the girl with the guitar [glee/sam evans]

chapter 81: Bash pt. 1

You're the sun,
you've never seen the night
But you hear its song
from the morning birds
Well, I'm not the moon,
I'm not even a star
But awake at night
I'll be singing to the birds

~Mitski, Your Best American Girl

New York City seemed like the most progressive place in the world to them. A place where they could chase their dreams and be who they want to be without fear of retribution. Or at least that's what it felt like compared to Ohio.

But they were quickly brought back to reality once news broke that one of Kurt and Rachel's neighbors was physically assaulted just because he was gay.

It felt barbaric to think about. In most of their minds, this shouldn't be happening. Gay marriage was being legalized everywhere. Hell, it was legalized in that very state in 2011. How could people still be this bigoted or at least still had the audacity to show it?

The friends walked along the sidewalk with candles and white roses in hand. Violet gripped Sam's hand, and she clenched her jaw, letting silence fill the air. The group was joined by the rest of the community for the candlelight vigil, and they all set something down for him, just hoping that he would be okay, but truly, they didn't know.

Once the vigil was over and everyone went home, Kurt and Rachel offered some coffee or tea before Sam, Blaine, and Violet went home for the night. The air in the apartment was thick, but no one said a word because no one knew what to say. The only sound was the whistle from the tea kettle.

Sam looked amongst his friends, "How are you guys?" Everyone knew who he was talking to. Rachel didn't even butt in this time because she knew that it wasn't her place even though she has gay dads. Sam was talking to the three queer people in that room.

"Honestly?" Kurt asked. "I'm pissed. I– I'm angry because I feel like as soon as we take a step forward to becoming a more accepting society, we're reminded of all of the people who are digging their heels in the dirt."

"I just can't believe this is happening," Blaine said sadly. "I know hate crimes are still a thing, but... it always felt so distant. It didn't feel real. I mean, Kurt and I, we both have had our fair share of verbal assault and bullying, but that was Lima, you know?"

Violet pursed her lips before speaking, "I'm not surprised. It sucks because I should be shocked, but no matter what, I know this city. I grew up in this city. I know this city like the back of my hand, but that means I also know how shitty it can be."

Rachel asked curiously, "What happened to make you think like this?"

Violet looked up and cleared her throat, "Look, I've never experienced anything as severe as what Russ went through– is going through, but um... back when I was living here, and I was in a relationship with Natasha... we were walking from a bodega to our studio, and, uh, we were holding hands, and we hadn't really thought about it because it was puppy love and we were young and naive..."