Glee: Race to the Finish (the fifth book in the Glee series)

Chapter 31: Blessed

Her voice trailed off and it became clear to both of them that she'd realized that wasn't even an option anymore and it might never be one again if Sam didn't wake up.

Ryder cleared his throat and though he wasn't sure how to respond to that, he had to say something, so he said, "So... How about a movie?"

He reached for the TV remote and Julie didn't say anything else. Was there really anything either of them could say at that point that would help?

***

"Alright, I'm here," Kara said as she approached Jake, who was waiting outside of Alex's door impatiently. "What's going on? Why did you call me?"

"The better question is," Jake responded, crossing his arms, "why were you one of the most called numbers on a phone belonging the mobster who shot Alex and is the reason Sam is in a coma?"

Kara glared at him and then looked around before leaning in closer to say, "You want to know the truth? I'll give it to you. But not here. Come on, let's go inside. There's a lot you and your cop friends don't know about the men you're up against."

***

"Holy crap, Aunt Bree's a maniac," Riley laughed as she sat having dinner with Kitty. 

Kitty looked up from her meal, taken by surprise by that comment, and asked, "Why do you say that?"

Riley laughed as she turned her tablet around to display Bree's Instagram account, on which was posted a picture of her partying with Quinn, Santana, Rachel and Kurt. 

Kitty stared at the picture and mumbled, "Why on earth is she hanging out with them..."

"Hmm?" Riley asked, taking back the tablet.

"Nothing, forget it," Kitty told her, trying to act like she wasn't completely jealous of Bree making friends with the older crowd. "Just eat your food."

***

"Knock, knock," said a voice from outside Sebastian's office. He was half-asleep, with an empty glass of whiskey in need of refilling sitting on top of his desk. 

He recognized the voice, however, and shot up immediately, wiping the mediocrity from his face and sitting up. "Come in," he called out, not wanting to keep him waiting.

When Travis walked in, Sebastian stood from his chair and after staring at each other dramatically for a few seconds, they hugged it out. "Ahh, I missed you..." Travis said. "I know it's only been a few days since we last saw each other but still... I missed you a lot."

Sebastian nodded, "I missed you, too, but..." The tension was palpable. Neither of them had forgotten the encounter with Luke. "What are you doing here?" Sebastian asked. "You should be on your way to to Phili right now." 

"I know, I know," Travis laughed awkwardly. "But Santana had her friends over in New York and said she wouldn't catch up with me until the morning and she has that dancer with her and some of the other dancers stayed in the city, too, so... I figured I'd come back here and see you before I had to meet up with her. I missed you, but... I also felt really weird about last week."

"Oh?" responded Sebastian, trying not to meet his eye directly. 

"Yeah," Travis continued. "At the Jingle Ball and then at the iHeartRadio after party a little bit... You were being a little bit... I don't know, evasive? Distant, a little? Am I crazy? Or were you not too happy to be with me in Boston?" 

Sebastian shook his head. "It's not that. At all. I love being with you even if I can't be with you, not publicly anyway... But the reason that..." He looked away and then back up at Travis, who was waiting patiently for a response. "The reason that I was acting weird is that there's something I haven't told you about. And I don't want you to find out but... I'd rather you hear it from me and... I value you enough to want to tell you the truth even if it hurts."