Hi guys! Thanks so much for your review on the last chapter. I appreciate them! This chapter was kind of tough because neither Finn nor Rachel were in it, but I think I did pretty well :) I did wonder how the graduates reacted to the news of the shooting, so here I decided to give it a try. Enjoy and review if I should keep going!

Chapter 88: Shooting Star

Rachel, Kurt and Santana sat in their living room, watching a movie, when Kurt's phone rang. Kurt picked it up. "Hello?" He then turned to Rachel and Santana. "It's my dad. He said to put the phone on speaker. He wants to talk to all of us."

Rachel was beginning to get worried. Why did Burt want to talk to all three of them?

Kurt put the phone on speaker. "Okay Dad, we're all listening."

Burt sounded worried. "The Lima Police just posted on Twitter that gunshots were fired at McKinley."

Rachel gasped. Gunshots at McKinley? "Oh my God," Santana said. "What do we know? Is anyone hurt?"

"We don't know much," Burt said. "I hope that everyone's okay but I don't know."

Kurt and Santana both looked terrified. Rachel didn't know what to say to them. Although they'd broken up with the people they loved, Rachel knew how much Kurt still loved Blaine and Santana still loved Brittany. She was worried about her friends, of course she was. But she knew what she was thinking was nothing compared to what Kurt and Santana were thinking.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this," Burt said. "I wanted you to hear from me and not see something on the news."

"I have to call Blaine," Kurt said. "I have to make sure he's okay."

"Maybe send him a text or something," Burt said. "But don't call him, Kurt. We need to make sure he's safe, and we don't want people to hear him talking."

"Okay," Kurt said. "What else do you know?"

"That's all I know," Burt said. "I'll call you if I hear anything else, okay?"

"Okay," Santana said nervously. Kurt hung up the phone, the three roommates sitting quietly.

"I just... I don't know what to say to you guys," Rachel said. She wished she could assure Kurt and Santana that Blaine and Brittany were okay. But she couldn't. She didn't know. And neither did they.

"What if he gets hurt?" Kurt said. "WHat if he dies thinking that I hate him?"

"Blaine knows you don't hate him," Rachel assured Kurt.

"Yeah, but he was so upset to find out that I was with Adam," Kurt said. "And now the last memory he has of me might be of me being with another guy."

"Yeah," Santana agreed. "I'm the one who broke up with her. And now she's going out with Sam. What if she dies thinking that I'm not the one who loves her the most?"

Rachel tried to think of something to say. If Finn was somewhere with a gunman on the loose, she would be terrified. "They know how much you love them."

"But I didn't even talk to her at the wedding!" Santana said.

"And I basically told him that sex we had at the wedding didn't mean anything," Kurt said.

Rachel noticed that Santana didn't make any comments about Kurt and Blaine's sex. She really was afraid. "Maybe you should do what Burt said," Rachel suggested. "Try texting them. But like he said, don't call them." She pulled in both her roommates for a hug, worried about her friends and former teammates.

x

Finn was at Target buying supplies for his dorm room. It was hard to believe how fast this was all happening. He'd signed up for three classes so the first quarter would be an easy one, and he'd tried to find his roommate on Facebook, but didn't have much luck.

As Finn finished checking out, his phone rang. He picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Finn, you need to get home right away," Carole said.

"What?" Finn asked.

"You just need to get home," Carole said. "Just come home."

"Okay," Finn said. He couldn't help but notice how upset his mom sounded. "Just come home."

Finn gulped. "Okay." He got in his car and drove home, wondering why his mom had called him. He knew that Burt was sick... what if something had happened?

Finn pulled into the driveway and came into the house, where his mom was sitting in the living room. Now he was sure. Something had happened with Burt's cancer.

"Sit down, Finn," Carole said.

Finn sat down. "Mom, what happened to Burt?"

"Burt's fine, he's upstairs," Carole said.

Now Finn knew. Kurt had gotten hurt in New York somehow. He'd read stories about gay bashing online... "Mom, do we need to get to New York to see Kurt?"

"Kurt's okay, too," Carole said. "Burt's talking to him on the phone."

Oh no. Now Finn knew. Something had happened to Rachel. "No. No."

"Finn, a gun went off at your high school," Carole said.

Finn gulped. "What happened?" Was someone he knew hurt?

"We don't know the details," Carole said. "We just know it happened. We don't know if anyone's hurt or anything like that. All we know is that the gun went off and police are there."

Finn looked down. He hadn't talked to anyone at McKinley since he left, fed up with Mr. Schue being mad at him. If he'd known, he wouldn't have left. Some of his friends could be hurt or worse. Why did this have to happen to them? Why didn't they know anything?

"We don't know where the gunman is," Carole said. "That's why I wanted you home."

Finn gave his mom a hug. "I love you Mom."

"I love you too honey," Carole said.

Burt came downstairs. "I just talked to Kurt... oh good, you're home, Finn."

"How'd Kurt take it?" Carole asked.

"He's really worried about Blaine," Burt said. "I'm just glad you're home, Finn."

"I wasn't at the school," Finn said. "I was at Target."

"Yeah, but you could have gotten hurt," Burt said. "The gunman could have come to Target..."

"But I'm here," Finn said. He was tempted to text Mr. Schue to ask if he heard anything about the glee club. But then he remembered Mr. Schue didn't want to talk to him. Instead, he got out his phone and sent texts to the glee club members: "I heard the news and I'm really worried about you. Are you okay? Where are you?"

Almost right away, Finn got a text from Sam. "All of us are in the choir room except Tina and Brittany. Brittany's in the bathroom and Tina hasn't gotten here yet."

Finn started to get worried when he got a text from Tina. She was outside and Figgins wouldn't let her inside. Police cars were at the school.

Then Brittany texted Finn to say she was in the bathroom with the stall locked, right before Artie texted Finn to say that Mr. Schue had locked the choir room doors and told them to be quiet, and that the lights were off.

Finn showed the texts to his parents. "At least it sounds like they're okay."

"Yeah," Carole said. "We should still be careful. The gunman could be anywhere."

Finn knew his mom was right. The gunman could be anywhere. He was just glad he was at home with his mom and with Burt, where he was safe. And he was glad that his friends were safe.

x

"He replied to my text," Kurt finally told Rachel and Santana. "He's in the choir room and he's okay."

"See, that's a good thing," Rachel told Kurt, giving him a hug.

"I'm just glad he's okay," Santana said. "And that she's okay too."

"Yeah, me too," Rachel said. "I'm glad they all are."
"Yeah, I just wonder who did it," Kurt said.

"Me too," Rachel said. "After everything that happened at that school in Connecticut in December... maybe after things like that happen, it motivates copycats..."

"Yeah, but that person should be in jail," Santana said. "Why would anyone do it when it's illegal?"

"I don't know," Rachel sighed.

Then Kurt's phone started ringing again. Kurt looked at the Caller ID. "It's Finn."

Rachel was tempted to say something to Finn. But she knew that she didn't know what Finn would think if she knew what happened with him and Brody. Kurt picked up the phone. "Hi."

"Hi," Finn said. "Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, we're okay," Kurt said. "I talked to Blaine, and Santana talked to Brittany, so we feel better now."

"Good," Finn said. "Mom and Burt and I are staying inside. Mom says that the gunman could be anywhere, so she doesn't want me to go outside just yet."

Rachel felt her heart beating fast. "I'm so glad you're okay," she managed to say.

"Hi Rachel," Finn said.

Rachel smiled to herself. "Hey Finn. I'm kind of glad you weren't at McKinley today... I would have been so worried about you."

"I'm just glad everyone's okay," Finn said. "This was pretty scary."

"Yeah," Santana said. "I'm just glad Brittany was willing to talk to me. I was worried that the wedding would be the last time I ever saw her and that the last time I saw her, we wouldn't have even talked."

"Yeah, same with me and Blaine," Kurt said. "I was worried about what my last memories of him would be."

"What matters is that everyone's okay," Finn said. "And I know that Blaine and Brittany know how much you guys love them."

"That's what I told them," Rachel said.

"I just wanted to check with you guys," Finn said. "I'm so glad you're all okay. I'll call again soon, okay?"

"Okay," Kurt said. "Enjoy the beginning of college."

x

Three days after the shooting, the newspaper revealed that the gun was not brought to school by a gunman trying to kill people.

The gun was Sue Sylvester's.

Coach Sylvester had a gun that she kept at school and when she was doing her daily checks to make sure the gun was properly locked up, it went off.

Finn couldn't believe that Coach Sylvester had brought a gun to school and that it went off. He knew that she liked to play by her own rules, but this even seemed too extreme for her...

Finn's phone rang. He looked at the Caller ID and saw that it was Kurt. "Hello?"

"Did you see the news?" Kurt asked.

"Yeah I did," Finn said.

"I can't believe it," Kurt said. "You'd think that even she would know not to do that."

"Yeah," Finn said. "It is kind of a relief though. At least now we know there's not some psycho coming after our old school trying to kill people."

"Yeah, it is," Kurt said. "So, thanks for talking with us yesterday."

"You're welcome," Finn said. "It felt really good to hear your voices."

"I think Rachel really appreciated hearing your voice," Kurt said. "She was upset, but she was so strong for me and Santana because she knew what she'd be like if that was you."

Finn smiled to himself. That sounded just like Rachel. "Well, you guys take care of yourselves."

"Yeah, you too," Kurt said.

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