Surprise! Y'all thought I forgot about you, didn't ya! Well, I have decided to blame my disappearance on writer's block :)
There's not a ton to this chapter. It's more of a transition chapter.
I'm gonna go ahead and start the next chapter so I can get it up soon.
Please review! I can't tell you how much I love your reviews! They are the peanut butter to my jelly ;)
Quinn waited until Sam had closed Rachel's door before falling into his arms and covering his t-shirt in her tears. Sam was at a loss for words so he simply wrapped his arms around Quinn and held her close. He tried his best to calm her down, but he quickly realized that that wasn't something he was going to be able to do this time. So he waited for what felt like forever. Sam's curiosity/worry was about drive him insane when Quinn finally caught her breath and took a step back from Sam's embrace.
Sam looked at Quinn intently, waiting for her to tell him what was going on, because at the moment, his imagination was putting him on the verge of a complete breakdown. When Quinn still refused to speak he decided he could be patient no longer, "Quinn, wh-"
Before he could finish his question, Quinn told him the horrible truth: "He raped her, Sammy. Jesse. He raped Rae."
Cold. That was all Sam could feel. Except for the fire in his stomach that was doomed to erupt at any minute, of course. "Raped." The word kept repeating in his mind like an evil chant until he thought he would go insane. Forgetting Quinn completely, he took off. Running through the hall, down the stairs, anywhere to escape this feeling.
Quinn was frozen outside Rachel's door, stunned at her boyfriend's disappearance. "Sam!" She finally called after him. When he didn't stop or turn around she decided to run after him. In the downstairs of the Berry's huge home she spun in circles trying to figure out where he'd go. All of this made her feel rather dumb when she finally noticed the front door, which was wide open and only five feet from her. Walking outside, Quinn could see that Sam had made his path. He did this when he was upset. He'd make some strange pathway and walk it over and over again. This time the pattern was some sort of figure-8 with a zig-zag in the Berry's front lawn.
Sighing with relief that he hadn't taken off to do something stupid, Quinn relaxed a little. "Sam?" Quinn called to him, but failed to actually capture the blond headed boy's attention. "Sam?" she tried again. This went on for a while. Each time she called out, her voice became slightly more frustrated until she stormed onto the green grass to block his path.
Sam almost tripped over Quinn when he got to her. He was so wrapped up in his own emotions that he couldn't really register Quinn's presence. But now, face to face with what seemed to be an extreme amount of anger, there was no denying her presence.
Quinn's fury died the instant she saw the tears falling from Sam's eyes. He had come to a full stop and simply stared at Quinn. She didn't believe it was a possibility for her heart to break anymore tonight, but watching Sam cry over his "little sister" completely destroyed her. She tried to form words but all she could say was "I'm so sorry Sammy."
Quinn and Sam stood there in Rachel's front lawn holding on to one another as if their lives depended on it until a silver sedan pulled into the now crowded driveway. Santana hopped out of the driver's seat and ran to the couple begging for an explanation. While Quinn and Santana attempted to calm each other down, Sam went to help Brittany get her boyfriend of 4 months, Artie, out of the back seat. Within a few minutes, Mike and Tina pulled up with Mercedes and Finn in the backseat.
Looking out of one of the windows from Rachel's bedroom, Puck couldn't help but sigh with relief. The gangs all here, he thought to himself. He watched as they all began to move inside and with a quick glance to make sure Rach was still asleep, he walked to the top of the stairs to call for Quinn and Sam. From the earlier experience of Rachel waking up screaming, he figured she wasn't going to be getting that much sleep. That being said, he didn't want everyone running in there disrupting the few minutes she was getting now.
Sam and Quinn excused them self and hurried up the stairs. The three teenagers looked exhausted, but they all knew that this was only the beginning to the first of many long nights to come. Puck was the first to speak, "We need to have a meeting in the living room, but I don't wanna leave Rach alone. Quinn, Rachel told you what happened?" Quinn grimaced at the thought of Rachel's story and nodded her head. "Then you need to be down there." Puck scratched his head in thought.
Sam interjected, "I'll stay with Rae. Quinn gave me a heads up and y'all can fill me in on everything afterwards."
Puck considered Sam's suggestion for a moment. He trusted Sam completely, but the thought of leaving Rachel scared him so much. Even so, he knew it was going to be necessary for the moment and nodded in agreement. He filled Sam in on the previous experience of Rachel waking up screaming and told him to let her sleep as long as he could but to wake her if it looked like she was reliving the attack. The three of them all check in on Rachel once more before Quinn and Puckerman made their way down stairs.
Sam took a seat next to Rachel's bed and looked over his injured friend, his baby sister. Relaxing his body, he laid his head in his hands and just cried. This was going to kill him, he was sure of it. Sitting in the quiet, he took that time to pray and try to cry away the pain. When Rachel woke up, he would need to be strong for her, so his goal was to get as much of the pain out while the girl he cared for so much got a few minutes of shut-eye.
When Puck reached the first floor, the whole glee group took in his appearance. He had found the time to put on his jeans and his white undershirt, but as they all stared at him, he glanced down to make sure his fly wasn't open or something. His head fell in pain when he realized his once starched white wife-beater was covered in Rachel's blood. Brittany was the first to move in his direction and the whole group followed. As the Glee club embraced him, he felt the tears begin to moisten his eyes and fall down his cheeks. Pulling away, Puck suggested the group move into the Berry's large living room with a shaky voice, trying to hold back the tears.
Sitting on the smaller couch with Quinn by his side, Puck began to explain the situation to the anxious group, "So first off, Rachel's pretty bad off. I found her at the school around 9. I tried to take her to the hospital, but she refused, she said all she wanted was to go home so that's what we did. I did my best to clean her up, the blo-" Noah was now choking on his tears. Quinn reached out to squeeze his hand and give him a reassuring look. "She was, uh, well, she was pretty much covered in blood and dirt." The whole Glee group winced at his words. "When I was trying to help her clean off I got to see exactly how bad it was. The bruises, the- it, it's horrible you guys." Puck broke down sobbing. Brittany, being her genuinely kind self came to hug him and tell him it was okay. Brittany's innocence touched his heart and actually helped to slow the tears. He gave Quinn a pleading look, trying to tell her to finish the story.
Quinn looked into the eyes of her friends. They all had a mixture of emotion: fear, anger, sadness and worry, but most all, pain. She knew she had to tell them, "The truth of it is that Rachel was raped tonight." No matter how gently she said it, the ramifications of her words were unpreventable. In an instant, every girl was all but bawling. Every boy had their hands in tight fists, and Quinn could see they were all fighting the urge to punch a wall. Then there was Puck. Puck had pretty much gathered that Rachel had been raped, but hearing it, actually registering the thought bout killed him. He shot out of the chair and began to pace. Gripping the back of his neck in frustration, he simply let the tears fall. As the silence began to overwhelm him, he all but snapped at Quinn, "Talk Quinn!"
All the Glee girls jumped slightly at the harshness of Puck's words. Quinn was taken aback, but took it in stride. She could see how hard this was on Puck and decided to let that one slide. "I think talking about the rest of the story should be Rachel's decision. But what y'all need to know is that he really did a number on her. She's extremely bruised up and seriously injured. You all need to be careful about your reaction cause she's pretty self-conscious, understandably." Quinn looked back to Puck who was now resting against the wall, staring at the ceiling. She called out to him and asked him to finish up.
Puck returned to his seat beside Quinn and addressed the group, "Now everyone is free to do what they want, but Rachel's gonna need us all to get through this. Her dads are gone and won't be home for at least a few weeks, so I'm staying here. Now I'd really love for y'all to stay with me, but that's up to y'all."
Before he could finish, Quinn interjected, "Sam and I aren't going anywhere." The rest of the glee club agreed with Quinn and promised to stay as well.
Puck sighed with relief before continuing, "We're gonna have to set up some sort of schedule. Rach can't go back to school for a while, but we can't leave her home alone either. We're gonna have to take turns staying with her, but I think it's best if only one of us misses Glee club at a time to keep Shue from getting too suspicious," Puck tried to gauge the group's response to the proposal. From what he could tell, everyone seemed to be in agreement. "Since we're all staying here," He started on a new topic, "Everyone's gonna have to figure out some incredible explanation for our parents. Santana and Artie, you two are pretty good at that kind of stuff. Can you two handle it?" The funny boy and sassy Latina glanced at each other before agreeing. The evil grin on Santana's face freaked Puck out, but it also relieved him. He knew that smile. Santana's got this. "Mike, Brit, you two are the best sneaks, I'm gonna need some stuff from my house. Can y'all take care of that?" Brittany smiled up at Puck from her place on the floor. He had to fight back a laugh because he knew she was completely confused. He looked to Mike who simply nodded. Puck knew Mike could make Brit understand and they too could handle the situation.
After Mike and Brittany had agreed, Quinn, Santana, Mercedes, Artie, and Tina all said that they needed stuff from their house's as well. Finn finally spoke up saying he and Sam could get their stuff as well as Quinn's, Artie's, and Mercedes. Mike agreed to Brittany and him getting the rest, including there own stuff.
"So I guess that's all." Puck began to stand up when he remembered, "Oh! Umm, I should probably warn y'all, sleep isn't gonna be so great. Rach is hav-"
As if on cue, a blood curdling scream filled the house making the entire Glee club jump to their feet and run toward their stairs. Puck was able to reach Rachel's door first and busted in to find Rachel thrashing in her bed, still screaming like she was on fire while Sam held her arms, begging for her to wake up. He looked at Puck when the door flew open, "Puck, I don't know what happened! She was fine and then-."
"Quinn!" Puck yelled out as the blond made her way through the fearful group, trying to reach the girl making the horrible screams.
"I'm here," she answered. "Rachel," she said in her calm voice once she reached the bedside, "Rachel! Wake up now. Can you hear me, Rae? Come on now, your dreaming honey."
Everyone stood in awe as Rachel began to still and her screams became mere whimpers. Quinn continued to sooth Rae until she was completely still again. When she saw the whole group standing in the entrance of Rae's room, she lifted her hand to shoo them, mouthing the word "out" to keep from waking Rachel.
Everyone walked out into the hallway, confused by Quinn's dismissal. "I don't want her to wake up with a crowded room. It would totally freak her out right now. She needs to know y'all are here before she wakes up to a room full of people," Quinn explained once she entered the hallway.
"Quinn," She heard the weak voice call for her. Well, she's up now, she thought. She asked the group to wait a minute, also suggesting that Finn and Mike go get Artie who had sadly been abandoned in the panic, and reentered Rach's room.
"Hey Rae," she greeted. Rachel was now sitting up in bed snuggled against Puckerman with Sam sitting on the end of the bed looking quite shaken up. "You alright? You bout scared Sammy to death."
Rachel gave Sam an apologetic look, "yeah, I'm alright. Sorry bout that."
Quinn could see Puck pull the brunette tighter against him and smiled at his actions. I love how much you two love each other, she thought to herself, if only y'all would tell each other. "Rach, are you up for some company?" Quinn asked trying to read Rae's reaction carefully.
"Yes, but I-I, it's... Quinn I'm embarrassed." Rae told her, looking down at herself, trying hard to keep from counting the bruises and cuts.
Before Quinn could respond, a sweet voice came from behind her, "B, we're your family. You have nothing to be embarrassed of." Leave it to innocent Brittany to make Rae smile and relax.
After Brit made her way to Rae's side the rest of the group flooded in behind her. Sam and Quinn moved to the side and carefully watched Rae, making sure she didn't get overwhelmed.
"Sam?" Quinn asked as her boyfriend put his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him.
"Hmm?" Was Sam's only response as he refused to take his eye's off Rachel's face.
"I told Puck we would stay here with them. The rest of the group is going to too. That okay?"
Sam finally looked down at her and smiled, "I never planned on leaving. Like Brittany said, we're a family. I'm not goin' nowhere."
Quinn smiled up at him and hugged him tight.
Family. Not in the traditional sense of the word, but they were a family none the less.
So? I know, kind of choppy. Sorry :(
Be back soon :)
-Lace