Sam wasn't even sure how to describe how exhausted he was. His hopes that no one else would noticed had been quickly dashed when Finn informed him that he looked like a zombie as soon as he saw him. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place, the last thing he needed was people noticing how exhausted and stressed he was, but he had to keep everything up. Something needed to give, but until he figured out what his foster parents had been upset about, nothing could. He was just going to have to keep juggling everything as best as he could.

He was desperately hoping that his foster parents would say something, mention being happy that something had improved so he could know what to focus on and what he could cut back on. He hadn't been able to come up with any idea of what it had been that he had done or not done. It would be so much easier to have one thing to focus on then trying to focus on everything. Even he was quickly realizing that trying to do everything at once obviously meant that something things would fall by the wayside. Like sleep.

At least it was Friday. On the weekend he could spend the time he usually spent in school cleaning, playing with the kids and studying and hopefully getting some more sleep. He would just have to make it through dinner with Quinn and then he could go home, work out and go to sleep. He could make up for anything he missed in the morning. He hoped that this could all come to an end soon, he hated to even think about "making it through" a date with his girlfriend. He loved Quinn but he was so tired that he wasn't sure how much he would be able to enjoy it.

"Sam?" Mike whispered as he sat down near his friend.

"Yeah?" Sam replied.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Just tired."

"You've been tired all week, I haven't said anything, because I don't want to pry ... but this is ten steps past tired. You look like you're two seconds away from falling asleep on your desk."

"It's just been a really long week."

"Alright... just get some sleep this weekend, ok?"

"That's the plan." Sam responded just as the teacher walked into the room. Mike looked like he wanted to say something more, but he didn't get the chance.

"Sam!" Brittany called.

"Hey Brittany." Sam said as he turned to see her rushing towards him down the hallway.

"I have a present for you." she announced, beaming as she held her hands behind her back.

"Thank you." Sam said after a slight pause as he tried to hide his confusion.

His confusion was only increased when she pulled a stuffed duck out from behind her back and shoved it excitedly into his hands.

"Do you like it?" she asked.

"I ... I love it. Thanks, Brittany." he replied.

"Oh, good. You looked sad and tired, so I thought you needed a stuffed animal. They always make me happy and sometimes if I can't sleep I cuddle with them and then I can! So now you can feel better!" she said with a smile before she threw her arms around him to hug him.

"That was very nice of you." he managed to say.

"You're nice and nice people shouldn't be so sad." she said simply before giving him another smile and walking off leaving a baffled Sam standing in the hallway and holding a stuffed duck.

Mr. Schue and Mike had spent the last half hour trying to teach the group a new dance routine. Trying was the appropriate word as Sam found himself unable to do any better then Finn. He wanted nothing more then to just curl into a ball in the corner and go to sleep and on top of the physical exhaustion, he could barely even remember the moves. He ran through the routine again for what had to be the fifteenth time but he didn't seem to be getting any better.

"Alright, one more time. You can do this Sam!" Mr. Schue said.

"Come on, this is crazy. I mean, no offense, but Sam looks like he's more likely to collapse then get the routine right today. I think we'd all be better served if we just sent him for a nap." Puck declared in frustration while trying to mask his slight worry for his friend.

"You ok, Sam?" the teacher asked as though he'd only just noticed how exhausted the teenager appeared.

"I'm just tired." the blond boy insisted.

"Ok. I think it might be best for all of us if we just continued this on Monday. Let's just go back to the singing." Mr. Schue announced, "From the top!"

They had only just sat down at their usual table when Quinn spoke up.

"How are the kids doing?" she asked.

"They're ok." Sam said with a smile, "Seth called again last night,"

"Oh, good! How is he?"

"He seems ok. He likes the new house and his new school, he says everything's going pretty well."

"That's good. I was worried about him and I know you were."

"Yeah. I miss him, but I'm glad we can still hear from him. I was afraid we wouldn't be able too."

"I'm glad it's all worked out."

"Me too." Sam said softly.

There was a temporary distraction when the waitress came and took their orders and once she left, Quinn was once again the first speak.

"Mercedes says that Kurt and Rachel have the 'Original Six' practicing for the concert already," she said with a smile.

"Yeah, Finn was complaining about it the other day. I told him was probably best to go along with it and not risk having them both upset with him at once," he responded.

"Very true." Quinn replied with laugh.

They kept the small talk up for the next several minutes. Quinn discussed the latest cheerleading routines and her latest conversation with her sister and Sam told Quinn about all the cute things his foster siblings had done recently. Quinn was trying her hardest not to bring up how worried she was about Sam lately, and Sam was happily helping her with that by talking about anything and everything else. It wasn't that he didn't trust Quinn, but there wasn't anything that she could do and he didn't want her to worry. He had to handle it by himself.

Things became slightly tense once the food arrived and Quinn noticed that Sam was barely eating. Sam could tell that she was worried, but he couldn't bring himself to eat much more. He didn't want to have to add to his workout with how much he already had to do and if he was going to stay in shape and get stronger he couldn't be eating too much. It was more important then ever that he was stronger. He hadn't been strong enough to protect himself or his friends. He had been to weak and he couldn't stay that way. He had to get stronger and better. He had to.

By the time she was nearly done with her food, Quinn couldn't stay quiet anymore.

"Sam, please tell me what's wrong," she said.

"I told you, it's just normal foster kid stuff. There isn't anything you can do about, so there's no need to worry. I'll be fine." he insisted with a smile, laying a comforting hand on her arm.

"I can't help but worry, Sam. You've been so stressed out, you look exhausted and you're barely eating." she explained, fighting back tears.

"No, no. Don't cry, Quinn, please. I'll be ok. It'll all work out. I've just been busy making sure that it does." he said with a mild note of panic in his voice.

"Why won't you tell me then?" she asked softly.

"Because there's no need for you to worry about something you can't fix." he replied gently.

"I'll worry anyway as long as it's upsetting you. I love you and I hate to see you so upset." she said in a shaky voice.

"I love you too. It'll all be fine. I promise." he said firmly as he smiled at her.

He hated to lie, but it was worth it if it made her feel better. After all, if it wasn't fine, he would lose her anyway.

Author's Note: Have you guys heard the news yet? SAM IS COMING BACK TO GLEE! It's all over Tumblr, I nearly had a heart attack when I first saw it! I'm still way, way, way beyond excited!

Anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter! Everyone's really starting to pick up on the fact that something's very wrong now.

BlackKeys96: I'm so glad you liked the chapter! Sam is realizing that people are noticing, but he's trying his best to brush it off and make them stop. Thank you for the review!

Tessie: Thank you so much! And yes, he's starting to worry them all!

Emma: I'm so glad you're still liking this! It's actually not really any easier for me to reply to a "signed review". It might be easier for you though - I can reply quicker and it's easier for me to answer questions or discuss aspects of the story. You'll find out how it happens very, very soon - it's already written. Thank you for the review(s)!

Kerri: Oh, wow! Thank you so much! YOU rock!