This is a reaction fic to episode 4.18, Shooting Star. I'm assuming most readers have seen it, but if you're in a country other than the USA and it hasn't aired yet, please consider this your spoiler warning.

Theatre history wasn't as interesting as he'd thought it would be. Perhaps it was because of the teacher, who droned in a monotone, even about things that sounded like they should have been interesting. An audience riot breaking out at an 1849 performance of Macbeth? And if he'd heard correctly in between thirty second naps, the riot's cause was a debate between fans of two prominent actors about who played the title role better. That certainly put his rivalry with Rachel to shame, and should have been a good story, if not told by a man who reminded him of Professor Binns as described in the Harry Potter books.

Therefore, he always kept his iPhone out on his desk during Theatre History. He turned on the Do Not Disturb, of course, but it was right there next to his notebook where he attempted to take notes, when he could stay awake long enough. Occasionally the screen would light up with a text from someone and provide a diversion.

So when the flash of a message caught his eye and he glanced at it long enough to see Blaine's name, he smiled to himself. He kept his eyes facing front, waiting for the instructor to turn his back. It was so nice to be on friendly speaking terms with Blaine again. Even if their texts and phone conversations consisted mostly of mundane topics like what the Glee assignment was for that week or Kurt's analysis of ensembles worn on the subway during his morning commute, they were talking. His life had felt off-kilter ever since their breakup, and only now was the teeter-totter starting to balance back to level again.

The teacher turned to point at something on the map of New York City circa 1849 just as he saw another text pop up on the screen. Kurt seized his chance to swipe his finger across the screen and reveal the messages.

From Blaine: we herd gunshita. in choir rm hidg

From Blaine: safe for niw bit brit & tina mot here

Kurt stared at it, uncomprehending. Gunshita? Safe for niw? What was he- And then his stomach dropped as he understood. He picked up his phone and looked at the keyboard to be sure...i was next to o and u, a was next to s, just like they'd always been since he'd learned to use a keyboard. We heard gunshots. In choir room hiding. Safe for now but Brittany and Tina not here. He set his fingers on the screen to text back, not even knowing yet what he planned to type, when a new message appeared.

From Blaine: Cant txt handa sjakg love ypu soooo mich

Oh dear God this was real. He texted back without thinking, love you too whats happeng?

"Mr. Hummel, I do not allow texting during my class. Put it away."

He glanced up at Professor Binns or whatever-the-hell his name was, he couldn't remember at the moment and honestly didn't care. He picked up his books and his bag, standing.

"Emergency at home, I'll explain later but I have to go!" He walked out and knew without looking that the teacher was glaring at his back. NYADA professors had the advantage of knowing how desperately their students wanted to be here and could be as strict, as picky, and as ruthless as they wanted knowing that the percentage of students who would drop out voluntarily was low. They also considered it their duty to weed out those students who they thought couldn't make it in show business and any lapse in a student's absolute dedication counted against them. He knew he'd have to grovel for forgiveness later but it didn't matter right now. He looked down at his phone and there was a new message, he hadn't heard it or felt it vibrate, oh drat it was still on Do Not Disturb.

From Blaine: Dont txte back meed toarau quiet ill txt you when icer

He studied the keyboard again, trying to figure it out. Icer...over. Don't text back need to (stay?) quiet I'll text you when over.

Oh crap, oh crap...what now? Just wait? He turned off the Do Not Disturb, made sure the volume was as loud as it would go and scrolled back though the messages, trying to extract every last bit of information. They heard gunshots, plural if that wasn't just Blaine's shaky texting, fired at McKinley. They were in the choir room, 'they' meaning most of the Glee club based on him specifically mentioning who was not there, Brittany and Tina. Where were they? Were they safe? Was there just one shooter or more than one? It sounded like the ND members in the choir room were safe for the moment at least. Blaine loved him and requested that he not text back again. Well, he knew that Blaine was still in love with him, he'd said it often enough since the breakup, usually sandwiched in between guilty pleas for forgiveness. But this was only the second time in six months that he'd said it back.

He started to think about what that meant for them...then shelved it. He could debate with himself later about the status of their relationship, right now there was an armed intruder loose at McKinley and the entire Glee club was in danger.

Oh shit...Finn. Was he there? He quickly dialed his cell, standing in the hallway. He knew that Finn had left his position as interim coach of Glee, something about an argument between him and Mr. Schue, but just because he'd left last week didn't mean he wasn't back. People quit Glee and then returned on an almost weekly basis. He listened to the phone ring once, twice, three times, four...and then voice mail picked up. He hung up and dialed the house phone that his dad insisted on keeping even though they rarely used it. It rang several times before he hung up.

"Come on, come on..." he muttered under his breath as he dialed the shop number. "Pick up, someone, please..." His heart was beating like a hummingbird's. Was this what his dad had felt like right before his heart attack?

"Hummel Tires and Lube," his dad answered.

"Dad! Is Finn there?"

"Yeah, he's here. What's wrong, Kurt?"

His shoulders slumped in relief, and he let himself lean back against the wall.

"There's...umm..." He hadn't stopped to think how he would break this news. He took a fortifying breath and said, "You might want to turn on the TV, Dad. I got a text from Blaine that they heard...gunshots...fired at McKinley. I was worried that Finn might be there with the glee club."

Silence for a long moment, aside from the shop noise he could hear in the background on his dad's end. Someone was using a power wrench.

"What about the glee club? Where are they? Are they safe?"

"Blaine said most of them are hiding in the choir room, waiting for the all-clear. But two of them-you know Tina and Brittany, the two girls who-who taught you the Single Ladies dance?" He couldn't help the single huff of laughter that escaped him through the almost overwhelming urge to cry. The image of his dad attempting to dance alongside the girls now gave him a mixed bag of feelings. He hadn't seen them much since graduating-what if watching them perform alongside his dad was one of the last memories he had of them? "They're not there with the others, no one knows where they are," he told him shakily. The tears won at last, spilling over but he just wiped them away. "I don't know any more. Blaine asked that I not text him back, I'm waiting for him to contact me."

"Damn." Noises at the other end. "I've got the TV on now, I'll see if the local news knows anything you don't."

"Dad, can I speak to Finn? I know you said he's there but I just need to hear his voice."

He heard his dad speaking to Finn before the phone was passed over, and he exhaled again as he heard his stepbrother's voice for himself. They talked for a moment, Finn passing the bits of information he was able to glean from the news reports he was watching, but there wasn't much to tell. No one knew what was going on. Finn had just said that he would change out of his mechanic's jumpsuit and go to McKinley himself when he asked, "Does Rachel know what's going on?"

"Crap. No. At least, not that I know of. She's..." He stopped to think a moment. "I think she has ballet right now, on the next floor up."

"I'll text her."

"No! Finn, trust me, this is not news you want to hear by text. Someone should tell her in person, and besides, she'll have her phone off during class."

"Oh right."

"I'll go," he promised. "I'll pull her out of class and tell her."

"Dude, just be careful how you break it to her. You know how dramatic she gets." This from the guy who'd planned to text his ex-girlfriend with the news.

"I live with her, Finn. I know."

"Oh, right. I'm going, I'll text you when I get to McKinley."

"Thanks."

He hung up, feeling somewhat steadier now that he had a job to do. Get Rachel, tell her, then at least he'd have someone to worry with while they waited for news. Should he call Santana as well? No, not yet. He didn't want to tell her on the phone, and besides, she'd go ballistic at the news that Brittany was missing. Better to wait till they could get home to tell her in person, maybe by then they'd have more news.

He went upstairs but before going to the ballet studio, stopped in the bathroom. He just needed to take a moment. He'd try to calm himself, then maybe he could get through the next hour. He splashed water on his face, wishing that he actually believed in God.

My apologies to those of you following this series, for how long it's gone without being updated. I really had hoped to update it on a more regular basis. But while this series has sat idle, I was working on two stories for the Glee Reverse Big Bang. Over the Slushie Rainbow and Mr. December are both listed in my profile if you haven't read them yet.

I think I'm going to do two more reaction drabbles to this episode, one from Rachel's POV and one from Santana's. But I haven't written them yet so I can't make promises.

Santana will probably make regular appearances in this drabble series now, since her move to New York is now canon. But I won't change the name of the series.