Junior Year

28

At the end of the day, Quinn waited outside Sam's last class for him. When the dismissal bell rang, Sam wouldn't be able to avoid her anymore.

"Sam." Quinn said as she grabbed the blonde's arm when he exited the classroom.

Sam looked down quickly. "Hey, Quinn. What's up?"

"What's up?" Quinn repeated. "Where the hell have you been?"

"I've been busy with homework, football, and my brother and sister." Sam answered.

"Can you look at me?" Quinn requested.

Sam slowly looked up at Quinn.

"How can you see with your hair like that?" Quinn asked as she pushed Sam's hair out of his face. She saw that he had a black eye, though it was slightly faded. "What happened to your eye?"

"I got hurt at football practice on Saturday." Sam lied.

Quinn raised her eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah, Finn didn't go, so I had to fill in." Sam nodded.

"Thanks to Rachel, I know for a fact that Finn did go." Quinn said. "So why don't you tell me what really happened to your eye?"

Sam sighed. "I got into a fight with Puck on Saturday after practice."

"Sam." Quinn frowned. "That's a losing battle."

"I made his nose bleed." Sam shrugged.

"Why did you get in a fight with him?" Quinn wondered.

"I told him to stay away from you before he tries to hurt you again, and he told me I would never be able to take care of you like he could." Sam explained. "He wanted me to remember that he's Beth's dad, and I'm not."

"Then he hit you?" Quinn asked.

Sam shook his head. "I told him you choose me over him everyday. And he thought that the promise ring was an engagement ring, and he flipped out, so we both started throwing punches."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Quinn questioned Sam.

"I saw how you were when he was visiting Beth." Sam answered. "You were different. Really happy."

"I'm sorry he hit you." Quinn sighed. "I'll talk to him."

"I'm handling it." Sam said. "I made an appointment with Principal Figgins."

"You can't talk to Figgins about this." Quinn stated.

"Why not?" Sam wondered.

"Puck will get suspended, or expelled." Quinn responded.

Sam looked at Quinn.

"He'll get sent back to juvie, and Beth will probably never see him again." Quinn explained.

Sam bit his lip. "I don't want that to happen."

"I know." Quinn nodded.

"You'll talk to him then?" Sam asked.

"I'll talk to him." Quinn repeated. "Please don't go to Figgins."

"I won't." Sam promised.