Chapter One

Prompt: 2 A.M.

She was quite prone to nightmares.

Ever since she was a little girl, Rachel never seemed to let a month go bye without having a couple of nightmares here and there. They were usually about the people she cared about or an event that had happened to her. Her most common nightmares were her fathers divorcing, her holding the hand of the mother she never knew in a crowded area and then her mother disappears, and more recently, her drowning in an endless sea of ice cold slushies.

But that wasn't the cast tonight. Tonight, Rachel had a dream she had never experienced before. But it was a powerful one – powerful enough that she woke up with a scream and sweat covering her body.

The dream had just felt so real; more real than most of the bad dreams she had. There had been a boy, and the things she saw happen to him…

Remembering the events she saw in her mind made tears appear. What if…what if it hadn't been a dream? What if what she saw really happened? Or maybe would happen sometime in the future?

She had to know. There was no way she could sleep again without knowing for certain this boy was alright. So without a second thought, she grabbed her cell phone and dialed his number.

"Come on…pick up…" she mumbled as the phone beeped. Just because it was the middle of the night didn't mean he needed to take this long to answer.

"Hello?" a tired, groggy voice finally said on the other end.

"Hi, Sam," Rachel said with a sigh of relief.

"Rachel? Why are you calling? You know it's 2 A.M. right?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I know, and I'm really sorry for disturbing you. It's just…"

"Just what?" Rachel sighed. She had to explain herself; she just didn't want him to laugh at her.

"I had a bad dream." she answered lamely.

"A bad dream," Sam repeated after a short pause.

"Yes…about…you."

"Oh," Sam's voice was suddenly calm now, Rachel noticed, as opposed to slightly annoyed and irritated from before.

"And it just felt so real and all these horrid things happened to you and I-I just needed to make sure-" Rachel was speaking very quickly now, rapidly becoming hysterical.

"Calm down Rachel, it's okay. I'm perfectly fine. I might be a little sleepy, but other than that, I couldn't be better." Sam reassured her.

"Really?"

"Really. I promise."

"Good. Sorry I called you. Usually when I get my nightmares I just listen to my Wicked soundtrack and fall back to sleep but this one was…different." Rachel explained.

"Do get nightmares a lot or something?" The question surprised Rachel. It was an innocent question, yes, but it just sounded almost like Sam…cared.

"Um, yes, actually. I have maybe five a month. It's no big deal though. It's been going on ever since I was little."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Rachel. Well, was calling me any help?" For the first time all night, Rachel smiled.

"It was very helpful."

"Good. Well, if you ever need to talk to someone after one of your nightmares again, you could call me." Rachel could believe this offer. It was so kind and thoughtful.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Wow. Thank you, Sam; for the offer and for this talk."

"You're welcome. See you tomorrow in French?" Rachel wasn't completely sure why, but hearing him say he'd see her some place other than glee felt oddly nice.

"Absolutely."

"G'night, Rachel." Sam said with a chuckle.

"Night, Sam." Rachel said before ending the conversation. She looked at her phone for a moment, amazed at what had just happened. Sam wasn't much like the other people in glee. In fact, he wasn't much like anyone else Rachel had ever met.

Rachel called Sam every single time she woke up from a bad dream after that night. And he never seemed to mind. He would let her explain what she had dreamt and why it had bothered her. He'd calm her down if she was becoming hysterical and get her to stop crying after the really bad ones. And then he'd just talk to her. He'd tell her anything and everything to get her mind off of the nightmare she had just had. Sometimes he would sooth her so much she'd even fall back asleep in the middle of their conversation.

After a while, Rachel's nightmares began to get less and less frequent. But she'd still call him. He just made her feel so much better. He was a real friend to her. Would a fake friend mind being woken every morning at two? It didn't take long before 2 A.M. became Rachel's favorite time of day.