fic: Alone
McKinley had won! Kurt jumped up and down in the stands, Blaine cheering happily to Kurt’s right and Carole screaming in excitement to his left. But what had been even better (and a little bittersweet) was the halftime show. Sure, Mercedes and Rachel had told Kurt what was going on, but he was still surprised by the theatricality of it all.
The zombie makeup was amazing and the costumes some of them wore (especially Quinn) were fabulous! Kurt couldn’t deny how jealous he was that they performed that routine without him. The most surprising observation of all had been Dave Karofsky, though. Kurt was still kind of scared of the guy and didn’t regret leaving McKinley for Dalton, but wow, that guy had moves.
When the game ended, Kurt was surrounded by people, parents congratulating athletes, band members, glee clubbers. Kurt escaped from the mess and stood under the bleachers, looking around to find that he had lost Blaine. Then he saw the familiar number 77 and bounded over to the player without thinking. “Hey,” he said breathlessly.
Karofsky spun around defensively, but then looked confused and embarrassed when he realized it was Kurt. “I thought you ran away?” Karofsky shot.
Shrugging away the sting of his statement, Kurt said, “I promised Mercedes and Rachel that I would watch the halftime show. Plus, I used to play on the football team; I wanted to see how you guys would do.”
Karofsky stepped closer, almost too close. Dangerously quiet, he asked, “Did you tell anyone?”
“No,” Kurt said simply. “But I wanted to tell you something.”
The expression in Karofksy’s eyes changed and Kurt thought he maybe should have chosen his words better. When the football player didn’t speak, Kurt did. “You looked happy out there, dancing and singing,” he said simply. “And you were really good.”
Karofsky stepped away, apparently shocked by the words of praise coming from the boy he’d forced himself upon. The boy he’d pushed against lockers and taunted and slushied. “That…that stuff is gay,” Karofsky said lamely.
Kurt just raised an eyebrow at the irony of the statement. He crossed his arms and said simply, “Think what you want, but you were amazing out there.”
Why was Kurt being so nice to him? Karofsky was completely confused. Was this some sort of sick revenge, or a way to get back at him that he couldn’t understand? Could you really get revenge by giving someone compliments? Before he could stop himself, he blurted out, “Thanks.”
Nodding, Kurt said, “You’re welcome.”
They stood around awkwardly for a minute before someone called out for Kurt. He spun around and saw Blaine in the distance. “I’ll see you around,” he said softly to Karofsky before turning to leave.
The jock watched as Kurt rushed towards that prep school boy he’d seen before. Their arms linked and he felt a pang of jealousy. Shaking his head, Karofsky thought about just how much he had messed up this time. He chased Kurt out of school. Shaking his head, he tried to forget it all. Kurt, singing, dancing; they were all memories of things he could never have. Lost in thought, Karofsky trudged to the locker room, alone.