Just Around The Corner

2

Kurt wasn't sure how long he and Rachel stood still, staring in horrified silence at each other. Probably a good ten minutes. Finally, he managed to tear his eyes away from the terrifyingly (and there was really no other word for it) Fabrayic transformation of Rachel's face and hair. Their surroundings were as monochromatic as they themselves, and also strangely familiar.

"Oh God," Rachel bemoaned. "Kurt, what's happened? Why can't I see in color?"

"Relax, you're not the only one," Kurt quickly assured her.

Rachel wrapped her arms around herself. "Where are we?" She demanded, as if Kurt could offer any explanation.

Although maybe he could.

"I think we're inside the show," he said slowly, feeling a little crazy for saying it out loud. "That would explain why we're not in color. Although I'm not sure about your sudden nose job," he added.

Rachel let out an inhuman squeak and covered her nose. "It's gone!"

"It's not gone," Kurt said. "It's just smaller." Seeing Rachel's horrified face, he decided against mentioning her new hair color. "Isn't there anything different about me?"

Rachel shook her head, still looking upset. "Your clothes and hairstyle have changed, but you still look like you."

Kurt's hand automatically flew to his hair and he grimaced when he came in touch with it. Slicked back by what felt like half a gallon of hair gel. Disgusting.

"This has to be a dream, right?" Rachel demanded.

Kurt bit his lip. "Maybe. I don't think so. This feels too real to be a dream, doesn't it?"

"Depends on what you define as 'real'," Rachel said sadly, feeling her nose again.

"Bud, Mary Sue!" called an unfamiliar voice. "Breakfast is on the table!"

Kurt and Rachel turned around to see a woman standing in the doorway. Kurt recognized her as Bud and Mary Sue's mother - Betty Parker was her name. She smiled at him with an expectant look in her eyes.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" She urged.

"Uh," said Kurt. "We're coming?"

Betty smiled. "Hurry up, then, dears. You can't go off to school without a hot breakfast inside you."

She turned and walked back the way she came. Kurt and Rachel shared dumbfounded glances.

"We're not just in the show," Kurt whimpered. "We've become the characters."

"We need to get home, now," Rachel said. "Where's the remote?"

There was a short silence and Kurt's blood ran cold. "I thought you had it."

Rachel's eyes widened and in the next instance, they were both down on the floor. Kurt peeked under the table, while Rachel searched around the television.

"What are you two doing?"

Kurt raised his head, banging it against the table in the progress. It was Betty again.

"We- we were looking-" Rachel stammered.

"-For Mary Sue's glasses," Kurt quickly improvised, remembering the hideous cateye glasses the character had worn sometimes on the show. "She thinks she may have dropped them in the living room."

"You left them on the kitchen counter last night, sweetheart," Betty said helpfully. "Now come eat your breakfast, it's getting cold."

Kurt and Rachel shared a solemn look and stood up slowly. They obediently marched to the kitchen, dragging their feet behind them.

"We'll look again later," Kurt whispered and Rachel nodded miserably. "Best to play along for now."

Truthfully, he was still sort of waiting to wake up from this.

They stopped short in the kitchen doorway. Betty stood by the table, where a man Kurt recognized as Bud and Mary Sue's father (George, if he remembered correctly) sat.

Rachel let out something that sounded suspiciously like a small sob and Kurt had to agree with the sentiment. On the table in front of them stood plates upon plates loaded with pancakes, waffles, scrambled eggs, French toast, muffins, cookies, bacon, ham and sausages. All of that was topped off with more butter and syrup than Kurt had eaten or even seen in the past five years.

"Well, sit down and dig in," Betty said with a serene smile.

"I'm not all that hungry," Rachel managed to croak.

Kurt swallowed heavily, already feeling the grease and fat clogging up his pores. "Neither am I."

Betty and George laughed - laughed - as if refusing to digest 5000 calories for breakfast was somehow unreasonable.

"Don't be silly," Betty tittered. "Sit down."

She walked up to them and gently tugged at Rachel's arm. Rachel stared at Kurt in a way that reminded him remarkably of Ms. Pillsbury. When Betty tugged at her again, she reluctantly sat down in the nearest chair. Kurt followed suit, despite every inch of his body aching to run as far away from the fattening feast as possible. Suddenly playing along didn't seem like such a good idea.

Betty smiled at them and grabbed two plates. Upon them she loaded a little bit of everything lying on the table. When she was done, she poured two generous glasses of milk and put the whole mess down in front of Kurt and Rachel.

"I can't eat this," Rachel muttered, looking near tears. "There's meat in it."

"Mary Sue, a growing girl like you needs a little bit of meat in every meal," Betty admonished.

Rachel sniffled and picked up a piece of French toast, nibbling delicately at the corners of it to avoid the butter.

"She's got a stomach ache," Kurt said, earning him a grateful look from Rachel. "We've got a geography test coming up and she's really nervous."

"There's no need for a smart girl like you to worry," George said, laying a comforting hand on Rachel's shoulder. "I'm sure you'll do swell!"

"But she'd best stick to orange juice and toast for now," Kurt quickly continued. "Just in case."

Betty sighed. "I don't like the thought of her not eating properly, but if Mary Sue feels ill then it's best to let her recover." She smiled at Kurt. "But you make sure you eat plenty enough for the both of you, then."

She and George laughed again. Kurt looked down at his overloaded plate, feeling something turn in his stomach. His only comfort was that the damage to his skin wouldn't be quite as visible in black and white.

---

Rachel tackled Kurt with a hug as soon as they were outside.

"Thank you so much," she muttered into his shoulder.

"Don't mention it," Kurt said. "Seriously. Don't. I feel queasy enough without thinking about all the junk I just put into my body."

Rachel pulled back and straightened out her sweater. "I understand. If I'd had to take even one bite of what she was serving us, I'd have probably thrown up."

Kurt nodded with a forced smile.

They started walking, going in no particular direction.

"I still don't understand," Rachel said, making Kurt look up. She had her hand over her nose.

"I think I do," he mused. "If we've really taken on the roles of the main characters, then maybe we changed to look a bit like them, too."

"So why didn't you change?" Rachel pointed out sullenly.

Kurt shrugged. "Bud always looked pretty gay."

The sad part was, he wasn't really joking.

They continued walking in silence. Kurt glanced up at the grey sky. It looked a lot less idyllic than it had on the TV screen, even if there wasn't a single cloud in sight. But then, when was it ever cloudy in Pleasantville?

"What now?" Rachel asked eventually.

"I guess we go to school," Kurt said. He frowned. "But I don't really know the way."

"Maybe he could help us?" Rachel questioned, pointing at a figure not too far away, walking in the same direction as them. He was wearing a letterman jacket, but he looked much shorter and smaller than any jock Kurt had ever known.

"Maybe." Even though he knew he was being ridiculous - there were no bullies in Pleasantville, after all - Kurt couldn't help but be immediately skeptical of anyone who looked like they might be popular. Especially if they were male.

Before he had time to think twice though, Rachel was off. Kurt sighed and ran after her. When they approached the guy in the letterman jacket, he turned around, revealing a very familiar face.

Underneath hideously gelled hair and weirdly triangular eyebrows rested a pair of twinkling eyes, as well as the most beautiful smile Kurt had ever seen. He remembered this character well - Blaine Anderson, the best friend of Bud Parker as well as Mary Sue's main love interest throughout the series. Kurt had always had a bit of a crush on the guy. While Bud was awkward and more than a little bit dorky, Blaine always had a sort of effortless charm and sincerity to him. He was the kind of guy that made all the girls in the audience swoon.

"Hiya, Bud," Blaine said cheerfully. He turned to Rachel and offered her a bashful, "Mary Sue."

Kurt sighed. And of course he was Rachel's. Or Mary Sue's. Whatever. It was just what he needed - watching Rachel snatch up another guy he liked, even if it was just a fictional character.

"Hello Blaine," Kurt replied wearily.

"Hello Blaine," Rachel echoed, smiling in a really intense way Kurt hadn't seen since before she and Finn started dating the first time around.

Kurt grinned, hoping his expression wasn't nearly as pained as it felt. "We were just on our way to school. Want to join us?"

"Gee, I'd love to," Blaine said, looking weirdly exited at the prospect. "That is, if you don't mind."

Rachel's smile widened. "We don't mind at all! Do we, Bud?"

"Not at all," Kurt repeated through clenched teeth.

Suddenly playing along didn't seem like such a good idea.