Ryder's POV

I drove to my parent's house as Liz and Jess sat in the back. I never expected what just happened to happen. When Jess said she had an incident happen two years ago, I thought she was talking about a bad breakup or something. Never this… I tried looking back at them in my rearview mirror and I felt my heart drop as I saw a sleeping Jess, her head leaning on Liz's shoulder. She noticed me looking and gave a small smile, but her eyes were still filled with sadness. I looked back at the road and whispered to her, "Everything is going to be ok." "But we've never dealt with something like this. We don't even know if she has been getting help. What do we even do for her?" I sighed, pulling into our parent's driveway, "We just have to be there for her." I parked the car and walked around to the back seat- Jess's side, looking over at Liz. She looked down at Jess and pouted back at me, "Do I have to wake her up?" I gave her a small smile, "Unless you really want to try and carry her inside, then yes." She groaned and lifted her shoulder up and down lightly. Jess murmured and sat up, looking at us tiredly. I held out my hand to Jess and she took it with caution. I can't believe I'm the one who scared her. I helped her out of the car and inside the house. She was really weak, but with what she has been through today, I can't blame her.

When we got inside, Liz walked her to the guest room, which, thankfully was between Liz's and my parents' rooms. Just in case, you know? I went to the kitchen to some hot chocolate for them. I parents were at the island when I walked in and looked at me, waiting for an explanation. "Jess had a bad day. We said she could stay here, is that ok?" They both nodded and my mom frowned, "Poor thing. I better make some hot cocoa for her." I smiled, knowing my mom well, "Already on it, Mom."

Once the mugs were full, I grabbed them and carefully made my way upstairs to the guest room. I stopped at the door when I crying, "I-I'm so stupid. H-he didn't even d-do anything… He was just m-mad about things with U-unique and I overreacted. Now l-look where we are." It was Jess. I pushed my ear closer to the door, trying to hear everything. "Jess, we can't even begin to understand what you've been holding inside, but Ryder is more worried than upset right now," Liz said in a sincere tone. I stepped back and sighed to myself, knocking on the door gently with one of the mugs, "Guys? It's me. I have hot cocoa." I heard footsteps coming closer and Liz opened the door, grabbing the mugs from me. I stood there awkwardly, "Do you guys want me to stay?" Jess looked up, sniffling and gave a quick 'no' look to Liz. I looked from her to Liz and nodded sadly before walking back out. It's like I'm a monster now.

Liz's POV

I felt bad for Ryder, knowing he would never hurt anyone- well, unless they hurt me. But Jess didn't know that and after having your own father turn against you, I'm pretty sure her trust is hard to be won. I sat next to her on the bed and handed her one of the mugs. "My mom makes the best hot chocolate," I said, taking a sit of mine and then coughing. "Ok, nope- Ryder made these," I said, grabbing the mug back from her and putting them both on the nightstand. Thank God he didn't go with the spaghetti plan. Jess let out a quiet laugh, but it almost sounded forced. "Can we talk about it?" She looked at me confused so I clarified, "The stuff that happened with your dad. I mean- are you at least getting help for it?" She nodded slowly and looked at her hands, "I go to therapy every Friday- sometimes other days, too. I…" she took a deep breath, "I have a lot of issues ever since the stuff happened with my dad. I mean- he was my dad for God's sake and he beat me so hard I had to be hospitalized. I literally have diagnosed PTSD because of it." I felt the weight of my heart increase, "Does the therapy seem to help?" She looked at me and I shook my head, "Sorry, stupid question. But- has it gotten better since the incident?" She nodded and sighed, "I used to have such bad of nightmares that I would scream in my sleep. It was so bad, I had to get a single dorm room because my roommate complained. I also used to hate guys- even if they just walked past me on the street. I hated them. But now, I mean I still have nightmares, but they are repeats. I don't scream, I just wake up feeling suicidal since I usually yell at my dad that I want to kill myself in them. And now I can talk to guys. I can finally be in the same room as Mr. Schue and not be scared and I can- well I could talk to Ryder…" She was starting to cry again and I held her hand in mine, "You can cry if you need to. I'm here for you." Jess has PTSD- that's the stuff returned soldiers get. Her dad is such an ass- God, I want to kill him for hurting her. Hell, he didn't hurt her, he destroyed her.

We sat there, not saying a word. I just let her cry for as long as she needed. Ryder needed to know this stuff. He needs to know it's not his fault. I mean- it is, but it really isn't. Does that make sense? "Ryder really should hear some of this, if you don't mind. He feels awful and thinks it is all his fault for everything that happened today. Do you want to talk to him?" She looked at me worriedly, "I can't tell him… I've never been able to tell anyone my diagnosis- not even my mom knows officially. I trust you, but Ryder- the way he looked at me…" I understood where she was coming from, but I knew the real Ryder. "Jess, he needs to know. I know he seemed like a threat a few days ago, but I know my brother. He would never hurt anyone unless he was sticking up for the ones he loves." She looked at me and shook her head, "It's not that easy." "I know, but you can't just block him out of your life now. This whole situation is hurting him too." She sat back in thought and groaned, "I didn't even think about what this was doing to him… Will you stay here when I tell him?" I nodded, squeezing her hand, "I'll be right beside you. Can I call him in?" She nodded slightly and began to clench her fists and take deep breaths. She really doesn't trust him. Well, I'm going to change that.

Ryder's POV

I was chilling on the couch, watching "The Office" to try and drown out the sound of Jess crying when Liz came in and waved for me to follow her. I got up, trying to prepare myself for whatever was about to happen. We walked up the stairs and I stood across from her as she sat on the guest bed. She kept clenching and unclenching her hands, finally looking up at me. "I have…" She dropped her hands and teared up, looking at Liz helplessly. "You can do it," Liz said rubbing her back gently. I looked between them and my eyes landed on Jess as she looked back at me again. "I have PTSD." I wasn't sure how to respond. I wanted to hug her, but I felt like it would only scare her. I looked over at Liz, who was giving me an annoyed look and gesturing to Jess as if to say 'say something.' "I knew I shouldn't have told him," she said looking at Liz and then glaring at me. I started to panic that she was going to freak out again and so I quickly hugged her, "I'm so sorry, Jess. Your dad is a total asshole and you never deserved any of it," I pulled back and stared into her eyes, "Thank you for telling me." She looked at me confused and her eyes got watery. "I- you're welcome…" she said, hugging me tight and digging her chin into my shoulder. I looked over at Liz and she gave me a sad smile. We couldn't hide it- neither of us knew what to do, but we were going to support this girl from now on.