Here's chapter 8! I'm so sorry this is three weeks late. I haven't been in the writing mood lately because of school and all. Since I'm on Thanksgiving break at the moment, I may or may not post two more chapters after this one.

I don't own Glee. I only own the characters Lila, Skylar, and Cory.

Enjoy!

"I hope Lila's doing ok," Rachel commented, putting her earrings in her ears. She hadn't spoken to Lila in a long time, but tonight her and Finn were going out on a double date with her and her new boyfriend for Valentine's Day. They didn't know much about him except that his name was Bryan. They had bumped into each other at the grocery store earlier last week, and the two girls decided to schedule a double date for them. "She seemed kinda...anxious last week. Like she was in a hurry anxious."

"Maybe she had to pick up Skylar from daycare or something," Finn said, adjusting the tie on his dress shirt. They were going to go Breadstix's tonight, and everyone was going to pay for what they ordered since they had children to care for. "How'd your French test go?"

"Not so good, I got a D," the brunette let out a sigh, putting some blush on her face. "It's really hard to focus when Cory's calling my name all the time. Half of the time he's doing it just for attention."

"Maybe you should have him sit with you while you do your work. Besides, you can teach him what you're doing too."

"I doubt he's going to know Calculus, Finn," she finished putting on her make up and was ready to go. They had to wait for Lila, Bryan, and Skylar to arrive since Carole was going to babysit for them. They waited about ten minutes until a car pulled into the driveway. Finn went to the front door to greet their guests.

"Welcome to the Hudson household!" he greeted the adults and child.

Skylar ran into the living room, ahead of everyone else. "Hello Wachel!"

"Hello Skylar! You've gotten so big since I last saw you," Rachel commented with a smile.

"I'm thwee now," the little girl said. It was nice to hear a child actually speak in a sentence.

"This is a really nice house," Lila said, walking into the living room. "Mrs. Hudson, how much would you like me to pay you?"

"Oh honey, you don't need to," Carole said with a smile.

"I insist," the blonde said, going through her purse quickly to look for her wallet. The older woman touched the girls hand, like she was signalling for her to stop. She then looked up at her boyfriend with a half smile. "This is Bryan."

He was about 5'10; that was the first thing Rachel noticed about him. His hair was a dirty blonde color, and he had a pretty strong build. He looked like he was a good fit for Lila since they were both attractive.

"Nice to meet you Bryan," Finn said, offering his hand for a handshake. He gave it to him quickly with a smile on his face, ending it a few moments later. "So, is everyone ready?"

"Yep," Lila said, walking over to Skylar quickly to give her a big kiss on the forehead. "Be good for Mama, ok?"

"Okieee," her daughter responded giving her mom a tiny peck on the cheek. Rachel couldn't wait to do stuff like that with Cory once he was a little older.

-more-than-words-

"So, how did you two meet?" the brunette asked, taking a sip of her iced tea with lemon. The group had just received their drinks at Breadstixs, and now they were going to start actual conversations.

"Actually, we met over the summer at the grocery store. I needed some help reaching something at the top of a shelf," she smiled as she answered. "We ended up talking for half an hour and then he asked me out."

Rachel wasn't really offended when she said that, even though she might have been. They hadn't talk in awhile, and they both experienced events that were important to them that they didn't tell each other. "So, what's new in your lives?"

"Nothing really," Finn answered. "Finishing up senior year, taking care of Cory, and getting ready for Regionals."

"That sounds nice," Bryan said. "How did applications with college go?"

"We both got into OSU, but I have my heart set on NYADA. I don't know what we'd do about Cory though," the brunette took another sip of her iced tea, regretting what she said. She was excited to be in the same school as Finn, but she still wanted to go to the school of her dreams. "Of course one of us would have to take him with us, but whoever didn't take him wouldn't be able to see him."

"As I've said before, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Finn said, suddenly awake from his day dream.

Even after the group finished their appetizers, they were still distant and quiet. After they ordered their main courses, Lila and Rachel went off to the bathroom to check on their make-up and such.

"It's awfully quiet out there tonight," Lila said, running a hair brush through her blonde hair quickly.

"Yep," Rachel answered, doing the same as Lila. While she brushed her left side, her elbow jerked and bumped into her friends arm. She turned to her to see if she was alright, and she looked like she was cringing with pain. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah..." she recoiled. It looked like she was about to cry, but she pulled herself together. "I just have a bruise there from awhile back."

Being nosy, the shorter of the two girls rolled up the sleeve of her friends dress to see how big the bruise was. She looked at it, horrified. It looked like the size of a circle Rachel could form using her thumb and index finger. "Lila! This bruise is huge! What happened?"

"At the restaurant where I work, some busboy rudely bumped me into the doorway," her explanation was short, and it didn't seem like the truth.

"What's the truth? I know you're lying," she was always able to spot a liar.

"One night while Bryan and I were sleeping, he accidentally hit me. He had forgotten to take is PSTD pills -"

"PTSD pills?"

"He was in the army before he left due to medical issues. He's fine when he takes his pills, but when he doesn't..." she answered. It sounded like a toxic relationship, but they seemed happy together.

"You look so relaxed when you're around him though," Rachel noticed.

"That's because he's taken his pills. I'm very antsy around him when he hasn't taken them."

"Has he ever hurt Skylar?"

That's when Lila's expression turned deadly. "He'd never do something like that. And this bruise on my arm is the only thing he's ever done to me. He has some issues, and they're being worked on with a psychiatrist. I know it's going to take a very long time for him to recover, you don't need to tell me that twice. He's going to need someone to help him get through this grueling process; and that person is me. I trust you Rachel, but some things you just need to leave be."

Her tone was stern, but the brunette just nodded. Not only was Lila bigger than her and could probably beat her up, but she was older. Now was a good moment to just keep her mouth shut.

Eh, not really proud of this chapter, but I wanted to put something up for all the fans of this fanfic. And I can promise you that Bryan is not abusing Lila! I'd never do that to one of my characters. Lila is telling the truth.

Coming up in chapter 9: Time skip to April. Finn and Rachel finally have that talk that will change their lives. You all know what that talk is.