Fic: You Just Don't Know It Yet - Part 1
Title: You Just Don't Know It Yet
Pairing(s);Character(s): Sebofsky, Klaine; with appearances from Thad, Wes, & David
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Friendship/Romance
Word Count: 4396
Warnings: Un-betad, SPOILERS for "On My Way" though minor
Summary: Dave attends Dalton where he makes a lot of friends. He keeps a secret from Kurt, but that's not the only secret revealed by the end. ;)
Dave had considered going back to McKinley, seeing as how most of the hateful comments on his facebook had been from East Lima High. But there was still the lack of support from those that he thought of as friends. Even a few of the Glee kids had called him a hypocrite. Though, after word got out about his "incident" they'd quickly changed their tune. The funny thing was, even over the internet, their sentiments felt sincere. But no, David Karofsky didn't return to McKinley. David Karofsky went to Dalton.
It had been a week since he started, and all he could say was that it was nice. He'd kept to himself about being gay and about his attempt on his life. Not because he was worried about bullies or critics, but because neither of those things defined him. Though, since the Warblers apparently dedicated their Regionals songs to him, almost everybody knew about him anyways. But no one ever said anything. In fact, there were quite a few acquaintances that he thought were on the fast track to becoming his friends.
But that didn't stop him from needing some alone time. Still a bit unfamiliar with the building, he wandered for a while, looking for any kind of empty room. He managed to find a very nice room that, once he closed the door, he realized it must have been the music room because there was a piano on one side. Finally feeling alone, Dave decided to poke around a bit. He was completely done in five minutes. Apparently the Warblers didn't keep anything except their piano in the room.
The only thing he hadn't explored yet was the CD player sitting on said piano. He figured it had been left by accident and knew he shouldn't mess with it. But his curiosity got the better of him. Going over he pressed play and immediately recognized the opening notes of Michael Buble's "Always On My Mind." Releasing a sardonic chuckle he couldn't help but sing along to what he soon discovered was a karaoke version.
Maybe I didn't treat you
Quite as good as I should have
Maybe I didn't love you
Quite as often as I should have
Little things I should have said and done
I just never took the time
But you were always on my mind
You were always on my mind.
He had to take a deep breath, trying to hold back the tears as the lyrics hit pretty close to home. But he and Kurt had become friends, and Dave was starting to feel that while he did love Kurt, he wasn't in love with him. He hoped that one day he'd actually be able to tell him that. The rest of the song wasn't as applicable, but he sang anyways since no one was around to hear him.
Maybe I didn't hold you
All those lonely, lonely times
And I guess I never told you
I'm so happy that you're mine
If I made you feel second best
Boy, I'm sorry I was blind
Okay, maybe some still applied really well.
You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind
Sebastian sighed as he was finally able to return to his practice room. Just as he was ready to start he'd needed to use the restroom and had been stopped at least three times by different people. And now, to top it all off he could hear his CD playing which meant someone had taken his room. Despite the fact that he'd had it reserved. However, just as he approached the door, he heard a voice that he didn't quite recognize, but definitely enjoyed. Slowly, hoping he didn't make a lot of noise, he opened the door.
He was amazed to see none other than David Karofsky. He'd known that the boy had started attending Dalton, getting in due to extenuating circumstances. Sebastian had wanted to talk to him, but Dave was a year older and didn't participate in any after school activities it was hard to track him down.
Instead of stopping him just to talk, Sebastian stayed still and listened to the rest of the song.
Tell me, tell me that your
Sweet love hasn't died
Give me, give me one more chance
To keep you satisfied, satisfied
Little things I should have said and done
I just never took the time.
You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind
Sebastian waited until the music had faded out before opening his mouth. "You have a really good voice."
Dave's jump was visible but Sebastian ignored the way the bigger boy wiped at his eyes. "What are you doing here?" Dave asked, voice defensive.
"Well, technically I have this room reserved for another forty minutes, but I'll be happy to give it up if you want to practice your audition."
"Audition?"
Sebastian bit his lip at the amused laugh he let out. "You could easily get into the Warblers with a voice like that."
"What's the point? You guys aren't going to Nationals and I'm graduating in a few months."
"We still do small venues and concerts, and you'd get some instant friends."
Why do you care about me getting friends? You don't think I'm likeable."
Sebastian bit his lip and looked away, feeling those old words cut into him. And he knew it had to be worse for Dave. "I didn't mean those things."
"Then why'd you say them? Why didn't you just tell me no?"
He flinched at the harshness of Dave's voice, and said the first thing that came to mind. "I was jealous." Which, thinking about it, was true. "Do you have any idea how many guys would kill for eyebrows like yours? They're natural aren't they?"
That got a chuckle out of the boy, and Sebastian felt a shiver run down his spine at the deep rich sound.
"Yeah, they're natural," Dave said, probably not noticing how he reached up and brushed them. "Unless my mom tweezes them at night. But they aren't sore when I wake up in the morning."
Sebastian laughed out loud at that, surprising both of them. "So will you audition? We'd gladly let you in, I'm sure."
Dave shrugged. "I'll think about it. Maybe just for fun. I don't know if I'd be able to really perform much." He got up and moved towards the door. "But you can have the room back. I just needed a little space."
Stepping back to let him pass, Sebastian nodded. "That's okay. I enjoyed the show and I hope to see you soon."
It was another week before Dave decided to audition. In fact, it was a spur of the moment type thing and because he was in such a good mood from being hit on (the boy wasn't his type, but it was still a nice ego boost) that he decided to sing Buble's "I'm Feeling Good." It went over quite well, his performance receiving enthusiastic applause. He couldn't help but notice Sebastian's smirk and gave him a grateful grin as he moved to leave the room, knowing they'd want to deliberate.
"Where are you going?" asked Thad, or at least Dave thought he was Thad.
"Uh, didn't you say you'd deliberate?"
"Deliberate what? You're in!" The comment was followed by more cheers and when they quieted down, Thad continued. "Yes, usually we talk about it, but considering our reaction along with Seb's profuse praises, there's nothing to talk about. How long will you need to practice for your first solo?"
There was a lot of agreeable murmurs, but Dave shook his head. "I don't know, but I d-"
"Well how long did you practice this?" interrupted the other David (who thankfully didn't shorten his name).
"I didn't practice it. I just felt like singing it and did it before I chickened out. But I don't think I'll be able to do a solo. Not in front of a larger audience."
He was greeted with silence, one that was surprisingly lacking in crickets. It was broken by the small voice of what had to be a freshman. "You didn't practice that?"
"Uh, well, not like sitting down and practicing, but I've sung it plenty of times. Michael Buble's my favorite singer."
"Fuck, what do you sound like when you do practice?" came another faceless voice.
Dave shrugged, opening his mouth to say that he'd never practiced singing before, but Sebastian cut him off.
"Okay, we know he's good, let's get started on our practice. When's our next performance?"
And then Dave was quickly ushered to a seat at the couch and talking and singing continued.
Sebastian rushed to catch up with Dave at the end of practice. He could tell it had been a bit intimidating for the boy, but he'd managed to survive despite the insistance that he sing a solo. Dave had only managed to get out of it for the upcoming performance. Though Sebastian planned on siding with him either way.
"Hey, Dave!" he called, running up to the boy. He reached out, touching his arm and pulling back as soon as he felt hard muscle under his palm.
"Yeah?" asked Dave, one of those jealousy-inducing eyebrows raised.
"Um," Sebastian had to shake his head to clear it, memories of the boy's earlier audition pushing out all coherent thought. All Dave had been missing was a stripper performing behind him… or maybe the boy could have used a standing mike and stripped himself.
"Look Sebastian," said Dave, "Thanks for putting in a good word for me, but I have some homework to do before I go home."
"Wanna go to Scandals with me tonight?" Sebastian blurted, not wanting Dave to get away from him so easily.
Dave obviously thought about it, but he eventually shook his head. "I don't think I'm ready to go back there just yet. Another time maybe."
"A movie then," Sebastian tried again, surprised at how badly he wanted to hang out with the boy.
"I'm not ready to date either."
That caught Sebastian off guard. "I didn't ask you on a date. I just want to hang out with you a bit more."
Again, Dave seemed to think about it, but this time he nodded. "Meet me in the library. You can hang around while I do my homework."
Sebastian nodded, feeling like he'd take anything he could get.
After that day in the library, the boys became nearly inseparable. Since Dave hadn't joined any sports they tended to talk in depth about it and often spoke and debated about movies or Warblers songs. It was clear to everyone who saw them that they were friends.
Towards the end of the year was The Warblers' Showcase. They invited family and friends and performed their favorite songs from the past school year.
Dave had managed to get out of singing solos at all of their previous performances, but the entire group managed to convince him to sing one song at their showcase. It took a few days, but Sebastian eventually succeeded in convincing him. This was of course subject to the following terms:
Dave only had to sing backup on the songs of his choice.
Sebastian sang with him, thus making it a duet of sorts.
They sang a Michael Buble song.
Surprisingly, Dave agreed rather quickly after finding out that Kurt and Blaine were invited. Dave had actually become pretty good friends with the couple, but he'd made it clear to the whole of the Warblers that he wanted to keep his joining quiet. It worked only to the point of them talking about a Dave with no last name.
It was amusing to listen to the couple complain about the lack of information. But the point was that Dave got really excited when he thought about staging his big reveal. He'd changed so much, and Kurt seemed to mention it every time they met. He didn't care if it was only a duet at the end of their last performance of his Senior year. If it went well he'd probably do some sort of singing when he got to school at the University of Michigan.
In fact, Dave was so excited on the night in question that he failed to notice quite a few things. Like when he was hidden away in a side room, and a few of the guys had agreed to keep him company until the show started. At some point, a few guys turned into just Sebastian. Then, during the first half, while Dave watched from the cracked open door, Sebastian kept glancing over and smiling that much wider. But the biggest thing he missed was during intermission when Sebastian came back as company.
That had been planned, along with the casual hanging out and last minute warm up for Dave. It was when Sebastian was leaving again after the mandatory "break a leg" and last minute support. He paused at the door and turned back to Dave.
"Remember how I said we dedicated our songs to you at Regionsals?" he asked.
"Yeah of course."
"Well, I think it applies even better today." Then he was out the door before Dave could reply.
Cave could only smile and take a deep, calming breath as he heard the applause.
TBC...
Part 2