Chapter 8

Puck's attention shot to the door as he heard it open then slam shut. He craned his neck in time to see Santana fall to her knees and start to sob. Shooting up from his spot on the couch, he was at her side in an instant and immediately wrapped his arms around her. He didn't know what was going on, but he would definitely hold her while she literally broke down in front of him.

Rubbing small circles to her back, Puck used his other hand to lift her head and bring her eyes to meet his, "Hey," he said softly while he brushed the tears from her cheeks, "What's going on?"

Santana looked up at him and shook her head, her hair flipping from side to side, "M..my mom..." she sobbed out but couldn't continue as a brand new wave of tears started to fall from her eyes. Puck tightened his arms around her before standing from the ground, pulling her up with him and leading her over to the couch where he pulled her into his lap.

She continued to cry into the crook of his neck as he gently caressed her thigh, rocking her lightly back and forth on the couch. They stayed like that on the couch for a while before Puck noticed that her sobbing had stopped and her breath had become even. He looked down at her and couldn't help but smile when he saw that she was asleep.

Placing a tender kiss to her forehead, he let his head fall back onto the couch as he tried to wrack his brain for any explanation as to why she was so upset. But, whatever it was, he would be the one to hold her and comfort her. Most of all, he would be the one to protect her, and make sure that no more harm would ever come her way.

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"Y...you were raped?!" Mark managed to choke out after a while of letting Callie's words sink in.

Looking down at her lap, Callie silently nodded. Mark ran a hand through his hair and let out a heavy breath before looking over at her, noticing the tears that had begun to run down her bronze cheeks. He brought his hand up to face and tilted her head up to meet his gaze, before lovingly wiping the tears away.

"When-" he started, "-how? Why didn't you tell me?!"

With a shrug of her shoulders, Callie sighed, "When I was 15," she started, "a new teacher was hired at the high school me and my brothers went to."

"What about Aria?" Mark interrupted,

Callie shook her head, "Aria was already halfway through her sophomore year at college by then." she answered, "Anyway, the new teacher was hired to replace one of my teachers who had taken a job in Maine." Mark listened attentively as she shared her story, "The first week on the job he was really nice, you know? He wanted to get to know us, get used to the way we did things. He was kind, sweet and he would smile at me and I would blush..."

Mark felt his chest tightening at the thought of Callie blushing for anyone but him, "How old was this guy, Cal?" he asked incredulously.

"He couldn't have been older than 23. But, I...don't really remember." she said quietly and Mark nodded his understanding, "In class, he'd call on me for everything and I'd always know the answer. He'd send me little glances and smirks. I didn't think anything of it, I mean, I was 15, all I could think about was being a normal teenager."

She took a deep breath before continuing, "Then, one day after school, I had to stay late to rehearse for the school talent show. I was going to sing." They both smiled at that little detail, Mark knew first hand how beautiful Callie's voice was.

"By the time I was finished, it was dark outside and I was going to have to walk home." He could tell by the way her hands were clamming up and tears were brimming around her eyes that she was getting to the point in the story they both were dreading to hear.

"I walked out to the parking lot, and he was just about to get into his car when he noticed me. He offered to take me home and," her voice cracking a bit before she continued, "and I stupidly agreed." She let out humorless chuckle as she reached up and wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

Mark grabbed her wrists and pulled her to face him, making sure her eyes were locked on his, "You were in no way stupid, Callie. You were young and vulnerable. The only thing stupid about this is the fact that you had a teacher who was 23 and was apparently a dirty bastard who did this kind of stuff to teenagers. This was not your fault, do you understand me?" he said firmly. She looked up at him, and nodded, feeling a little scared at the tone in his voice. He noticed the fear in her eyes and leaned foward to leave a soft kiss to her lips.

"So, what happened next?" he asked as he leaned back against the headboard and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"We talked and chatted about school, college, what I wanted to be when I grew up. Then, I realized that we had stopped and he reached to turn off the car. I looked out the window and noticed that he pulled into the parked outside of the park that was near my house. When I turned back to ask him what was going on, he flew at me and-" A sob escaped her lips as memories of the fateful night came rushing back to her.

Mark tightened his grip on her before kissing her temple, Callie shut her eyes tight before continuing, "He started to rip at my clothes and I..I tried to push him off. I did. You have to know that I tri...tried to get away. I, I screamed and yelled for help, for anything. But no one heard me. Then, everything just went...black." With tears spilling from her eyes, Callie cuddled closer to Mark and sobbed into the crook of his neck. The only thing he could do was hold on to her tight and make sure she knew that she would always be safe, here, in his arms.

Minutes passed before Callie's sobs had lessened and she moved to lay her head in his lap. Mark tangled his hand in her hair and lightly massaged her scalp as his other caressed her hip. He listened as she cleared her throat and started to speak once more, "The next thing I remember was waking up in a hospital bed. They said someone found me laying behind a tree in the park, but I didn't remember anything. My parents were going crazy and my mother was on the verge of tears."

Callie sniffled a bit at the memory of her mother's face, "I listened as the doctor who worked on me announce that I had been raped and I could see the pain and horror rush through every single one of my family members faces. The police were called in and I answered all their questions, told them everything I knew. It turned out that my teacher was going by a fake name. The real man was registered as a sex offender in more than 10 states across the U.S. I wasn't the first person he assaulted."

Mark had never been one for tears, but hearing as Callie, the woman he loved more than anything in the world, had gone through something as terrible as this instantly brought water to his eyes. He cursed himself when one of his tears landed on her cheek, causing her to turn in his lap and look up at him. She reached up and caressed his cheek with her palm, calmly wiping the tears away.

After clearing his throat, he looked down at her, "What happened after?"

"My dad hired a kick-ass lawyer and he was arrested." She answered with a simple shrug. "But," she continued, "a month later, I realized-"

"You were pregnant." Mark finished for her.

Callie nodded, "Yeah."

"Did you tell your parents?" he asked, breaking the momentary silence that had enveloped them.

"No." she answered, shaking her head, "I, I couldn't tell them. I couldn't stand to see the disappointment in their eyes." Callie said sadly, "So...I called Aria."

Mark looked shocked, "Aria? Why Aria?"

"I know what you're thinking," she replied with a little chuckle, "But, she was still my sister, and she was the only I thought I could run to at a time like this. So...I called her. And she came."

"Oh." He said simply and motioned for her to continue.

"So," Callie started talking again, "I told her about everything that happened, she held me as I broke down all over again, and then she drove me to the clinic and sat with me the entire time."

"Why do you guys hate each other then?" Mark questioned, "Something like this...usually brings people closer, it doesn't usually push them apart."

"I don't hate my sister." she said firmly. "But, when the grief of killing my baby finally got to me, I...ended up blurting it out to my parents." Callie looked over at Mark before continuing, "I told them everything, how I called Aria, and how she took me to get it done. To say they were furious would be an understatement."

"Wait," Mark interrupted her, "They were furious at you?"

Callie shook her head, "No." she replied, "They were furious at Aria."

With a confused look, Mark questioned, "Aria? But why-"

"My parents don't believe in abortion." she said before he could finish, "They thought it was foolish of Aria to come to my rescue and take me to get it done. My parents ended up blaming her for the whole thing and evidently cutting her off from everything she had ever known."

Taking a long breath, Callie sighed before continuing, "To this day she blames the fact that our family has completely written her out of their lives on me. And, to be honest, I can't blame her. It is my fault, if I had just gone alone or-"

Before she could finish, Mark quickly cut her off, "No." he said with a firm tone, "You were scared and worried, and the first thing you wanted to do was call your sister. There is nothing wrong with that, Callie. You did nothing wrong." She nodded her head and snuggled further into his lap.

"I tried to make my family see reason for so many years, but they would never budge. I pray to God every night that they will forgive my sister and welcome her back with open arms. I love Aria to death and this is the last thing I ever wanted to happen to her. Since then, it has just been a downward spiral for our relationship." Tears began to, once again, spill from her eyes and Mark leaned down to place a soft kiss to her cheek before pulling her up and tugging her into his arms.

He held on to her as tight as he could as he whispered into her hair, "I'm so sorry this happened to you, baby." One of his free hands tangled in her hair as she pulled back and he lifted his other to wipe away her tears, "I just wish you'd told me all of this before. I could've helped you, Cal."

"I'm so sorry I didn't tell you, Mark. I-I wanted to, I just...I didn't know how you'd react or how you'd feel about knowing about all of...this." she rambled through her tears. "I just didn't want to lose you. I wouldn't be able to survive if I ever lost you."

Mark placed both hands on each of her cheeks as he lifted her eyes to meet his gaze, "You will never lose me, Callie. I am right here. And I promise you that I am not going anywhere. No matter what."

Callie lunged forward and wrapped her arms around his neck as she buried her face in his shoulder. Mark held her as she cried and whispered soothing words into her ear, while he placed light kisses at the crook of her neck, and dug his nose into her raven locks.

After what felt like hours, Mark noticed that Callie's breathing had returned to normal and that her tears had subsided. Ever so gently, he eased down the comforter that rested on her bed and carefully slipped her underneath. He brushed her hair out of her face before leaning down and placing a sweet kiss to her forehead before whispering "I love you." in her ear.

He then slipped off the bed and removed his shirt and jeans, leaving him in just his boxers, before climbing back on next to Callie and pulling her against his chest. Letting out a content sigh, he held her closer as he ran his hands through her raven-colored hair for a while before finally letting the exhaustion of the morning reach him, and willingly drifted off to sleep.