Fic: Taking It Back (1/?)
Title: Taking It Back
Rating: PG-13 (this chapter)
Summary: After the meeting at Scandals, Dave and Kurt attempt a friendship, much to the behest of everything around them.
Pairings: Kurtofsky (primary), Klaine (slight), Seblaine
Warnings: Infidelity, possible smut in the future
It had gotten to the point where Kurt was sure that he had subconsciously engaged in a staring contest with his Word Processor. He was losing, of course, given that word documents and computer monitors didn't have eyes to blink.
So, he supposed, he could add that on to the list of things he failed to be productive at this evening, the most important of these being his campaign speech. This was the sole reason, in fact, that he had even brought up the word document in the
first place. His blank staring was a product of not knowing what in the world one says to a group of homophobic, closed-minded high school kids from Ohio to convince them to vote for a well-dressed, completely out and proud gay kid as their class president.
'They did elect me Prom Queen,' he reluctantly reminded himself, not sure if that was supposed to be an encouraging fact or the exact opposite.
It was something, anyway.
A clumsy knock on the door, which could only be Finn's, brought him out of his computer trance. His return to consciousness allowed him to be proud of his stepbrother for finally remembering to knock and await a response before barging in.
"It's open," Kurt acknowledged, brushing away his own snarky reminder that the door was technically always open. Burt had made sure there were no locks on either of the boys' doors once they both started dating regularly.
"Hey," Finn sort of mumbled as he stumbled in.
The two of them more or less ignored each other while Finn wandered aimlessly around, occasionally scrounging through things and Kurt tried adding a few additional paragraphs, all of which he deleted.
"You wouldn't be looking for something, would you?" Kurt threw over his shoulder, unable to stand the sound of Finn's rather distracting search.
"Yeah, I am, actually. You haven't seen my box collection of zombie movies, have you?"
He couldn't help an eye roll and sigh in response, but only because he was certain Finn wouldn't hear or see.
"Really, Finn? You thought that would somehow make its way into my room?"
"I don't know, dude. I can't find it anywhere else. I'm getting a little desperate."
"Yes, well," he sighed, this time with no pretense of hiding it. "As crucial as I'm sure this mission is, I can assure you your box set is most definitely not in here and I'm trying to work on something so maybe you could go-"
"Oh wait, shit…" Finn suddenly exclaimed as though he were not even aware Kurt had been talking. "I think I leant it to Karofsky like 5 months ago…"
The mention of his name brought the memory of their meeting at Scandals, naught but two weeks ago, back to the forefront of Kurt's mind. Truthfully, it never fully left his thoughts. On the whole, it was such a surreally pleasant experience that he hadn't fully gotten over the fact that it had happened at all. He still wasn't entirely convinced that the young man with a surprisingly nice smile and inconspicuous baseball cap, professing himself to be a 'bear cub', was the same Dave Karofsky that used to hate all things effeminate and remotely gay.
"Speaking of which, you won't believe who I ran into recently."
Kurt had said it not really thinking. He had been sort of itching to tell someone, but given his regrettable distance with Mercedes, his current anonymity with Rachel and his somewhat inexplicable discomfort with even suggesting Dave was there to Blaine, he was completely bereft of any confidant at all. Besides, he couldn't tell anyone the juiciest and most ironic part of it all- that it was a gay bar that they had crossed paths in.
He realized his mistake almost immediately after uttering the words, but Finn's curious expression seemed to say that he was interested and not backing down from finding out anytime soon. Besides, ignoring him or making up some lie would probably seem more suspicious.
"Dave, of course." Kurt explained, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.
"Really? Where?"
Kurt bit his lip. "Blaine and I were just out and about. Ran into him by chance, you know how it goes."
Finn didn't seem entirely satisfied with the story and Kurt got that somewhat familiar churn of dread in his stomach when he began to suspect that Finn was far more insightful than he appeared.
So he promptly moved the topic along.
"He transferred schools, you know."
Finn shrugged. "Yeah, because he didn't want anyone to know."
Kurt suddenly felt what he could have sworn was his heart leaping into his throat.
"To know what…?"
"Just about his past," Finn shrugged, commencing to haphazardly look through Kurt's things again, as if the whole epiphany about Dave probably having his box set had completely escaped him. "The bullying and stuff. He felt like he'd dug himself too deep at McKinley and wanted a fresh start somewhere else. 'Figured that would make you pretty happy."
Kurt wasn't entirely sure who Finn was referring to in that last sentence, but the possibility that Dave had left sincerely thinking that Kurt would prefer it made him feel oddly uneasy.
"I forgave him," he felt obligated to mention. "There's no bad blood between us anymore. I would have had no problem with him staying."
If he was honest, he sort of would have preferred for him to stay. Burt commonly pointed out that Kurt had his mother's (and
arguably his father's) tendency to want to coddle and protect people and he couldn't say it was entirely untrue, as much as he wished it was otherwise. He had legitimately wanted to help Dave since their talk in Figgins' office back in May, but he probably would have been able to let it go without much disappointment if he hadn't seen the boy break down and cry in front of him in the hallway naught but a few weeks later.
From the time of that tearful apology, the slight interest Kurt had taken in Dave's well-being had transformed into a need to save him. He wanted to start PFLAG and show him all he knew. He wanted to educate him, to reassure him it was okay to come out and own who he was.
So when they finally crossed paths and the boy who had last been seen fleeing from his prom, professing that he wasn't ready to make that leap, was smiling and laughing at a gay bar, Kurt couldn't help but feel a little indignant. Disappointed, even. Hell, Dave knew more about gay lifestyles than he did at this point. Worse still, he had completely shot down Kurt's beliefthat he needed to publicly come out to be happy. Dave was still more or less in the closet, but he had finally admitted the truth to himself and
had a place where he could revel in it without being judged and that seemed to be enough for him.
Kurt could have slapped him for proving him so wrong. Instead, however, all he could do was sigh and smile and be happy for the progress he had made. Lo and behold, Dave had taught him.
"That's cool," was Finn's preoccupied response. Kurt couldn't really bring himself to care that hisstepbrother obviously wasn't listening to him at all, as his mind had successfully drifted back to that meeting at the gay bar and wasn't leaving any time soon.
It occurred to him then that he had been in such a snit about Blaine's activity with Sebastian he completely forgot to get some kind of contact information from Dave. They really did need to keep in touch, after all. If Kurt couldn't help him come to terms,
then he could at least be a supportive acquaintance, someone to just talk to about things or whatever.
"How
did you know all of that?" he asked Finn. Clearly he was more in tune with comings and goings of Dave's life than Kurt was. Before running into him at the bar, his sole source of information had been catching a snippet of Santana's conversation with Beiste in the choir room wherein she explained that Dave had transferred to Shawnee High and that's why he wasn't at tryouts. Beiste seemed none too happy to lose one of her best players, and perhaps more so since Sam was gone as well.
"We're facebook friends. We IM on there occasionally."
Kurt just nodded, trying not to seem too intrigued. Finn then quickly lost interest in his search and sort of sauntered out of the room without a good-bye.
Kurt really couldn't bring himself to care too much about this, distracted as he was with opening a tab for Facebook.
He couldn't help but smile when Blaine was prompt with whipping out his wallet, still eager to pay for everything before Kurt could beat him to it. Sometimes Kurt would dig in his bag a little, hoping to see his boyfriend sweat to not let one cent of his even touch the counter.
It was just all very chivalrous and endearing, no less so than the first day Blaine had offered.
Pleased, Kurt grabbed his macchiato and allowed his boyfriend to follow him to their special table, the one near the front window that was not too close to the doors of the café.
"How's that campaign speech coming?" Blaine asked as they had a seat. Kurt couldn't help but smile at the fact that he had already guessed his boyfriend was itching to talk about it.
"Not great, actually," he admitted. "I just can't think of anything to say. Does that come as a surprise?"
"Not really," Blaine chuckled, taking a sip of his latte.
Kurt frowned a little at Blaine's choice of response but decided that he wasn't really thinking about what he was saying or how best to word it. Truthfully, it hadn't escaped Kurt's notice that Blaine was a bit more distracted and distant lately. Occasionally he would let himself get a little paranoid, but the reminder that the West Side Story performances were rapidly approaching gave him a bit comfort in that Blaine was probably just preoccupied.
And, of course, now was hardly the opportune time to over think things.
"I'm glad to be here with you," Kurt mentioned, smiling warmly. "It's nice to get out of my stuffy room and enjoy my boyfriend's company every now and then."
His choice of phrase was a bit more literal than he let on. Due to the fact that Kurt had been gradually growing apart from the
girls he used to hang out with, for whatever reason, he really did rely on Blaine more these days to keep him entertained and to listen to his gossip. Being the good boyfriend that he was, he performed both of these jobs without complaint.
And despite what had gone down with them two weeks prior, Kurt was still as thankful to have him as he was when
they first got together.
Blaine returned Kurt's smile and squeezed his hand underneath the table.
"You really don't have to thank me, Kurt. I get just as much, if not more pleasure out of it than you do."
Kurt nodded, taking perhaps more solace in that statement than was warranted. He really couldn't care, though. The past few weeks had been rather rough for their relationship and it was nice to get confirmation that his presence was still as appreciated as before.
It was enough, in fact, to give him the strength to mention something to Blaine he had formerly been convinced he shouldn't speak a word of.
"I need to tell you something," he said rather excitedly. Blaine just raised his eyebrows in response, urging him to do so.
He hesitated only a moment, wondering if this was going to pan out to be wise choice when it was all said and done. He quickly reminded himself that the boy sitting across from him was not only his best friend, he was his boyfriend and there should be no reason to be afraid to tell him things, especially when one topic in particular is just dying to be hashed out.
Blaine could, potentially, understand the situation better than anyone and he was really the only remotely safe person to discuss it with.
So Kurt went ahead, despite it all.
"That night we were at Scandals…do you remember when I was sitting at the bar chatting with that guy?"
Blaine sort of narrowed his eyes in confusion. "You were talking with someone?"
"Yes," he replied, resisting the urge to point out that he might have noticed, were he not stumbling around drunkenly with Sebastian. "And you'll never guess who it was."
He paused for effect.
"David."
Blaine blinked his eyes, giving him a double-take.
"David…? As in Karofsky?"
Kurt just nodded, a little bemused grin plastered to his face as prepared to engage in some juicy discussion about Dave's progress from scared guy at the prom to 'bear cub'.
Blaine, on the other hand, did not seem so keen.
"Why didn't you tell me, Kurt?" he asked, unpleasantly taken-back. "Did he try something on you?"
Kurt could only sigh in response, knowing that in some part of himself he had expected Blaine to react this way.
"No. I've told you already, I've forgiven him, and if you would have let me finish my story I could have told you that he's changed a lot since prom."
Blaine sat back, looking a bit indignant.
"Well, clearly, if he's hanging out in gay bars," he muttered into his coffee cup.
"We can just forget about it. I thought maybe it could have been a little gossipy thing we could chat about, but I forget you're not Rachel or Mercedes."
"I just want you to be safe, Kurt," Blaine explained, somewhat pleadingly. "If you're going to be friends with this guy or…whatever, I just want you to keep in mind what he did to you a year ago. Can you really trust him?"
On the whole, the conversation was leaving a terrible taste in his mouth and putting him off his coffee
entirely. Blaine had an admittedly frustrating tendency to preach and lecture about things he really knew nothing about, and if there was something he was completely ignorant of in this situation, it was Dave and the progress he had made. Frankly, Kurt didn't want to be judged for anything having to do with Dave and already he was cursing himself for having brought him up at all in present company.
"Let's just drop it," he said, trying to play it off casual.
Blaine thankfully agreed to not make any more frustrating comments about the issue and the two of them then decided to get their minds off the awkward exchange by going shopping.
The tension from that moment never fully left them, however, and Kurt found this to be especially unnerving.
That evening found Kurt, once again, staring at the godforsaken word document with a grand total of two paragraphs decorating its stark whiteness.
This time, however, he was lounging on his bed with 'Say Yes To The Dress' on in front of him for white noise and an excuse
to look away every now and then from the doomed speech. He hoped the distraction would keep him from feeling too hopeless or discouraged.
Really, it was just preventing him from having to write at all, because the more he attempted to get something on the paper, the less inclined he felt to even try.
With that in mind, he decided to throw his better judgment to the wind and open his internet browser. It was a little silly, he thought, to continue deluding himself about getting any writing done tonight anyway.
He had basically forgotten about all of the Dave Karofsky drama that had randomly reared its ugly head yesterday and earlier today, so when he saw the notification indicating that his friend request had been accepted, he felt a little pleasant jolt of surprise. What was more, said new facebook friend had already sent him an IM.
'hey. =)' it read.
Kurt couldn't help himself from being amused that Dave Karofsky, of all people, was IMing him with smiley emoticons. It was still a little weirdly surreal.
'Hi there.' he typed back, waiting a few moments before adding, 'Thank you for granting me the honor of being your FB friend.
While he waited for a reply, Kurt opened a tab to browse the Vogue Fall Fashion Guide. It wasn't long, however, before the telling 'bloop' rang out again.
'eh, i think i can lower my standards a little 4 u'
'Cheeky,' Kurt thought with a grin.
'Can you? That's so generous!' Somehow he knew now the sarcasm wouldn't be lost on Dave. 'So what has you so bored as to condescend to chat with me?'
He felt it was a necessary question, one he wanted to get out of the way before their conversation fizzled out or Dave left to go do something or any of the other factors that ended internet chats came into play.
'hmwk's done. i guess i could do the dishes like dad asked but i thought talking 2 u might b a little less boring'
'And tedious, I'd imagine.'
'yep.' And there was a pause before Dave added, 'so wat about u?'
Kurt quirked an eyebrow. 'What about me?'
'wat r u doing? or not doing, as the case may be lol'
He laughed at that, amused that Dave could sense his procrastination through the instant messenger.
'I am most definitely not procrastinating on writing my campaign speech for class president elections.'
'wow'
'So far I've gotten one sentence past my progress from yesterday and now I'm just staring at it, completely uninspired.'
'i bet that little paper clip bastard has already popped up 2 mock u further'
'Thankfully, no,' he typed back, chuckling. 'My Word Processor doesn't have the demon paper clip from hell application.'
'well that makes 1 of us'
'But seriously,' he began, sincerely hoping that his plea might not go unnoticed and Dave might have some magical words of wisdom to rectify his complete lack of inspiration. 'Wtf do I write now? How the hell do I convince closed-minded teenagers from Ohio that a flamboyant, well-dressed gay kid should be their class president?'
'idk, the same way all politicians get into office i guess'
'Do you mean lie out of my ass?'
'im sure the other candidates are doing it.'
He nodded, as if Dave would somehow see. 'Well, Brittany's in the lead and so far her most popular campaign promise has
been to go topless every Tuesday. Somehow, I think she's being entirely sincere.'
'lol, that sounds like her'
Kurt smiled at that, before Dave added an additional message a few moments later.
'i guess trying to match & 1 up that promise is out of the question'
He was a bit taken back by the implication at first, but eventually cackled at the very thought of trying to appeal to the student body of McKinley with his exposed, scrawny torso.
'It might come as a surprise, but I don't have voluptuous breasts, David.'
'i do. want me to volunteer them up 4 u?'
Kurt just shook his head and sighed, still with an immovable grin plastered on his face that he wasn't entirely aware of.
'You're very kind to offer up the moobs you may or may not have, but I'd like to think I can come up with something that doesn't involve whoring anyone out.'
'i dont know dude. most of the kids at that school r pretty stupid. and horny.'
'This is true.'
'maybe just say youll pay them all 100 each if they elect u'
'That's bribery.'
'so? britanys is indecent exposure'
Kurt scoffed out a laugh.
'It's amazing what you can get away with when you're a decidedly "hot" young blonde teenage girl.'
'well i dont know dude. i mean those douches elected you prom queen right?'
'Yes they did,' he thought to himself, a bit tickled they'd had the same thought.
'Maybe it was because they thought we made a lovely royal couple.'
'sorry. if i knew we were such good eye candy i would have stayed and been ur running mate'
'Yeah, well, too bad you abandoned us.'
Kurt regretted having typed it shortly after he pressed the enter key and it was too late. Even if Dave got the implication that he was trying to joke, he was certain it would still hit a nerve somewhere.
'im really sorry, i just didnt know what else to do u know?'
'It's really okay,' Kurt typed quickly. 'I understand. Besides, it seems to have had a positive effect on you, so that's nothing to scoff at. I guess if I'm totally honest I just sort of wish I could have helped you through this somehow.'
'why?'
He paused, his fingers hovering over the keys. Certainly he had answer to this, didn't he? It seemed as though it should have been one of those that came to him rather quickly and was completely rational.
Why did he want to help Dave? He didn't exactly owe him anything, but he could never forgive himself for just letting the poor guy stumble confusedly around the homosexual world without any help or advice at all.
'My ego, probably,' he finally decided on, despite it not really being a complete answer. 'ThinkingI was some sort of gay expert. That whole week after we ran into each other pretty much shot that belief to hell. Anyway, you seem to know more than I do, at least about bears and their cubs, and you've apparently reached a comfortable place for yourself all on your own.
That's pretty impressive, David. You never really needed me.'
'i dont really agree with that, i mean, if it werent 4 u who knows where id be now'
Kurt's smile widened a little, unashamedly glad to know he felt that way.
'Well, I think it's safe to say we've both managed to teach each other a thing or two. =)'
Normally he would have never used an emoticon of any kind, but he felt it was both appropriate and somewhat necessary for the circumstances.
'yeah, definitely. =)'
With the conversation having slowed down, Kurt managed to pull his attention away from the chat box long enough to see it was 7:30 and way past the time he usually got started on dinner. It was too late to have it ready by the time Burt got home, but it was certainly a situation of better late than never.
'Crap, I better go make dinner so it's ready when Dad gets home.'
'ok i better go 2. gotta get some chores and stuff done'
Kurt bit his lip hesitantly before typing out his next response, knowing full-well that this alone might seal their fate as far as a future
friendship was concerned, for better or for worse.
'Will you be on tomorrow?'
'yeah most likely. u wouldn't want 2 do this again would u?'
'Hmmm…guess you'll have to wait and see. ;)'
Kurt knew there was a part of him that would never really forgive himself for choosing to use a winky-face emoticon, of all things. Had Mercedes known she would have flipped her lid and reminded him of all the times he made fun of her for being kitschy with her liberal use of them. But he really didn't care. Interaction with Dave was proving to be a lot more comfortable and laidback than he would have ever imagined. Somehow using the emoticons, however silly they might have been, felt almost like a privilege- a privilege, that is, of chatting with someone he felt no urge to impress.
'lol ok ill be looking forward 2 it'
'Goodnight, David.'
'night'
Kurt had a semi-permanent grin stuck on his face throughout the entirety of his preparation of dinner. It was apparently so noticeable even Finn pointed it out, audibly wondering why his stepbrother was smiling so much. Kurt brushed him off with an explanation that involved watching some standup earlier and having the jokes still stuck in his head, which seemed to pacify him enough to stop asking about it.
Really, though, Kurt knew he was just pleased to be interacting so well with someone who had been so bad off 6 months ago. It was nice to be reminded of the fact that life had gotten better for him, that he was feeling more secure with himself and comfortable enough to joke around- smile even.
And really, Kurt thought, it was good that Dave was able to smile so warmly and sincerely now. It really was quite flattering and so
much more appealing than those tight-jawed frowns he used to wear a year ago, presumably to scare people off from suspecting him of being gay.
On the whole, he liked the new Dave Karofsky quite a bit and was looking forward to pursuing a friendship. Admittedly, it would be
nice to have someone to talk to that wasn't Blaine or Finn, the latter of whom was never really listening anyway.
Kurt was so excited by these prospects that he allowed himself to overlook some of the more negative possibilities that began to nag in the back of his mind. Really though, they were just talking over Facebook and no matter what Blaine or anyone else said, there couldn't have been anything more harmless than that.
Rating: PG-13 (this chapter)
Summary: After the meeting at Scandals, Dave and Kurt attempt a friendship, much to the behest of everything around them.
Pairings: Kurtofsky (primary), Klaine (slight), Seblaine
Warnings: Infidelity, possible smut in the future
It had gotten to the point where Kurt was sure that he had subconsciously engaged in a staring contest with his Word Processor. He was losing, of course, given that word documents and computer monitors didn't have eyes to blink.
So, he supposed, he could add that on to the list of things he failed to be productive at this evening, the most important of these being his campaign speech. This was the sole reason, in fact, that he had even brought up the word document in the
first place. His blank staring was a product of not knowing what in the world one says to a group of homophobic, closed-minded high school kids from Ohio to convince them to vote for a well-dressed, completely out and proud gay kid as their class president.
'They did elect me Prom Queen,' he reluctantly reminded himself, not sure if that was supposed to be an encouraging fact or the exact opposite.
It was something, anyway.
A clumsy knock on the door, which could only be Finn's, brought him out of his computer trance. His return to consciousness allowed him to be proud of his stepbrother for finally remembering to knock and await a response before barging in.
"It's open," Kurt acknowledged, brushing away his own snarky reminder that the door was technically always open. Burt had made sure there were no locks on either of the boys' doors once they both started dating regularly.
"Hey," Finn sort of mumbled as he stumbled in.
The two of them more or less ignored each other while Finn wandered aimlessly around, occasionally scrounging through things and Kurt tried adding a few additional paragraphs, all of which he deleted.
"You wouldn't be looking for something, would you?" Kurt threw over his shoulder, unable to stand the sound of Finn's rather distracting search.
"Yeah, I am, actually. You haven't seen my box collection of zombie movies, have you?"
He couldn't help an eye roll and sigh in response, but only because he was certain Finn wouldn't hear or see.
"Really, Finn? You thought that would somehow make its way into my room?"
"I don't know, dude. I can't find it anywhere else. I'm getting a little desperate."
"Yes, well," he sighed, this time with no pretense of hiding it. "As crucial as I'm sure this mission is, I can assure you your box set is most definitely not in here and I'm trying to work on something so maybe you could go-"
"Oh wait, shit…" Finn suddenly exclaimed as though he were not even aware Kurt had been talking. "I think I leant it to Karofsky like 5 months ago…"
The mention of his name brought the memory of their meeting at Scandals, naught but two weeks ago, back to the forefront of Kurt's mind. Truthfully, it never fully left his thoughts. On the whole, it was such a surreally pleasant experience that he hadn't fully gotten over the fact that it had happened at all. He still wasn't entirely convinced that the young man with a surprisingly nice smile and inconspicuous baseball cap, professing himself to be a 'bear cub', was the same Dave Karofsky that used to hate all things effeminate and remotely gay.
"Speaking of which, you won't believe who I ran into recently."
Kurt had said it not really thinking. He had been sort of itching to tell someone, but given his regrettable distance with Mercedes, his current anonymity with Rachel and his somewhat inexplicable discomfort with even suggesting Dave was there to Blaine, he was completely bereft of any confidant at all. Besides, he couldn't tell anyone the juiciest and most ironic part of it all- that it was a gay bar that they had crossed paths in.
He realized his mistake almost immediately after uttering the words, but Finn's curious expression seemed to say that he was interested and not backing down from finding out anytime soon. Besides, ignoring him or making up some lie would probably seem more suspicious.
"Dave, of course." Kurt explained, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.
"Really? Where?"
Kurt bit his lip. "Blaine and I were just out and about. Ran into him by chance, you know how it goes."
Finn didn't seem entirely satisfied with the story and Kurt got that somewhat familiar churn of dread in his stomach when he began to suspect that Finn was far more insightful than he appeared.
So he promptly moved the topic along.
"He transferred schools, you know."
Finn shrugged. "Yeah, because he didn't want anyone to know."
Kurt suddenly felt what he could have sworn was his heart leaping into his throat.
"To know what…?"
"Just about his past," Finn shrugged, commencing to haphazardly look through Kurt's things again, as if the whole epiphany about Dave probably having his box set had completely escaped him. "The bullying and stuff. He felt like he'd dug himself too deep at McKinley and wanted a fresh start somewhere else. 'Figured that would make you pretty happy."
Kurt wasn't entirely sure who Finn was referring to in that last sentence, but the possibility that Dave had left sincerely thinking that Kurt would prefer it made him feel oddly uneasy.
"I forgave him," he felt obligated to mention. "There's no bad blood between us anymore. I would have had no problem with him staying."
If he was honest, he sort of would have preferred for him to stay. Burt commonly pointed out that Kurt had his mother's (and
arguably his father's) tendency to want to coddle and protect people and he couldn't say it was entirely untrue, as much as he wished it was otherwise. He had legitimately wanted to help Dave since their talk in Figgins' office back in May, but he probably would have been able to let it go without much disappointment if he hadn't seen the boy break down and cry in front of him in the hallway naught but a few weeks later.
From the time of that tearful apology, the slight interest Kurt had taken in Dave's well-being had transformed into a need to save him. He wanted to start PFLAG and show him all he knew. He wanted to educate him, to reassure him it was okay to come out and own who he was.
So when they finally crossed paths and the boy who had last been seen fleeing from his prom, professing that he wasn't ready to make that leap, was smiling and laughing at a gay bar, Kurt couldn't help but feel a little indignant. Disappointed, even. Hell, Dave knew more about gay lifestyles than he did at this point. Worse still, he had completely shot down Kurt's beliefthat he needed to publicly come out to be happy. Dave was still more or less in the closet, but he had finally admitted the truth to himself and
had a place where he could revel in it without being judged and that seemed to be enough for him.
Kurt could have slapped him for proving him so wrong. Instead, however, all he could do was sigh and smile and be happy for the progress he had made. Lo and behold, Dave had taught him.
"That's cool," was Finn's preoccupied response. Kurt couldn't really bring himself to care that hisstepbrother obviously wasn't listening to him at all, as his mind had successfully drifted back to that meeting at the gay bar and wasn't leaving any time soon.
It occurred to him then that he had been in such a snit about Blaine's activity with Sebastian he completely forgot to get some kind of contact information from Dave. They really did need to keep in touch, after all. If Kurt couldn't help him come to terms,
then he could at least be a supportive acquaintance, someone to just talk to about things or whatever.
"How
did you know all of that?" he asked Finn. Clearly he was more in tune with comings and goings of Dave's life than Kurt was. Before running into him at the bar, his sole source of information had been catching a snippet of Santana's conversation with Beiste in the choir room wherein she explained that Dave had transferred to Shawnee High and that's why he wasn't at tryouts. Beiste seemed none too happy to lose one of her best players, and perhaps more so since Sam was gone as well.
"We're facebook friends. We IM on there occasionally."
Kurt just nodded, trying not to seem too intrigued. Finn then quickly lost interest in his search and sort of sauntered out of the room without a good-bye.
Kurt really couldn't bring himself to care too much about this, distracted as he was with opening a tab for Facebook.
He couldn't help but smile when Blaine was prompt with whipping out his wallet, still eager to pay for everything before Kurt could beat him to it. Sometimes Kurt would dig in his bag a little, hoping to see his boyfriend sweat to not let one cent of his even touch the counter.
It was just all very chivalrous and endearing, no less so than the first day Blaine had offered.
Pleased, Kurt grabbed his macchiato and allowed his boyfriend to follow him to their special table, the one near the front window that was not too close to the doors of the café.
"How's that campaign speech coming?" Blaine asked as they had a seat. Kurt couldn't help but smile at the fact that he had already guessed his boyfriend was itching to talk about it.
"Not great, actually," he admitted. "I just can't think of anything to say. Does that come as a surprise?"
"Not really," Blaine chuckled, taking a sip of his latte.
Kurt frowned a little at Blaine's choice of response but decided that he wasn't really thinking about what he was saying or how best to word it. Truthfully, it hadn't escaped Kurt's notice that Blaine was a bit more distracted and distant lately. Occasionally he would let himself get a little paranoid, but the reminder that the West Side Story performances were rapidly approaching gave him a bit comfort in that Blaine was probably just preoccupied.
And, of course, now was hardly the opportune time to over think things.
"I'm glad to be here with you," Kurt mentioned, smiling warmly. "It's nice to get out of my stuffy room and enjoy my boyfriend's company every now and then."
His choice of phrase was a bit more literal than he let on. Due to the fact that Kurt had been gradually growing apart from the
girls he used to hang out with, for whatever reason, he really did rely on Blaine more these days to keep him entertained and to listen to his gossip. Being the good boyfriend that he was, he performed both of these jobs without complaint.
And despite what had gone down with them two weeks prior, Kurt was still as thankful to have him as he was when
they first got together.
Blaine returned Kurt's smile and squeezed his hand underneath the table.
"You really don't have to thank me, Kurt. I get just as much, if not more pleasure out of it than you do."
Kurt nodded, taking perhaps more solace in that statement than was warranted. He really couldn't care, though. The past few weeks had been rather rough for their relationship and it was nice to get confirmation that his presence was still as appreciated as before.
It was enough, in fact, to give him the strength to mention something to Blaine he had formerly been convinced he shouldn't speak a word of.
"I need to tell you something," he said rather excitedly. Blaine just raised his eyebrows in response, urging him to do so.
He hesitated only a moment, wondering if this was going to pan out to be wise choice when it was all said and done. He quickly reminded himself that the boy sitting across from him was not only his best friend, he was his boyfriend and there should be no reason to be afraid to tell him things, especially when one topic in particular is just dying to be hashed out.
Blaine could, potentially, understand the situation better than anyone and he was really the only remotely safe person to discuss it with.
So Kurt went ahead, despite it all.
"That night we were at Scandals…do you remember when I was sitting at the bar chatting with that guy?"
Blaine sort of narrowed his eyes in confusion. "You were talking with someone?"
"Yes," he replied, resisting the urge to point out that he might have noticed, were he not stumbling around drunkenly with Sebastian. "And you'll never guess who it was."
He paused for effect.
"David."
Blaine blinked his eyes, giving him a double-take.
"David…? As in Karofsky?"
Kurt just nodded, a little bemused grin plastered to his face as prepared to engage in some juicy discussion about Dave's progress from scared guy at the prom to 'bear cub'.
Blaine, on the other hand, did not seem so keen.
"Why didn't you tell me, Kurt?" he asked, unpleasantly taken-back. "Did he try something on you?"
Kurt could only sigh in response, knowing that in some part of himself he had expected Blaine to react this way.
"No. I've told you already, I've forgiven him, and if you would have let me finish my story I could have told you that he's changed a lot since prom."
Blaine sat back, looking a bit indignant.
"Well, clearly, if he's hanging out in gay bars," he muttered into his coffee cup.
"We can just forget about it. I thought maybe it could have been a little gossipy thing we could chat about, but I forget you're not Rachel or Mercedes."
"I just want you to be safe, Kurt," Blaine explained, somewhat pleadingly. "If you're going to be friends with this guy or…whatever, I just want you to keep in mind what he did to you a year ago. Can you really trust him?"
On the whole, the conversation was leaving a terrible taste in his mouth and putting him off his coffee
entirely. Blaine had an admittedly frustrating tendency to preach and lecture about things he really knew nothing about, and if there was something he was completely ignorant of in this situation, it was Dave and the progress he had made. Frankly, Kurt didn't want to be judged for anything having to do with Dave and already he was cursing himself for having brought him up at all in present company.
"Let's just drop it," he said, trying to play it off casual.
Blaine thankfully agreed to not make any more frustrating comments about the issue and the two of them then decided to get their minds off the awkward exchange by going shopping.
The tension from that moment never fully left them, however, and Kurt found this to be especially unnerving.
That evening found Kurt, once again, staring at the godforsaken word document with a grand total of two paragraphs decorating its stark whiteness.
This time, however, he was lounging on his bed with 'Say Yes To The Dress' on in front of him for white noise and an excuse
to look away every now and then from the doomed speech. He hoped the distraction would keep him from feeling too hopeless or discouraged.
Really, it was just preventing him from having to write at all, because the more he attempted to get something on the paper, the less inclined he felt to even try.
With that in mind, he decided to throw his better judgment to the wind and open his internet browser. It was a little silly, he thought, to continue deluding himself about getting any writing done tonight anyway.
He had basically forgotten about all of the Dave Karofsky drama that had randomly reared its ugly head yesterday and earlier today, so when he saw the notification indicating that his friend request had been accepted, he felt a little pleasant jolt of surprise. What was more, said new facebook friend had already sent him an IM.
'hey. =)' it read.
Kurt couldn't help himself from being amused that Dave Karofsky, of all people, was IMing him with smiley emoticons. It was still a little weirdly surreal.
'Hi there.' he typed back, waiting a few moments before adding, 'Thank you for granting me the honor of being your FB friend.
While he waited for a reply, Kurt opened a tab to browse the Vogue Fall Fashion Guide. It wasn't long, however, before the telling 'bloop' rang out again.
'eh, i think i can lower my standards a little 4 u'
'Cheeky,' Kurt thought with a grin.
'Can you? That's so generous!' Somehow he knew now the sarcasm wouldn't be lost on Dave. 'So what has you so bored as to condescend to chat with me?'
He felt it was a necessary question, one he wanted to get out of the way before their conversation fizzled out or Dave left to go do something or any of the other factors that ended internet chats came into play.
'hmwk's done. i guess i could do the dishes like dad asked but i thought talking 2 u might b a little less boring'
'And tedious, I'd imagine.'
'yep.' And there was a pause before Dave added, 'so wat about u?'
Kurt quirked an eyebrow. 'What about me?'
'wat r u doing? or not doing, as the case may be lol'
He laughed at that, amused that Dave could sense his procrastination through the instant messenger.
'I am most definitely not procrastinating on writing my campaign speech for class president elections.'
'wow'
'So far I've gotten one sentence past my progress from yesterday and now I'm just staring at it, completely uninspired.'
'i bet that little paper clip bastard has already popped up 2 mock u further'
'Thankfully, no,' he typed back, chuckling. 'My Word Processor doesn't have the demon paper clip from hell application.'
'well that makes 1 of us'
'But seriously,' he began, sincerely hoping that his plea might not go unnoticed and Dave might have some magical words of wisdom to rectify his complete lack of inspiration. 'Wtf do I write now? How the hell do I convince closed-minded teenagers from Ohio that a flamboyant, well-dressed gay kid should be their class president?'
'idk, the same way all politicians get into office i guess'
'Do you mean lie out of my ass?'
'im sure the other candidates are doing it.'
He nodded, as if Dave would somehow see. 'Well, Brittany's in the lead and so far her most popular campaign promise has
been to go topless every Tuesday. Somehow, I think she's being entirely sincere.'
'lol, that sounds like her'
Kurt smiled at that, before Dave added an additional message a few moments later.
'i guess trying to match & 1 up that promise is out of the question'
He was a bit taken back by the implication at first, but eventually cackled at the very thought of trying to appeal to the student body of McKinley with his exposed, scrawny torso.
'It might come as a surprise, but I don't have voluptuous breasts, David.'
'i do. want me to volunteer them up 4 u?'
Kurt just shook his head and sighed, still with an immovable grin plastered on his face that he wasn't entirely aware of.
'You're very kind to offer up the moobs you may or may not have, but I'd like to think I can come up with something that doesn't involve whoring anyone out.'
'i dont know dude. most of the kids at that school r pretty stupid. and horny.'
'This is true.'
'maybe just say youll pay them all 100 each if they elect u'
'That's bribery.'
'so? britanys is indecent exposure'
Kurt scoffed out a laugh.
'It's amazing what you can get away with when you're a decidedly "hot" young blonde teenage girl.'
'well i dont know dude. i mean those douches elected you prom queen right?'
'Yes they did,' he thought to himself, a bit tickled they'd had the same thought.
'Maybe it was because they thought we made a lovely royal couple.'
'sorry. if i knew we were such good eye candy i would have stayed and been ur running mate'
'Yeah, well, too bad you abandoned us.'
Kurt regretted having typed it shortly after he pressed the enter key and it was too late. Even if Dave got the implication that he was trying to joke, he was certain it would still hit a nerve somewhere.
'im really sorry, i just didnt know what else to do u know?'
'It's really okay,' Kurt typed quickly. 'I understand. Besides, it seems to have had a positive effect on you, so that's nothing to scoff at. I guess if I'm totally honest I just sort of wish I could have helped you through this somehow.'
'why?'
He paused, his fingers hovering over the keys. Certainly he had answer to this, didn't he? It seemed as though it should have been one of those that came to him rather quickly and was completely rational.
Why did he want to help Dave? He didn't exactly owe him anything, but he could never forgive himself for just letting the poor guy stumble confusedly around the homosexual world without any help or advice at all.
'My ego, probably,' he finally decided on, despite it not really being a complete answer. 'ThinkingI was some sort of gay expert. That whole week after we ran into each other pretty much shot that belief to hell. Anyway, you seem to know more than I do, at least about bears and their cubs, and you've apparently reached a comfortable place for yourself all on your own.
That's pretty impressive, David. You never really needed me.'
'i dont really agree with that, i mean, if it werent 4 u who knows where id be now'
Kurt's smile widened a little, unashamedly glad to know he felt that way.
'Well, I think it's safe to say we've both managed to teach each other a thing or two. =)'
Normally he would have never used an emoticon of any kind, but he felt it was both appropriate and somewhat necessary for the circumstances.
'yeah, definitely. =)'
With the conversation having slowed down, Kurt managed to pull his attention away from the chat box long enough to see it was 7:30 and way past the time he usually got started on dinner. It was too late to have it ready by the time Burt got home, but it was certainly a situation of better late than never.
'Crap, I better go make dinner so it's ready when Dad gets home.'
'ok i better go 2. gotta get some chores and stuff done'
Kurt bit his lip hesitantly before typing out his next response, knowing full-well that this alone might seal their fate as far as a future
friendship was concerned, for better or for worse.
'Will you be on tomorrow?'
'yeah most likely. u wouldn't want 2 do this again would u?'
'Hmmm…guess you'll have to wait and see. ;)'
Kurt knew there was a part of him that would never really forgive himself for choosing to use a winky-face emoticon, of all things. Had Mercedes known she would have flipped her lid and reminded him of all the times he made fun of her for being kitschy with her liberal use of them. But he really didn't care. Interaction with Dave was proving to be a lot more comfortable and laidback than he would have ever imagined. Somehow using the emoticons, however silly they might have been, felt almost like a privilege- a privilege, that is, of chatting with someone he felt no urge to impress.
'lol ok ill be looking forward 2 it'
'Goodnight, David.'
'night'
Kurt had a semi-permanent grin stuck on his face throughout the entirety of his preparation of dinner. It was apparently so noticeable even Finn pointed it out, audibly wondering why his stepbrother was smiling so much. Kurt brushed him off with an explanation that involved watching some standup earlier and having the jokes still stuck in his head, which seemed to pacify him enough to stop asking about it.
Really, though, Kurt knew he was just pleased to be interacting so well with someone who had been so bad off 6 months ago. It was nice to be reminded of the fact that life had gotten better for him, that he was feeling more secure with himself and comfortable enough to joke around- smile even.
And really, Kurt thought, it was good that Dave was able to smile so warmly and sincerely now. It really was quite flattering and so
much more appealing than those tight-jawed frowns he used to wear a year ago, presumably to scare people off from suspecting him of being gay.
On the whole, he liked the new Dave Karofsky quite a bit and was looking forward to pursuing a friendship. Admittedly, it would be
nice to have someone to talk to that wasn't Blaine or Finn, the latter of whom was never really listening anyway.
Kurt was so excited by these prospects that he allowed himself to overlook some of the more negative possibilities that began to nag in the back of his mind. Really though, they were just talking over Facebook and no matter what Blaine or anyone else said, there couldn't have been anything more harmless than that.