AN: I am so sorry for my absence. I created a tumblr to keep you all informed of the updates, and a in case any of you wanted to support me in my efforts of furthering my ability. Tumblr: .com : /domdomtyson Please read and review. I do not own glee. All mistakes are mine. You are all beautiful.

The sound of heavy breathing penetrated the quiet Puckerman home late in the middle of the night. While most of the occupants were fast asleep, one was covered in a cold sweat soaking through his sheets. Ray looked around his dark room trying to remember what had woken him, but found nothing. Feeling his clothes sticking to his body, Ray sighed before throwing the sheets off of him. They landed with a barely audible thud, as he sat up to rip his shirt off. He threw it in the direction of his hamper, but ultimately missed. Standing up, he moved towards his dresser to retrieve fresh clothes for the shower he has no choice but to take.

"Damn it." Ray muttered under his breath when he realized he hadn't done his laundry in the last week. The stress of all his priorities were starting to take a toll on his body. A quick glance at him would expose nothing, but if they were to study his face and body language the truth would be obvious. His eyes were shadowed by dark bags, his shoulders slumped slightly more than normal, and his smile wouldn't reach eyes.

Ray closed his eyes as he turned on his lights to avoid the temporary blindness that would've accompanied the brightness. Turning around to survey his room, he noticed that is was in disarray. Frustrated, Ray fell onto his bed face first, and screamed into his pillow. Lifting his head to look at the clock, he noticed that it was only three in the morning. Suddenly understanding that he would have to start laundry now if he wanted to get it done in time for school, Ray jumped up once again.

He started gathering all the clothes that were thrown around his room, lifting up his bed skirt to see if any had slipped under before dumping them into the hamper. Ray grabbed the hamper, and started to quietly make his descent down the stairs towards the washroom which was located behind the kitchen towards the back door. He stays light on his feet as he passes his fathers' room to avoid disturbing them, and pushes the door to the laundry room open.

After Ray throws his clothes in the wash, he makes his way into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. With the lack of sleep he has been getting, Ray knows that he will require several cups to get going. While the coffee is brewing, he quickly makes his way back to his bedroom to insure that all his bags for the day are packed and ready to go. After confirming that they are, he risks a glance at the clock noticing that is is already a quarter till four. Rushing back downstairs, Ray pours himself a cup of coffee as he switches his clothes into the dryer.

Now faint noises of the other members of the household waking up can be heard, and Ray is put on edge. He is sitting down at the kitchen island sipping on his coffee when footsteps are heard coming down the steps.

Joe groggily wipes the sleep from his eyes, as he makes his way downstairs. The smell of coffee reaches his nose almost instantly, which alerts him of the current situation.

"Have a bad dream again?" Joe asks Ray as he fixes his own cup of coffee, finishing off the pot, but not bothering to put on another as he takes a seat next to his best friend.

Ray grunts in response, pushing his mug away so he could rest his head on his arms. Over the last few weeks nightmares have plagued Ray's mind, but he is never able to remember what they were about. It has become such a frequent occurrence that Joe sets his alarm earlier than usual to not leave Ray alone with his thoughts.

Ray keeps his head on his arms, but turns to the side to offer Joe a thankful smile. "I don't know what is, but my life is stressful enough. Why is this happening to me?" He mutters more to himself than anything, but Joe still rubs Ray's back soothingly, which seems to make him dose off into a light sleep.

Joe chuckles quietly to himself as he excuse himself form his seat to go finish Ray's laundry. He knows how difficult it must be on his friend to be constantly on the move with little to no breaks. His schedule is pretty hectic, but it still does not compare to how much Ray has on his own plate. Sighing to himself, he goes about folding and hanging the clothes from the dryer. Joe makes sure to put a pair of boxer briefs, a binder, a nice shirt, and Ray's favorite pair of jeans aside, so that he can wear them once he gets out of the shower.

Leroy rolls out of his husband's tight grip, and throwing on a robe after he exits their bathroom a few minutes later. He smiles at the sight of his husband spread out on the bed with the blankets barely covering one of his legs. Quickly grabbing his phone from his end table, Leroy takes a photo then heads into the kitchen to get breakfast for the kids started.

Their schedule has been nearly the same for the last couple of years. Ray and Joe would wake up before everyone else, often to just to squeeze something into their schedules despite not needing it. Those two boys never had to crack a book out of class to pass, but they did anyway. Ray would wake up early to workout despite already having an athletic build, and Joe would head to the basement with him, but would spend his time practicing one of their various instruments. Next to wake up was always Leroy. His internal clock had stopped allowing him to sleep late since the boys were born. Now with the three of them having to get up early to leave for school, Leroy made sure he woke up with enough time to prepare breakfast. Noah on the other hand had no schedule. He woke up right before having to leave meaning he threw on whichever clothes didn't stink, ran a hand through his Mohawk, then grabbed a piece of toast, and was out the door. Hiram woke up shortly before the last boy did, so he could send them all off to school, then he would spend the rest of the morning before work in the arms of his husband. It was a dynamic they all loved.

As Leroy made his way into the kitchen, he noticed Ray asleep at the counter which set off a few alarms in his head. Usually once Ray was up, he was up until he went to bed at night, but he never fell back asleep in the morning. Walking to stand beside his son, Leroy put his hand on the boy's shoulder, and shook slightly. "Ray, you need to wake up." He said close to his son's ear startling him.

Ray's eyes shot open, and he accidentally fell off his stool hitting the floor with an audible thud. "Fuck." He exclaimed as he grabbed his head for it had hit the floor first. Ray could already feel the intense migraine coming on.

Leroy rushed to Ray's side after grabbing an icepack, and helped him move to a seat at the table instead of the counter. "I'm going to let your language slide this one time because it was entirely my fault that you fell." He gently pulled the icepack away from the back of Ray's head to see a bump already forming. Leroy cursed under his breath. "You are going to have to take it easy today just in case you have a concussion."

Joe heard the noises, and grabbed Ray's clothes for the day before heading back to the kitchen. He notices the stool laying on the floor, then Leroy standing on side of Ray pressing an icepack against the back of his head. Joe mumbles something unintelligible to himself as he quickly makes his way around the kitchen putting everything back to the way it was. Finally he takes a seat at the table across from Ray, and Leroy takes that as his cue to start breakfast.

Ray takes a deep breath to calm his slowly flaring temper then looks at Joe. "Did you do my laundry?" He asks his friend who smiles and nods, passing him the clothes he picked out for today. Ray smiles gratefully, trading his icepack for his clothes, then heads back upstairs to take a shower.

Joe watches Ray as he ascends the stairs then turns to get up, and help Leroy with the cooking. Without taking his eyes off of chopping the fruit, Leroy starts to speak to Joe. "Is something going on with Ray, Joe?" He asks with concern seeping through his voice.

Joe cracks some eggs onto the pan as he thinks for a way to respond without worrying their fathers even more. The sound of a knife hitting the cutting board seizes, as a hand is placed on Joe's shoulder. Turning the stove down to low, he turns to face the older man, and offers him a soft smile. "Ray just has a lot on his plate right now, but he'll get through it. He always does." His tone suggests that he is trying to not only convince Leroy, but himself.

Leroy shoots Joe a look that conveys words that were not spoken. Words that mean that those three boys are to protect each other through thick and then. Joe nods silently before turning back to cooking the eggs. The only sounds being heard were the sizzling of the eggs on the pan, the knife cutting through to the board, and a shower running overhead.

Xxxxx

An alarm set for 4:30 in the morning is going off somewhere in a house. A girl has been running the unfamiliar roads for the last thirty minutes, sweat permeating her clothes, her hair however short, is still matted to her forehead. Stopping at the end of a road to catch her breath, she leans over with her hands on her knees. By this time she is thoroughly regretting running in so many clothes. Without a second thought, she pulls off her shirt, leaving her in a sports bra. The sweat can be seen glistening down her abs as early sunlight peaks through the sky. Her arms stretch over her head in an attempt to pop any kinks in her back. Left in her sweatpants, she looks around to survey the area.

Modern day suburbs for the upper class is what she would describe it as. Fancy multistory homes, like the one she once grew up in, clean cut grass with white picket fences doting the edges, don't forget the mailboxes colored to match the homes. Groaning in frustration, Charlie picks up her shirt before starting to walk home.

The beginning of her life she grew up in a place just like where she is now. Where the families were cookie cutter perfect on the outside, but inside is where they revealed their true selves. As she passed each house she wondered what their secret was. Was the mother screwing the pool boy? Was the father screwing the maid? Was their child a drug addict? Though not once did she question if they were abusive.

Growling to herself, Charlie picked up her pace. All she ever wanted in life was happiness for her sister and she. Instead she was shipped off to a catholic boarding school where she was forced to wear a skirt, and act like a perfect little angel. Charlie doesn't know what her father told the headmistress, but from the first time she stepped into that place, she was looked at like a freak. Eventually she said enough was enough, and got the hell out of there, but wasn't able to come home since Russell was still there.

No longer having her parent's money to support herself with, Charlie was forced to sleep on park benches, and use the library's computer to email her sister. She never let Quinn find out what she was doing because she was trying to protect her. One day while she was performing on the street, a woman handed her a card, and offered her an opportunity. Not one to turn down the chance at a bed and a hot meal, she took it. It turned out to be the greatest decision she ever made.

The woman introduced herself as Cassandra July. She told Charlie that while her talent was raw, she had a spark, and that was something that most teenagers were missing. She offered Charlie a room at her house if she agreed to clean the studio everyday after school. Charlie accepted, and Cassandra pulled some strings to get her into a school despite not being Charlie's guardian.

After a while, Charlie would arrive at the studio before the rehearsals were over. She would bounce from watching people recording music, to watching others dance. Fascinated, she started to stay late after her janitorial job was over, so she could practice on her own. Cassandra caught her one day, and instead of berating her, she offered to teach Charlie everything she knows, but there was a catch.

If Cassandra taught her, Charlie would go home to her sister 3 years later. Charlie agreed that she would go back, but if Russell was still there, she would return to her home with Cassandra. They accepted the terms, and after that Cassandra was the mother Charlie had always hoped for.

Charlie still emailed her sister everyday, telling her some things, but never letting her know that she was living with someone who most would consider a stranger. The only person who truly knew the truth was her longtime penpal who turned out to be Ray.

Ever since the two kids were eleven they told each other everything. Ray was the only one who knew what Russell was doing to her, and Charlie was the only one to know what really went on inside Ray's head. Despite five years of being so close, Charlie never let it slip that she had a twin sister. Not because she was ashamed of Quinn, God no, but because she wanted to keep the memories she had with her sister to herself for as long as possible.

Now Charlie is soaking wet from sweat, lost somewhere in Lima, Ohio, and she has less than thirty minutes to find her way home, shower, and be ready for whatever hell Ray volunteered her for.

"Fuck." Charlie exclaimed when she noticed that is was already 4:45 in the morning, and she still had no idea where she was until a voice spoke up behind her, sending shivers down her spine.

"Lost?" A voice husked from behind Charlie though a smirk was evident in her tone. Charlie turned around to see the Latina from glee club she had winked at yesterday. "My name is Santana, and you should remember that for now on." Santana's voice trailed off as her eyes roamed the girl in front of her. She licked her lips as her eyes reached the waistband of the other girl's sweatpants. A throat clearing shook her from her thoughts as she looked up to see Charlie's smirk.

"Would you mind taking me home, Santana." Charlie purred out the name before following Santana as she walked towards her car.