Ok, it's summer, and I am missing my weekly 'Glee' fix, so I felt like writing another 'Glee' story. The idea for this story has been swirling around in my head for a while, and the amazingly positive reviews for my last story have given me the confidence to sit down and work on it. Sorry the title sucks, but I was having trouble coming up with one.
I love the music, the humor, and the snark of 'Glee', but some of the best moments have been the serious ones. Those are the moments that I think show who these characters truly are and how they feel about each other. I've also recently been thinking about the fact that none of these characters have ever been put in a dangerous situation (no doubt brought on by watching the news and one too many episodes of 'Criminal Minds'), and it made me wonder how they would handle it. My apologies if anything like this has been done before.
Two of my favorite things to come out of season two have been the friendship that has developed between Kurt and Rachel and the developments these characters have made individually. So, while Finn, Blaine, and others make important appearances here, this is primarily a story about Rachel and Kurt.
Alas, I own nothing except the contents of my apartment, and nothing will be gained by writing this story except a creative outlet. I am also not sure how many chapters this will be, but I am anticipating two or three at most.
And last, feedback is always appreciated, even criticism (as long as it's constructive!).
Friday Night Fright
It was less than one month into summer vacation, and Rachel already felt like time was moving too fast. The time that wasn't spent hunting down opportunities to audition for community theatre musicals was spent with either Finn or Kurt, or sometimes both. And, of course, with Kurt often came Blaine, which was how she found herself in the middle of a very entertaining double date on a Friday night.
The four of them exited BreadstiX, Finn with his arm around Rachel's shoulders, Rachel's arm linked through Kurt's, and Kurt's other arm linked through Blaine's. They were laughing over some joke Finn had told during dinner.
As they approached Kurt's car, Blaine turned to the others. "What do you guys want to do now?"
Rachel smiled up at Finn before looking at Kurt and Blaine. "Well, my dads are out of town, and since they never found out about the alcohol incident, thank god, they said I could have friends over. We could get some snacks for later and go over to my place to watch a movie or something."
Rachel winked covertly at Kurt. They had discussed this plan earlier and were going to try to get Finn to watch the DVD Rachel had of 'Oklahoma' with Hugh Jackman in it. They thought that a singing and dancing Wolverine would be enough to get Finn to sit through the whole movie since Rachel was having a hard time getting Finn to watch any musicals older than 'Grease'.
"I'm game!" Kurt said with a wide smile and rubbing his hands together. He turned to Blaine. "What do you think?"
"Sounds like a plan," Blaine replied. Kurt had filled him in on the plan as well.
They all turned to Finn expectantly. "Well," he began, "if that's what you guys want to do, then I'm in."
There were smiles all around as Rachel reached up and kissed Finn's cheek. Kurt then unlocked the car, and Finn helped Rachel into her seat before running around the car to get in the other side. Kurt and Blaine got into their seats, and Kurt turned on the car, heading for the Circle K that he knew was on the way to Rachel's house.
They wandered around the convenience store, trying to decide what they'd want for later.
Finally settling on the idea of getting something salty to munch on during the movie and something sweet for after, Blaine and Finn wandered up and down the aisle where the popcorn and chips were, while Rachel and Kurt headed over to the freezer case to find some ice cream ("Frozen yogurt," Kurt insisted, "do we really need the extra fat content?").
After picking out pints of Ben & Jerry's Phish Food and Half-Baked frozen yogurts, Rachel and Kurt rejoined Finn and Blaine in the snack aisle. "What did you get?" Rachel asked.
Blaine looked at Finn before answering Rachel. "Doritos," Blaine said, "but we weren't sure which flavor." He gestured to the shelf in front of them, on which sat two different varieties of Doritos.
Kurt laughed as he rolled his eyes and reached out to grab the bag of cheesy snacks. "Why mess with the classics?" he said as he headed up the aisle towards the cash register at the front, the other three following behind him.
They placed their selections on the counter, and as the cashier started to ring them up, Finn reached for his wallet.
All of a sudden, the front door of the store swung open with a resounding crash, causing all four teenagers and the middle-aged cashier to jump and look over. What they saw caused a collective skipping of heartbeats.
The man, who was wearing a ski mask and carrying a handgun, approached the front counter, gesturing with the gun for the kids to back away. They quickly complied, putting their hands in the air as they did so.
The robber moved the gun back and forth between the cashier and the group of teenagers, trying to cover them both. In the seconds the man's attention was on the kids, the cashier quickly reached a hand under the counter to press the silent alarm. His hand was back in the air by the time the man had turned the gun back in his direction.
"Nobody move until I tell you!" the man shouted. He reached his free hand into his jacket and withdrew a bag. He tossed it at Kurt, who fumbled with it. "You – wallets, now."
Kurt hesitated for just a moment, looking at Blaine. The moment of hesitation turned out to be a mistake.
The man, obviously impatient to get the cash and get out of the store, suddenly lunged forward and grabbed Rachel's arm with his free hand, dragging her towards him, spinning her around and pressing the gun against her side. Rachel's breath caught in her throat, and she started to shake.
"Hey!" Finn started forward before Blaine held him back with an arm across his chest.
The man looked coolly back at Kurt and said, "I want those wallets NOW."
Kurt could see that Rachel's eyes were squeezed shut. She was clearly terrified, so, holding the bag in one hand, he reached the other into his pocket to grab his wallet. He quickly tossed his wallet in and held the bag out to Blaine and Finn, who threw their wallets in without a second thought.
The robber removed his hand from Rachel's arm long enough to grab the purse off her shoulder and toss it to Kurt. Once Kurt had it, the man's hand was back in place. "Hers, too!" he yelled. Kurt pulled the slim wallet out of Rachel's purse and dropped it in the bag.
"Good," the man said. He gestured with his head for Kurt to move over to the cash register. Kurt moved quickly, and the man instructed the cashier to open the register, which he did. "Money in the bag", the man told the cashier.
The cashier didn't hesitate. He pulled the cash out of the slots in the register and dropped it in the bag that Kurt held out. He looked up at the gunman. "That's all we have, I don't have the combination to the safe." He was obviously well versed in the procedures for dealing with robbers.
At that moment, everyone's heads turned in the direction of the door. The sound of sirens could be faintly heard in the distance.
"Come here, kid," the man said to Kurt, his voice now with an urgent tone in it. Kurt quickly approached, and the man said, "Now, give her the bag."
Kurt handed the bag to Rachel, who took it with shaking hands. He then stepped back to where Finn and Blaine were standing.
The robber started backing towards the door, dragging Rachel with him. When he reached the doorway, he once again removed his hand from her arm and grabbed the bag of money and wallets out of her hands. Without a second look, he shoved her in the direction of the boys, spun, and flew out the door as if a pack of wolves were on his tail. The loud sounds of a motorcycle could be heard driving away a few seconds later.
Finn caught Rachel as she stumbled and held her tight. She buried her face against his chest as the sirens outside got louder. He could feel his shirt getting damp from her tears. Kurt reached over and put his hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently.
Everyone in the convenience store could hear it as a couple of police cars screeched to a halt in the parking lot, their red and blue flashing lights filling the store. Four police officers entered the store, guns drawn. "Everybody freeze!" the one in the lead called.
"He's gone," the cashier told the police with a relieved sigh. "He took off on a motorcycle."
"Could you tell which way he went?" asked the lead cop.
"It sounded like he was going north, but I can't be sure."
The police officers at the front of the group lowered their weapons, and the one in the lead nodded to the two at the rear. Those two ran out the door and took off in their car while the other two stayed behind.
One of the remaining police officers walked over to the cashier to talk to him as the other approached the teenagers that were still huddled together.
"Are you kids ok?" he asked.
Finn looked at the others before answering. "I think so, just a little shaken up."
The police officer looked at Rachel, noticing that she still kept her face hidden against Finn's shirt. "Miss?"
Rachel slowly turned within the circle of Finn's arms. She swiped at her face with her hands before looking up at the cop. "I'm ok."
The police officer nodded sympathetically at her before looking up at the boys. "We're going to want you kids to come down to the station to make a statement, ok?"
They all looked at each other before heading towards the door ahead of the police officer.
End of Chapter 1
Author's Note: Ok, that's it for Chapter 1. I pretty much have the whole story mapped out in my head; I just need to write it out.
I actually did a little bit of research for this story (yes, research for a 'Glee' fanfic), and the events of the story are not very far outside the realm of possibility.
First, there are three Circle K's in Lima, Ohio, so there's a distinct possibility that there is a Circle K on the way from BreadstiX to Rachel's house. Second, in 2009, 144 robberies were committed in Lima, Ohio. Third, if you Google "Circle K" robberies, you'll find that an alarming number of armed robberies take place at the Circle K convenience stores. The only thing I couldn't find online was the typical time it takes for police to respond to a silent alarm, so I'm taking some creative license with that.
P.S. Phish Food frozen yogurt really is just as tasty as the regular stuff!