A/N: Sorry this took so long, but here it is! This one was emotional for me to write, but I think you'll love it. ;]

Rachel was a kinky girl, Sam thought while he stood under the hot spray of his shower. He tried to stop thinking about how she'd surprised him after the assembly the other day, but he couldn't stop. It was all he'd thought about all day and night since it had happened. She was coming over with movies and he knew that today was going to be fun; though he was sure Rachel had other things planned. After his shower he dried his hair with a towel and combed it out so it was perfect, he dressed in a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt.

The doorbell rang and he rushed down the stairs to answer before his mother or grandmother would get the chance. He opened the door and Rachel grinned at him, her dark brown eyes filled with happiness. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek softly before he shut the door and lead her up to his bedroom. By the time they had entered the room, Sam had taken in all of Rachel's appearance. It was weird because he was getting to see her in this way that nobody else got to see. She was wearing sweat pants and a t-shirt, like him, and a jacket over the top. It was so very weird to see her dressed so casually.

"Hi baby," Sam said to her and kissed her softly on the lips.

"Hi Sammy," she said to him with a giggle and wrapped her arms around his waist. She had a bag over her shoulder and it hit his leg.

"What's in the bag?" he asked and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, holding her close so that he was able to kiss her again.

"Movies and snacks, and fun things like that," she smiled and released him from the hug, kicking her shoes off and tucking them neatly against the wall.

Sam smiled and flopped onto his bed, admiring how cute Rachel looked in her sweatpants. She removed her jacket and he noticed that she was wearing one of his shirts. When had she stolen that one? She was a little kleptomaniac and was really good at stealing his clothing. He only knew that this shirt was his because it was from his old school in Cleveland.

"I didn't know you played Thompson High School football..." he teased her and a dark blush formed on her cheeks.

"Oh...I stole this from you," she grinned at him.

"That's alright, it totally looks better on you," Sam admitted and winked at her.

Rachel put a movie in the DVD player and though Sam was unsure of what it was, he didn't mind. He watched as Rachel turned on the TV and got it all ready to watch before climbing into his bed. He wrapped his arm around her and she kissed his neck softly, just once.

The movie came on the screen and Sam couldn't help but grin to himself. The Wizard of Oz, what a good movie choice. Rachel snuggled into Sam's chest, her hand holding onto the fabric of his shirt.

Sam and Rachel both watched the movie, not even straying to make out. It wasn't really weird for them, but it wasn't exactly normal either. A knock came to the door and Sam panicked slightly, he didn't really want Rachel to have to meet his mom or grandma. He loved the ladies but it just felt awkward. Rachel looked up at Sam to see the panicked look on his face and she had a look of confusion.

"Come in!" Sam shouted and the door swung open, his mother standing there with a plate of cookies and two cans of Pepsi.

"I thought you two might want some snacks. I just made the cookies, they're fresh out of the oven. I'd bring you milk but we're all out," the blonde woman said, a smile pasted on her cheeks.

Sam hadn't seen his mother this happy in a while. She had tolerated Quinn, but he figured that was mostly due to the fact that she'd recently lost her husband. Sam was sure that by now, his mom had recovered more from her loss and was now open to Sam's happiness.

"Thanks mom," Sam said with a smile and he looked at Rachel, whom he noticed was attempting to cover up the shirt she was wearing. She was slightly blushing but Sam knew his mother wouldn't notice.

"I'm Kathy," the woman said and extended her hand to Rachel after she'd set the snacks down on Sam's desk.

Rachel extended her hand and attached it to the woman's, shaking it cautiously. "I'm Rachel, It's great to finally meet you. It's like Sam's been hiding you," she said with a grin and released the woman's hand.

"Well, since Sam's father passed away I think it's been hard to introduce new people into the family," Kathy said and Sam immediately looked ashamed of himself. Why hadn't he told Rachel before this? He didn't know that his mom was going to spill the beans.

"Oh, I totally understand, sometimes that's difficult to even talk about let alone open up your home to new people," Rachel said, taking it all in stride. In her head she was angry. How much was Sam keeping from her? She didn't know a damn thing about him it seemed, other than what she saw from the outside. She cared about him, but there were just some things she couldn't deal with.

"That's very true," Kathy said and looked over to her son who was shooting her daggers, "I should probably get going. But it was great meeting you Rachel."

"You too Kathy," Rachel smiled and watched the woman walk out, shutting the door behind them.

Rachel was silent as she stood and grabbed a Pepsi and a cookie. She didn't really ever eat cookies or drink Pepsi, but it as much less awkward than staring at her boyfriend who had hid something so drastic from her. It wasn't as serious as him hiding something about their relationship from her, like Finn had done, yet it was still bad. She was kind of hurt that he didn't tell her, that he was hiding that from her. She cared about him and she wanted to know all of these things about him, but he didn't trust her.

"Rachel," he began, sucking air into his lungs. He had been holding his breath for a moment, not really knowing what to say.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she whispered, looking down at the cookie in her hand. Chocolate chips melted and left brown smudges on her fingertips.

"It's...really hard to talk about," he was quiet in his speech, so Rachel sat down on the bed close to him, her legs touching his.

"Well you don't have to be afraid to talk about it, Sam. It just hurts more if you hold it in. Like with my mother, if I didn't tell people about all of the things that happened that hurt me, I would still be wallowing in the sadness," Rachel said, referring to Shelby and all of the things that had broken her heart the year before and then again once Beth was born.

"It's all my fault," he said quietly and sighed heavily.

"I'm sure it's not," Rachel said, her tone as quiet as his. The movie had ended and the DVD screen was playing on loop, but neither of them were paying attention.

"I had this baseball game and he'd been on a business trip in New York. It was the playoffs and he'd already missed half of them and I was so pissed at him for not being there," Sam told the story, his eyes misting with tears, "I yelled at him on the phone the night before. I didn't know but he was planning on coming back for the championship game. And I'd told him I hated him the night before when he told me he wouldn't be able to be there. I guess he and my mom were planning on surprising me. Well, he got in this accident because he was rushing. The game was at three and his flight landed at two fifteen, but he was pushing to get there and some lady was driving the wrong way on the highway and she slammed into him. He died on impact they say, but if he hadn't been rushing to get to my game it wouldn't have happened. I wish he had stayed in New York."

The tears began to flow from Sam's eyes and Rachel herself was tearing up. She could hardly imagine losing either of her dads and she wasn't even close with them. Her arms flew around his neck and she held him as he cried. She'd never seen him so vulnerable.

"Sam it's not your fault," she whispered against his ear, "you weren't driving."

"My mom blames me I swear. She couldn't even handle herself, we had to move here so grandma could take care of her. I know she thinks it's my fault," he said, sobs coming after he inhaled.

"She doesn't Sam, I'm sure of it, she loves you and she knows that neither of you could prevent it," Rachel's voice was steady and she tried not to let him know she was tearing up herself, trying not to let the tears spill over. She cried often, he'd seen it before but she didn't want to cry now; she needed to support him.

"It's just so hard to not think it's my fault," Sam sighed and wiped his eyes, "The last thing I said to him was that I hated him. It's just not fair."

Rachel smoothed Sam's hair and held him close. "Baby it's okay," she said, trying to soothe him, "he knew you loved him. Kids tell their parents they hate them all the time and they just know that you don't really hate them."

"It sucks though," he said and Rachel kissed his head.

"Sam, I love you for telling me this. We've never been this close and it's making things better. Don't think about what happened, but think about what's happening. You have a great life and you're alive. You have to live for your father," she said quietly.

They lay in the bed with each other, Rachel's hand in Sam's. Her thumb mindlessly rubbed the back of his hand as he had done mere weeks ago when their relationship had only just begun.

A few hours later, she left his house in silence. When she got home she hugged each of her fathers for a long time. She told them she loved them, realizing how precious life really was.

She lay in her bed, ready to go to sleep when a text buzzed into her phone.

I love you Rachel. Thanks for everything. - Sam

Sure that wasn't how Rachel wanted him to tell her that he loved her, but she didn't mind.

I love you too. - Rachel