I fixed a mistake in chapter 15 late last night / early this morning, and I don't know if that showed up as an update. If it did, um, sorry. Here's a real one!

Song: "Dead Boy's Poem" by Nightwish. I wanted a song really different from the ones Kurt sang before.

Please review!

Kurt: Since the Night

Kurt handed the driver's license to the woman behind the counter. It had his picture on it and the name Alexander Hood. When Robin gave it to him that morning, Kurt hadn't even bothered to comment on the last name.

Now Rob stood behind Alex with the hood of his jacket up to cover his distinctively scarred face. The gun in Robbie's pocket pressed against Kurt's back the same way it had on the day the countertenor left Lima. This felt like a sick reproduction of the day Kurt had killed Wayne Garcia. It was the first time he had entered a bank since.

The teller smiled and asked Alex if he'd like a checking account and debit card connected to his new savings account. Alex smiled smoothly and replied that he would, thank you. Kurt tried not to tremble or make a run for it. The pressure at the small of his back reminded him to stay calm, or at least look it.

Jace and Todd showed up right on time, faces hidden behind ski masks—though why Jace's was orange, Kurt honestly didn't want to know. They pulled guns, much larger than the handgun Rob had, from their long jackets. The bank patrons fell to the floor easily enough—they'd seen it in movies, no doubt. Alex had to catch the teller's wrists before she could hit a silent alarm under the counter. Rob had planned this for a time when only one teller would be on shift.

Kurt mouthed "sorry" to the girl but held her firmly until Robin took over. Then the boy took his ID and sat down near the others on the floor. They shifted away from him, but whatever. Alex was clearly with the bank robbers even if he also clearly wasn't one of them.

Apparently, Robin disliked dealing with people and usually left that to the others, but he watched over them today, probably so he could keep an eye on Kurt too.

"Why don't you sing a little something for us, Alex? You've been quiet recently." Rob sounded like he was laughing at Kurt.

Alex hadn't sung anything since the night he and Robin killed Jack. He didn't want to anymore. And, oh fuck, a request for music made this almost dead-on for a reenactment of the last time he'd been to a bank.

"Come, now, I thought we were past all this," Robin growled.

"Chill the fuck out, Robbie." Kurt rolled his eyes. "I'm just trying to decide on a song." Lying was easier than arguing.

Born from silence, silence full of it
A perfect concert my best friend
So much to live for, so much to die for
If only my heart had a home

The song sounded entirely different a cappella. Softer, but also somewhat empty or hollow. Hollow, Alex decided, suited him just now.

Sing what you can't say
Forget what you can't play
Hasten to drown into beautiful eyes
Walk within my poetry, this dying music
My love letter to nobody

One of the men on the floor looked ready to try something—Kurt remembered the look from Wayne and Pierce's robbery. Robin noticed too and stopped him with a solid kick or three. The bank robber hadn't lied when he told Kurt that he had thought of everything, planned against every possible action. Some nights he even suspected the man had somehow engineered Annette's escape.

Never sigh for better world
It's already composed, played and told
Every thought the music I write
Everything a wish for the night

Alex wrapped his arms around his knees and tried not to look the downed man in the eyes. He continued singing, though, because Robbie had asked him to.

Wrote for the eclipse, wrote for the virgin
Died for the beauty the one in the garden
Created a kingdom, reached for the wisdom
Failed in becoming a god

Kurt finished singing as Jace and Todd finished robbing. He helped them carry the bags out to where Kitty waited in the car while Robbie shot the teller. She drove off before the cops arrived, and they switched vehicles before an hour had passed. When they were certain they'd gotten away safely, Robin smiled and kissed Alex full on the lips. The boy kissed him back because what else was he going to do? When Robbie decided he wanted to fuck, Alex closed his eyes and tried to enjoy it for much the same reason.

~.x.~

So from the end of chapter 22 to the beginning of chapter 27 all takes place on the same day. That's my reason for why most of those chapters are going to be pretty short. It's an intense day. It's also December twentieth, if you were wondering.

Next time: Puck. And the Beatles. And Kurt. Well, not really the Beatles. More like a song originally performed by the Beatles. Yes, I'm focusing on the part no one cares about.

Leave a review and you can tell me how seriously pissed off at me you are that Kurt is 'this close' to breaking. Because he certainly seems to have given up.