"Why don't you change the channel? Check if the game is on. I'll get another one of these. Carole smiled softly to herself, hoping acting like she was happy might actually help her feel better about this whole situation. Burt went up to get another beer from the fridge as they both watched "Gilmore Girls" reruns on TV, and enjoying the distraction it brought from their own lives. It had been almost a week since Rachel and Finn disappeared and they were still waiting for a phone call, an email, anything. They had respected their wishes when they said not to call the police, but it was a hard decision to come to, considering any situation where they were instructed not to call the police was probably bad. They all agreed that if they waited another week without any news from the two of them then they would get the police involved. Just then the doorbell rang.

"Hiram! Hi!" Carole said, smiling as he pulled the man into a hug. The first thing Carole noticed was that Hiram's shoulders were slumped more than usual today. The other things was the lack of the wedding band on his left hand.

"Hiram? Are you okay?" Carole asked tentatively as Hiram's gaze was fixed on his feet.

"L-Leroy and I had a major blowout. I called him something, threw my wedding ring at him and drove right over here. It was my most dramatic performance yet." Hiram said with a small chuckle as Carole led him in. They sat together on the couch for a few moments before Burt came in with a bottle of beer and a sandwich. He offered the bottle to Hiram, but he shook his head

"Oh, hey Hiram. Any news from Rachel?" Burt asked as Hiram's expression looked even more sullen than before.

"Hiram?" Carole asked in a small voice as he buried his head into his hands. "Are you okay?"

"W-We fought about Rachel."

"Really? Why? Come on Hiram. Talk to me."

"We were fighting about if we should call the police. I don't know what to do Carole! I trust my baby girl so much. If she doesn't want us to call the police then I have to trust her. But Leroy thinks that we should call the police. It's been a week Carole. I can't sleep, eat and I'm constantly thinking about the two of them. If they're okay, if they're safe."

"I know how it is Hiram. I haven't had a goodnight's sleep in a long time. But we have to trust them. We just have to." Hiram sighed as slumped against the couch.

"I know we have to Carole, but aren't you losing hope in this? We haven't heard from them in seven days Carole. Seven days. I don't know how much longer we can wait for a sign, anything to know they're okay."

"Just wait okay Hiram? They're okay. I know they are."

Finn was able to pack it away and convince himself he was delusional, but he couldn't help that he felt slightly nervous that the guy who's tying to kill his girlfriend is in love with her. It wasn't really jealousy, because he was pretty sure Rachel had told him that she was in love with him, and he did kind of save her life. Honestly, he was scared for her safety. What if he tried to hurt her?

"Rach-" Finn whispered as he ran his hands through her hair. They were taking the day off to try to catch up on some sleep, but it hadn't been working.

"What Finn?" Rachel responded softly.

"Do you smell that?" Finn's taste buds and sense of smell became suddenly very aware of the dry, burning smell very present in the air.

"Yes, I do. But it's probably just someone smoking. I'm sure there is nothing to worry about."

Finn wasn't buying it. There was no one around that could be smoking; and anyway, the scent wasn't woody, pleasant like a campfire. It was thick and choking.

"Rach, there's smoke!" he sat up and pointed at the little black stream of smoke coming from below them. "I think it's coming from the car!"

Rachel's slight grin melted away quickly as she too moved her body to lean against one of the front seats of the truck and observe the mysterious burning.

"You're right..." she whispered as the cloud spread to their very throats and sent them into light coughs.

"I think the car is on fire!" shouted Finn.

"Cars don't burn, they... explode..." coughed Rachel, now nearly choked and unable to see. Just then, a smallish boom roared from the front of Finns truck, and a new bunch of sparks flew out from it, setting several small surrounding plants on fire.

"Fuck, Rach... what do we do?"

"Get... out!" ordered Rachel. Finn looked at her with a frown pushing its way down his cheeks.

"What about our stuf..."

"Just grab everything you can, ok?" shrieked Rachel.

Smoke was rising, blocking Finn's vision of her face and clouding his throat. He quickly grabbed Rachel's laptop, their cellphones and both their wallets, throwing them onto the side of the road with no attempt to aim. His heart was pounding so hard he could barely hear his girlfriend's whimpery screams; his windpipe was throbbing and feeling uncomfortably dry. Though his legs felt numb, like they weighed 3000 pounds, Finn lept as far as he could away from his truck. His eyes began to tear up, which made it hard to see anything except the faint outline of the growing orange glow, but he could swear Rachel hadnt jumped out after him. And suddenly, a loud boom shook his ear drums. But not as much as it shook his heart.

"Rachel!"

We know, we know, cliffhanger! How many more of those are you going to put?

But thanks for reading anyway, besides our annoying habit of leaving you guys on the edge.

CertifiedGleek