The first time a student called his phone, his heart skipped a beat. Rachel's voice had sounded so small and fragile, and it scared him to hear her like this when she was usually larger than life. He got dressed in record time and, despite giving all his students lectures on safe driving, he'd broke most of the speed limits trying to get there quickly.

He pulled up in the parking lot of the cinema only to find Rachel sitting with her knees up to her chest. He didn't know what was wrong, and he knew it wasn't his place to ask, but he needed to know she was okay. She'd reassured him that she was fine, and that Finn had left her there after an argument. She then quickly reassured him yet again that it wasn't on purpose – she'd told him she'd get a lift with her dads but neither had picked up their phone, so she'd called Will.

Will was relieved that it was nothing serious, and was thankful that she trusted him enough to let him come pick her up – even if it was nearly 2am. He took her home straight away. When she got out of the car and thanked him, he waited to make sure she got in through the door okay. He sat there for a few moments, thankful that it had been nothing more serious.

The second time Will's phone goes off, it's a text.

Hey Mr S, can u phone me plz? I've no credit & I need ur help. Thnx – Sam

Will had called him right away, and Sam picked up after 2 rings. He'd ran out of gas heading home from his pizza delivery job and was unable to get hold of anyone else. Will breathed a sigh of relief. Within 10 minutes, Will was at the gas station filling up a can for Sam. Within another 5 minutes, Sam's car was ready to go.

Sam had apologised to Will for not only bringing him out at night to help him, but because he had no money to pay him back for the gas. Will had reassured him that it was fine, it was only a few dollars, but Sam still felt guilty. He promised he'd pay Will back as soon as he could afford it. Will watched as Sam drove away, feeling slightly sorry for the boy who was clearly struggling to make ends meet. He made a mental note to keep an eye on him from afar, just to make sure things were okay.

The third time Will hears from a student, it's 4.52am and he freezes. It was Quinn. When Will had answered the phone, all he could make out was tears. It took him about 5 minutes to completely calm Quinn down. His blood was running cold with fear. Quinn told him she was at the park and she needed a lift home. Will didn't even put on shoes.

He parked up and got out of the car, seeing Quinn on a bench in the distance. He approached her slowly, not wanting her to think she was in danger. When she realised who it was she leapt forward and hugged him, and a new stream of tears began making their way down her face. Will just held her like that until she felt calm enough to explain to him what had happened.

She told him that she'd gotten a letter in the post from Shelby about Beth. About how she was growing up beautifully, and how Quinn and Puck should come and visit her soon. She continued on to say that her parents had sat her down and told her to forget about her daughter, because it would only ruin her life if she accepted any responsibility or it would break her heart if she became too attached. Will was shocked that someone so young could be going through so much. Quinn then explained that she'd stormed out of her house earlier in the night because she needed to clear her head, but after being out for a few hours she realised she didn't want to go home, so she'd stayed out.

She'd asked him to take her to Rachel's house instead of her own. Will thought it was slightly strange because he'd never seen the two girls show any signs of closeness, but he didn't question it. When he dropped Quinn off, he watched as Rachel opened the door looking shocked, but as soon as she saw the state of Quinn she wrapped her in a tight hug and brought her inside.

The fourth time Will's phone rang it was Kurt. Well, he wasn't sure at first because his words were slurred and he was being a lot louder than usual, but he eventually recognised Kurt's voice. Kurt wasn't talking, he was yelling down the phone and Will had to hold it away from his ear just to make out what he was saying. He needed Will to come and pick up both him and Blaine because they'd been at a Dalton party and they'd both gotten pretty drunk. Neither wanted to phone their parents because they'd never seen them in this state before so Kurt had decided that Mr. Schue was the best option.

Will pulled up outside Dalton and looked around for Kurt and Blaine. Eventually they both came staggering along the pavement. Will wanted to feel angry for letting themselves get into this state, but he really just felt thankful that they'd called him to take them home safely. They both stumbled into the back seat and immediately linked hands, Kurt putting his shoulder on Blaine's. Both of them gave Will slurred thank yous and vague directions to their houses before falling asleep. Will looked at them in his rear view mirror and smiled to himself at how comfortable they looked together, and how the smile even stayed on Kurt's face while he slept.

The fifth time he gets a phone call from a student, Will feels sick to his stomach. It's Puck. Crying. Will doesn't know why, but he knows something major must have happened. Puck tells him he's at school sitting on the bleachers on the football field. Will ignores the red light and gets to school in record time. He pretty much sprints to where Puck said he would be and he stops dead when he sees him. Puck is sitting with his head in his hands, crying. He's covered in dirt from head to toe and there's blood coming from his lip. He'd obviously been fighting.

Will sits down beside him and puts his arm around Puck's shoulder. Puck leans into him and Will's heart begins to break. He'd never imagined that he would see Puck like this. They sit in silence for a few minutes before Puck talks. He tells Will that he's not a bad guy. He doesn't want to have to have the hard exterior all the time. He says that earlier in the night, a group of guys at the local bar had started calling him gay and that he's only on the football team to check out the guys. They'd cornered him when he went to leave and, even though he'd tried to fight back, there had been 4 of them and 1 of him so they easily overpowered him. Will could see that Puck was tired of fighting and tired of trying to keep everyone happy. It broke his heart a little to see how much these kids were willing to give up just to stay in glee club. It also made his heart swell with pride slightly.

The last time Will's phone rings it isn't anyone from the Glee club. It's not a number he recognises. He picks up.

"Hello?"

"William Schuester?"

"Yeah, that's right. Um, can I ask who this is?"

"Yes of course, sorry, this is Sister Miller from Lima Memorial Hospital. We have 2 of your students here – Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce."

Will's heart stopped.

"A-Are they okay? What happened?" He was in shock.

"Miss Lopez is in a stable condition, she's broken a few ribs, along with a few cuts and bruises. Miss Pierce is physically fine, but emotionally I think she's a little shook up. She's here now and wants to talk to you. Will I put her on?"

"Yes, please."

"Um... hi, Mr. Schue. I'm sorry I got the hospital to call you but Santana said she wished I'd called you last night, so I thought now was better than never."

"Brittany, what happened to Santana?"

"Um, yeah, we were at a party last night and we were both sort of drunk and I said we should phone you and get you to take us home, but Santana wanted to go home with Jake – you know that guy from the football team."

Will wasn't sure if he wanted to hear the rest of the story, but he stayed silent and let Brittany finish.

"I said no. I didn't want to go home with him because he was drunk and it wasn't safe, so she stormed off and left with him anyway. I thought they were gone when I heard Santana screaming from outside. When I got out there she was lying on the ground holding onto her chest. Her face was covered in blood."

Brittany's voice was breaking now, and she continued talking through tears as she recalled the previous night.

"I-I-I asked her what happened. She said something about how Jake had kissed her and she said no. But I know Santana and she never says no. She said she tried to get away from him but he followed her and hurt her. Then she stopped talking and went still and wouldn't wake up. I stayed with her the whole time Mr Schue, I didn't let her go and she didn't wake up."

Will felt a tear running down his cheek now. He imagined the scene. He imagined how scared Santana must have been and he imagined how Brittany didn't really understand what had just happened to her best friend. Brittany was always so happy and to hear her crying broke his heart.

"Brittany, she's going to be all right. Just go and stay with her now okay? I'll be there as soon as I can."

Will arrived at the hospital 20 minutes later and was led into Santana's room. Brittany was sitting beside her bed, holding her hand, and she just smiled up at him with bloodshot eyes. Santana was sleeping. She had a black eye, a split eyebrow and her lip was cut open. Will took a seat on the other side of her bed.

They sat in silence like that for a while. He could see that Brittany felt comforted by just having someone else there, and he didn't want to upset her again by asking more about what happened. After a while Brittany spoke.

"I'm sorry Mr. Schue."

"What? Why? This isn't your fault."

"Yes, it is," she hung her head. "If I'd just phoned you even when Santana didn't want me to, she wouldn't be here like this. Or if I'd just went with her it wouldn't have happened. It's my fault."

"Brittany, if you'd went with her this might have happened to you too. And even if you had rang me, I might not have got there before this happened. Don't blame yourself."

Brittany just stared at the ground. She squeezed Santana's hand harder.

"Let's just be thankful that this didn't end worse, okay? We won't let this happen again. Promise me you'll phone me from now on, if you feel scared."

"I promise."

Santana stirred. "I promise," she said softly.