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It took hardly any time for the lie to spread through Glee Club, heralded by Santana who'd overheard most of the conversation from the door of the bathroom where she'd been avoiding her own math test, and who seemed to take great pleasure in being "right" that Blaine would never lay a hand on Rachel, and that Rachel really was as fucked up and horrible as Santana had always told everyone she was. The reactions were ranged from pity, to anger, to disbelief. Only Kurt, the lone voice of reason, argued against the rumor.
"Really, you guys?" His voice carried over the chatter of the choir room, not wavering as all head's turned towards him. "That's not the worst lie I've ever heard out of her mouth, but it's certainly not the best. You all really think that Rachel fabricated all those injuries to get Finn's attention? Look, I know Rachel was a conniving, manipulative, fabulous little bitch for all these years we've known her, but this is beyond just some elaborate stage makeup and fake tears. Faking abuse is the lowest of the low, but look at her...think about it. Rachel changed when she met Blaine, and you can't all say you didn't notice it. Suddenly she's FAR less annoying, which let's face it, we all appreciated, then she started getting all these mysterious injuries? When have you ever known Rachel fucking Berry to be some accident prone klutz?"
Mr Shue had entered at some point in the conversation, lingering near the piano as he listened to Kurt's speech. He had already heard the story from Sue and Emma, but he couldn't say that he was one hundred percent convinced either, and listening to Kurt solidified his opinion. He was ashamed to realize that he'd missed every single sign right in front of his face, from the personality changes, to the inexplicable bruises, to the lying. It had been there the whole time and he hadn't said a thing about it.
"It does seem far fetched," Quinn had spoken up, glancing around the room to try to guage where everyone else seemed to be after Kurt's speech. "But this is the same Rachel Berry who sent a girl who she was threatened by to a crack house, and remember last year's incident with Jesse St James? Is it really so hard to believe she wouldn't make this up for attention?"
"No," Mr Shue's voice startled the kid's, and they turned sharply now to look at him. "Come on guys, you can't deny that she's been different this year. I think we all appreciated the change, and maybe we all didn't want to see what was happening because we were so happy to have Blaine." He paused, his eyes scanning the room to see who was missing. "I've been a teacher for a long time. I've seen this before, and I should've stepped in a long time ago. We didn't help Rachel before, but we can now. Where is Finn, anyway? What does he have to say about all of this?"
"He split after the bell, Mr. Shue," Puck shrugged, running a hand absentmindedly over his mohawk. "He was pretty pissed, which I don't blame him. Said he had a lot to think about."
The chatter ended abruptly as the sound of Rachel and Blaine's voices carried into the room, and they entered, both of them smiling and holding hands. "Hey guys," Rachel's voice was still clutching to the brightness of earlier, and she met Mr. Shue's eyes, suddenly very aware of all the stares on them. Kurt was tense, his body language markedly hostile, and the air felt chilly, despite how warm it was outside. The confusion in the pair was palpable, as Blaine spoke first, "What's up with you guys? Did we just walk into a fight about song selection for Nationals? Because I have some ideas too-"
"No, we're actually fighting about the fact that your girlfriend is a lying hoe who probably just imploded the club because Finn won't ever come back after what she did to him." Santana's voice matched the air in the room and Rachel snapped to face her, alarm coloring her face.
"What?" The brightness was gone, replaced by a croak and the familiar feel of panicked bile rising. Santana stared her down, crossing her arms over her chest as she uncrossed her legs to stand and face them head on.
"I said," she repeated, brushing off Brittany's hand on her arm with a pointed shrug of her shoulder. "That after I heard you tell Finn about how you're still madly in love with him, and you've been faking Blaine beating the CRAP out of you in order to get his attention, that he's probably never going to come back to this room and it's all. Your. Fault."
Every drop of color drained from Rachel's face as she felt Blaine drop her hand and for once, she felt the storm of his gaze pinned to her in front of their friends. "Rachel, what the fuck?"