Author's Note One: The sequel is finally ready to begin posting! If you did not read 'Scared To Death', you should go back and read it now or things will be confusing. This story is a multi-point-of-view story. Sam is listed because this universe started out revolving around him, but the other characters are getting their turns now. This is an AU Season Three and this universe went AU after 2x10. If you have not read the previous but would like to read this story, I will post a short summary of the events in 'Perfect' in the second Author's Note at the bottom. You might get a little confused at first, but you should be able to pick up soon. Thank you so much to my wonderful beta Joleigh13!

Story Warnings: Child abuse, mentions of child molestation, mentions of racism, eating disorders, serious illness, suicidal themes, minor character death.

Sam Evans smiled as he headed into William McKinley High for the first day of school. For once, no one in the school would have to worry about returning simply to spend the year being tormented by other students. The year before, Sam and his friends had finally had enough. After putting up with the bullying as long as they could, and after Finn was beaten up, they came up with a plan to put an end to what was going on in the school. Luckily, their plan worked and a much more effective bullying policy was put into place.

He was looking forward to being reunited with the rest of his club. They had all stayed in contact over the summer and spent as much time together as possible, but he was glad that they would soon be seeing each other daily. However, they wouldn't all be together. Santana wasn't yet able to return to school. She had started her Consolidation Therapy the past Saturday and all of them were hoping and praying that she would stay in remission. After everything they had been through together, New Directions was determined to not let cancer take their friend.

The Turner family had begun the adoption process for him and Aiden over the Summer and part of him still couldn't quite believe it. After spending so many years in foster care, it still amazed him that he had finally found a family that wanted him, especially with the baggage he came with now. After months of therapy, he felt like he was really getting better. He had friends and a girlfriend, the bullying had stopped, he was recovering and being adopted and Santana was in remission. For once, life looked pretty good for him.

"Hey, guys!" Sam said as he spotted Finn and Kurt walking through the halls with the exchange student who was staying with them.

"Sam! Are you coming to the choir room?" Finn asked.

"Yeah. What do you think of the school so far, Rory?" Sam asked the Irish exchange student as they walked into the Glee Club's meeting room.

"It seems nice." the fourteen-year-old replied with a shy smile.

New Directions had decided to meet up in the choir room before Glee started, so they could all see each other as well as meet the people they knew would be joining. In addition to Rory, Artie's cousin, Justin, Miles, and Puck's little sister, Sarah, would be joining as well. The new, younger members joining would definitely be good news for the next school year, considering that half of the current club were seniors. The members slowly began trickling into the room, greeting each other with hugs and explaining things to the new members.

Sarah had a feeling that even if she hadn't loved singing, her brother still would have insisted that she join the Glee Club and she knew that even if she had complained, she would have done it. As much as Noah could drive her crazy, she knew that he was only trying to look out for her. He didn't really have anyone to do that for him, but he tried to make sure that she did, so she did her best not to complain much. However, sometimes his overprotective brother act did get pretty annoying.

She looked around the room at the people gathered there. She knew most of them already, though she hadn't met Justin and Rory yet. Puck had been friends with Finn, Quinn and Santana since he was a kid and the others had been part of his life for two years, or one year in the case of Sam and Lauren. Though Puck rarely brought friends home, he did take her with him occasionally, so she was familiar with the members of New Directions. She thought it was a little odd that there was no sign of the dreadlocks Puck had told her about under Miles' hat, but then again, with the stories she had been told about his parents, it was easy to realize that he had finally been forced into a haircut.

She supposed that it was nice to be able to start High School already knowing so many of the older kids, but that was the problem, they were all older. None of her friends had plans of joining the Glee Club, the notorious unpopularity of the club had scared the ones that could sing away even with the new bullying policy. She glanced back over at the boys she had just been introduced to. Rory had already been introduced to her as another freshman by Finn who had led him around happily introducing him to everyone, even the ones who had already met him.

She knew that Justin was younger then Artie, but she didn't know if he was a sophomore or a freshman. She would just have to find out. He was unusually short, a fact that she assumed was why Artie had been hovering near him at first, until he seemed to realize that no one was going to say anything about it. Short or not though, she couldn't deny that he was cute. She had heard from Puck that he moved in with Artie due to problems with his stepfather, but she had yet to hear the whole story. There was a lot to be curious about with this new boy.

"Hi, I'm Sarah." she said as she walked towards him.

"Alright, your first class is this way, I'll show you." Finn said as they left the choir room, heading in the direction of Rory's first period class with the younger boy trailing behind him like a puppy.

Finn had been thrilled when his family had decided to take in an exchange student. He had jumped right in with the preparations and when Rory had shown up Finn had instantly taken him under his wing as another little brother. Both Hummel-Hudson brothers had been even further thrilled to discover that the young boy could sing and he had found himself instantly recruited to the Glee Club. Luckily, Rory had found the idea of joining a club with Finn and Kurt wonderful and jumped right on board.

After all Kurt's complaints about how Finn was with him, Finn had found it secretly amusing how quickly Kurt had become protective of their new housemate as well. He had been a little worried for the younger boy when they first arrived at the school. Even with the new bullying policy, he knew that there were still whispered insults in the halls and that anyone different could still be shunned. Rory's face had lit up when heard that Puck's sister was in his grade and he had been beaming ever since Puck had looked over his shoulder at his schedule and commented that he had several classes with Sarah.

Puck had of course followed that statement up by ordering Rory to look after Sarah and Rory had instantly nodded, promising he would and looking mildly afraid of the boy with the Mohawk. Finn had managed to bite back his laughter. Finn had a feeling that Puck would drive Sarah crazy with his protectiveness, but he knew that he didn't have much room to talk anymore. He might possibly have nearly had a panic attack over the summer when Kurt fell off of a ladder that he didn't think the witnesses would be letting him forget any time soon.

As Brittany made her way to her next class, she couldn't help think that it was weird to be in school without Santana. She didn't like it. Santana was always there to make sure she didn't get lost going to her classes, but now Santana was sick and Brittany couldn't figure out where she was supposed to go. Sam had helped her find her first class, but none of her friends had actually had the class with her. She didn't know where to go now.

Santana had been sick for a long time and Brittany wanted her back. It wasn't just that she couldn't find her classes alone, Santana was her best friend. Brittany got to visit Santana a lot, but they never got to go anywhere anymore. Santana always had to stay in the hospital and Brittany thought that really didn't sound like fun at all. She knew that her friend had cancer and that was bad, but Santana would be okay. She had to be. She was Santana.

Sometimes Santana seemed to be okay when she visited, she looked tired and her hair was gone, but they could talk and laugh and it seemed kind of normal for a little while. Other days though, Santana would be really sick and Brittany didn't understand why it went back and forth like that. It just didn't make any sense. Santana was in the hospital so she could get better. The last couple of weeks Santana had seemed a lot better she told Brittany that the cancer was going away. Brittany hadn't understood why Santana had cried when she had said she was happy that Santana wouldn't have to miss the first day of school.

Miles, who had been there as well, had quickly explained that even though she was getting better, she had to keep taking her medicine so it didn't come back again and that it would be at least a few more months before Santana would be back at school. Brittany still didn't really understand it, but she didn't want Santana to cry again. As long as Santana did come back, she supposed it would be okay.

"Hey, Britt! We have second period together, remember?" Puck called, motioning for her to follow him.

Mike smiled as he stepped into his next class. Senior Year was off to a pretty good start. He knew the others were a little upset, but he was trying to look on the bright side of things. Santana was in remission, Sam was really starting to recover and for once at the start of a school year, the whole club was getting along. As far as he knew, no one was fighting, no grudges were being held and with the new anti-bullying policy, no one had even been slushied yet. He could get used to this.

When Finn slipped into the seat next to him, Mike turned to his friend, "How have things gone so far with you?" he asked.

"Pretty good." the other boy replied, "Nobody tried to throw Kurt in a dumpster or shove him in a locker, nobody's even slushied us and we've gotten Rory to all his classes."

"Does Kurt realize you're looking out for him, or does he think you're both just helping Rory?" Mike said with a smirk.

"I'm not sure," Finn said, his eyebrows furrowed for a moment, "but he hasn't yelled at me yet."

Quinn couldn't fight back the smile that sprang to her lips when Sam sat next to her with his tray. She had missed the two of them being able to simply have lunch together and talk every day. With the progress he had made over the summer, she had a feeling lunch would be a little less stressful on the both of them as well. She knew that it still wasn't easy for him, but he had gotten fairly good at eating most of his food at meal times and he was finally back to a healthy weight. She was so proud of him. She knew that his recovery had been -and still was - very hard.

"So how did the kids do this morning?" she asked with a smile.

"Ellie and Anna were pretty excited about the first day back; Aiden really didn't appreciate having to wake up early again though." Sam said with a laugh, "Once we got him up he did pretty well too though."

"Ellie started eighth grade this year, right? She'll be in high school next year." Quinn said, smirking at her boyfriend.

"I know, she reminded us all of that many times this morning." he replied.

"How's everything going with the adoption?" Quinn asked, changing the subject.

"It's going. Adoptions always take a while, but everything's good so far." he replied smiling and getting the same look of wonder he always got in his eyes when the adoption came up.

They kept small talk up for the rest of their lunch period, both simply happy to be together. When the bell finally rang, Quinn shot a look at his tray and smiled. She looked up at him, pride in her eyes after seeing his empty tray. He had blushed and grinned back before heading to put his tray up and make his way to his next class. She was so happy that he was finally doing better.

Rachel Berry walked through the halls of McKinley with a smile on her face. The year was off to a wonderful start. She had so far avoided any bullying incidents and with four new members of New Directions. They were already well on their way to off-setting the loss the club would suffer when the seniors graduated. This was definitely a good start to the year. Perhaps now they could all concentrate on keeping their national title.

That national title was going to look wonderful on her college applications, even more so if it was repeated. Snagging a second nationals win was her goal for the year. They had already proved they were good, now it was time to keep that attention and make everyone know they were great. New Directions would be going places. None of them were going to be 'Lima Losers'. They had big dreams and she was determined that they were going to happen.

She was looking forward to seeing what the new members could do that afternoon when they auditioned. She already knew that Miles could sing, but she needed to figure out just how much training the others would require. She had to make sure they were up to being a part of the best show choir in the country. New Directions was going to stay on top.

Justin managed to make his way back to the choir room just behind his cousin. He had always liked singing and he knew that Artie's show choir had just won a national competition, so joining New Directions wasn't a big decision for him, but he still wasn't sure how he felt about it. It wasn't fair that he had to leave all his old friends behind and he still wasn't thrilled about having to make all new friends. If his mom just hadn't married that stupid guy and taken his side, he wouldn't be here in a new school without anyone he knew except his cousin. It wasn't fair.

It was obvious that Artie had already told his friends about him and they did try not to stare, he had to give them that. The problem was that the rest of the school wasn't so courteous. He was sick of the whispers already and it was only the first day. It didn't help that none of the Glee Club members were in his grade so there was nobody even there to buffer the others. He was perfectly aware that he was short; he didn't need the reminders from everyone who saw him.

He sat down near his cousin and waited for the others to file in, exchanging quick greetings with a few of them. It wasn't long before the teacher walked in and announced that it was time to begin the auditions. The two boys that he knew were brothers instant jumping up, pulling a third boy who he remember was named Rory with them and nearly dragged him to the front of the class.

"I almost feel sorry for him." Artie said under his breath as the boy began to sing, both older boys shooting looks around the room as if daring anyone to not look impressed even though Rory was clearly very talented.

"Why?" Justin asked.

"Because they seem to have adopted him. Finn drives Kurt crazy on his own, Rory gets to deal with them both." his cousin said with an amused tone in his voice.

Justin glanced back at the other two boys before replying, "Overprotective?" he asked with a small smirk.

"Oh, yeah. Finn had a good reason to be protective of Kurt though, and Kurt probably won't be anywhere near as bad as Finn..." Artie replied softly before they both applauded as Rory finished.

As soon as Rory sat back down, a young girl came to the front and when Artie confirmed that the boy shooting similar protective glares at the others was her older brother, Justin nearly laughed. She was certainly going to be in for it dealing with him if Artie's stories of his friend Puck were anything to go by. Once she finished he finally stood and made his way to the front of the room. He hadn't been sure at first about choosing his song, but he finally decided that the others likely knew at least part of the story anyway.

"I'll be singing 'The Older I Get' by Skillet." he said as the music started.

"The walls between
You and I
Always pushing us apart

nothing left but scars fight after fight"

He closed his eyes at first as he sang the opening lines of the song, pretending that he was just singing the song in his room like he had done so many times over the last month.

"The space between
Our calm and rage
started growing shorter,

disappearing slowly day after day"

Everything had been okay until Peter came into the mix. He had never had a perfect relationship with his mother, but they were okay until she started dating him. He had clashed with the man from the beginning and his mother had never taken his side.

"I was sitting there waiting in my room for you
You were waiting for me too
And it makes me wonder"

He had known it was coming. He stayed up every night she was out with Peter, waiting for her to come home and dreading the day when she gave him the news. Even though he saw it coming, he'd still locked himself in his room for the whole next day after she told him they were engaged.

The older I get
Will I get over it
It's been way too long for the times we missed

I didn't know then it would hurt like this

The closer it got to the wedding, the more Peter was at the house and the more Peter was at the house, the more they fought, with his mom always taking her fiancé's' side; never his. He spent more time locking himself in his room than he spent outside of it.

"But I think the older I get
Maybe I'll get over it
It's been way too long for the times we missed
I can't believe it still hurts like this"

He had begged her not to marry the man, but all that had done was make her angrier with him. It wasn't long before it seemed like he was fighting with his mother over everything, not just Peter. Barely a day went by without a screaming match.

"The time between
Those cutting words
Built up our defenses never made no sense

it just made me hurt"

He wished he understood what he had done in the first place that made her choose a man over him. He had never been the type to get into much trouble and he had always done okay in school. He didn't understand why she loved Peter so much more than her own son.

"Do you believe
That time heals all wounds
It started getting better

But it's easy not to fight when I'm not with you"

They hadn't fought as much in the last several weeks, but there was a reason for that. School had only been out a month before his fights with Peter got to the point that his new step-father gave his mother a choice, himself or Justin. She had chosen her husband and he found himself moving in with his uncle's family.

"I was sitting there waiting in my room for you
You were waiting for me too
And it makes me wonder"

It still felt like yesterday that she had told him. He'd never expected to be kicked out of his house at fifteen. He had never expected his mother to tell him that she would rather have someone else around than him, but she had. He knew that one would take a long time to get over.

"The older I get
Will I get over it
It's been way too long for the times we missed

I didn't know then it would hurt like this"

It had been three weeks now since he'd even seen his mother, she had visited once after he moved, but she hadn't come back since. It didn't take much for Justin to figure out why. Peter didn't want her to.

"But I think the older I get
Maybe I'll get over it
It's been way too long for the times we missed
I can't believe it still hurts like this"

He couldn't help but hope that maybe, someday, she would remember that she loved him. Maybe someday, she would choose him again. He didn't think there was much of a chance of Peter ever deciding that he liked him, but maybe eventually, his mom would again. Then maybe, things would be okay again.

"What was I waiting for
I should've taken less and given you more
I should've weathered the storm"

Sometimes he wondered if maybe he should have tried harder. Maybe at first, before things had gotten so out of control, he could have found some common ground with the man who was now his stepfather. Maybe there was something he would have done to prevent this mess he was in now. Maybe if he had even just kept his mouth shut about it he at least wouldn't have fought so much with his mother.

"I need to say so bad
What were you waiting for
This could have been the best we ever had"

Even as he wondered what he could have done the hurt and the anger came back when he wondered why his mother hadn't even tried. She had never talked to Peter about treating him better. She had never even tried to see his side, before taking her new husband's. This shouldn't have had to happen.

"The older I get
Will I get over it
It's been way too long for the times we missed
I didn't know then it would hurt like this"

He was so angry that she had let things get so far. He was her son. Shouldn't he have come first? Was there any way they could ever come back from this?

"But I think the older I get
Maybe I'll get over it
It's been way too long for the times we missed
I can't believe it still hurts like this"

He sang the last few lines of the song, the hurt and anger clear in his voice before he finally opened his eyes and looked at the members of the club. Shock pretty much covered the looks on their faces. A few of the girls were crying and he tried not to blush as he made his way back to his seat.

Miles had sat in silence as he watched the others perform. They had definitely all done well and he thought they would fit into the group. However, now it was his turn. He knew what song he wanted to sing, but he also knew that it would be an emotional one for the whole group. He had to do it though. He had made his choice and this was all a tribute to his girlfriend. It wasn't fair that she had to miss the first day of her senior year.

He stood up and made his way to the front of the room, "I'll be singing 'Sara Beth' by Rascal Flatts." he said, seeing the realization hit in the eyes of a few of his friends as the music began.

"Sara Beth is scared to death
To hear what the doctor will say
She hasn't been well, since the day that she fell
And the bruise it just won't go away"

As he sang the opening lines of the song, he found himself glad that his girlfriend at least hadn't been as scared as the girl in the song at first. Santana had been convinced that her parents were overreacting and until she had gotten the diagnosis, she had refused to believe anything was wrong. As he looked out at the group, he realized that most of the others had realized what the song was about.

"So she sits and she waits with her mother and dad
And flips through an old magazine
Till the nurse with the smile stands at the door
And says, 'Will you please come with me?'"

There were already tears in the eyes of a few people - especially the girls who had barely recovered from Justin's song. He wondered what Santana would think when word of his audition song got back to her.

"Sara Beth is scared to death
Cause the doctor just told her the news
Between the red cells and white, something's not right
But we're gonna take care of you"

Miles felt tears spring into his own eyes as he sang that part, remembering how terrified his girlfriend had been that day. It had been a long time since he had felt as helpless as he had that night, holding Santana while she cried.

"Six chances in ten, it won't come back again
With the therapy we're gonna try
It's just been approved, it's the strongest there is
And I think we caught it in time
And Sara Beth closes her eyes"

He remembered the numb tone in her voice when she had finally explained what all the doctor had told her. He had instantly latched on to phrases like 'caught it in time' and 'good chance'. He couldn't lose her.

"And she dreams she's dancing
Around and around without any cares
And her very first love is holding her close
And a soft wind is blowing her hair"

He knew how scared Santana was and how much she just wanted it all to go away. This was supposed to be her senior year but she was going to be stuck going in and out of the hospital for chemotherapy. It wasn't fair. By the point all of the girls were crying, Sam had his arms wrapped comfortingly around Quinn and Finn was doing the same for Rachel while Mike held Tina's hand. Lauren was trying to pretend she wasn't crying and Puck seemed to know better than to break the illusion, even though he had tears in his eyes as well.

"Sara Beth is scared to death
As she sits holding her mom
Says 'It would be a mistake for someone to take
A girl with no hair to the prom'"

Kurt closed his eyes for a moment and blinked back tears, Miles assumed he was remembering shaving Santana's head for her. She had made the choice very quickly, but Kurt had been right there for her when she needed him. He had even shown up with a wig for her a week later.

"For just this morning, right there on her pillow
Was the cruelest of any surprise
And she cried when she gathered it all in her hands
The proof that she couldn't deny
And Sara Beth closes her eyes"

Miles hadn't been there when Santana had made the choice to shave her head, but he had been there with her a few nights later when it had really hit her that her hair was gone. It had taken nearly an hour for him to convince her that he didn't care if she had hair or not, he still loved her and she was still beautiful to him.

"And she dreams she's dancing
Around and around without any cares
And her very first love was holding her close
And a soft wind is blowing her hair"

He's determined to see her get better. They all are. None of them can stand the thought of losing her; it's as clear as day on their faces as they listen to him sing. Santana has got to stay in remission. He doesn't know what he would do if he lost her.

"It's quarter to seven, that boy's at the door
And her daddy ushers him in
And when he takes off his cap
They all start to cry"

Miles was a little nervous as he began to finish out the song, but he didn't regret what he had done. It was for Santana and he would do anything for her. So as he sang those lines, he did exactly what the boy in the song had done, and he took of that hat he had been wearing all day.

"For this morning where his hair had been
Softly she touches just skin"

There wasn't a dry eye in the room when he revealed his own bald head. He had thought about doing it earlier, but he had decided to make it his tribute to her when the school year started again. He wanted to prove to her that he really did love her, and there was no way on this earth that he was forgetting about her.

"And they go dancing
Around and around without any cares
And her very first true love is holding her close
And for a moment she isn't scared"

He sang the final words of the song and was suddenly pulled into a gigantic group hug. The members of New Directions surrounded him, all in tears but half of them smiling. He was starting to get what they meant. Glee club really was a family.

Author's Note Two: I really hope you guys liked this! I've decided to update every Monday until/unless I get a good bit ahead in writing. These are longer chapters and I don't want to rush myself and affect the quality of the story.

This Universe So Far:

Sam Evans has been in foster care for most of his life. He's been bounced from home to home but the last home he was in was horrible. Sam spent three years suffering severe physical abuse and was only removed from the home when he called 911 after his younger foster brother was hurt. He was then been placed with the Turner Family, who had an adopted daughter (Ellie) and three foster children (Seth - who later went home -, Anna and Aiden). Sam was terrified that his new family wouldn't keep him and began a dangerous quest to be perfect and developed an eating disorder along the way. When his friends and family finally figured out what was wrong, they rallied around him to help and he was officially diagnosed with Anorexia and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

After Kurt left school, the bullies turned their attention to Finn. Over the course of several months, his bullying became worse and worse until one morning everything came to a head. Karofsky and two friends cornered Finn in the hallway and beat him. Sam, Puck and Artie came to his rescue and the Gleeks decided something had to be done. Kurt returned, unable to stay tucked away in his safe boarding school while his brother wasn't safe and knowing their parents couldn't afford to send them both to Dalton. Together, the members of New Directions came up with a plan that successfully cause a much stricter anti-bullying policy to be enacted at McKinley.

New Directions went on to win Nationals and at Sam's sixteenth birthday party, his foster parents announced their intentions to adopt Sam and Aiden. Everything seemed to be going well until Santana became sick. When her parents became worried and brought her in for testing, it was discovered that she had leukemia. With the support of her friends and her new boyfriend Miles, Santana made it through her first round of treatments and is now in remission.