Portraits of Her Beauty

Summary: Sam has a hidden talent. Photography. He used to take Quinn's pictures, but when she cheated on him, he has no passion. Until, he's struck by a beauty he has never seen before. A beauty behind the mask.

Samuel Evans buried his face on his hands. He could not believe of what had happened 5 hours ago. He was waiting for his Rachel to come out of English class when suddenly Karofsky beat the hell out of him. And then Rachel came, in the wrong time, at the wrong place. She shouldn't go near him or between them because it could be a fatal action.

But everything had turned upside down.

The bruise on Rachel's face made him burst into tears and the pool of blood, making its way down Rachel's neck. He should've protected her. If only he could reverse the clock….

The nurse at school couldn't help Rachel. The blood was way too many. Mr. Schue called an ambulance and all of the New Directions were here, even Finn and Quinn. They were worried. They couldn't lose Rachel. She was the MVP. Most of all, she was Sam's most important person. She was his life.

The doctor had been in the surgery room for about 2 hours now and everybody in Glee was pacing back and forth, waiting for an answer. Mercedes, being the religious one, prayed to God all the time and Sam could tell she was almost in tears. Tina and Artie joined in, even Kurt, who claimed that he didn't believe in God but apparently, was asking for help from Him.

Mr. Schue and Emma were holding hands, and they kept praying too. Even Finn. Of course Finn. Why wouldn't he? Sam began to think that Finn might have still had feelings for Rachel, but that wasn't important. Sam's priority right now was Rachel. Always.

Sam pulled out his wallet and he found his pictures with Rachel, either they were from her Polaroid or his DSLR camera. He cherished every moment he had spent with her. He cared about her. He loved her. But frankly, he hadn't said a word about it. About expressing his love for Rachel.

"Stupid." he murmured to himself. Rachel was the only one who could make him feel this way. Loved, wanted, lust….Everything. His first encountered with Rachel was when he went into Glee Club. He noticed her. Her beautiful brown eyes, her exquisite brown hair, her beautiful voice….Then why did he fall for Quinn Fabray, when he actually admired Rachel from the first time he laid his eyes on her?

Everything fell into place now. You gotta meet the wrong ones first before you find the right one. That seemed legit. And in Sam's case, it did work.

3 and a half hour of waiting seemed like forever. They said it might take a long time. Sam agreed to everything as long as they could help Rachel. Everybody had gone to the hospital's cafeteria so they could grab something to eat. Sam refused to go with them and decided to stay in front of the operation room. How could he possibly eat in a time like this?

"Here, grab some."

Sam was startled by the voice behind him. He turned around and saw Puck handing him a sandwich. Sam gave him a weak smile and refused it, "No, thanks. I am good."

Puck took a seat beside him, "Dude, you gotta eat something or you'll pass out. You don't want her to see you like this, right?"

Sam stopped for a while, and finally took a sandwich. He ate it slowly, while he stared blankly at the marble floor. Puck frowned. He had never seen Sam as depressed as he was right now. It felt like his life had drained out of his body on the last 3 hours. His face was as pale as vampires, his black eye made him look like a hangover.

"I know that you are worried about her, Sam. We are worried about her too. Especially me. Don't get offended. I love him as my sister, not more. But you gotta keep your head up high, dude. We cannot lose our hope."

Sam didn't answer him for the next minute. His body was there, but his mind was elsewhere.

"Sam…?" Puck called his name, but Sam didn't answer. He didn't even eat his sandwich. Just one tiny bite. "Sam!" Puck shouted. Sam was a little bit startled and he looked around, like he was looking for something.

"What?"

"Go wash your face. You look like a hangover, dude."

Sam nodded. He did need a little refreshment after 3 hours of waiting. He asked the nurse where the restroom was and he went straight to the bathroom. He looked at the mirror and Puck was definitely right.

He was screwed.

Hiram & Leroy Berry came half an hour later. They were out of town for a business but when Mr. Schue called them, they quickly booked a ticket and went to Lima soon. They were very concerned about their only daughter and they were willing to pay for everything, even for New Directions supplies of food and beverage while they were waiting for Rachel. Hiram was talking to Mr. Schue about the exact incident while Leroy tried to approach Sam.

"Are you Samuel Evans?" asked Leroy, giving out his hand for a proper handshake.

Sam stood up and grabbed his hand firmly, "Yes Mr. Berry. I am Samuel Evans."

Leroy smiled and told Sam to go back to his seat. "Well, I heard a lot about you, Samuel Evans. Rachel talksabout you every time and apparently, me and Hiram were pretty upset when we found out that Rachel broke up with you a couple of weeks ago."

Well, Leroy was sure a very-well-informed parent indeed. Sam defended himself, "I promise to you, sir. It was all a misunderstanding. My ex-girlfriend tried to get me back by using her friend. I promise to love Rachel whole-heartedly, sir."

Leroy laughed at Sam's reaction. He indeed loved her daughter very much, and he was very happy about it. "Oh well, kiddo. I understand young love. Happy, sappy but all true. I just hope that you won't fail me."

Sam nodded with all of his heart, "I will, sir. I will."

'Oh, don't call me 'sir'. Me and Hiram don't like formality. You can call us by our names. It doesn't matter, since you are our daughter's dearest friend."

Sam laughed a little. It was good to know Rachel's parents since they were rarely home and Rachel had to do all of the chores by herself like Cinderella. Thank God she never complained about it. Sam loved her independency. He could count on her whenever he couldn't be there physically.

The surgeon came out from the operation room and he looked as tired as hell. Sam was the first one to run to her and begged her to give him information. Mr. Schue and Puck had to hold him back a little bit because they bet that surgeon was as tired as they were.

Everybody gathered around and circled the surgeon, Dr. Meredith Brown. "Well, as you can see, Rachel lost a very big amount of blood. Don't worry, we had that covered. Rachel is fine right now, she is okay. But, she might be in a deep slumber."

Sam was shocked by this, 'What do you mean by deep slumber? That's my girlfriend in there!"

"Sam, calm down. She said that Rachel is fine." said Mr. Schue, trying to calm Sam down. Sam was too angry and frustrated to be in a steady condition.

"She's fine. You don't have to worry about her. But um, we might have a little problem."

Mercedes chirped in, "And what is that, Doctor?"

Dr. Brown sighed heavily and she didn't make an eye contact to everyone. Sam began to crumble down. She is safe but there might be a little problem?

"Can you tell us, Doctor? We are ready to face anything." said Hiram, being the wise Dad. Leroy rested his head on Hiram's shoulder and couldn't help but cry.

Dr. Brown took a deep breath before continuing, "The bruise on her face can be healed in no time. She doesn't need any plastic surgery. She's still as beautiful as she was."

Everybody exhaled pretty loud because some people who happened to passed by, was looking at them shockingly.

"But, due to her head hit the locker very hard, I am afraid she is going to lose her memory."

There was a long pause because everybody was in shock. Terrible shock.

And just by that, Sam fell down to the floor. Unconsciously.

"Sam. Mate, wake up. You've been unconscious for about half an hour."

Sam rubbed his eyes and when he tried to get up, he felt like in pain. His head was spinning around. Like a migraine or something.

"Whoa, hold on there, big boy. Here, drink this." said Mercedes, handing him a cup full of water.

Sam sipped it slowly because no matter how hard he would try, the pain wouldn't go away. He still remembered what had caused him to pass out. Hearing Rachel was going to lose her memory was a VERY BAD news. What if she couldn't remember him? Could he handle the pain?

"Sam, I know this is hard for you, but I think we have to accept it because when Rachel wakes up, she'll be as confused as we are." said Artie. Sam nodded weakly. His life just came crashing down for just about 8 hours. 8 damn hours. And the result was this? This wasn't fair.

Leroy and Hiram had gone to see Rachel, and Mr. Schue and Emma came in after them. And then Finn, Quinn, Puck, Lauren. And after that Santana and Brittany, followed by Artie, Mercedes, Kurt, Mike, Tina and Blaine, who happened to join Glee Club last week. He transferred to McKinley just so he could be near Kurt.

And then it was Sam's turn. Sam wasn't ready for this. He blamed himself for making Rachel like this. It was his entire fault. If he hadn't challenged Karofsky, Rachel wouldn't have to suffer something like this. It felt like he could feel the pain she felt while she was sleeping.

"Buckle up, buddy. You can't crumble down as she can feel your presence." said Puck, patting Sam on the back. Sam nodded and he took a deep breath. He opened the white mahogany door and stepped in.

And there she was, his Rachel, lying down unconsciously on her bed. She was in a peaceful sleep, like she was in comma, but she could feel everybody's presence. Sam shut his eyes and tears were beginning to fall down from his eyes. He walked slowly to Rachel's bed.

"Rach? Rachel, baby, can you hear me? Please wake up. Please." Sam pleaded. He held Rachel's pale hand and kissed the palm of her hand. In just a matter of seconds, Rachel's hand was wet with tears.

"Rachel….Just don't leave me, please. Please, remember me. Please."

Sam was weakened by love. He might look very strong on the outside, but on the inside, he crumbled down. He couldn't see Rachel like this. It was his fault. He kept blaming himself he could punch a wall. Everybody on the outside looked through the window and they were concerned about Sam's condition. It was like watching Sleeping Beauty all over again.

But in this case, when the princess woke up, she couldn't remember a thing.

Sam kissed Rachel's forehead and tear were streaming down his face, down to her face. He kissed her bruised cheek, and finally he kissed her lips. Oh he was going to miss that.

Through his muffled voice, he began to sing.

With every appearance by you, blinding my eyes

I could hardly remember the last time I felt like I do

You're an angel disguised

Sam ran his finger through her hair. She still smells like strawberry after all.

And you're lying real still

But your heart beat is fast just like mine

And the movie's long over

That's three that have passed, one more's fine.

Sam wished he could take it back. He wished he could go back to this morning where he buried his head on her neck and she was smiling.

Will you stay awake for me?

I don't wanna miss anything

I don't wanna miss anything

I will share the air I breathe

I'll give you my heart on a string

I just don't wanna miss anything

Sam couldn't hold it anymore. Just about a week ago, he got his Rachel back. And now this? Could there even be worse than this?

Say my name, I just want to hear you

Say my name, so I know it's true

You're changing me, you're changing me

You showed me how to live

So just say, so just say

Sam cupped Rachel's face and couldn't stop kissing her. She needed to get back to life. He felt like Rachel had brought him along with her in the other world.

"Baby, wake up."

That you'll stay awake for me

I don't wanna miss anything

I don't wanna miss anything

I will share the air I breathe

I'll give you my heart on a string

I just don't wanna miss anything

The song came to an end and Sam was crumbling down. Rachel seemed like she didn't want to wake up. He needed to look at her eyes. He needed to see her smile, even though she wouldn't remember him anymore. He needed to see his love back.

"Rachel, I am sorry for this. I am sorry, this was all my fault. This might be late, but I love you. I love you, Rach. So please, come back." said Sam, holding on Rachel's hand so tight like he was betting his life on it.

Little did Sam know, a tear fell down from Rachel's eyes.

Song Used:

Awake - Secondhand Serenade