Sara walks into the library with her book bag and headphones in. She knows that Finn wants them all to practice today, but she and Rory had a chemistry test to worry about, Glee club would have to wait.

As she approaches the table where her partial boyfriend sits, her heart beats quickly. She loved both him and Ryder and she desperately wished she could make up her mind, but everything was so complicated and both boys were so sweet. They had both managed to bring the girl out of her carefully constructed shell and she was grateful. She just wished that they'd both stop pursuing her, that way her guilt might go away.

Sara takes out her headphones and surprises Rory with a hug from behind.

"Is that my lovely lass?" Rory asks.

"It is indeed," Sara says with a giggle. "Ready to study?" she asks.

"I am," a voice comes from across the table.

Sara's eyes go wide in shock as she sees Kitty Pride sitting there, grinning like a cat about to eat a canary. Her blonde hair was pulled up in her usual Cheerio ponytail and her necklace was being twirled between her fingers. She raises her eyebrow at Sara as the shy girl sits down close to Rory.

"Hi Sara," Kitty says with a little wave.

"Oh…uh hi Kitty," Sara says. Sara's stomach drops. She knew what Kitty was up to. She'd noticed it frequently in the choir room recently, the cheerleader was trying to get close to Rory. She'd giggle loudly at his jokes, touch him for longer periods of time and overall try to hit on him. She knew this was due to her own inability to decide between Ryder and Rory; so Kitty was pouncing, making her move. What reassured her though was that Rory could be less than interested. He knew his desires were for Sara and Sara only. He merely took Kitty's flirting as a way of being friendly. Sara didn't mind Kitty and she definitely didn't want to make enemies with her.

"I hope you don't mind that she studies with us?" Rory asks. "She needs help with chemistry and since this isn't a date and all…"

"Sure, sure, sure, that's fine," Sara says quickly. She digs out her textbook and her notes. "Okay, can either of you name the organic compounds?"

Rory begins looking into his notes, trying to remember, but Kitty insists on texting.

"Uh Kitty," Sara says, trying to get the blonde's attention.

"Sorry what?" Kitty says.

"Can you name any organic compounds?" Sara insists.

"Oh darn…" Kitty says in exaggerated frustration. "I forgot my books, I guess I'll have to share with you, Rory."

Kitty moves her chair right over next to Rory, taking him completely by surprise. She puts her hand on his notebook so he'll pay attention to her instead.

Sara can feel slightly enraged by this, the fact that someone else was moving in on Rory. Her heart pounded anxiously, she stares down at her textbook, trying to focus. She had enough problems as it is, she didn't need a popular Cheerio humiliating her or being on the girl's "hate list."

Little by little, the three work through the chemistry questions; Sara reading them out loud and mostly Rory answering. Kitty, meanwhile, was brushing her feet up against Rory, flipping her hair and giggling every so often, but fortunately, Rory was stonewalling her.

Sara suddenly goes quiet. She doesn't notice that Kitty is still trying to be close to Rory, twirling her gum out of her mouth as if this is a turn on for him. Rory is doing his best to ignore the young blonde cheerleader that's practically in his lap. Despite his shaky current status with Sara, he's going to try and remain faithful to her. After all, it had only been less than a month that he had lost his virginity to her.

"What's wrong Sara?" Rory asks, looking up from his chemistry textbook.

Sara's face is unreadable. She seems angry and at the same time scared. Rory attempts to meet her gaze and then turns to see what she's staring at.

A gruff individual, looking to be in his late-twenties or early thirties stands outside the library, staring with a look that only Rory could describe as hungry. He had dark circles under his bright blue eyes, a bit of stubble growing on his face, dark hair that came down practically over the eyes and a large jagged scar under his one of them. His clothes were dirty and very wrinkled, covered in similarly coloured stains. He had tattoos going up along his forearms and grimy hands. He peered in at the trio like a tiger might look at his next meal. This man glared Rory and Sara down, Kitty completely oblivious. Rory felt a lump in his throat, he looks back at Sara.

"I'll… be right back," Sara says.

Rory's heart begins beating quickly as Sara stands up and walks towards the library exit. She's going right towards this man as if a rabbit approaching a wolf's den. Rory is immediately worried for Sara's safety, this man looks dangerous, all he needed was a gun or a machete and he'd be something out of a horror movie. He watches as Sara slips out of the library and goes towards the man, a little reluctance in her stance.

Rory wants to go and try to listen in to what they were saying, but the man continues to stare at the Irish boy as if he's waiting for him to look away.

It takes all of his strength for him to tear his eyes away from Sara and go back to his school work. The two begin talking in muffled voices. Rory would kill to know what they were saying.

He has an idea. He slowly gets up and makes a beeline for a nearby bookshelf. He keeps his eyes away from the scene and makes it seem like he's looking for a book. He walks out of sight of the two. He goes to the end of the library, near the big glass windows. Rory slips behind a bookshelf that conceals him from the window, just enough so he can try and listen to the conversation.

"You know you're not supposed to be here," Sara was saying. "We had an agreement, you stay away from my school life."

"I don't care about your little Geek club or your popularity. I'm broke, you need to give me cash," the man says.

"I already gave you some, the rest is needed for the girls' lunches and rent. You know that!"

"I don't care; I need the money."

"You should've made it last. I don't get paid until next week, and I need that money to pay the bills" Sara says sternly. Rory can hear a bit of cracking in her voice.

"You little bitch!" the man hisses. Rory peeks out of the window and sees a terrible sight; the man has collared Sara, shoving her against the lockers. Something in Rory immediately snaps and he marches across the library, clearly in view of the two. He shoves the door open with such force that it makes a loud noise that echoes in the empty halls.

"OY!" he screams loudly. "Pick on someone your own size!"

Sara looks over at Rory; she has tears in her eyes already, and she's doing her best to keep the man away from her.

"Rory…" she stammers. "It's fine, I can handle it."

"It's not fine! This man is trying to hurt you…"

The man's eyes go from Sara's frightened face to Rory's angry one. Rory makes it to the two of them and with all his might, shoves the man against the chest, so hard that the man lets go of Sara and falls to the ground.

Rory pounds his fist like he's ready to fight and goes to make sure that Sara is okay. Sara is now crying.

"Run Rory," she begs. The man snarls and gets up from the ground. His fists crack in anger and he charges at Rory. In that split second, Rory feels the hardest punch ever against his face. His face is on fire and the force of the punch is so strong that he falls to the ground, and back against the lockers. Blood starts pouring from his nose and Rory can't see straight, but he has to get up and fight for Sara.

Sara's yelling something and trying to hold the man back, but he manages another kick against Rory's stomach, winding him.

"Joe please!" Sara says. "Take it out on me not him!"

The voices meld into each other as Rory tries to focus, all he can see are the legs of the other two people. He is so dizzy and in so much pain he begins to feel like he's hallucinating. He seemingly blacks out for a moment.

When he comes to, Finn is leaning down trying to talk to him.

"Rory, buddy are you okay?"

Rory manages to look up to see Finn and a few other New Directions members staring down at him with concern. Clearly, they were rehearsing in the choir room when they heard the noise. Even Kitty's there, with serious concern on her face.

"Let me help you up man," Jake says. Two strong arms help lift the Rory from the floor and steady him.

"Oh my gawd he's bleeding," someone says.

Finally, Rory manages a few simple words.

"Where's Sara?"

Ryder has stayed behind in the choir room to make sure that everything is okay. He is worried about Rory, of course, but the boy is his romantic rival for Sara's affections. He knows that as long as Finn is there, everything will be okay.

There's screaming coming from the hallway that gets Ryder's attention. It's very loud and very aggressive. He begins to follow the sounds. As he gets closer, he hears Sara's voice. She's scared and her voice is cracking in pain and agony. Ryder speeds up immediately.

"Sara?" he shouts. "Sara where are you?!"

The screaming suddenly stops and the door to the school slams shut loudly. Ryder runs as fast as he possibly can towards the sound, going after the so-called aggressor that was hurting Sara. He stops short when a flash of red goes by.

"OH MY GOD!" Ryder screams.

The mess he sees at the bottom of the stairs makes his stomach turn and his heart drop.

There's a trail of blood leading down the stairs and at the bottom is a puddle of blood that is slowly growing larger. The source of the red stuff is a battered and barely conscious Sara. She's clutching her stomach and cringing in pain. She has a black eye coming and a series of cuts and bruises all over her body. She looks like she had just been in a fight…and lost. She's crying too and her breath is quick as if she's struggling to breathe.

Ryder maneuvers carefully around the blood, trying to reach the battered girl. Tears are in his eyes too. When he finally reaches Sara, he kneels in the blood.

"Sara!" he says. "SARA! Please stay with me!"

He tries to lift her head but she continues to moan and cry in pain.

"Sara please…" he begs.

Sara opens the un-blackened eye, her own tears stinging her face. She's happy to see Ryder, she manages a smile through all her gasping.

"Ryder…" she says softly.

"Sara please stay with me," Ryder begs. "Finn! FINN!" Ryder calls as loudly as he can. "Call an ambulance! Oh, my gawd the blood!"

"Ryder listen…" Sara says softly. "If I don't make it…"

"Don't talk like that!" Ryder says loudly. "You're going to be fine!" he wanted to believe this so badly, but the puddle of blood and the large stain on Sara's shirt continues to get bigger. He knew he couldn't lose her, not after that time they shared less than a month ago.

"Please Sara," Ryder says breathlessly. "Stay with me."

"If I don't make it…make sure my cousins are safe…"

These are her last words before she blacks out.