Everyone in the New Directions had been together when the gun shot went off. Well, almost everybody.

Brittany had wanted Blaine's advice before Glee Practice started because she had recently found out that Lord Tubbington was gay and she wanted Blaine's advice on how he would want to be treated if he was a cat so she knew how to treat Lord Tubbington-what foods to feed him and stuff.

Of course, Blaine was only too happy to help Brittany-however strange the request was-so he had followed her.

When the gun shot went off, Brittany was the first thing that went through Sam's mind. He knew that she was with Blaine, and Blaine was a good guy, so he would know what to do, and how to calm her down.

But that didn't make him any less scared.

Mr Schue and Coach Bieste were in the room and they had locked the door on instinct. Someone had rattled the choir room door and he couldn't help think that it was Brittany.

What if she had gotten scared and ran off?

There were a million thoughts going through his head, but he took one look at the phone in his head and immediately got an idea. He stood up, causing everyone in the room to look at him.

"Mr Schue?" The teacher looked up at Sam and prompted him to continue, "I was just thinking-can we maybe like ring Brittany, or Blaine? I can ring them and put the phone on loud speaker."

"I'm not sure Sam-I mean, we don't know the situation out there, you could be putting your life in danger."

"I don't care Mr Schue. No offence but your girlfriend is safe. You know exactly where she is and you know that she's going to be waiting for you when you get back. I don't know where Britts is. I don't know if she's okay. I don't even know if I'll ever get to see her again. All I know is that I need to hear her voice and I need to hear it now. So if that means that I might die-well that's a risk I'm willing to take."

By the time he had finished, a tear had escaped his eye and he hastily wiped it away with shaking hands. Mr Schue stared at him, sympathetically, "Sam, what about everyone else in this room? Are you willing to put their lives at risk as well?"

Sam stayed silent. He didn't really know how to answer that. It wasn't until a small voice in the corner of the room spoke up that he was brought back from his thoughts.

"I don't mind." He spun around on one foot to face the voice that had spoken up, "Marley?" He knew he had been close with her at the start of the year, but recently they hadn't been as close as perhaps he'd hoped. It was at times like now, though, that he was grateful to have a friend like her.

"Yeah, I don't mind either." Soon enough the entire room had agreed to put the phone on loudspeaker. He looked to Mr Schue, with a small smile playing on his lips.

Mr Schue sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, "Fine. But Sam-you have to keep it down. I mean it. Okay?"

"Okay. Thanks Mr Schue." Sam considered calling Brittany's phone, but he knew that she kept her phone on loud-just so she could hear her ring tone every time she got a called.

He decided that phoning Blaine would probably be safer. He pressed a single button on his phone-already having Blaine on speed dial 2-and placed the phone gently in the middle of the room. The other students gathered in a circle around the phone, even Mr Schue and Coach Bieste came to join them.

Of course, Artie was still sat in his chair, so he could simply roll over.

Sam was biting his nails, waiting in anticipation as the phone rang.

It rang

And rang

And rang.

Finally, on the fourth ring Blaine picked up. His voice was shaky and he sniffed before answering, "Sam?"

"Yeah, Blaine. Is Britts with you? Are you okay?"

"Uhh, yeah-she's with me, We're fine. How's everyone in the choir room?"

"Hi Sammy!"

"Hey Britt," The relief in Sam's voice was evident, "We were so scared Blaine. We Didn't know where you and Brittany were. In fact-we still don't. Where are you guys?"

They were speaking in hushed whispers, and Sam could hear Blaine draw in a breath on the other line-clearly just about to reply, when he heard a door creak open.

The New Directions all sucked in a sharp breath, hearts beating wildly as footsteps echoed through the phone. The steps were evenly spaced apart, and it was almost as if the owner of the steps was teasing the teens.

Suddenly, the footsteps stopped. A deep voice rang through the line, and the menacing tone to it created a picture of his appearance for the New Directions. It wasn't a pleasant one.

"Come out, come out wherever you are. I won't hurt you. Don't worry."

He was met by silence, so he took another step, the sound getting increasingly louder with each step.

He let out a cruel, harsh laugh, "Oh come on," He dragged out these words, "I know you're in there. You can't hide from me. Not forever anyway."

Another pause, "No? You don't want to come out and play with me. It will be awfully fun." The New Directions could hear Brittany sniffle on the other line and the man let out another cruel laugh, "Aww. Am I scaring you?"

He stopped abruptly.

"Well how about I make you a deal, yeah? If you come out here, then I won't go crazy with my gun, If you decide that you want to be cowards and stay in there all day, then I will shoot everyone in this school until they are all dead. Do you want that on your conscience? Do you? Now. Come on. Make your choice."

You could hear the silence in the choir room as they waited for some form of noise.

Eventually, Blaine's voice could be heard, quieter than before if possible, "It's okay, Britt. I'll go out there, and you run and get help, yeah?"

"That's not going to work, you know. It's cute though, how you want to protect her. You know what? Just for the hell of it, I'll let her go. Come on out!"

Two clicks could be heard. One sounded like a door being unlocked, the other like the safety being turned off on a gun.

The New Directions sucked in a breath as they waited for movement on the other end. They could hear a door creak open, shortly followed by two light steps. Then, suddenly, the sound of somebody running away and then a door swinging open and closed.

Brittany.

The New Directions all wiped sweat from their brows and let out a sigh of relief. Their relief was short lived, however, as the next sound that came from the small speakers from the phone was one they hoped they would never hear again.

Bang!

They jumped in surprise. There was a clatter as Blaine's phone fell to the floor, followed by a thump as he followed suit. He cried out in pain and Sam sat up straight.

"Blaine?"

Blaine kept screaming in pain, "Blaine! Talk to me man!" He shot up and ran towards the door, struggling as he was stopped by Will and Coach Bieste.

"Please! Come on Mr Schue! Let me see him!"

"No. Sam. You can't! That guy is still there with Blaine and he has a gun. You heard Brittany run out. She'll go get help and then we can see Blaine. Trust me Sam-Blaine is going to be fine."

"Can you promise me that?"

There was a pause, because in reality, no. Will couldn't promise Sam that his best friend would be alright. He couldn't promise him that Blaine would get out alive. He just had to lie.

"Yes Sam. I can promise you. Do you know why I can promise you that?"

Sam shook his head, "Why?"

"Because I know Blaine, and Blaine won't let himself be anything other than okay. Not before Regionals."

"What? So Blaine's been shot and I don't know if he's okay or not and all you can think about is our next competition? I thought you were better than that Mr Schue."

He pushed past him and forced his way out the door, fully intent on heading straight to Blaine, before he realised that he didn't even know where Blaine and Brittany had been. He let out a groan and slid down the wall, holding his head in his hands, tears streaming down his face.

He looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder, expecting to see Mr Schue. He was surprised to find himself staring into the eyes of Brittany. He allowed himself to be pulled into her arms as she ran her fingers through his hair.

"It's okay Sammy. Don't cry. I've told the police where Blaine is and they've gone to get the man with the gun. It's all going to be okay, Sammy. We're going to be okay."

Sam wiped his eyes and looked at Brittany, "But what about Blaine?"

"What do you mean?"

"After you left, Blaine he-he was-"

But he didn't need to continue, Brittany had heard the gunshot-and that had caused her to run even faster to get outside. She knew what had happened. Well, at least she could guess.

They were both brought from their thoughts as two paramedics ran past, pushing Blaine on a stretcher through the doors. Sam shot up and was met by the rest of the New Directions, who had joined the couple outside the choir room.

"Are we following behind then?"

Sam took no time in replying, "Of course"

They all followed behind the ambulance. Sam wouldn't stop shaking until he reached the hospital, and even then he still had slight tremors in his hands. He allowed Jake to drive him there and met the rest of his friends in the hospital waiting room as they awaited on news of Blaine and his injury.

As it turns out, Blaine had been shot in the shoulder. The bullet hadn't hit anything important, but it had just grazed a major artery, meaning that a short time in surgery had fixed it.

When the New Directions had finally gotten permission to see Blaine, they had all filed in at once. They gathered around the bed and smiled at the look on his face as they walked through the door.

Blaine's right arm was kept close to his body in a blue sling. His eyes were glazed over from the amount of medication he was on. After they had all caught up, Brittany had asked for a few minutes alone with Blaine. They all agreed and stepped out of the room to allow the two some space.

When everyone had left, Brittany carefully climbed up onto the bed. She kneeled down and took Blaine's left hand in hers. She reached up and twirled one of his curls in her finger. Then she took a hold of his hand again and looked at him straight in the eye, "Thank you dolphin."

"That's okay Britt."

"No. It's not okay Blaine Warbler. It's not okay, because you got hurt. And I'm sorry. So thank you for today. I want you to know that you saved me. Because of you we're all safe at McKinley and that man got into trouble. You're a super hero Blaine Warbler. To me, to Lord Tubbington, and to all of the New Directions. There's also a couple of other people who want to see you."

Blaine's eyes shot open, and his brow furrowed in confusion, "Who?"

Brittany pointed to the door and both of their eyes lit up. She jumped off the bed and allowed two figures to step through the door. Blaine's eyebrows shot to the back of his head, "Kurt? What are you doing here? I thought you were in New York."

"Well I was, but what sort of person would I be if I stayed in New York when my boyfriend was lying in a hospital bed, huh?"

"I dunno."

"I'd be a pretty crappy one, wouldn't I?"

"No Kurt! You could never be a crappy boyfriend! Never!"

"And that's why I love this kid."

Blaine looked up as Burt Hummel stepped out from behind Kurt.

"Mr Hummel?"

"How many times kid? It's Burt."

"Sorry, I-"

"No. No apologising Blaine. Not after what you did today. There is no way I would have done what you did today when I was your age. You are so brave Blaine, and I am glad Kurt found you. We'll give you two some time to catch up. Come one Brittany."

Brittany obediently followed Burt out into the corridor where the rest of the New Directions were. Kurt waited until the door was completely shut before turning to Blaine, and taking Brittany's spot on the bed.

"Listen Kurt, I-"

"Oh shut up you."

Blaine couldn't get any further before Kurt leaned in towards Blaine, cupped his face in his hands and brought him in for a kiss.

They pulled apart after a minute or two and Blaine smiled goofily at Kurt, "I love you Kurt."

"I love you too Blaine," Blaine yawned loudly and Kurt chuckled before continuing, "Now go to sleep."