Entwined 4/?
It doesn’t get better. Dave draws further into himself as he sees Kurt get more proud and flamboyant and out there. He watches Kurt go after what he wants and it’s no secret that it is one Finn Hudson.
Finn doesn’t even seem to care or notice, Kurt, and that hurts even more. Kurt is going after a straight dude who is dating the head cheerleader. What an idiot. He could have him, but Dave reminds himself every day that he can’t come out. He can’t be gay, because he’s not who Kurt wants. He’s not who anyone wants. He sees the bullying and torture Kurt endures every day because he’s different. He doesn’t want that, but he craves the freedom he sees in Kurt.
Every day he goes home and sits in his room and listens to the mix cd that Kurt had made him back in eighth grade and cries himself to sleep. His torn inside. He can’t reconcile who he really is inside to who everyone expects him to be. He’s broken, miserable, and pathetic. He’s the bully, the loser, the Neanderthal that Kurt thinks he is. He’s nothing.
He doesn’t care anymore. It’s football season and his team sucks majorly. They haven’t won one single game and truth be told his heart just wasn’t in it anymore, but he went to practice and suited up anyway. He could take his frustrations out on the field and the other players. He could ram his body into someone else and it was perfectly normal. It was acceptable.
Then some of the football players including the most popular, Finn Hudson, Puckerman, Chang, and Rutherford joined the Glee club. The one that the Spanish teacher started. Those jocks could be popular and athletic and still do something different. He was jealous. He was livid. He could never do that. He couldn’t lose the carefully constructed façade he held in place. If he did the lines would blur and he’d lose his control and then everything would fall apart. He would be the gay guy, the one that was in love with Hummel, and he would get it tens time worse than Kurt, because he was a jock, and he was big and sweaty and a meathead. Those types of guys just weren’t gay. They were certainly not into kissing other dudes.
But he was, and if he was, did that mean he couldn’t be into sports? It was the only thing he had that was good at. What if he lost that too? Who would he be? Would he be anything?
No. So Dave became Karofsky the jerk who made fun of Hudson and his goonies for joining the glee club. It didn’t take much for his best friend Azimio to follow. Then when Kurt joined the football team as the kicker, Dave nearly lost his fucking mind. Watching Kurt run around in those pants and oversize jersey left him horny and frustrated after ever practice and game. He couldn’t concentrate and let a few huge defensive plays by because he’d catch a glimpse of Kurt on the sideline and instantly be hard and imagine fucking Kurt into the benches in the locker room in that uniform. So he started bullying even harder. By the middle of the year he had established a nice routine of throwing slushies into their faces, watching Hummel being dumped into the dumpster, and shoving people out of his way.
Then Kurt started talking back and pushing Dave’s buttons. He started throwing taunts and comebacks in his face, and Dave had a hard time with that. He got more and more frustrated as he would encounter Kurt and leave with a massive erection and confused. Half the stuff he had no idea what Kurt was talking about, but it turned him on and he just couldn’t have that.
So he started shoving Kurt into the lockers. He just wanted his brain to start working again and to have some control of the situation back. He wanted to feel like he could see Kurt and not want to either fuck him or punch him through a wall.
He was interested in hearing Kurt perform though, so he’d always sneak into the Glee performances in the back and watch. He was the first to leave, so no one ever knew he was there, but he enjoyed watching Kurt sing and dance and it always left him with wonderful material to jack off to later that night.
It was a pretty standard routine until Kurt met that perfectly coifed pod person from the all-boys academy. Blaine freaking Potter. He happened to have a locker not far from Hummel’s best friend, Mercedes Jones. The black girl that his best friend had had a crush on since kindergarten when she got in his face for pushing down another little kid on the playground. She was fierce and overly protective and nearly every person the football team was terrified of her, especially when she marched into the boy’s locker room while they were half dressed and told them that if any of them got Kurt injured, she would castrate each and every one of them.
Dave knew better than to mess with her, and so made sure Kurt was always alone when he shoved him.
Mercedes was happily talking to Kurt was waiting for her one day, when Dave was getting books out of his locker.
They were talking about the double date they were going to go on later that night. Something about Anthony Rashid and tater tots, but when Dave heard Kurt mention how cute and nice Blaine was and he was so excited for Mercedes to meet him, he nearly dented his locker when his slammed it shut.
Kurt had a boyfriend. Of course he did, Dave knew he wouldn’t be single forever, even with the Finn Hudson fiasco. Kurt was just too pretty and perfect for some guy to pick him up. He only needed to hear the first few adjectives to know that Kurt had found the perfect guy. He could sing, dance, he was gorgeous, smart, and out of the closet. Everything Dave was not.
Dave wanted so bad to walk up to Kurt and do something. He didn’t know what. Just to make him notice him.
But instead he walked the other way to class and stared out the window the rest of school.
Two days later, Dave was getting ready for Math class when he heard Kurt talk excitedly about the new locker decorations he had put up to Mercedes. Dave was curious so walked by nonchalantly.
He saw a glimpse of the guy Kurt was talking about and the word courage.
COURAGE. As if Kurt really needed more courage. He was already the loudest, most obnoxious in your face gay person he’d ever seen, and that included those obnoxious guys on Sex and the City his older sister used to make him watch.
It made Dave angry. Angry that Kurt could already be so smitten with this new guy and barely even acknowledged his presence, angry that Kurt needed courage somehow when he was the most courageous person he knew.
He let the anger build and fester until right before lunch time.
He was going to go to McDonalds and just get away for the rest of the day, but realized he left his wallet in the locker room.
He saw Kurt grinning and walking down the hallway with his phone in his hand.
Dave snapped and smacked the phone out of his hand. He just couldn’t deal with Kurt anymore.
He made his way to the locker room and set about getting his wallet.
He heard someone screaming, and then he turned in surprise when he saw Kurt charging at him through the locker room door.
He was so bad at comebacks and said the first thing clever he could think of,
“The girl’s locker room is next door.”
Really Dave? That was lame.
“What is your problem!?!?!?”
“Excuse me?”
Why is he getting in my face like this? This is not good.
“What are you so scared of?”
“Besides you sneaking in here to peek at my junk?”
Don’t even think about that right now, Dave. Cause that will lead to a place you don’t want to go.
"Every straight guy’s nightmare that all us gay guys are secretly out to molest and convert you. Well, guess what, Hamhock? You're not my type!"
Ouch that hurt.
“Is that right?”
Really, I’m not your type but Finn Hudson was?
“Yeah. I don’t dig on chubby boys who sweat too much and who are gonna be bald by the time they're 30.”
Dave felt as if he had just been punched in the stomach.
“Do not push me, Hummel.”
Dave raised his fist,
This is not going well. I need to make him back off.
“You gonna hit me? Do it.”
“Don’t push me!”
Seriously, why won’t he just leave?
“Hit me, because it’s not going to change who I am. You can’t punch the gay out of me any more than I can punch the ignoramus out of you.”
“Get out of my face!”
Dave was to his breaking point. If Kurt didn’t back off, he would do something that he regretted. He didn’t know what, but it was going to be bad.
You are nothing but a scared little boy who can’t handle how extraordinarily ordinary you are!
Dave had nothing left. He couldn’t deny it. He couldn’t accept it. He just looked at Kurt. His eyes were flashing, he was trembling and it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He was moving, but he didn’t know why or how his body was moving.
The next he knew he was doing what he wanted to do since fourth grade. He was kissing Kurt.
It felt good. It felt right. Like all the planets aligned, like fireworks, like it was the most natural thing in the world.
He whimpered, he tried to remember the taste of it, the feel.
He pulled back. Kurt was standing there. He didn’t pull away.
Dave thought for the tiniest of moments that Kurt wanted him as much as he did.
So he went back in for a second kiss, but then he felt strong arms pushing him away.
With that moment he felt his heart break and shatter. He was drowning in a sea of sorrow and pain and the one person who could fix it had just pushed him away.
He didn’t feel the same way Dave did.
He couldn’t deal anymore. His brain wasn’t working, his heart hurt, and he felt destroyed.
He punched the locker, let out the tiniest of anguished cries, and left the room.
It didn’t get better that every time he saw Kurt after that it was with a look of pity. He was no charity case. He didn’t want Hummel or anyone else feeling sorry for him.
The bullying got worse, and his heart got heavier.
Then Kurt showed up with his perfect boyfriend and tried to help him. Hummel, the guy who rejected him and made him feel like a piece of dirt, was rubbing it in his face that not only did he not want him, but here was his perfect out and loud and gay boyfriend to help him come out too. Because Dave just wasn’t good enough on his own to be care about or loved.
He lost it. He went in a rage and pinned Blaine to the stairwell.
Kurt was instantly there pulling Dave’s arm away. And Dave let him.
Even if he was angry at Kurt and wanted to get as far away as possible from him, he couldn’t say no to him. Kurt had a power over him like no one had ever had.
It fucking sucked. Kurt could just look at Dave and cause a reaction in him, but Kurt pretended as if Dave did not exist.
He knew that Kurt would always want Finn Hudson and Blaine the Perfect Pod Person Potter over him.
So he did the only thing he knew. He shoved Kurt into the lockers again, and told him if he told anyone what he had done, he would kill him.
He knew it was a lie, and he figured Hummel did too.
Then one day he saw Finn and Kurt dancing together and it just set him off.
Why must Kurt rub it in his face that he could get any guy he wanted and that Dave was never quite up to par?
He made a homophobic gesture to him and walked away.
What he didn’t know was that Kurt’s father was in the room.
Suddenly he was pinned against a wall and had a very angry man threatening to beat him down.
It eventually escalated into him being dragged into the principal’s office with his father and Kurt and his dad.
Everything came out. The bullying, the slushies, the homophobic slurs. Kurt thankfully never addressed why Dave threatened to kill him, but the damage was done. Dave was expelled and Kurt was free to live his perfect, happy, little normal life that didn’t involve Karofsky. Kurt had succeeded. He had completely taken away everything from Dave. He took his heart and destroyed it, and now his education, his future, and the one thing he was good at, athletics.
Of course it didn’t help that his father had gone on and on in the stupid meeting about how he used to be a good students, with good grades, and a good attitude, and now he was mopey, and lethargic, and acting out, and he just couldn’t figure out why. But Kurt knew, and he stabbed the knife a little deeper.
He was back though eventually when the school board overturned Sue Sylvester’s punishment.
He vowed to make Kurt’s life a living hell. To take from him what he had done to Dave.
But he never got the chance. Kurt’s dad and stepmom sent Kurt to his boyfriend’s all male boarding school.
Dave went back to McKinley and hated every day he spent there for the rest of his high school life. His parents got him into therapy, because his dad was convinced he just needed to express his feelings. His dad should know seeing as he was one. He told his therapist his entire complex, conflicting emotions, and he started to feel better. He quit bullying, and got his grades back up. He flourished at hockey and became so good he started being recruited in junior year. He became friends with some of the glee kids even and didn’t mind attending performances. They all went to see one of Kurt’s performances at Dalton’s and he went thinking maybe they could clear the air and start over, but Kurt took one look at him and told him if he ever showed his face there again he’d get a restraining order. Dave went home devastated.
They didn’t speak again. Dave graduated from McKinley with honors, with a full ride scholarship to Bowling Green State University, and a heavy heart.
College was actually fun for him, and within three months of being there, he came out to his roommate. His roommate was awesome and told him it didn’t matter who he was or what he was, he was still cool.
Within six months, the hockey team knew and didn’t care, because he was their number one enforcer.
He met Zack his sophomore year in college and they dated on and off for the next two years.
Zack and Dave met at the student union when Dave accidentally bumped into him and made Zack drop all of his books on the floor.
Zack was about 5’8 with light brown hair, brilliant blue eyes, and porcelain skin. He reminded him of Kurt. Dave was instantly attracted. He helped him pick up his books, flirted with him a bit and went on his way.
Two days later Dave was playing in a hockey game and afterwards the team went to celebrate at the Pub. Dave had gotten a hat trick, and the team was buying him three rounds of drinks.
As he was sitting there Zack approached him and offered to buy him some drinks as well.
Dave grinned and accepted.
The night ended with his tongue stuck down his throat, eyes closed imagining he was kissing Kurt.
The semi relationship lasted until Dave’s senior year when he was told by his coach that he was most likely going to be drafted by an NHL team and get prepared for either San Jose or Phoenix.
He talked to Zack who told him that while it was fun while it lasted he really wasn’t in anything for the long haul and that was perfectly okay with ending things right there.
Dave was relieved and they both agreed to hook up one last time before school was over.
They said goodbye the first week in May and in July he was drafted by the San Jose Sharks.
He lasted two seasons until he was in a game and he was slashed in the knee during a particularly rough game against the Detroit Red Wings.
He felt something give in his knee and he went down.
He ended up in surgery and told he would never play hockey again.
He was destroyed. What would he do if he didn’t hockey? He had only graduated with a general degree and nothing to fall back on. He was laid up in Lima for a few months and most of his old friends from high school came to see him and cheer him up, everyone that is except Kurt. Even Finn had come and said his parents had seen the game on TV and felt awful for him. Dave assured him it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle, but thanks for the concern. He so badly wanted to ask about Kurt, but knew that he shouldn’t. Besides, he knew from asking Azimio that Kurt had gone to U.C. Berkeley and had graduated with a music education degree. He had decided to stick around California and try becoming famous. Dave’s heart swelled with pride when he heard that. He knew Kurt would be amazing someday. And he wasn’t far from where Dave lived in California either. Finn had emailed him when he had moved out there to look him up because Kurt wouldn’t mind seeing him now that he Karofsky was all grown up and mature now. But Dave never did. He couldn’t handle more rejection. So he kept the number on his desk. He looked at daily but never got the nerve up to call. Then he was moving back to Lima for physical therapy and he had missed his opportunity. It wasn’t until six months ago when he was just taking steps without a cane that he heard from Rachel Berry at Breadstix that Kurt was moving back and interviewing for the job as the Music Teacher at William McKinley high school.
Dave’s heart had immediately started racing and palms started sweating when heard that. Kurt was back in Lima, where Dave most likely would run into him. This could be very, very bad or it could be the chance to start over and maybe be civil to one another.
Dave’s mind was racing a mile a minute. He had done correspondence school via the University of Dayton while he was laid up and had been able to graduate with a degree in High School Math Education. He had only needed 14 credits to add on to his general education degree, and now he could teach high school math in the state of Ohio.
So when Mr. Figgins had heard about it and that he was back, he had called him to set up an interview.
Now here he was seven years after graduating from William McKinley High School, preparing to interview to become a math teacher. And this would mean he would spend every day working alongside Kurt Hummel.
He was nearly shaking as he walked into the building.
It was just two days after the seniors had graduated and kids were still in school running around.
It was the last week of school for most of them, and he remembered that feeling vividly. Of being so ready and excited to get out of school and get to summer vacation.
He stepped into the office to let the receptionist know he was there, when he looked over to see Kurt Hummel also waiting. Their interviews were the same day. Kurt didn’t look up from the magazine he was reading though.
Dave was relieved, maybe Kurt would not recognize him and he could just get in and out.
No such luck though.
Kurt looked up when the receptionist announced rather loudly that a Mr. David Karofsky was there to see Principal Figgins.
Kurt looked up and stared in shock at Dave.
Dave felt his face flush and he looked away in embarrassment. This is not how he expected his reunion with Kurt Hummel to go. He hadn’t seen Kurt in nearly 10 years, but damn he looked good. He had on tight black pants, a gray turtleneck, vest, scarf, and glasses. His hair was perfectly coifed, and he looked hot.
Dave felt as if all the air had suddenly been sucked from the room. He forgot what words sounded like, where he was, or even what his name was.
Why did Kurt always do that to him? Damnit.
Then Mr. Figgins was ushering him in to his office, but he couldn’t help but feel the stare of Kurt following him as he walked down the hall with Mr. Figgins.