Quinn stirred from her deep slumber, cocooned in the warmth of her blankets, her peaceful dreams abruptly interrupted by the intrusive buzz of her cell phone. The room was shrouded in darkness, save for the faint glow of streetlights filtering through the curtains. Grumbling to herself, she reached out blindly, her hand fumbling through the darkness until it landed on the offending device.

Rubbing her eyes, she squinted at the screen, the harsh light stabbing into her sleep-addled brain like a dagger. The name "Santana" flashed insistently, accompanied by a string of missed calls and frantic messages. Irritation bubbled within her, mingling with the remnants of drowsiness as she swiped to answer the call, her voice thick with sleep and annoyance.

"What the fuck, Santana?" she muttered, her words muffled by a yawn as she struggled to shake off the remnants of slumber.

"Yeah, it's me," came her friend's voice, crackling through the phone line. "Sorry to wake you, Sleeping Beauty."

"It's four in the freaking morning. This better be good."

"Bitch, what the fuck, how can you be asleep?"

"What do you mean, why am I sleeping?" she retorted, her annoyance mounting. "We have cheer practice in two hours."

"Your boyfriend has gone missing, and you're sleeping? Fabray, are you being serious right now?"

The words hit Quinn like a bucket of ice water, instantly banishing any remnants of sleep from her mind. Panic surged through her veins, her heart pounding with a mixture of fear and disbelief. "What do you mean Isaac's missing?" she demanded, her voice rising in pitch with each word as she scrambled to sit up in bed.

"Kurt called you, Britt too. We're all freaking out here. Where are you?"

Her stomach twisted with dread as she scanned her phone, her eyes widening in horror at the barrage of missed calls and frantic messages from her "I... I'll be there," she managed to stammer. "Where are you?"

"We're in Columbus. Taylor's place. Hurry."

With a surge of adrenaline, Quinn threw back the covers and scrambled out of bed, her heart pounding in her chest as she hastily pulled on some clothes and grabbed her keys. The cool night air hit her like a slap in the face as she raced out the door, ignoring the late hour and any semblance of traffic laws as she pushed her car to its limits.

Her mind raced with a thousand terrifying possibilities, each more horrifying than the last. She dialed Isaac's number frantically, her heart sinking with each unanswered ring. Tears blurred her vision as she fought to push down the rising sense of despair.

Finally, she screeched to a halt outside the Taylor's house, her tires skidding on the gravel as she practically leaped from the car. With trembling hands and a racing heart, she burst through the front door, her eyes wild with fear.

"Where is he?"

Brittany's arms enveloped her in a tight embrace, her slender frame trembling with the weight of fear and uncertainty. Tears glistened in her cerulean eyes, "He's been missing for like nine hours. No one knows where he is. I'm sorry, Q," she whispered, her voice choked with emotion.

Quinn sank onto the couch, her heart heavy with dread as she absorbed Brittany's words. The fabric beneath her felt cold and unfamiliar against her skin, a stark contrast to the warmth of her friend's embrace.

"How... what happened?"

"He hasn't been to class," Jayden interjected, his tone devoid of emotion as he spoke. "He hasn't come to practice today." With a sudden burst of frustration, he kicked a nearby chair, sending it toppling to the ground with a resounding thud. "Fuck!"

"Baby, calm down," Gabrielle's soothing voice cut through the tension. With tender care, she lifted the fallen chair, wrapping her arms around him as he collapsed against her, his body wracked with anguished sobs.

"I'm scared, Ellie. What if something has happened to him and he can't ask for help? I..I can't lose him."

She held him close, her own eyes brimming with tears as she struggled to find the right words to comfort him. "Shhh, let's go out for a while, okay?" she suggested softly, "Let's calm down a little and clear our minds." Her boyfriend nodded in agreement, his grip tightening around her as they made their way to the porch, the soft click of the door closing.

Meanwhile, Bailey rose from her place on the couch as she wiped away the remnants of her distress. "I'm going to make some tea and coffee," she declared quietly, her voice steady despite the tremor in her hands.

"I'll help you," Asher offered, his voice tinged with urgency. "I need... I need a distraction or I'll go crazy."

"San, I'm scared," Brittany whimpered, her voice trembling with worry as she sought refuge in her girlfriend's comforting embrace. "He's alone, what if... what if he's hurt?"

Santana, who had been absentmindedly playing with her hair, offered her a weak smile, "I'm sure he's fine," she murmured, her voice laced with uncertainty. "He's a tough guy."

"But he never gets angry."

"Baby, we all get angry sometimes."

"No. He doesn't, he never ever gets angry."

"Britt, what do you mean? That's impossible," she murmured, accepting the cup of coffee offered to her by Asher. She took a sip, the warmth of the liquid offering a fleeting sense of comfort.

The door opened once more as Jayden entered the room, his demeanor noticeably calmer than before as he settled onto the carpeted floor, a cup of coffee cradled in his hands. Gabrielle, perched on his lap, offered him a comforting smile, her fingers tracing soothing circles against his back.

"What are you all talking about?"

"Britt says Isaac never gets angry. Surely you've seen him angry, right?" Santana queried, her gaze shifting to Isaac's sibling and closest friend, a flicker of concern dancing in her dark eyes.

"In this house, we are open with our feelings. We avoid lashing out at each other if we can help it. Of course, we get frustrated, but we try not to yell at each other."

"Isaac almost never raises his voice, no matter how upset or angry he is," the brunette added sadly, "The first time he yelled at me was when we argued about your relationship, Quinn." she confessed, her voice tinged with regret.

"What did you say to him? He didn't want to tell me, but he was very upset."

"I'm not proud of it but we fought because I told him that you would hurt him in one way or another. And I asked him why, of all the girls there were, he had to focus on you. And do you know what he told me?" Quinn shook her head, "He told me that he loved you and that you made him happy. That he was tired of having to explain to people how he felt about you. I'm sorry I was so hard on you."

"Fuck you and fuck this."

The hurtful words she had hurled at Isaac in the heat of the moment flashed through her mind. She had yelled at Isaac something she didn't truly mean, she had hurt him, and all the pieces of her slowly started to fit together, making her feel physically sick.

"Isaac has a cut on his left wrist," Asher blurted out suddenly, his words cutting through the tense atmosphere like a bolt of lightning, eliciting gasps of surprise from the three cheerleaders gathered around him. His voice trembled with a mixture of apprehension and resolve as he continued.

"He accidentally cut himself during the first months he was living with us, and our mother didn't discover it until later when she saw the scar. We were all walking on eggshells around him and whenever we got into trouble, he took the blame. It didn't matter whose fault it was or whether our parents knew who it really was, Isaac always took the blame."

Brittany's eyes widened in realization, her features contorted with a mixture of shock and empathy. "Oh my god," she whispered, her voice barely above a breath. "That's why he never gets angry. He has abandonment issues."

"But he's genuinely one of the sweetest guys I know," Santana murmured, her brow furrowed with confusion. "I can't imagine..."

"We're not saying he's not," Jayden interjected, his fingers fidgeting nervously with the fabric of his shirt. "But when we were little, we often got irritated with him. As much as he took the blame for us, which came in handy sometimes, he always accepted…what came his way. He always spoke correctly, he never complained or got into trouble. He acted so perfect that it was irritating." A bitter laugh escaped his lips, tinged with the bitter sting of regret. "What was a 12-year-old child doing acting like an adult?"

"We talked to our parents, and they started to notice a pattern," Gabrielle recounted, her voice soft yet resolute as Brittany, Santana, and Quinn listened intently, tears glistening in their eyes.

"They decided to talk to Hannah, his psychologist," she continued, her voice trembling slightly. "She told them that Isaac had adopted this people-pleaser personality because perhaps he was struggling with abandonment issues after the car crash."

"One day, when Isaac wasn't home, our parents sat down with us," Asher recounted, his voice cracking with emotion as he relived the memory. "They told us that he didn't do it on purpose, that Isaac had a little voice in his head that made him think that if he accidentally had a slip-up or protested about something, we would decide that we didn't want him anymore."

Jayden smiled weakly, "They told us that he saw himself as a broken toy. That something was wrong with him and she then encouraged us all to be open with our feelings. Let Isaac know that we weren't going to love him any less if he made a mistake or got into trouble."

"He tends to take the blame for things he hasn't done or caused because that fucking voice in his head tells him he's the problem," he snapped. His breathing was rapid, his chest heaving with the weight of pent-up frustration and anger. "That something he said or did made the other person upset, and he feels the need to apologize."

Brittany's heart ached with empathy as she watched the turmoil etched upon her friend's face, his features contorted with a mixture of anguish and rage.

"Exhibit A: He bought me sushi to apologize for yelling at me,"Gabrielle admitted guiltily, "Isaac doesn't like sushi."

The three sitting on the floor exchanged glances, their eyes speaking volumes as they silently communicated. Finally, Jayden nodded, his expression grave yet determined, and the three turned to look at the three girls sitting on the couch.

"Exhibit B: Emily Parker."

"Who's Emily Parker?"

"Emily Parker was the first girlfriend Isaac had, and the only one he's had before you," Asher said, his gaze softening as he looked towards Quinn with a small smile, "She was—"

"A bitch," Gabrielle spat, her arms crossed tightly over her chest, her voice dripping with venom. "She was a huge fucking bitch."

The eyebrows of the three cheerleaders shot up in surprise as they witnessed the depth of the missing boy's sister's animosity towards his brother's ex-girlfriend.

"Emily," Jayden continued, his touch gentle as he sought to calm his girlfriend's rising anger by rubbing her shoulders soothingly, "was a girl from the school drama club that Isaac met at a party the summer before our freshman year."

"Thing is, she asked him out, and at first, she was great. They were like the perfect couple." Gabrielle interjected again, her words were laced with bitterness. "A few months later, the problems began."

"What do you mean?"

"Emily was jealous and clingy. She didn't like any girl approaching him and demanded that Isaac always be with he tried to argue with her about this, she told him that she loved him and that couples had to be together. Naturally, my brother felt guilty, thinking that maybe he was neglecting their relationship."

"That bitch Emily is a walking red flag."

"That's not the worst thing," Asher murmured as he recalled the painful memories of his brother's tumultuous relationship. "By dating him, Emily gained some popularity, and guys started noticing her, trying to flirt with her. When Isaac pointed that out, she just said that he didn't have to be jealous, nor did he have the right to be upset because male-female relationships were possible."

"That's so mean," Brittany said, her voice tinged with sadness.

"The big scandal came when Isaac had a breakdown during dinner and confessed to making a grave mistake—he had gotten Emily pregnant."

Santana's reaction was explosive, her voice piercing the air with a mixture of shock and disbelief. "Isaac, a father? Why was I kept in the dark about this?"

The blond boy shook his head, a wry chuckle escaping his lips as he clarified, "Thankfully, Isaac isn't a father—but at the time, none of us were aware of that. It sparked utter chaos. Word spread like wildfire throughout the school, and Emily began to blame Isaac for everything that happened to her"

"A few months later, whispers started circulating that she had slept with a senior," Asher interjected, her expression clouded with displeasure, "but Emily had made to have sex with Isaac to 'secure' the baby's paternity."

"So, she essentially baby trapped him? That conniving witch! If I ever cross paths with her, I swear I'll drag her through the streets by her hair."

"One day, I overheard Emily in a heated argument with the real baby daddy, she was livid, asserting that he was a loser and that Isaac would make the perfect father. It was infuriating to witness, knowing Isaac was already shouldering immense stress—juggling school, hockey, and the looming responsibility of providing for a child he believed to be his own."

"I called my mother, who is a lawyer, and we demanded a paternity test from Emily. We gave her two options; either she would stay away from Isaac forever, or we would take her to court. When the truth came out," Jayden continued, his voice tinged with sorrow, "Isaac changed a lot."

"A lot? In what sense?"

"He started partying a lot, and although he seemed to remain the same as always, he didn't trust anyone."

"Lover Boy had a fuckboy era?"

"He went on four or five dates, but they didn't last long enough because Isaac didn't feel able to have sex with her, and Emily was to blame for everything."

"Blame, why?"

"We didn't find out until later but Emily always told Isaac that sex was just that, sex. That couples had sex."

The color drained from Quinn's face and without a word, she rose from her seat and fled to the bathroom, the sound of retching echoing through the silence as she remembered what had happened between her and her boyfriend.

"Please tell me you're not pregnant."

Quinn turned to see her best friend, looking at her with a raised eyebrow, her brown eyes reflecting a mixture of concern and apprehension.

"What? No! We haven't even had sex."

"Then why did you run away like that?"

She sighed heavily as sank onto the toilet seat, her face buried in her hands as she struggled to find the words to explain. "Do you remember the pictures of me that came out?" she began, her voice choked with emotion as she recounted the painful memory.

" knows it's you, and told Britt and me that he took it well."

"Well, let's say after that, I went to Isaac's house, and we started to make out and I tried to— but he stopped me, and I...I yelled at him. I yelled at him, "Why did you have to be so sentimental about everything?" That it was just sex, and maybe I also made him understand that he was just using me for sex.I didn't... I didn't know about Emily. Oh my God, Santana, this is all my fault."

"You didn't," Santana scowled, her voice tinged with frustration. "Quinn, why did you do that?"

"I know it's a shitty excuse, but I felt insecure about myself. Lucy is something that makes me extremely insecure." She laughed bitterly, the sound ringing hollow in the confined space of the bathroom. "What good is being Quinn Fabray if the only guy I want to want me doesn't want me?"

"Now I understand why he was so upset on Monday."

"Monday?"

"Bitch, I thought you saw him. He was literally in the hallway. He was carrying a bouquet of flowers or something in his hand. How did you not see him? He's so freaking tall."

Quinn closed her eyes, a wave of realization crashing over her as she pieced together the events described. "Shit," she muttered under her breath, "he saw me talking to Sam. Santana, don't look at me like that," she pleaded, her voice tinged with desperation. "He approached me and asked me on a date. I told him no, that we were just friends and that I had a boyfriend." She shook her head, her heart heavy with regret. "Fuck, Isaac must have seen me talking to Sam and thought that I was already getting over him."

"You broke up? I thought you loved him."

"I love him, Santana but when we fought, my head was a fucking mess. I had Lucy in my head, and I just wanted to forget about it." Tears welled in her eyes, the weight of her own words settling heavily upon her shoulders. "He kept asking me what was wrong, and instead of telling him, I snapped and... and told him to go fuck himself and whatever this was and he interpreted it as a breakup." Her voice broke on the last word, a sob escaping her lips as the reality of her own actions washed over her like a tidal wave. "How can I be so stupid?"

"You're not stupid," Santana murmured, her voice soft with reassurance as she wrapped her arms around her friend, "The problem I'm starting to see is that you both got into this relationship too quickly."

"What are you talking about?"

"You have communication problems, Quinn. Both of you. A part of you still hasn't forgiven him for those years when he didn't remember you."

Quinn's breath caught in her throat, memories of the years she had spent longing for Isaac, only to be met with confusion and indifference, flooded her mind.

"Lucy fell in love with him, but what about you? You said it yourself, Lucy and Quinn are very different people. Isaac is blissfully unaware of everything you suffered while he was haven't told him, and you need to. You can't have a relationship with him if you keep clinging to the past like that."

"I love him."

"Lucy loved him," Santana corrected her gently, her voice filled with compassion. "He's not the Isaac you remember, and you're not the Lucy he forgot."

Jayden's cell phone pierced through the silence of the dining room, its shrill ringtone jolting them all awake from their fitful slumber. Exhausted and wrought with worry, they had brought mattresses and sleeping bags into the dining room, hoping to be within reach of any news about Isaac.

"It's him. Oh god, it's him," he muttered in disbelief, his eyes widening in shock as he stared at the caller ID. "IT'S ISAAC! WAKE UP!"

The air crackled with tension as his trembling hands reached for the phone, his fingers fumbling with the device as he struggled to answer the call. With a sense of urgency born of desperation, he activated the speakerphone, his entire family clustering around him with bated breath, their eyes fixed on the phone with a mixture of anxiety and expectation.

"Hello? Isaac?"

"Um, hi," came an unfamiliar female voice through the line, sending a ripple of confusion through the room.

"Not to be rude or anything, but who are you and what are you doing with Isaac's cell phone?"

"Oh, forgive my manners. My name is Daphne," the girl responded, her tone laced with a hint of embarrassment. "Your boyfriend saved me last night."

"He's not my—what do you mean he saved you?"

"Three men were harassing me outside a nightclub, and Isaac stopped them from—he stopped things from escalating. It was quite a feat considering the state he was in. If it wasn't for him, I would be in a hospital right now or... or dead.

"How is he?" Jayden asked, a knot of fear tightening in his chest at the thought of his best friend risking his safety to help someone else.

"Alive. Breathing. Yesterday though, he was very hammered, he could barely stand, and yet he managed to knock down three men much more sober than him. I'm just calling to let you know that he's alive, high on painkillers but alive. He has several bruises on his face, a split lip, and some bruises on his ribs, but other than that, he's fine."

A collective wave of relief washed over the room as they absorbed the news, tears of gratitude and relief welling in their eyes as they embraced one another, their fears momentarily assuaged by the knowledge that Isaac was alive.

"Are you in a hospital? Can we go see him?"

"I'm a nursing student, so I patched him up myself," Daphne explained, her voice warm with reassurance. "But you can come get him. He won't take long to wake up. I'll send you my address."