Rachel sighed to herself, settling into Finn's side as they woke up the next morning, the television replaying the beginning credits of Funny Girl. This was going a lot better than she had planned. The previous day, Finn had played random games with her, they watched a thousand movies, and they cuddled until they both fell asleep. Today, they were planning on going to the mall before heading out later tonight to go to a club down the street.
Finn stirred a few moments after Rachel woke up, pulling her closer to him instinctively.
"Good morning, sleepy head." Rachel said fondly, smiling up at him.
"Good morning to you, too. Are you feeling any better? Are those plans still on for tonight?" Finn asked, rubbing his eyes sleepily. Rachel inwardly swooned at how adorable he looked before shaking herself out of her own thoughts.
"I feel wonderful. Thank you for yesterday. It was really sweet of you. What time do you want to head to the mall?" Rachel asked, snuggling back into Finn's side.
"Like, 4 hours or so? Afterwards, we can meet up with Kurt, Blaine and Santana to eat and all of us can head over to the club. Do you want to go shower and I'll make us some breakfast?" Finn asked, finally completely out of his slumber-state-of-mind.
"That sounds lovely, thank you." Rachel responded, sitting up and stretching before she headed into the bathroom.
After eating at the diner around 7, Kurt, Blaine, Finn, Rachel and Santana all headed out to the club.
When they got to the crowded club, Kurt and Blaine headed straight for the dance floor and Santana spotted one of her old friends, while Finn and Rachel decided to retreat to the bar to grab some drinks before doing anything else.
Everything was going so well, Rachel was having a really great time dancing with Finn.
She should have known that it wouldn't last long.
They were slow dancing with all of the other couples when someone shouted across the bar. Then, there was a gunshot. And now, they were all on the floor, Rachel holding back a scream as she clung to Finn, terrified for her life.
Kurt and Blaine were in her line of vision, holding each other, their eyes wide with fear as the gunman waved the gun around casually. Santana was nowhere to be found, and Rachel felt her heart clench once she realized that Santana was near the front of the room when the gunman entered. Rachel squeezed Finn's arm tightly and he shifted himself so that he was holding her and covering most of her body, protecting her in case the gunman fired again.
The man walked toward the bartender, who was standing with her hands over her head, a terrified look in her eyes. Finn had seen her hit the emergency button when the gunshot went off, but she was still in great danger. The man pointed towards the cash register and said something in a voice too low to hear from where they were huddled together. Finn glanced in his brother's direction, feeling extremely relieved when he saw Kurt shaking violently as Blaine held him, both of them near the back of the room so that they were out of the gunman's sight.
Rachel inhaled sharply and started sobbing into Finn's arms as she caught sight of a familiar white dress and heels on the floor, hearing Santana's gasps of pain. By this time, the gunman had gotten all of the money, and now he was just standing there, watching all of the people in the room shake with fear. He looked around frantically for a back exit before sprinting towards it, his gun waving in the air, pointing at some people before exiting the building. Immediately after the door had closed, Santana cried out in pain and Rachel screamed, running towards her.
"Rachel?" Santana gasped out, squeezing Rachel's hand for comfort and reassurance.
"I'm here, Santana, it's going to be okay. You're going to be fine, nothing's going to happen, I won't let you die. Where did he shoot you?" Rachel asked, sighing in relief when she heard sirens getting closer and closer. Santana closed her eyes and bit her lip, trying to ignore the pain as she rolled over slightly, revealing a dark, growing, red stain in the middle of her white dress, hovering over where her stomach is.
"Santana?" Kurt called, running towards them, Blaine and Finn in tow. Finn didn't speak, just stared at Santana with a frightened, pained, desperate look on his face. Blaine was sobbing too hard to get a word out.
"Hey, Porcelain, I'm fine, don't you worry. Blaine, look at me. I'm going to be okay. I'm strong, I can handle a bullet. Finn, you need to pull yourself together. I'm going to be okay. Stop looking at me like that, all of you. I'm fine. It hurts, quite a bit, actually, but I'll be fine." Santana said, staring at everyone with a brave look on her face. Rachel sighed in relief, clenching Santana's hand harder, and Kurt finally let his walls break down, his entire body shaking with sobs. Blaine held on to Kurt tightly, whispering sweet nothings into his ear comfortingly. Finn closed his eyes, letting a few tears escape before turning to Rachel.
"I'll be right back, the police are here, I'm getting them to come get her." Finn said, giving Rachel a kiss on the cheek before sprinting out the door.
Why aren't they out of surgery yet? It was supposed to end 10 minutes ago.
Rachel sank a little lower in her seat next to Finn, pressing her face into her hands anxiously. Finn pulled her a little closer before placing a kiss on the top of her head, sighing with emotional exhaustion. Kurt and Blaine were seated across from them, Kurt with silent tears still spilling onto his cheeks and Blaine with his head on Kurt's shoulder, his eyes closed, still whispering random things to reassure Kurt.
"Good news," the doctor said as he entered the waiting room. They all sat up anxiously. "She's going to be fine. But, the bad news is that she won't be able to birth a child. But, considering what she told me when I broke the news to her, she's okay with that. She's asking for all of you, but I don't suggest all of you at once. You can go inside in pairs, but too many people might overwhelm her."
"Rachel? You and Finn can go in first. Blaine and I are going to grab something from the gift shop." Kurt said after talking with Blaine for a couple of minutes. Rachel sighed in relief as she stood up, taking Finn's hand and leading the way to Santana's room.
"Santana? How are you feeling?" Rachel asked once she entered the sterile, white room.
"I'm good, Rache. I've been better, but no real harm was done. I wasn't going to be the one having the baby, anyway. No matter what, actually. It's not that bad." Santana responded, opening her eyes.
"Oh, thank god you're alright." Finn breathed out, leaning down to hug her gently.
"I love you, too, Frankenteen, but I told you so. I knew I was going to be fine." Santana replied, but she hugged him back, sighing a bit in relief. After Finn released her, Rachel jumped in and held on to her roommate tightly, sobbing softly.
"I know you said you were going to be fine, but there was so much blood and everything was just so, so bad." Rachel said in between sobs. They held each other tightly for another minute or two before they released each other, both with tears on their cheeks.
"Did they catch him?" Santana asked, turning to Finn. He shook his head, frowning.
"No, he got away. They will, though. He left prints on the gun that they found in the dumpster. Dumbass. I hope he rots in jail." Finn said, clenching his fists angrily. Rachel nodded with similar anger, twisting her hand in Finn's for comfort. Finn returned the squeeze, smiling slightly at her for a brief moment, before returning his gaze to a smirking Santana.
"It's fine, guys. I know they'll find him. Why don't you guys send in the gay Wondertwins. I'm sure they're both freaking out over their Auntie Tana. I'm pretty sure Blainers was ready to strangle that asshole. You guys go get some sleep. Finn, you should stay with Rachel. Keep her company." Santana said, winking at both of them.
"Alright. Get some rest. They said they'll let you out tomorrow at noon, right?" Rachel asked, ignoring the last comment. Finn and Rachel had already discussed that, and Rachel was uncomfortable being alone in the apartment, so Finn was already staying the night. Finn turned a little red at the insinuation, but otherwise shrugged it off. Typical Santana, at least she was back to her old thinking habits. Nothing had really changed, actually. She seemed like she was handling the situation quite well.
"I'm shocked at how good you're handling this, Santana. You're a lot stronger than people give you credit." Finn commented. Santana shrugged.
"It's not like I haven't been shot before. I did live in Lima Heights Adjacent. I was shot in the leg when I was 13 when some asshole robbed my uncle's store. He didn't shoot me on purpose, just a misfire. He was arrested, I was fine. I learned how to handle situations like this. My aunt was shot once, too, so I guess I just grew accustomed to it. It's not that big of a deal. It hurt like a bitch, but I'm fine now, it's not like I'm dead." Santana said nonchalantly.
"I still hate that you had to go through this. Get better soon." Rachel said, hugging Santana again before leaving the room to exit the hospital.
"That was the most terrifying thing I have experienced in my entire life." Rachel said as they settled themselves on the couch in the apartment.
"You... You protected me." Rachel continued, staring into Finn's eyes with gratitude. Finn shrugged before turning red.
"I don't know why, but I feel very connected to you. It's a little scary sometimes. I just couldn't let you get hurt." Finn stated, pulling Rachel closer to him protectively.
"I feel the connection, too. Just... Thank you, Finn." Rachel said, kissing him softly before snuggling into his chest, heaving out a large sigh. Finn held her close to him, closing his eyes, suddenly feeling the full weight of the night on his chest. Rachel yawned, feeling exhausted.
After another hour of talking to each other about random things, they both fell asleep in each other's arms, unaware of how connected they truly were and how much that connection would grow in the upcoming months/years.
All they knew at this point was that they needed each other and that they didn't have any plans on letting the other go.
Author's Note:
Wow. That did not go as planned, but the episode from last weeks Glee, "Shooting Star," inspired this chapter. I hope you all enjoy it and I hope I did the shooting scene justice. I really needed to kickstart the Finchel relationship and this was the first way I thought of doing that after watching that episode on Thursday. I'm sorry it's taken me like two days to update, I don't write on Glee days unless it's at midnight and it's for a one-shot or ficlet, but on Friday, I started the chapter but didn't like how it was going, so I decided to add a bit of angst. To the anon who suggested to add some drama, this is for you. I was going to have the angst involve some exes or something, but this seemed to be the best way to go about it, and I needed some Pezberry friendship. I don't plan on having Santana freaking out about being shot, but you obviously know that by now. If I get enough requests, I might go into further detail on Santana's shooting-backstory, but until then, I think I'm going to leave it as is.
As always, REVIEW:)