Fic: Taking It Back (6/?)
Title: Taking It Back
Rating: PG-13/T
Summary: After the meeting at Scandals, Dave and Kurt attempt a friendship, much to the behest of everything around them.
Pairings: Kurtofsky, Klaine, Seblaine, Santofsky, various others milling in the background.
Warnings: Infidelity, language, vague descriptions of sex
It wasn’t until Friday of that week that Kurt finally decided to take the plunge and visit Dave. He didn’t want to call or message him ahead of time, as that would inevitably lead to a discussion that wasn’t face-to-face and he didn’t want to do this any other way.
So he contacted Santana, explained his intentions, and had her nonchalantly check to make sure he was home and available to have what was no doubt going to be a long, dramatic, heartfelt conversation.
How she had made that inconspicuous he would never know, but wasn’t it he who named her the Latina Eve Harrington?
It was not long after school had gotten out and Burt and Carol wouldn’t be home for a few more hours, so Kurt was hoping that he could slip in and out unnoticed. He really didn’t want his family to be more involved with his relationship with Dave than they absolutely needed to be.
Finn was, of course, playing some sort of Xbox game over the headset with Puck in the living room. He was in clear view of Kurt getting his pea-coat and scarf and preparing to leave, but it seemed as if he was too immersed in whatever he and Puck were shooting at to be concerned with what his stepbrother was doing.
“Hey, are you going to the store?” Finn called over.
Crap.
“No, sorry.”
“Damn. I really wanted some more Doritos.”
“Sorry about that. I’ll be home in a little-“
“Are you going to Karofsky’s?”
Kurt just froze, staring incredulously at Finn.
“Why would you think that?” he asked. “I’ve never gone over there before.”
Finn shrugged. “I dunno. Thought you guys were friends- no, Puck, I’m talking to Kurt. Yeah, Kurt. He and Karofsky are friends now. Yeah, that’s what I said. I dunno, why don’t you ask him?”
Absolutely mortified, Kurt fled the house, slamming the door behind him, and jumped into his car before Finn could force him to have to confront Puck’s prying questions. He would no doubt have to hear them on Monday, regardless.
Or maybe Puck would forget. Kurt could only hope.
Before he could back out of the driveway, however, his phone buzzed with a text message from Finn. Morbidly curious, he checked it.
‘can u ask karovsky 4 my movies bck plz thnx’ ------------------------------------------
Kurt had a rough idea where Dave lived, though that didn’t mean he could go without the assistance of his GPS. After all, he was not exactly directionally inclined and this was not the time (nor the most preferable weather) to get lost.
The Karofsky house was admittedly a lot larger than he anticipated and as he left the car and made his way up the rather lengthy walk to the front door, he couldn’t help but wonder what it was Paul Karofsky did for a living.
He took a deep breath before ringing the door bell and then stood bracing himself against the harsh December air as he waited for answer, trying not to peer into the small glass windows of the door to see who was coming.
“Oh..hi there!”
The voice greeting him when the door opened was surprisingly both chipper and female, so Kurt looked up quickly from where he had focused his attention on the welcome mat to see who it belonged to.
The young woman standing there was slightly taller than him, with voluminous, wavy brown hair that cascaded rather beautifully down her shoulders. She was undeniably voluptuous and rather pretty in the face and there was something about her that told Kurt she was a very boisterous and energetic sort of person without even having exchanged words with her.
“Hi,” he greeted, smiling bravely. “My name is Kurt Hummel, I’m a friend of David’s. I was wondering if he was around to talk?”
The young woman smiled somewhat mischievously and beckoned him in.
“He certainly is,” she giggled, closing the door behind him. “But I’ll let that be a surprise. I’m Natasha, by the way, Dave’s sister.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Natasha took his coat rather hastily and then grabbed him by the arm.
“Come on,” she said, now dropping her voice to a loud whisper. “He’s in the living room, but we have to be very quiet so he doesn’t know we’re there.”
He allowed himself to be somewhat dragged in the direction of said living room, not even bothering to soak up the passing sights of the interior household as they were moving too fast for him to really get a chance. He did hope, however, that there would be a better opportunity later.
When they arrived at what Kurt assumed to be the entrance to the living room, Natasha giggled again and pressed herself up against the wall, encouraging him to do the same. She reiterated her earlier point about being quiet by pressing a finger to her full red lips, and then shifted Kurt towards the threshold so that he might be able to peer over and see what was going on within. This he did, assuming that whatever Natasha was so giddy about had to have been worth all of the hullabaloo.
Lo and behold, he was correct.
Truthfully, Kurt didn’t know exactly what to expect when he had come to see Dave, though he assumed that it would most likely have something to do with being locked up in a room in the dark. But nothing, absolutely nothing, could have prepared him for the sight of Dave sitting on the living room couch with a chubby, pig-tailed, four year old girl in his lap, singing along with her to ‘Frosty the Snowman’.
The little girl bounced and clapped excitedly, Dave doing the same of the latter. When the song mentioned the ‘button nose’, he pinched hers gently between the knuckles of his pointer and index fingers and she squealed happily. He also made a point of tickling her ribs at several intervals in the song and she would kick and screech like some kind of highly amused piglet.
Kurt took a moment to savor this scene from his safe hiding spot, more or less in awe of it all and not sure what to feel in response. He suspected that these constant reveals that further reiterated the point that Dave Karofsky was never just some big dumb Neanderthal were getting a little overwhelming. Then again, perhaps so too was the effect they were having, as the scene in the living room made him feel inexplicably warm and gooey inside.
Part of him screamed to turn away or interrupt it somehow. Dave was not supposed to be the type of guy who sang Christmas carols animatedly with a four year old and looked adorable with her while he tickled her and pinched her nose. Then again, he was not supposed to be the type of person Kurt would be friends with in the first place and he had already defied that expectation rather well. So what was Kurt supposed to do, just allow himself to be uncomfortably endeared by this? It didn’t seem right, and yet it was happening nonetheless.
“With all of this Christmas cheer in this house you would have never known we’re Jewish,” Natasha joked softly.
Kurt chuckled back, thankful for the interruption to his uncomfortable train of thought. He was about to ask if it would be okay for him to make his presence known, when it was suddenly taken care of for him.
“Uncle Davey, who’s that?”
Kurt glanced in the direction of the four year old’s squeaky little voice and saw her round little eyes trained on him. They were very soon followed by Dave’s, who jumped slightly at the sight of Kurt standing a little too far forward in the threshold to be properly hiding anymore. Naturally, their gazes met, and Kurt noticed a slight smile tugging on the corner of Dave’s mouth.
“Kurt…!” he exclaimed, somewhat breathlessly. “W-what…um…w-w-what are you doing here?”
Interrupting the moment was Natasha’s bell-ring of a laugh as she walked around Kurt and into the living room.
“I was trying to show him how cute you and Reesie are,” she explained. “Aren’t they cute, Kurt?”
Kurt grinned amusedly and folded his arms over his chest.
“I think they’re positively adorable, Natasha.”
Dave then blushed a deep, unmistakable crimson and Kurt instantly found it impossible to hold any kind of hostility towards him any longer.
“Kurt, this is my daughter and Dave’s niece, Theresa,” Natasha mentioned, taking the little girl from Dave and hoisting her into her arms. “But we just call her Reesie. Isn’t that right, lopushka?”
Reesie nodded dramatically, causing her thick brown pigtails to bob in rhythm.
“Mommy, is Kurt gonna sing with us too?”
“I’d very much like to later on,” he answered, smiling at her. “If that would be alright with you?”
Reesie grinned big and nodded again, and Kurt had the almost irrepressible urge to squeeze her puffy little cheeks.
“Alright, Reesie, why don’t you take a coloring break with Mommy? Uncle Davey needs some time alone with his friend,” Natasha cooed as she walked out of the room.
When the two were finally alone, an expected awkward silence ensued. Kurt studied Dave in that brief moment, as he avoided eye contact and nervously fidgeted. It was one of those occasions in which he was reminded of Dave’s utter vulnerability and he realized then just how much this time of separation must have affected him.
Before he could say anything, however, Dave spoke up in a rather surprising flurry of words.
“Look, I don’t know what to say to make up for what happened a few weeks ago. You know I’m not good with words, but I want you to know that I’m really, really fucking sorry. I was being an idiot and saying shit I had no right to. It’s none of my business what you do and I damn well don’t have any room at all to judge you for it, so…I’m sorry…and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you this sooner, but I just figured you wanted me as far away from you as possible, so…”
Kurt smiled. “Santana told me you might be thinking that.”
Dave’s eyes widened. “Wait…Santana? Did she- what all did she tell you?”
“She just gave me a little nudge out the door. I admit I was being stubborn about coming to talk to you again, but she knew I wanted to and pretty much called my bluff.”
Dave nodded and that reluctant grin he had been fighting finally made an appearance.
“I’m just glad you’re back,” he said simply. “I didn’t know I could miss you that much.”
Damn you, Dave Karofsky, Kurt thought as he didn’t bother to stop himself then from enveloping him in a tight embrace. Dave returned it slowly, no doubt stunned by the sudden forward gesture.
And they simply held each other there in the living room for what would forever be an indeterminate amount of time.
If it had ever been uncertain that Kurt had forgiven Dave, all doubts were immediately put to rest. With that hug came the promise to always try again, to never hold on to things longer than necessary, and to stick with each other no matter what the future held for them.
There were a lot of things between them, it seemed, that were far better communicated in gestures and actions than they ever could be with words.
--------------------------------------
Kurt stayed far longer at the Karofsky house than he had anticipated he would.
He, of course, had to make good on his promise to Reesie to join her and her Uncle in their Christmas caroling. Dave seemed rather embarrassed and apologetic for it all at first, so Kurt made a point of sending him reassuring glances and being as positively dorky as possible, much to Reesie’s amusement.
When Natasha invited Kurt to stay for dinner, he agreed to that as well. Hanging out with the Karofsky’s certainly beat sitting in his room for the tenth Friday in a row- not to mention the fact that Natasha had made vegetable lasagna and the sheer smell of it was making Kurt’s mouth water.
The rest of the evening was spent watching similarly goofy children’s Christmas movies with Reesie until, at some point, she fell asleep across Kurt and Dave’s laps.
“It seems we’ve been claimed as a bed,” Kurt whispered in the middle of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, having realized she was fast asleep.
Dave laughed softly.
“We probably don’t have to keep watching this,” he pointed out.
Kurt glanced curiously at the collection of DVDs on the shelf over the flatscreen, scanning to see if anything in particular popped out at him.
“Wait, you have Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn?”
“Uh, yeah, it’s one of my favorite Christmas movies.”
Kurt had to look over at Dave to make sure he was still the same person, because how weird was it that Dave Karofsky admitted to liking a Bing Crosby movie?
It was pretty weird.
“I thought you were Jewish,” he pointed out, teasingly.
“Well, yeah, but we’ve always celebrated Christmas anyway. It’s just one of those things, you know?”
“Well, if you’re in as much of a festive mood now as I am, then I say we should watch it immediately.”
It took some doing to maneuver Reesie so that she was out of the way for Dave to get up and put the movie in not accidentally wake her in the process. They somehow succeeded in this effort and then settled back in, Kurt being especially excited to enjoy one of his favorite films of all time.
They were silent throughout most of it, with the exception of the occasional laugh or comment on how dreamy Bing Crosby was.
Dave, however, felt compelled to speak up at the Fourth of July scene when Marjorie Reynolds’ character, angry at Bing Crosby, decided to leave him for Fred Astaire.
“Man, I forgot what a douche Fred Astaire is in this,” he said disgustedly. “It’s pretty fucked up to keep stealing your friend’s girlfriends like that.”
“Yes, but Bing wasn’t exactly on his most chivalrous behavior either,” Kurt pointed out. “So I can’t say that I blame Mrs. Reynolds one bit.”
“Okay, yeah, so Bing was acting like an ass too by not letting her make her own decisions, but you’d think she’d at least realize what a skeeze Fred Astaire is and not leave with him. I mean, isn’t it pretty obvious that Bing Crosby is a way better guy anyway? He might have been stupid, but he did it because he loved her, you know?”
Kurt chuckled softly as he petted Reesie’s curls.
“It’s not as simple as that, though. She does love him and it’s clear she knows he loves her too, but she wants to punish him for what he did.”
Dave scoffed. “That seems like a pretty harsh punishment, especially since she knows he loves her.”
“I think she needs to hear him say it,” Kurt explained. “She can’t completely submit herself to him if he won’t overcome his fear and tell her exactly how he feels. She needs him to fight for her.”
“But…isn’t that like when he tried to prevent her from going to Hollywood? Shouldn’t he just keep his distance and let her make her own decisions?”
“Fighting for someone isn’t the same as trying to control them. She still has the option to shoot him down, if she wants. But if she was just a little bit conflicted between him and Fred Astaire, like she actually is, the fact that he was willing to go out of his way to get her back shows her that he loves her that much and that she was worth the effort to him. It’s what tipped the scale in the end.”
They didn’t say anything more about it after that, and Kurt figured it was just a coincidence that Dave seemed particularly quiet and pensive from that point on.
When it was nearing the end of the movie and Majorie Reynolds had arrived on the Holiday Inn set to have her glorious, ‘White Christmas’ reunion with Bing Crosby, Kurt realized just how tired and dreamy he was feeling- both by the late hour and from the sheer emotion of the scene unfolding in front of them.
He didn’t think to ask if it was okay when he somewhat unconsciously snuggled against Dave and rested his head on his shoulder. Dave was there, he was warm, and he had the comforting smell of laundry detergent and the signature scent of his home. After all, Kurt was a tactile person with people that he felt close to and maybe it was just the feeling in the air caused by the movie or the endearing presence of Reesie napping on his legs, but he was feeling especially close to him in that moment.
It only became uncomfortable when he could feel Dave tense, and so he instinctively looked up from where his head continued to rest to see if everything was okay.
Their eyes happened to meet and in a split second, Kurt felt his legs turn to jelly and it was unfortunately not because Reesie was still on them. His and Dave’s faces were not very far apart at all and he could literally feel their breaths mingling in the small space between them. He was suddenly becoming very hyperaware of Dave- of his warmth, his scent, his softness. Consequently, his stomach flip-flopped.
Why was he staring at Dave’s lips? Why did the closing proximity between their mouths suddenly feel natural? Why -despite the soft nagging in the back of his mind that he should- was he not stopping this?
Thankfully, Dave did. He abruptly turned his face away to look back at the film, just in time to see Bing Crosby and Marjorie Reynolds have their romantic reunion, seemingly pretending that the moment they just experienced hadn’t actually occurred.
Kurt, on the other hand, couldn’t take his eyes off of Dave. It was almost as if he had been hypnotized into staring at him, and truthfully, that wasn’t too far off from the reality of the situation.
But no matter how long he looked and studied and tried to ponder what had just occurred, he couldn’t get much farther than the question itself.
What just happened? What in the world just happened?
Perhaps as the universe’s way of breaking the tension, Kurt’s phone rang at that moment and the metallic sound of Lady Gaga’s ‘Heavy Metal Lover’ woke Reesie up.
“Sorry,” Kurt whispered to whoever would accept the apology as he checked to see who was calling. Unsurprisingly, it was his father and he remembered then that he hadn’t bothered to call and tell them where he was at any point that night. It being already close to midnight, it was understandable that Burt would have some concerns- that he would no doubt voice very, very loudly in Kurt’s ear.
Dave hoisted Reesie up in arms and carted her off to her room as Kurt reluctantly answered his phone.
“Hel-“
“About damn time. Where the hell are you and why haven’t you called one of us yet?”
Kurt cringed.
“I’m really sorry, Dad, I was just-“ he nearly revealed the fact that he had been at Dave’s house, but reconsidered it for a safer option, just in case his father wasn’t feeling as forgiving as he was a few weeks ago. “…hanging out at Mercedes’. We were just watching some movies and I guess I got distracted.”
Burt ‘humphed’, but seemed to be more or less pacified by this explanation.
“You’re lucky that I’m gonna let that fly this time, but in the future you had better make sure you take the two minutes required to call one of us and tell us where you’re going. You know better than to rely on your brother to relay that information.”
Kurt smiled to himself, choosing to believe that Finn had remembered that Kurt was going to Dave’s but decided to play dumb about it in case Burt wasn’t comfortable with it.
“Sure thing. I think I’m coming home now anyway.”
“Alright, see you soon, kid.”
Kurt had already put his peacoat and scarf back on by the time Dave came back down the stairs from Reesie’s room. The two of them looked at one another again, and it seemed impossible to not get stuck on each other’s gaze.
“Are…you leaving already?” Dave asked, probably already aware of the answer.
Kurt nodded and smiled apologetically. “Yeah, my Dad is kind of a snit since I didn’t call him earlier, so I figure I probably shouldn’t try to push the envelope.”
Dave nodded understandingly.
“Well…thanks for coming over.”
“I’m glad I did. It was fun.”
The both of them stood in the doorway for a moment and it was undeniable that the silence was substituting for a multitude of unspoken words they were both afraid to say.
“I guess I’d better-“
“I mean, it’s getting late, you probably should-“
The two of them laughed nervously at the simultaneous effort to quash the tension.
“Will you be online later?” Kurt finally managed.
“Uhm…yeah, definitely.”
“Well, since I’m destined now to stay up late and watch my entire collection of old movies, I guess I might as well hang out with you on there when I get home.”
Dave smiled. “That’d be awesome.”
“Goodnight, Yogi.”
“Night, Kurt.”
It was only when Kurt was halfway home that he remembered Finn’s box set. But then he realized that it could be used as a fairly convincing excuse for a while to keep visiting Dave’s house, and decided then that his stepbrother probably wouldn’t be seeing those movies again for quite a while.
Rating: PG-13/T
Summary: After the meeting at Scandals, Dave and Kurt attempt a friendship, much to the behest of everything around them.
Pairings: Kurtofsky, Klaine, Seblaine, Santofsky, various others milling in the background.
Warnings: Infidelity, language, vague descriptions of sex
It wasn’t until Friday of that week that Kurt finally decided to take the plunge and visit Dave. He didn’t want to call or message him ahead of time, as that would inevitably lead to a discussion that wasn’t face-to-face and he didn’t want to do this any other way.
So he contacted Santana, explained his intentions, and had her nonchalantly check to make sure he was home and available to have what was no doubt going to be a long, dramatic, heartfelt conversation.
How she had made that inconspicuous he would never know, but wasn’t it he who named her the Latina Eve Harrington?
It was not long after school had gotten out and Burt and Carol wouldn’t be home for a few more hours, so Kurt was hoping that he could slip in and out unnoticed. He really didn’t want his family to be more involved with his relationship with Dave than they absolutely needed to be.
Finn was, of course, playing some sort of Xbox game over the headset with Puck in the living room. He was in clear view of Kurt getting his pea-coat and scarf and preparing to leave, but it seemed as if he was too immersed in whatever he and Puck were shooting at to be concerned with what his stepbrother was doing.
“Hey, are you going to the store?” Finn called over.
Crap.
“No, sorry.”
“Damn. I really wanted some more Doritos.”
“Sorry about that. I’ll be home in a little-“
“Are you going to Karofsky’s?”
Kurt just froze, staring incredulously at Finn.
“Why would you think that?” he asked. “I’ve never gone over there before.”
Finn shrugged. “I dunno. Thought you guys were friends- no, Puck, I’m talking to Kurt. Yeah, Kurt. He and Karofsky are friends now. Yeah, that’s what I said. I dunno, why don’t you ask him?”
Absolutely mortified, Kurt fled the house, slamming the door behind him, and jumped into his car before Finn could force him to have to confront Puck’s prying questions. He would no doubt have to hear them on Monday, regardless.
Or maybe Puck would forget. Kurt could only hope.
Before he could back out of the driveway, however, his phone buzzed with a text message from Finn. Morbidly curious, he checked it.
‘can u ask karovsky 4 my movies bck plz thnx’ ------------------------------------------
Kurt had a rough idea where Dave lived, though that didn’t mean he could go without the assistance of his GPS. After all, he was not exactly directionally inclined and this was not the time (nor the most preferable weather) to get lost.
The Karofsky house was admittedly a lot larger than he anticipated and as he left the car and made his way up the rather lengthy walk to the front door, he couldn’t help but wonder what it was Paul Karofsky did for a living.
He took a deep breath before ringing the door bell and then stood bracing himself against the harsh December air as he waited for answer, trying not to peer into the small glass windows of the door to see who was coming.
“Oh..hi there!”
The voice greeting him when the door opened was surprisingly both chipper and female, so Kurt looked up quickly from where he had focused his attention on the welcome mat to see who it belonged to.
The young woman standing there was slightly taller than him, with voluminous, wavy brown hair that cascaded rather beautifully down her shoulders. She was undeniably voluptuous and rather pretty in the face and there was something about her that told Kurt she was a very boisterous and energetic sort of person without even having exchanged words with her.
“Hi,” he greeted, smiling bravely. “My name is Kurt Hummel, I’m a friend of David’s. I was wondering if he was around to talk?”
The young woman smiled somewhat mischievously and beckoned him in.
“He certainly is,” she giggled, closing the door behind him. “But I’ll let that be a surprise. I’m Natasha, by the way, Dave’s sister.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Natasha took his coat rather hastily and then grabbed him by the arm.
“Come on,” she said, now dropping her voice to a loud whisper. “He’s in the living room, but we have to be very quiet so he doesn’t know we’re there.”
He allowed himself to be somewhat dragged in the direction of said living room, not even bothering to soak up the passing sights of the interior household as they were moving too fast for him to really get a chance. He did hope, however, that there would be a better opportunity later.
When they arrived at what Kurt assumed to be the entrance to the living room, Natasha giggled again and pressed herself up against the wall, encouraging him to do the same. She reiterated her earlier point about being quiet by pressing a finger to her full red lips, and then shifted Kurt towards the threshold so that he might be able to peer over and see what was going on within. This he did, assuming that whatever Natasha was so giddy about had to have been worth all of the hullabaloo.
Lo and behold, he was correct.
Truthfully, Kurt didn’t know exactly what to expect when he had come to see Dave, though he assumed that it would most likely have something to do with being locked up in a room in the dark. But nothing, absolutely nothing, could have prepared him for the sight of Dave sitting on the living room couch with a chubby, pig-tailed, four year old girl in his lap, singing along with her to ‘Frosty the Snowman’.
The little girl bounced and clapped excitedly, Dave doing the same of the latter. When the song mentioned the ‘button nose’, he pinched hers gently between the knuckles of his pointer and index fingers and she squealed happily. He also made a point of tickling her ribs at several intervals in the song and she would kick and screech like some kind of highly amused piglet.
Kurt took a moment to savor this scene from his safe hiding spot, more or less in awe of it all and not sure what to feel in response. He suspected that these constant reveals that further reiterated the point that Dave Karofsky was never just some big dumb Neanderthal were getting a little overwhelming. Then again, perhaps so too was the effect they were having, as the scene in the living room made him feel inexplicably warm and gooey inside.
Part of him screamed to turn away or interrupt it somehow. Dave was not supposed to be the type of guy who sang Christmas carols animatedly with a four year old and looked adorable with her while he tickled her and pinched her nose. Then again, he was not supposed to be the type of person Kurt would be friends with in the first place and he had already defied that expectation rather well. So what was Kurt supposed to do, just allow himself to be uncomfortably endeared by this? It didn’t seem right, and yet it was happening nonetheless.
“With all of this Christmas cheer in this house you would have never known we’re Jewish,” Natasha joked softly.
Kurt chuckled back, thankful for the interruption to his uncomfortable train of thought. He was about to ask if it would be okay for him to make his presence known, when it was suddenly taken care of for him.
“Uncle Davey, who’s that?”
Kurt glanced in the direction of the four year old’s squeaky little voice and saw her round little eyes trained on him. They were very soon followed by Dave’s, who jumped slightly at the sight of Kurt standing a little too far forward in the threshold to be properly hiding anymore. Naturally, their gazes met, and Kurt noticed a slight smile tugging on the corner of Dave’s mouth.
“Kurt…!” he exclaimed, somewhat breathlessly. “W-what…um…w-w-what are you doing here?”
Interrupting the moment was Natasha’s bell-ring of a laugh as she walked around Kurt and into the living room.
“I was trying to show him how cute you and Reesie are,” she explained. “Aren’t they cute, Kurt?”
Kurt grinned amusedly and folded his arms over his chest.
“I think they’re positively adorable, Natasha.”
Dave then blushed a deep, unmistakable crimson and Kurt instantly found it impossible to hold any kind of hostility towards him any longer.
“Kurt, this is my daughter and Dave’s niece, Theresa,” Natasha mentioned, taking the little girl from Dave and hoisting her into her arms. “But we just call her Reesie. Isn’t that right, lopushka?”
Reesie nodded dramatically, causing her thick brown pigtails to bob in rhythm.
“Mommy, is Kurt gonna sing with us too?”
“I’d very much like to later on,” he answered, smiling at her. “If that would be alright with you?”
Reesie grinned big and nodded again, and Kurt had the almost irrepressible urge to squeeze her puffy little cheeks.
“Alright, Reesie, why don’t you take a coloring break with Mommy? Uncle Davey needs some time alone with his friend,” Natasha cooed as she walked out of the room.
When the two were finally alone, an expected awkward silence ensued. Kurt studied Dave in that brief moment, as he avoided eye contact and nervously fidgeted. It was one of those occasions in which he was reminded of Dave’s utter vulnerability and he realized then just how much this time of separation must have affected him.
Before he could say anything, however, Dave spoke up in a rather surprising flurry of words.
“Look, I don’t know what to say to make up for what happened a few weeks ago. You know I’m not good with words, but I want you to know that I’m really, really fucking sorry. I was being an idiot and saying shit I had no right to. It’s none of my business what you do and I damn well don’t have any room at all to judge you for it, so…I’m sorry…and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you this sooner, but I just figured you wanted me as far away from you as possible, so…”
Kurt smiled. “Santana told me you might be thinking that.”
Dave’s eyes widened. “Wait…Santana? Did she- what all did she tell you?”
“She just gave me a little nudge out the door. I admit I was being stubborn about coming to talk to you again, but she knew I wanted to and pretty much called my bluff.”
Dave nodded and that reluctant grin he had been fighting finally made an appearance.
“I’m just glad you’re back,” he said simply. “I didn’t know I could miss you that much.”
Damn you, Dave Karofsky, Kurt thought as he didn’t bother to stop himself then from enveloping him in a tight embrace. Dave returned it slowly, no doubt stunned by the sudden forward gesture.
And they simply held each other there in the living room for what would forever be an indeterminate amount of time.
If it had ever been uncertain that Kurt had forgiven Dave, all doubts were immediately put to rest. With that hug came the promise to always try again, to never hold on to things longer than necessary, and to stick with each other no matter what the future held for them.
There were a lot of things between them, it seemed, that were far better communicated in gestures and actions than they ever could be with words.
--------------------------------------
Kurt stayed far longer at the Karofsky house than he had anticipated he would.
He, of course, had to make good on his promise to Reesie to join her and her Uncle in their Christmas caroling. Dave seemed rather embarrassed and apologetic for it all at first, so Kurt made a point of sending him reassuring glances and being as positively dorky as possible, much to Reesie’s amusement.
When Natasha invited Kurt to stay for dinner, he agreed to that as well. Hanging out with the Karofsky’s certainly beat sitting in his room for the tenth Friday in a row- not to mention the fact that Natasha had made vegetable lasagna and the sheer smell of it was making Kurt’s mouth water.
The rest of the evening was spent watching similarly goofy children’s Christmas movies with Reesie until, at some point, she fell asleep across Kurt and Dave’s laps.
“It seems we’ve been claimed as a bed,” Kurt whispered in the middle of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, having realized she was fast asleep.
Dave laughed softly.
“We probably don’t have to keep watching this,” he pointed out.
Kurt glanced curiously at the collection of DVDs on the shelf over the flatscreen, scanning to see if anything in particular popped out at him.
“Wait, you have Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn?”
“Uh, yeah, it’s one of my favorite Christmas movies.”
Kurt had to look over at Dave to make sure he was still the same person, because how weird was it that Dave Karofsky admitted to liking a Bing Crosby movie?
It was pretty weird.
“I thought you were Jewish,” he pointed out, teasingly.
“Well, yeah, but we’ve always celebrated Christmas anyway. It’s just one of those things, you know?”
“Well, if you’re in as much of a festive mood now as I am, then I say we should watch it immediately.”
It took some doing to maneuver Reesie so that she was out of the way for Dave to get up and put the movie in not accidentally wake her in the process. They somehow succeeded in this effort and then settled back in, Kurt being especially excited to enjoy one of his favorite films of all time.
They were silent throughout most of it, with the exception of the occasional laugh or comment on how dreamy Bing Crosby was.
Dave, however, felt compelled to speak up at the Fourth of July scene when Marjorie Reynolds’ character, angry at Bing Crosby, decided to leave him for Fred Astaire.
“Man, I forgot what a douche Fred Astaire is in this,” he said disgustedly. “It’s pretty fucked up to keep stealing your friend’s girlfriends like that.”
“Yes, but Bing wasn’t exactly on his most chivalrous behavior either,” Kurt pointed out. “So I can’t say that I blame Mrs. Reynolds one bit.”
“Okay, yeah, so Bing was acting like an ass too by not letting her make her own decisions, but you’d think she’d at least realize what a skeeze Fred Astaire is and not leave with him. I mean, isn’t it pretty obvious that Bing Crosby is a way better guy anyway? He might have been stupid, but he did it because he loved her, you know?”
Kurt chuckled softly as he petted Reesie’s curls.
“It’s not as simple as that, though. She does love him and it’s clear she knows he loves her too, but she wants to punish him for what he did.”
Dave scoffed. “That seems like a pretty harsh punishment, especially since she knows he loves her.”
“I think she needs to hear him say it,” Kurt explained. “She can’t completely submit herself to him if he won’t overcome his fear and tell her exactly how he feels. She needs him to fight for her.”
“But…isn’t that like when he tried to prevent her from going to Hollywood? Shouldn’t he just keep his distance and let her make her own decisions?”
“Fighting for someone isn’t the same as trying to control them. She still has the option to shoot him down, if she wants. But if she was just a little bit conflicted between him and Fred Astaire, like she actually is, the fact that he was willing to go out of his way to get her back shows her that he loves her that much and that she was worth the effort to him. It’s what tipped the scale in the end.”
They didn’t say anything more about it after that, and Kurt figured it was just a coincidence that Dave seemed particularly quiet and pensive from that point on.
When it was nearing the end of the movie and Majorie Reynolds had arrived on the Holiday Inn set to have her glorious, ‘White Christmas’ reunion with Bing Crosby, Kurt realized just how tired and dreamy he was feeling- both by the late hour and from the sheer emotion of the scene unfolding in front of them.
He didn’t think to ask if it was okay when he somewhat unconsciously snuggled against Dave and rested his head on his shoulder. Dave was there, he was warm, and he had the comforting smell of laundry detergent and the signature scent of his home. After all, Kurt was a tactile person with people that he felt close to and maybe it was just the feeling in the air caused by the movie or the endearing presence of Reesie napping on his legs, but he was feeling especially close to him in that moment.
It only became uncomfortable when he could feel Dave tense, and so he instinctively looked up from where his head continued to rest to see if everything was okay.
Their eyes happened to meet and in a split second, Kurt felt his legs turn to jelly and it was unfortunately not because Reesie was still on them. His and Dave’s faces were not very far apart at all and he could literally feel their breaths mingling in the small space between them. He was suddenly becoming very hyperaware of Dave- of his warmth, his scent, his softness. Consequently, his stomach flip-flopped.
Why was he staring at Dave’s lips? Why did the closing proximity between their mouths suddenly feel natural? Why -despite the soft nagging in the back of his mind that he should- was he not stopping this?
Thankfully, Dave did. He abruptly turned his face away to look back at the film, just in time to see Bing Crosby and Marjorie Reynolds have their romantic reunion, seemingly pretending that the moment they just experienced hadn’t actually occurred.
Kurt, on the other hand, couldn’t take his eyes off of Dave. It was almost as if he had been hypnotized into staring at him, and truthfully, that wasn’t too far off from the reality of the situation.
But no matter how long he looked and studied and tried to ponder what had just occurred, he couldn’t get much farther than the question itself.
What just happened? What in the world just happened?
Perhaps as the universe’s way of breaking the tension, Kurt’s phone rang at that moment and the metallic sound of Lady Gaga’s ‘Heavy Metal Lover’ woke Reesie up.
“Sorry,” Kurt whispered to whoever would accept the apology as he checked to see who was calling. Unsurprisingly, it was his father and he remembered then that he hadn’t bothered to call and tell them where he was at any point that night. It being already close to midnight, it was understandable that Burt would have some concerns- that he would no doubt voice very, very loudly in Kurt’s ear.
Dave hoisted Reesie up in arms and carted her off to her room as Kurt reluctantly answered his phone.
“Hel-“
“About damn time. Where the hell are you and why haven’t you called one of us yet?”
Kurt cringed.
“I’m really sorry, Dad, I was just-“ he nearly revealed the fact that he had been at Dave’s house, but reconsidered it for a safer option, just in case his father wasn’t feeling as forgiving as he was a few weeks ago. “…hanging out at Mercedes’. We were just watching some movies and I guess I got distracted.”
Burt ‘humphed’, but seemed to be more or less pacified by this explanation.
“You’re lucky that I’m gonna let that fly this time, but in the future you had better make sure you take the two minutes required to call one of us and tell us where you’re going. You know better than to rely on your brother to relay that information.”
Kurt smiled to himself, choosing to believe that Finn had remembered that Kurt was going to Dave’s but decided to play dumb about it in case Burt wasn’t comfortable with it.
“Sure thing. I think I’m coming home now anyway.”
“Alright, see you soon, kid.”
Kurt had already put his peacoat and scarf back on by the time Dave came back down the stairs from Reesie’s room. The two of them looked at one another again, and it seemed impossible to not get stuck on each other’s gaze.
“Are…you leaving already?” Dave asked, probably already aware of the answer.
Kurt nodded and smiled apologetically. “Yeah, my Dad is kind of a snit since I didn’t call him earlier, so I figure I probably shouldn’t try to push the envelope.”
Dave nodded understandingly.
“Well…thanks for coming over.”
“I’m glad I did. It was fun.”
The both of them stood in the doorway for a moment and it was undeniable that the silence was substituting for a multitude of unspoken words they were both afraid to say.
“I guess I’d better-“
“I mean, it’s getting late, you probably should-“
The two of them laughed nervously at the simultaneous effort to quash the tension.
“Will you be online later?” Kurt finally managed.
“Uhm…yeah, definitely.”
“Well, since I’m destined now to stay up late and watch my entire collection of old movies, I guess I might as well hang out with you on there when I get home.”
Dave smiled. “That’d be awesome.”
“Goodnight, Yogi.”
“Night, Kurt.”
It was only when Kurt was halfway home that he remembered Finn’s box set. But then he realized that it could be used as a fairly convincing excuse for a while to keep visiting Dave’s house, and decided then that his stepbrother probably wouldn’t be seeing those movies again for quite a while.