Santana slowly walked up the steps to Rachel's room, thinking several times about just turning around and leaving. She honestly didn't know what she was going to say…what does a person say in a situation like this? Brittany had offered to come with her, but Santana had told her that this visit was something she needed to do on her own.

Reaching Rachel's door, Santana knocked lightly. "Rachel?" She opened the door slightly. Rachel's dads (who actually seemed pretty cool) had told her that the girl was probably asleep and to wake her up; Rachel had an appointment in a couple of hours and she needed to get up anyway. "Rachel?" she said again, moving into the room.

Rachel and Finn were lying on the bed, his arms around her. Santana stood and looked at them for a moment. Santana stifled a gasp when she saw the bruises on Rachel's face and arms. Finn's eyes opened and he looked at her. "Hey," he said sleepily, stretching his legs out.

"I can come back," Santana said, backing towards the door.

"No, wait," Finn told her. "Rach," he said softly in the other girl's ear. "Hey, baby, wake up. Santana is here to see you." Rachel mumbled and turned in his arms, sighing. Finn smiled down at her. "Rachel," he said again, this time a little louder. "Honey, you need to get up."

"Finn," Rachel groaned, stretching out and yawning. "Hush."

Laughter shook his large body and he winked at Santana. "And here we thought she was a morning person."

"I am a morning person," Rachel told him, awkwardly sitting up, brushing her hair out of her face. "Usually." She saw Santana. "Oh," she said.

"Hey," Santana said, unsure of herself.

"I'm going to go talk to Leroy," Finn said, kissing Rachel and climbing out of the bed. "Yell if you need something." He nodded to Santana as he passed her.

"Hi," Rachel said, watching the other girl. She and Santana had matching bruises.

"Hey," Santana said. She looked around. "Um…"

"Come sit on the bed," Rachel told her, smoothing out the blanket.

Santana moved to the bed. She looked at Rachel. "I'm sorry," she blurted out. "I'm so sorry you got hurt, Rachel." Tears fell down her face.

Rachel leaned close to her and hugged her. "I'm sorry you got hurt too," she told the other girl.

"I feel like it was my fault," Santana said.

"It wasn't," Rachel told her. "It wasn't either of our faults. The fault rests solely on the boys who did this to us."

Santana nodded, pulling back to look at her. "Are you okay?"

"I think so," Rachel said. "I hurt."

"I do too," Santana told her. "I can't sleep."

"I'm not sleeping too well either," Rachel admitted. "I keep having horrible nightmares."

"Same for me," Santana said. "My mom wants me to see a shrink."

"My dads set me up an appointment with one for this morning."

"Do you think it will help?" Santana asked her.

Rachel shrugged. "It can't hurt."

Santana thought about it. "I guess you're right." She sighed. "I told my parents that I'm in love with Brittany," she said after a moment. She watched Rachel's face for signs of shock.

Rachel smiled at her. "That's good. What did they say?"

"They said that they knew," she said, shaking her head. "I guess everyone knew but me."

"Well, at least you don't have to try and hide it anymore."

"But is this what I'm going to have to deal with?" Santana asked, feeling tears once again fill her eyes. "Guys trying to rape me to prove to me that I like men? How stupid is that? And what if…" she trailed off, looking at the wall. "What if someone tries to hurt Brittany?" she whispered. "I couldn't handle that."

"Josh told me that he would hurt Finn if I said anything," Rachel told her. "I've never been so terrified of anything in my life."

Santana nodded. "They told me if I said anything next time it would be Brittany."

Rachel shook her head. "I would have done anything to keep Finn safe."

"I felt the same way about Brittany," Santana told her.

"We're both crazy," Rachel said, smiling and shaking her head.

"Yeah," Santana agreed, smiling slightly back at her. "Have you and Finn talked about the new school policy?"

Rachel nodded. "I'm so proud of him. This anti bullying policy is exactly what McKinley has needed for years."

"I just hope it will work," Santana told her. "I'm so afraid it won't." She shrugged. "Plus, you know, I have to stop bullying people."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "There is that."

"I think I was mean to other people so that they would be scared of me. If they were scared of me, they wouldn't look too closely at the things I was hiding."

"Well, you did a fantastic job," Rachel told her. "You terrify everyone."

Santana grimaced. "I'm sorry, Berry. Not just for," she motioned to their faces, "this, but for everything I've done to you. You didn't deserve any of it."

"It's okay," Rachel told her, realizing that it was. "It made me a stronger person." She smiled. "I'm certainly not going to miss it, though."

Santana laughed. "I guess not." She looked towards the door. "You and Finn are going to make it this time, huh?"

Rachel grinned. "I really think so," she said. "He loves me."

Santana nodded. "Yeah, he does."

"Well speak of the devil," Rachel said as Finn came back in the room.

Running his hand through his hair, he looked at the girls. "I have to tell you something," he said.

Rachel's smile fell from her lips. "What is it?"

"There was another attack at the school," he told them.

Santana gasped. "Brittany?"

Finn shook his head. "Brittany is fine." He took a deep breath. "It was Artie."

Santana's hand flew to her mouth. "Artie?" Rachel cried. "Is he okay?"

"He's on his way to the hospital as a precaution," Finn told them. "A teacher interrupted the attack, so he's not hurt too badly. Tina said that he's more shocked and upset than anything." He looked at Rachel. "I need to be there for him."

Rachel jumped out of the bed. "I'm coming too."

"Rachel," Finn said, holding her. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"I'm going, Finn," Rachel told him.

"I'm going too," Santana said. She pulled her phone out. "I have to check on Brittany. I'll see you guys there, okay?" She was dialing Brittany's number as she walked out of the room.

Rachel looked up at Finn. "I need to be there for Artie," she told him. "For all of our friends."

Finn sighed. "Get changed," he told her. "I'll tell Leroy to reschedule your appointment."

"Hey," she said, holding on to his arm as he turned to leave the room.

"Yeah?"

"Can you help me out of my shirt?" she asked him uncertainly, biting her lip. "It hurts when I try to do it."

Finn nodded. He gently lifted the oversized shirt, stretching it so that it would go over her arms easily. When he had it off, he looked at her. "Rachel," he said, his eyes roaming over the bruises on her skin. When he noticed the bite marks, anger so strong it made him weak in the knees surged through him.

Rachel put her hands over her stomach and chest. "I know I look awful," she started. Finn dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around her, laying his head against her stomach. "Finn?"

"Give me a minute," Finn told her softly. He closed his eyes tightly, praying for control. The blue and green bruises on Rachel's body destroyed what little bit of calm Finn had been able to maintain. He breathed deeply, in and out.

He didn't realize his body was shaking, but Rachel did. "Finn," she said again. "Look at me, please." Finn's head rose and he looked into her eyes. "What's wrong?"

He shook his head, unable to say anything over the lump in his throat. He looked over her torso, his fingers lightly touching her skin. His lips gently touched her stomach in an attempt to kiss the pain away. He kissed each bruise tenderly, careful to not put any pressure on the sensitive skin.

His lips continued moving up her body to her neck, then found hers. He tasted her tears, then realized that he was crying as well. His lips brushed against hers, his hands cupping her face. "I'm so sorry," he told her.

"I'll heal," she whispered against his lips.

"I thought that it would be over," he told her miserably. "I thought that with the new school policies, things would get better."

"They will," she assured him. "They'll have to." She held him for a moment, waiting for him to calm down.

Finn stood. "Do you need help getting a shirt on?"

Rachel nodded. "Help me get one on and then you can go tell dad about the appointment."

"Okay," he told her. She found the shirt she wanted to wear and handed it to him. Without thinking, Finn bent down to kiss her bare shoulder.

Rachel's breath caught in her throat. "Finn," she breathed, pulling his head down for another kiss. After she pulled away she looked into his eyes. "Thank you."

"For what?"

She looked down for a moment, then back up at him. "I was worried that after what happened I wouldn't want to…that I wouldn't feel…that I wouldn't be able to get…"

"Turned on?" he asked her with a small smirk.

Rachel slapped at his arm. "Yes," she told him.

"But you can?" he asked, running his hand through her hair and pulling her close for another kiss.

Rachel smiled into the kiss. "It's not a problem."

"Good." He helped her get her shirt on. "I'll go talk to Leroy and then we'll go see Artie. I need to talk to Figgins, too. Something has to change," he said determinedly.

Rachel shook her head as Finn walked out of the room. She'd always known that Finn was a leader. Now he knew it too.