A/N: So sorry for the ridiculous wait! December *completely* got away from me! The rest of this fic should flow much smoother. :S Happy Friday the 13th, everyone! Here's my contribution to the spookiness. :P

Chapter Ten

Carole flicked one of the burners on the stove on, and Finn noticeably flinched. Kurt looked sideways at him where he sat beside him at the kitchen table. Finn's eyes were trained on the little flames under the skillet, shoulders tense as he stared at his mother prepare breakfast.

Judging by Carole's warm smiles and affectionate morning greeting, Kurt suspected his father hadn't told her about their awkward pre-dawn encounter. No need to scar her too. While Kurt was thankful for the reprieve, all of his concern shifted to Finn now as he stared blank faced at the harmless flames under the burner.

He thought about his reaction at Rachel's house. Kurt hadn't been much help himself. Everything happened so quickly that it felt like rapid dominos falling and all he could do was watch. He hadn't even noticed Finn dragging him away from the fire, but he thought about it now. How Finn's reaction had been to run. He loved Rachel, Kurt knew he did, not to mention Mr. Schuester and Puck. Besides him and Carole, he suspected the three of them would make his Top Three Favorite People list. So it wasn't a lack of love that played into his retreat. It had been the fire.

Kurt reached out and covered his hand with his on the table. Finn flinched but looked over and gave him a small smile. Kurt returned it. They were going to get through this.

"Carole?" Kurt turned back to his stepmother. She hummed over her shoulder to show she was listening. "Can I have a sleepover with some of the ladies tonight?"

Finn looked at him curiously. He hadn't shared his plan with him yet, because he wasn't sure if it would pan out. Carole didn't believe what he was experiencing was precognitive in nature and might have denied him the request if she saw through it as a way to keep a close eye on Quinn. If she vetoed him, though, he would just go to his dad. His faith in him would have to overrule any point Carole might try to make.

He didn't have to worry, though, because she only smiled over her shoulder and nodded. "Of course, sweetie. If anyone deserves some R&R, it's you kids."

Kurt smiled in satisfaction and sat back in his seat to start plotting out ways of getting the girls to agree. Mercedes was a no-brainer. She had his back no matter what. Rachel would too. She believed him and would want to help. Getting Quinn over would be tricky. She had never even been to his house before. They weren't especially friendly toward each other under normal circumstances. The few times he had been around her lately she had all but completely ignored him. He didn't think her hostility came from a place of old-school-Quinn bitchiness. He had a pretty good idea that it came from a place of fear and resistance. Who would want to believe that some great evil was trying to kill them and all of their friends? He would think of something, though.

"Morning, honey." Carole greeted Burt as he walked sleepily into the kitchen in a pair of a ratty jeans with a newspaper in his hands. He went over to kiss her cheek, and Kurt noted that he didn't look his or Finn's way. He blushed. He wondered how long it would take for him to not think about being caught with Finn's hand down his pants every time he saw his father. "Kurt's having a sleepover tonight with the girls."

Burt turned toward them then, whip fast and serious. He pointed the rolled up newspaper at Finn, expression dark and immoveable. "You're sleeping in your own room."

Finn's eyes got huge and he looked down at the table quickly. Kurt flushed deeply but stubbornly held on to Finn's hand. They couldn't get spooked out of every expression of PDA or they would jump out of their skin every time his dad saw Finn's arm around him.

"Just me and my girlfriends, Dad." Kurt promised.

Carole glanced between them distractedly as she cooked, eyes narrowed curiously as she absorbed the odd tension in the air. Burt harrumphed in a way that let Kurt know that he and the girls could count on several bed checks from his father that night.

It took some conniving and strategizing but he finally worked it out. He didn't contact Quinn at all, instead having Mercedes do it. Quinn had a soft spot for Mercedes; the memory of being accepted and taken in by the Jones family when she was pregnant and kicked out of her own house guilt-tripped her into favors. Today was no exception. Mercedes called him after the deed was done and he hurriedly began getting ready for his guests.

Kurt adjusted himself in front of the full length mirror on the inside of his closet door. His black military cut button-up was fitted to perfection, bless his tailor. Behind him, Finn was sitting on the edge of his bed, hunched over lazily. His posture really was disgraceful. Kurt wondered if there was still a charm school anywhere in the Ohio area. It would be worth his savings to get Finn to sit up straight and not use a fork in the peanut butter jar.

There probably wasn't anything he could do about the staring though. Finn's eyes were fixed on him as he got ready for the girls to arrive, his eyes getting puffy and glossed over the way they sometimes did before they started fooling around.

"Sweetie, stop looking at me like that." Kurt warned, catching his eye in the mirror. "Your eyes look like glazed donuts. The girls will be here any minute and when my dad gets home from work, he's going to make sure we don't get more than ten minutes alone together."

Finn smirked. "We could do a lot in ten minutes."

Kurt walked over and stood in front of him, kissing him thoroughly and maybe still battling the panic that came with almost losing him, because he pushed his shoulders until he fell back and went down with him. Finn moaned encouragingly, grabbing his hips and pulling him down. Kurt didn't even protest when Finn struggled against his tight jeans clumsily until he was able to force his hands into his tight back pockets. The girls would be there soon, so they couldn't get so lost in each other that they would repeat the horror of that morning with his father. Although, Finn could typically go from zero to a hundred in five seconds flat…and come back down to zero just as fast.

Finn's laughter surprised him and tickled his lips. Kurt pulled up, prepared to lay into him with his sassiest voice about what exactly was so funny, but the heartfelt smile on Finn's face brought him up short and made him weirdly shy. He glanced away and crossed his arms over Finn's chest, resting his chin on his hands.

"Yes?" He probed.

Finn freed his hands from Kurt's bear trap pockets and wrapped his arms around his middle tightly. The unexpected hug brought a soft smile to Kurt's lips. Whatever happened to the rest of them, however this thing ended, at least he had saved Finn.

"You're my best friend, Kurt." Finn's brow furrowed contemplatively. "It's, like, crazy how many different ways I love you."

Oh, Finn. Kurt leaned up and pecked his chin affectionately.

"We're going to make it to New York, babe." Finn vowed. The intensity in his eyes signaled one thing. Kurt's turn on this messed up death list was coming up, and Finn was aware of it. Kurt was actively not thinking about that. If he let the panic of what might happen take over he would succumb to it for sure. Finn leveled him with a serious gaze and his voice dropped an octave. "You don't have to be scared."

Kurt swallowed with difficulty, because it was too late for that.

Finn tilted his chin toward his chest to keep eye contact. "I'm going to save you. I promise."

Kurt's life was about as perfect as an eighteen year old openly gay boy living in conservative Ohio could get. Easily a thousand times better than he could have hoped for when he came into high school as the number one target for all things daft and belligerent. He hadn't expected to find someone to love him this soon. He hadn't expected to have the friends he did or gain the stronger relationship with his father that he had craved as a child. He hadn't counted on being this happy. Blinking against the sting in his eyes, he fought to keep his attitude up, cocking an eyebrow at Finn.

"You better."

Downstairs, the doorbell rang signaling the arrival of his sleepover pals. Reluctant to move off of Finn, Kurt pulled himself up over Finn's body until he could look straight down at him. When their lips collided it felt much more charged than their last kiss despite the slower pace and the leisurely tilt of his head. With Finn's promise sealed with a kiss, Kurt briefly cradled Finn's head and kissed his cheek before crawling off of him and straightening his clothes.

Finn pulled himself onto his side, leaning on his elbow, and Kurt looked back at him in the doorway. It wasn't so long ago that he was a loner outcast with an invisible 'freak' tattoo that couldn't enter the school without getting tossed in the trash. The most he could hope for back then was that Finn would take his more expensive items so they wouldn't get ruined and protect him from more aggressive bullying by his teammates. He and his father were strangers living in the same house. He was alone in every way. There was no way he could have known he would turn out so lucky. He prayed, actually prayed, that his fickle luck would hold up long enough to get him through the coming obstacles.

Finn's half-smile grew, and the doorbell rang again throughout the house. Kurt watched Finn a moment longer before heading downstairs.

Rachel was drunk in an oddly sober way, dancing around Kurt's bedroom without inhibition. Kurt blamed her survivor's high, especially when she started listing off all of the added dreams she discovered she had since her 'close encounter with The End'. Apparently, Rachel Berry was going to learn to fence and jump out of a plane. Hopefully not at the same time.

Kurt leaned against his vanity as Pat Benatar moved Rachel to fist pump the air with feisty little swings. Kurt raised an eyebrow but stayed relatively expressionless. Crazed with relief Rachel was better than just crazed.

He hadn't heard the doorbell ring again, so he was surprised when he looked up to see Mercedes and Quinn in the open doorway. He straightened up immediately and crossed to take their overnight bags.

"Ladies." He smiled at them in turn, his grin a little brighter on Mercedes. "Welcome."

Quinn eyed her surroundings dubiously, Kurt's minimalist style crisp and neat under her scrutinizing gaze. "So this is Love Cave de Furt. I would have imagined it messier and more covered by Finn's dirty everything."

Kurt looked down his nose. "That wreck would be across the hall in Finn's bedroom. We don't share." There was only one bed in the room. What kind of house did she think their parents were running? Then again, considering the amount of times one or the other of them snuck into each other's beds to sleep, he wasn't going to make a big thing of it. "You will, of course, take the bed with Mercedes tonight, Quinn dear. Rachel and I will sleep on the air mattress."

Rachel's eyes got huge and she bounced on her heels, clapping. "I've never done that! You do something new every day! It's incredible, isn't it? Life?"

Quinn's disdain was as open and pointed as ever. Mercedes passed Kurt a look, but he shrugged. He was happy Rachel was alive. She could be happy too, even if it was in a slightly manic way.

"Hey, Mercedes." They looked over to see Finn leaning in the doorway, his slightly wrinkled jeans sitting lazily on his hips. Kurt repressed a sigh. It wasn't fair that Finn spent about two seconds, in which time he was sniffing his clothes to make sure they didn't smell too bad, to get ready for the day and look that good. His particular brand of clothing left much to be desired, but what he did put on always sat well on his tall, broad figure. A figure that might let him cheat around the wardrobe rules but not one that Kurt was about to complain about for half a second.

"White boy." Mercedes dug into her oversized purse, one that Kurt hadn't seen before but needed to ask about soon. It was delicious. She pulled out a wrapped pecan muffin and tossed it to Finn. He caught it, lighting up like a ten year old on Christmas.

"Thank you, Mercedes." Kurt said for him since the plastic was open and Finn's mouth was stuffed with sweets before he got it out himself. Finn looked guiltily between him and Mercedes, but Mercedes only chuckled and waved him off.

"Hi, Quinn." Finn greeted when he managed to swallow the massive bite he took. Half of the muffin was gone. Kurt shook his head.

Quinn exhaled through her nose with a frown, turning to Kurt. "Let's get something straight, alright? The only reason I came was because Mercedes asked me to. It's the end of the year, and after this we're all going to go our separate ways. After everything that happened and losing Santana and Brittany…" She set her jaw and lifted her chin as though refusing to submit to the feelings that came with that thought. "I don't think it's a terrible idea to spend some time with friends. But that doesn't mean I buy into any of your nonsense, Kurt. And I don't want to talk about it."

Rachel and Mercedes exchanged knowing looks, both believers who thought they owed their lives to Kurt's 'nonsense'. Kurt held his chin up with equal stubbornness, and his height allowed him to look down his nose at her.

"Very well." He replied with a prim shrug. He hadn't seen anything related to her yet anyway. There was nothing pertinent to discuss. Clapping his hands and threading his fingers together at his waist, he looked between his friends. "Music and mani-pedis?"

Mercedes and Rachel beamed and Quinn tentatively nodded.

"What music?" Finn asked, shoving the empty wrapper of the devoured muffin into his pants pocket. He would end up shucking the pants before bed, leaving them on the floor for weeks until Carole picked them up and found a pile of ants living in the pocket. He was hoping to still be included, willing to stick around during their girlish primping if there was something playing for his auditory pleasure.

"Barbra!" Rachel immediately enthused.

"Give it a rest!" Mercedes snapped, turning to Kurt. "Aretha."

Speaking of giving it a rest… Kurt opened his mouth to suggest something outside of their normal go-to list, but Quinn sat down on the edge of his bed and spoke first.

"Why don't we just put the radio on and see what's playing."

Kurt smiled appreciatively, going to do just that. Finn started to walk in to join them when a heavy hand landed on his shoulder.

"Whoa, where do you think you're going?" Burt asked.

Well, his father was home. Kurt looked over to see him pulling Finn back out into the hallway.

"I was just-"

"Crashing Kurt's slumber party full of girls and Kurt? I don't think so, buddy. Back to your room. They don't need to pillow fight with a quarterback." Burt pulled a sputtering Finn backward.

Kurt set his father with an indignant look. Pillow fights, really? "What do you think goes on during my girls nights?"

"I don't know, don't wanna know, and Finn here's not gonna know. Got it?" He pointed between Finn and the rest of them with fatherly intimidation. Kurt shrugged. It made no difference to him, but Finn huffed dejectedly. "You leave your room and it's to go to the bathroom or the kitchen. That's it." Burt gave Finn the Argue-With-Me-And-See-Where-It-Goes look. Finn cowered back from it, nodding. Burt left for his room with parting words that left no room for doubt as to the warning behind them. "I won't be going to sleep any time soon."

Jeez. What did he think Finn was going to do? Jump him in front of three of their friends? Oh well. His father was healing from their morning of epically awkward proportions. They would just have to deal with his weird strictness for a while.

Kurt gave Finn, now standing in his own doorway across the hall sadly, a sympathetic smile and turned back to the girls. He had nails to fix and pretty up. Not to mention a premonition to have and a girl to save. Weren't things supposed to get easier at the end of high school? So much for his senior slump.

Rachel's feet bounced rapidly over the DDR mat, and Kurt wasn't sure if he regretted letting them convince him to play or not. Some old classic rock song was playing on the screen, the different arrows lighting up and telling Rachel where to put her feet. Dance Dance Revolution could hardly be called 'dancing'; more like Cardio Revolution. Mercedes was already sitting on her butt on the carpet in the living room, legs out and complaining about the burn in her calves. Quinn sat primly on the couch, looking between Mercedes and Rachel's manically moving legs.

She was more advanced at the game than Kurt would have expected, but even she couldn't hit all of the steps when the lights started scrolling up faster after she raised the level. She gave it her all, though, pounding away, skinny legs jumping all over the mat. Mercedes cackled with laughter, pointing and doubling over her lap.

"What's happening?" Finn's voice rose and called out from the kitchen, where he went when the rest of them went downstairs. Burt wasn't kidding about keeping Finn out of the festivities either. It took two minutes before he was downstairs too and Kurt could hear him questioning Finn about what he was eating in the kitchen. Finn was lucky he was always hungry, because he'd had to quickly begin fussing around the kitchen to make something.

"Rachel's a lunatic is all. Nothing new." Quinn called back mildly.

The song wrapped and Rachel stepped off the mat, turning and resting her hands on her knees panting. "You're just jealous…Fabray…because you don't…have my…" She gulped for air. "…moves."

"Thank God for small favors." Quinn replied with a nasty twitch of her eyebrow.

Kurt clapped his hands together as Rachel fixed her with a pre-ranting face. "Let's go back upstairs, shall we?"

Mercedes chortled at their tense exchange but got up, grabbed Quinn's hand and started hauling her over to the staircase. Rachel jogged up behind them and as Kurt reached the bottom of the stairs, Finn mysteriously appeared at his side. He gave him a knowing smile as Finn reached for the banister.

"Finished eating, are you?"

Finn's hand went to the small of his back as they started up. He grinned. "Yep."

Kurt wrapped his arm around his waist and gave him a squeeze when they reached the top. Finn did a double take toward Kurt's half-open door, so Kurt looked over at his bedroom at the girls inside. Mercedes was unbuttoning her jeans while Quinn reached behind her for the zipper of her sundress and Rachel hopped around, yanking her shirt up. Apparently it was pajama time, and Finn had the lucky fortune of catching a glimpse of it. He stared mesmerized but Kurt quickly shoved him in the chest, making him stumble backward into the wall. Kurt fixed him with a pointed glare, breaking Finn out of his daze and painting his face in guilt. Revenge was pretty simple.

Kurt deliberately brought his fingers up to the top button of his shirt and undid the first two as he backed into his room. Finn's face fell as he realized Kurt was about to change with all of the girls in his bedroom. His jaw dropped, and Kurt smirked as he stood in the cracked doorway blocking the girls from sight and shut it after him.

He almost hoped his dad would choose to check on them again right then, so he would find Finn gaping and/or drooling at his bedroom door. Would serve him right. Though, with the fantasy material he just provided him with, he didn't think Finn would have a hard time coming up with something to do alone in his room for a while… With a frown, he turned around to the girls in different levels of undress and went to get his own pajamas.

"I'm taking a quick shower." Mercedes announced, grabbing her overnight bag to go to Kurt's private restroom. Finn had to use the one in the hall, something that didn't so much as phase him when he was told since he was unaccustomed to having a connecting one in the first place. Where Kurt would have been outraged, Finn had shrugged and nodded. Boys. "DDR whooped my ass."

Kurt smiled at her as he pulled his shirt off his shoulders and folded it delicately on the back of his desk chair. "Now I know who to call the next time we're at the mall and you won't listen to me when I tell you not to buy the zebra pattern blouse. I mean, honestly, Mercedes! No more zebra!"

Mercedes blew an unladylike dismissal through her pursed lips and locked herself in the bathroom.

"I'm next!" Rachel called.

By one in the morning they were all starting to wind down. The whacky sleep schedule of slumber parties was undoubtedly the worst part about the overnight gossip sessions. Kurt's complexion didn't come in a magic spray. He had to work for it, and getting a solid eight hours every night was part of that battle.

Finn was on the floor, slumped against the doorway to his own bedroom across the hall, where he had been sitting since they opened their door back up for him to communicate. His head was tilted half against the wall and down toward his chin. His chest moved in the slow rhythm of sleep, and Kurt marveled that he could pass out in any position at any time. He was going to have major back issues when he was older with his total lack of regard for proper lumbar support.

Rachel took her sweet time getting into the shower after Mercedes got out and then took forever, ensuring that all of the hot water was gone. She was lucky Kurt showered earlier. He looked in his bathroom now and glowered.

"Rachel, the floor is covered in water! You're as bad as Finn." Kurt snapped.

Mercedes and Quinn looked at each other mischievously and ooh-ed.

"Tell us more about how Finn gets your bathroom floor all soaked during showers in your bathroom." Mercedes teased.

"Or don't." Rachel put in flatly.

"Yes," Quinn cut in. "And how alone is he during these scenarios?"

Kurt refused to look at them, staring at his freshly buffed nails and hoping the dim lamplight was masking the bright blush on his cheeks. He was glad Finn was asleep like a tranquilized troll across the hallway or he would surely be blurting out embarrassing private things to try to stumble through the awkwardness. It was a plan that never worked in his favor but that he didn't seem capable of learning his lesson from.

Rachel plopped down on the air mattress that Burt came in and pumped up for them. Carole had brought them extra sheets and pillows and offered to make up the couch for Kurt if Rachel wanted to sleep alone, but Rachel had only jumped in to hug Kurt from behind and shaken her head, getting wet droplets from her shower all over his sleeve.

"Can we just go to sleep? These vocal cords don't rest themselves." Rachel stressed.

"Don't we know it." Quinn frowned at her, and Rachel made a face in return.

"Okay, ladies." Kurt switched the lamp off, preventing another Fabray/Berry face-off. "Good night."

Rachel laid back on the air mattress as Quinn settled down on Kurt's bed beside Mercedes who just moaned incoherently into her pillow. Kurt made his way out into the hall and over to his ridiculous boyfriend. Squatting in front of him, he rubbed his shoulders and shook him lightly. When that didn't work, he pushed his chest until he started falling backward and jerked awake to catch himself. He gasped and looked around bewildered.

"Falling asleep sitting up? Attractive." Kurt said sarcastically. He leaned forward and kissed his forehead. "Get up. Go to sleep."

He started to leave but Finn caught his wrist. He looked up at him with a sleepy boyish grin. "Come with me." He mumbled.

Kurt squeezed his hand but pulled his arm free. "My father would pull you out of bed and undo all my hard work to keep you alive. Let him recover from seeing your hand in bad places."

Finn sneered. "I don't remember you calling it a 'bad place' this morning." His eyes dropped to the so-called 'bad place', and Kurt was starting to get pissy about all the blushing people were making him do lately.

He swatted Finn's hand away when he reached for him again. "Get up and go to bed, you lazy slug. Tonight I'm sleeping with Rachel."

Finn raised an interested eyebrow, and Kurt scowled. Finn was definitely getting his money's worth in the fantasy department tonight. Finn got to his feet with surprising speed considering how far out he was only seconds ago. He grabbed Kurt behind the neck and pulled him up, planting a rough sloppy kiss against his lips, parting them and moving his sleepy tongue against his with surprising insistence. He sighed as he pulled back and slapped Kurt's ass. Kurt jumped at the smack but before he could shoot him a properly incredulous look, Finn kissed him again and stepped back into his room. Finn's noisy yawn was his only 'good night' as he turned, pulling his t-shirt up and over his head. The flash of his defined back made Kurt swallow and turn stiffly back for his own bedroom. Apparently two could play at the creating fantasies game… Lesson learned.

"Kurt," Rachel turned on her side as soon as he sat down on the squeaky mattress and snuggled under the covers. He groaned at her tiredly. "Are you sure you don't want Quinn down here? In case you have a dream and need to wake her up?"

"Don't start." Quinn warned before he could reply.

Rachel sat up and turned toward the taller bed in the dark room. "Why would Kurt make it up, Quinn? And I suppose it's just a coincidence that he's been right every single time, and it's a coincidence that ever since the day at the zoo we've all been having mysterious accidents in the order in which we were killed in Kurt's vision? Or, pardon me, 'hallucination'. You don't make any sense. He saved Mercedes' life!"

Mercedes surprised him when she grunted incoherently into the pillow. He thought she was asleep already. Rachel understood her though.

"Mine too." She agreed. "Not to mention Mr. Schuester."

"Enough. This is ridiculous." Quinn snapped. "Even if it was true, it's not only unnatural but wrong to fight it. If I'm supposed to die, it's God willing, and what gives any of us the right to intervene?"

"Quinn, this isn't God!" Kurt exclaimed at the ceiling, slapping his palms down on the blanket covering him in frustration. "This is something else. I'm not trying to warp your beliefs. I just want you to listen to me if I get a feeling or something. We can still fix this."

Quinn laughed bitterly. "Do you have any idea how arrogant that is? How insane? God has a plan for all of us. We don't get to understand it. We don't have to like it, but you don't go around trying to 'fix' the path He laid out for you. All you can do is try to be the best possible version of yourself, so you can meet Him with a shred of dignity when He decides that it's your time."

Kurt sat up angrily and squinted over at the blonde preaching at him from his bed. "So what are you saying?" He asked sharply. "I should have let Finn burn to death in that crematorium because intervening is sacrilegious?"

Quinn sat up too and glared over in the darkness. "You saved him, Kurt, so obviously he was meant to be saved."

"What does that mean?" Kurt argued incredulously. "You have a lot of convictions and judgments but you're full of contradictions."

Quinn's jaw set and her eyes sparked. "Well, you're full of-"

Mercedes' hand shot up and covered Quinn's mouth abruptly silencing her. "Girl, don't say something you're going to regret in the morning."

"Speaking of regrets," Quinn threw the covers off in furious jerky movements, getting to her feet. "I knew it was a mistake to come here." She rounded the bed, glaring over at Kurt. "You're crazy. Santana and Brittany are dead, Oh Omniscient One. Either you're out of your mind or you really suck at this hero thing."

She slammed the door to his restroom shut behind her and Kurt flinched. He stared at the door stricken. The guilt of their deaths weighed on him like cement shoes slowly dragging him under water until he drowned. Finn had said nobody blamed him, but he was wrong. The blood rushed from his face as he remembered Santana swinging over the stage and Brittany laid out awkwardly, both broken and lost. The air mattress groaned and squeaked awkwardly under Rachel as she moved closer and placed a comforting hand on his arm.

Mercedes rolled over to face them and frowned in the darkness. "She didn't mean it, Kurt. She's just upset. This is all really weird and hard to deal with. It's hard for her to reconcile what's happening with you with her religion."

Kurt avoided their eyes and protested. "You're religious, Mercedes, and you believe me."

"Honey, I experienced your wizard voodoo firsthand." She said, the exhaustion thick in her voice. "Besides, I think all of these signs are coming from God. He's giving us a second chance."

Rachel nodded adamantly.

Kurt exhaled deeply and got up. "Well, I better make peace or the Captain of the Kurt Haters Brigade won't even take my call when I do see something about her."

He knocked lightly at the bathroom door. "Quinn. Quinn, I'm sorry. Let's not talk about this anymore. Come out so I can kiss your perfectly symmetrical all-American face and go to sleep. Some of us have to work for our beauty. In case you haven't seen my father's less than distinguished receding hairline behind his oh-so-attractive assortment of ugly baseball caps, I don't exactly have genes that root for me."

After a moment she opened the door and looked up at him frowning. "Just a second." She said quietly. "Mercedes left her curling iron plugged in." Her voice rose with distaste. "And Rachel really should clean up this floor before-"

Kurt had forgotten about the post-shower flood as he stepped in after Quinn, left foot sliding out from under him and his right foot twisting with his full weight on it. He gasped and Quinn grabbed his arm, reaching behind her for the sink to balance herself. Her hand gripped the round end of the curling iron, and she hissed, drawing back and stumbling away. The heel of her bare foot landed in a puddle of water pooled over the tiles against the tub and her legs went out from under her. Her hand left Kurt and she fell back hard, the back of her skull connecting with a heavy thud against the short porcelain wall of the tub.

Kurt flinched and stared in the darkness, but Quinn's body slumped down lifelessly against the tub and down to the floor. Kurt's hand shook so hard it took an inordinate amount of time for him find the light switch behind him on the wall and switch it on. All the while, the girls were moving noisily in the bedroom, hurrying over to see what was happening. The second Kurt found the switch and blasted the room with light, a thick black shadow moved over the water on the floor and disappeared. His nerves shot out in every direction, lightning fast and twitchy.

Behind him in the doorway, Rachel and Mercedes bumped their way through.

"Oh my God…" Mercedes said, voice dull and low in shock.

Rachel screamed, high and loud, eyes going huge at the sight of Quinn laying there with her eyes open unseeingly with a thick daub of blood thickening her blonde hair and dripping onto the floor. Mercedes put her arms around Rachel and started pulling her back out, but her high terrified screams continued until she was forced into the bedroom with Quinn out of sight.

Kurt stepped toward Quinn, and the pain in his right ankle sent flares of harsh shocks through his nerves. It was definitely sprained or worse. Dropping to his knees, he soaked his pajama pants as he crawled forward and lifted his arm. His entire hand shook with reservations as he forced himself to reach out. His fingers sat against her throat, pointless and trembling. No pulse.

The door to his bedroom banged open and several heavy footsteps entered.

"What's going on?" His father bellowed. He could hear Rachel and Mercedes in full sobs now.

"It's Quinn," Mercedes choked out.

Carole was already in the doorway of the restroom and she brought a hand to her mouth in shock as she looked down at her stepson beside Quinn's lifeless body.

"Burt, call 911." Her voice was stilted and even with chilling restraint as her husband appeared beside her in the doorway. He caught one glance of Kurt shaking beside Quinn and swore loudly, disappearing to find a phone.

"Kurt?" Finn ducked in past his mother and his mouth flew open. "Oh shit! Quinn! What happened?" Carole reached to pull him back but he pulled away, dropping beside Kurt and grabbing him under the arms. He hauled him to his feet and dragged him backward away from Quinn. Kurt winced and cried out as he was set back on his injured foot. Finn looked down at him and without asking, tucked an arm under his knees and picked him up. He carried Kurt out of the room and out to his bed, setting him down on top of his sheets, wet pajamas and all.

"Kurt." Finn dropped to his knees beside the bed looking at him imploringly, hands hovering over him to search out his injury. He shook Kurt's shoulders asking him what hurt, but Kurt sat pressed up against the headboard staring ahead in shock.

He hadn't seen anything, hadn't felt anything. There had been no warning. Quinn was fine, and then she wasn't. Quinn was alive. And then she wasn't. He sat stiff and unresponsive, not hearing the faraway voice of his father, though he was in the room, or feeling Finn's hands on him, blocking out Rachel's gasps of fright as she and Mercedes clung to Carole. He stared at the open bathroom door and trembled silently even as paramedics and police officers appeared in the room.

The girls were holding hands and talking to the police officer near the bathroom explaining what had happened. Burt was pointing at Kurt and speaking rapidly with a paramedic who was shining a light in his eyes and checking his pulse. Kurt's hand rose where it was lifted and stayed in the air until the paramedic lowered it back down. Everything seemed to come at a great distance. It was like trying to make sense of a foreign film without subtitles.

"He's in shock." The medic told Burt.

"I think his ankle's broken." Finn was ghostly white, and the paramedic spoke to his partner back and forth for a while. None of their exchange connected with Kurt.

Even as he was lifted onto a stretcher and carried out, his eyes closed and all he was aware of was Quinn's dead body nearby and how only a few minutes ago she had been alive and well. Now she was being zipped into a body bag like trash to be carried out of the house, an empty shell of what she was.

Finn climbed into the ambulance with him after a short argument with Burt that ended in Finn jumping up into the back before Burt could stop him and stubbornly refusing to get out. Carole pulled Burt toward the car to follow them as the girls came out of the house after getting dressed as quickly as two teenaged girls had ever done in their lives.

The ambulance set off down the street, and Finn squeezed his numb hand, bending next to his ear from the bench seat and whispering soothingly below the detection of the medic riding in the back with them.

Kurt only caught snippets. "It's okay….baby…I got you…not your fault…" After a few more hushed reassurances, Finn started crying, holding Kurt's hand to his forehead as he sobbed. Kurt only caught one thing between his tears, but it was enough to close him off entirely.

"…Dammit, Quinn…"

But Quinn would never hear his grief. After saving Mercedes, Mr. Schuester, Rachel, and Finn, his luck had run out. Quinn was gone.