, and I cannot for the life of me imagine why someone would ever want to hurt someone so kind, open and giving"

"It's like a band aid" said Kurt "It's better it's just ripped off straight away; hurts at first but it rules out an even longer and pain filled destiny. I know I'd want to know if my significant other ever cheated on me."

"I just, I don't think I can do it" Rachel said "Puck told me that whenever they try Sam just laughs and says that Quinn wouldn't do that. And it's not that he's in denial, he genuinely thinks that Quinn would never cheat on him"

"I can't believe I'm going to say what I'm about to say" said Kurt with a sigh as he picked up his phone "But, we need Santana. You clearly can't face being the one to break it to Sam, but Santana lives and breathes for this stuff. I say that we get her to do it"

Rachel agreed. She didn't want to have to turn to Santana but she knew that Santana would straight up tell Sam the truth, and it make him believe it. She'd made deals with the devil before, and she was willing to do it again. The thing was that Rachel was now feeling rather selfish, she was letting Sam in for more of a fall by pro-longing this whole thing just because she was a coward and she couldn't bare telling him the truth. Santana agreed to tell Sam; Rachel just hoped she wouldn't be too cruel about it

The next day was going to be an eventful one, Rachel always knew when a day was going to be dramatic from the way she got up. If she was on the left side of her bed it would be just another hum drum day in Lima, but if she was on the right side of the bed then some serious drama was going to go down that day. And for the first time ever, Rachel Berry was sad that she'd woken up on the right side of the bed - Sam's heart was going to get broken today and she couldn't help but feel slightly responsible. A nice text from Kurt sent her some last minute confidence and she headed to school knowing that she was doing the right thing

"Hey Rach" said Finn the second she walked through the doors following last period, he ran away from some friends to catch up with her. Rachel didn't want to look at him, she was so mad at him right now but damn it she couldn't deny what she felt whenever she looked at him. She still loved him, and a part of all of this was the small hope that he might get back together with her. "So, I heard you and Sam spent a lot of time together yesterday - that's cool, talk about anything interesting"

"Avatar actually, and it was very interesting. I don't know why people say Sam's dumb, his memory is amazing" Rachel said as she opened her locker. "Why do you ask anyway, I'm expecting you were keeping Sam's girlfriend busy at the time"

"Quinn and I aren't doing anything" Finn said firmly

"You know that's crap Finn, the whole school knows that you two are seeing each other again, and the only one who doesn't realise is poor Sam" Rachel shouted

"Only one who doesn't realise" Finn replied with a conceited smirk "Yeah, that's why people call Sam dumb Rachel. Because he can't see what is staring him in the face"

"If Quinn wanted to be with you, she should've broken up with Sam and you should not be encouraging her to cheat on him with you" Rachel said "You know how that feels Finn, do you really want Sam to feel-"

"How I felt when both of my girlfriends cheated on me with one of my friends?" Finn replied angrily

"Stop throwing that in my face" Rachel yelled, they were attracting an audience now, which was good because that was where Rachel thrived "What I did was wrong but it doesn't justify what you're doing to one of your best friends - and it's not like it was Sam who Quinn and I cheated on you with. It was Puck. If you want revenge, maybe you should go after Lauren. I don't even know you anymore Finn; I thought you were this kind, generous person who would never hurt anybody. Guess I was wrong"

"You did this to me" he said coldly.

And with that, Rachel Berry walked away from Finn Hudson and for the first time in so long she didn't look back at him; even though it took all of her strength.