nothing rhymes with 'circus'. chapter 4.

[xonthefloor]

Title: Nothing Rhymes with Circus. Chapter 4.
Author: xonthefloor
Pairing: Dave Karofsky/Kurt Hummel.
Rating: PG for this chapter.
Warnings: None.
Beta: None for now :(
Word Count: 118oo this chapter.
Genre: Supernatural/Superpowers/Romance/Angst/Drama.
Disclaimer: Pfht, if I owned Glee, Blaine wouldn't be on it.
Summary: Dave is just a humble young man whose only expectation from life is having somewhere to sleep at night. Everything changes when he's invited to join a very unique travelling circus where he'll meet a group of very peculiar people, discovering that he's not what you could call a regular guy.
A/N: This is a complete AU and time fic, that takes place in the late 30s. I’m trying to be as accurate as I can with things the way they were back then, but I apologize if something is not exactly the way it was back in the late 30s. Also, you'll notice that this is unbetaed, so I apologize in advance. English is not my first language. Any offers? I have to warn that the later chapters are quite long, since I can't never manage to write short chapters.



Chapter 4

Kurt wakes up in the middle of the afternoon. Or at least, he believes so, since he still doesn’t have his pocket watch. He gave it to Sam earlier in the day when they shared breakfast. Kurt stayed awake all night finishing Rachel’s corset, and he took a break to have breakfast with Sam. He said he was going to promenade in town after the show in order to find some strings for his guitar. Hopefully, Sam will find a watchmaker and Kurt will have his watch fixed before they leave Aurora.

After Sam left, Kurt kept on sewing until he finished Rachel’s corset and then he went to bed.

When he gets up, and as a habit, he puts music on. He picks Ether Waters this time and as the music starts filling the silence of his trailer, Kurt proceeds as yet another habit, to change his clothes into one of his several circus outfits.

He made most of his clothes; he always liked the theatrical side that the circus provided and since he doesn’t actually need to walk in public, he can avoid wearing boring and conventional clothes. All his clothes have glimpses of the circus on, but in the days that the New Directions Circus hold their shows, Kurt always puts some of the costumes he made for himself like he’s part of the show, even if he doesn’t perform.

Kurt has always dreamed about performing; he and Brittany have talked for long about how their supposed act would be. Kurt is in love with Lily and he’d love to perform with her.

Every now and then Brittany takes Lily to his trailer. Not inside, of course since she wouldn’t fit inside, but right to his door so Kurt can step outside and stay with her and Brittany. Because of Brittany, Lily lets Kurt to caress her, hug her and kiss her, and they have even rehearsed their dreamed act; Kurt did stick his head inside the tiger’s mouth more than once.

He and Brittany have talked about how their matching costumes could be as well, but even if the idea is lovely, Kurt is aware that it’s never going happen.

He never made matching costumes with Brittany, but he made his own ones. Even if he can’t perform, he wears them every day his friends have a show. It makes him feel he’s part of the New Directions Circus, even if he’s far from the circus tent and people will never get to see him.

Ethel Water is singing Stormy Weather when Kurt finishes putting his costume on. Being happy with his look, Kurt smiles, sitting in front of his vanity to fix his hair.

“-Life is bare, gloom and mis’ry everywhere, stormy weather,” Kurt sings along. Just couldn’t get my poor self together, I’m weary all the time, so weary all- Oh, Christ, no.”

He notices on the reflection of the mirror, that Rachel didn’t pick her modified corset while he was sleeping… she took Quinn’s.

Kurt lets out a frustrated groan. Obviously, being her stubborn self, Rachel didn’t believe him when Kurt told him that the corset wasn’t finished.

Kurt stands up, and opens the curtains to look through his window. In the distance, he sees people around the circus tent; there is a small crowd gathered at the tent’s entrance, waiting to go inside since the show is going to start soon.

He hopes that Rachel will pinch herself when she puts the corset on, or that maybe Quinn will notice that she was wearing her corset and make her take it off. Yet, Rachel is sneaky and she could easily put it on right before her act, not leaving Quinn any time to complain.

Either way, Kurt expects Rachel to show up in his trailer soon to pick her corset. Several parts of Quinn’s are held together with pins, and if Rachel gets to walk on stage with the unfinished piece of clothing, she will end up topless in front of the whole audience as soon as she starts moving.

Kurt believes she deserves the embarrassment, but at the same time, he knows how sensitive Rachel is about performing, and if she ends up in such a shameful situation, she won’t ever to get over it. Plus, being half nude in front of a bunch of strangers is not something that a young woman would like to experience.

So Kurt stands by the window, hoping to see her, or maybe one of his friends going to his trailer so he can give them Rachel’s corset and warn them about the risk that Rachel is taking by wearing Quinn’s unfinished one.

But Ethel Waters keeps on singing in the background; with every song that passes, time goes by as well and the show gets closer to its start. Kurt sees that the spectators continue to walk inside the tent, and every time there are less people outside.

Kurt grows uneasy.

Rachel deserves the shame, Kurt reminds to himself, but at the same time, Rachel is one of his best friends, and in spite of everything, she doesn’t really deserves to end up showing her breast to two hundred strangers.

“Damn it, Rachel,” Kurt mutters.

He resolves that he’s going to have to walk outside. He doesn’t need to get close to the tent or the people; he definitely won’t do that of course. He can try going to the camp though. Maybe some of his friends are still there, and Kurt will be able to pass the message to Rachel.

The thought of being outside scares the hell out of him, so takes the brown bottle out of the drawer of his vanity, with the ‘Chloroform’ white label. He pours a little of the transparent liquid over a hand chief -just a little because he doesn’t want to end up at hospital again- and puts the wet fabric inside his pocket.

Kurt walks outside, grabbing Rachel’s corset in the process and takes a deep breath. He gazes at the camp that seems to be deserted and with hesitant steps, he starts walking towards it.

He’s nervous. Lord, he’s so nervous that he quickly starts sweating. He’s not used to be so far from his trailer; there’s a reason why the costume’s trailer is located right next to his, and that’s because that way Kurt doesn’t ever has to go away from his trailer.

Actually, he never goes close to people and that includes his friend’s camp.

He looks around and the mere sight of the open terrifies him. The quiet breeze and the sight of the trees and the streets make him shiver. Kurt holds Rachel’s corset tighter, just to hold himself onto something and does his best to focus on someone.

He hopes he’ll be able to catch one if his friend’s future, just to know that at least one of them hasn’t gone to the tent already. He really hopes that someone’s still in the camp, so he can give them Rachel’s corset, and tell them to warn Rachel that the one she took is going to fall off as soon as she starts moving. Or maybe he can ask them to tell Quinn that Rachel has her corset; Quinn will definitely make Rachel to give it back.

But as Kurt gets close to the camp, he can’t see anything but the view in front of him, and the only he can hear was the noise of people gathering in the tent.

“Damn it,” Kurt mutters anxiously.

He ends up standing in the middle of the circle of trailers, glancing around. He’s shaking; all the muscles in his body are strangling themselves in tension. It feels too strange to be here; Kurt can’t even remember when the last time he got this close from the camp was. He is very familiar with the camp though, but it’s because he sees it constantly in his friends’ future, but not because he’s ever here. It looks just like it does in his visions; they always park the trailers in the same way.

He fidgets in his place, growing more uneasy.

“Hello?! Is someone still here?!” Kurt calls out, just in case. “Guys?!”

No one answers and it doesn’t surprise Kurt. If there was someone here, he would be seeing their future. He can’t help hoping though.

Kurt lets out a shaky breath. He should just go back to his trailer; every time there are less and less people around the circus tent. But Kurt can’t do much. He is not going to get any closer to the circus tent. There are too many people inside. The mere idea of the whole audience sitting around the ring where his friends will perform shortly, it takes Kurt’s breath away.

Still, Kurt takes a few steps forward, trying just to see if he can spot one of his friends. He’s still far from people; he can’t see anybody in his head, but being outside, knowing how many people are out there… it distresses him too much.

And he’s terrified. A few tears roll down his cheeks and a sob escapes from his mouth. He’s being stupid again. He knows he can’t do things like this so why the hell he acts all stupid again? Like some days ago that he wanted to drive. He wanted to believe he could do that; he wanted to prove himself that he could handle driving. Thank God William didn’t allow him to do it.

Kurt can’t do things like this.

When he’s about to head back to his trailer, Kurt spots Dave standing by the road that separates the land they were given for the show and the baseball pitch. He’s simply there, among some viewers that are just arriving. Dave’s a little far from the tent, but still among people and too far from Kurt.

They have never been introduced, but Dave could be the last chance to prevent Rachel from showing her bare breast to a sold out audience. Kurt could give Rachel’s corset to Dave; Dave would give it to her while Kurt runs back to his trailer, to never, ever go out again.

“David!”

Dave doesn’t seem to hear him, and Kurt can’t blame him. They are so far from each other that Kurt can’t even see his future. Plus, there’s always a lot of noise before the show, and in addition, the guys always put loud music on to welcome the audience in the tent.

Kurt bites his lower lip. Maybe if he gets a little closer…

“You can do this,” Kurt tells to himself. His voice lacks of confidence, since he’s not feeling confident at all. He knows he can’t, but he sticks his hand inside his pocket, feeling the wet fabric in his fingers and takes a few shaky steps forwards.

He’ll get just a little closer. Close enough for Dave to be able to hear him when he calls him, but far from people so he won’t see their future. He’ll only have to see Dave’s future and Kurt can handle that. There are no people around Kurt, and he doesn’t need to get that close from people either, but if things get ugly, he’ll knock himself out with the sweet chloroform in his pocket.

Kurt can’t help feeling scared, but he starts walking in the direction that Dave is standing, constantly checking on his surroundings just to be sure that no one will come anywhere near him. He needs to be at least a hundred and fifty feet from everyone in order to keep his mind quiet, which is a lot but as he can see, he’s keeping that distance so far.

He thanks William inside his head for always keeping the longest distances between himself and the world.

A woman is standing on in the kitchen, cooking dinner. There are noises coming from upstairs, and she groans upset as she cuts the carrots.

“Kids! Just cut it out!

Kurt’s breath picks up, and he stares at his sides. There’s a car driving close to him, right on the field and Kurt curses them. Why aren’t they using the road?

“David!” Kurt calls out again, growing desperate. “David!”

The man is in his office. A pile of papers are in his desk and he sighed at the amount of work that is in front of him. The door opened, and a blond woman with perfect curls, walks inside wearing a black corset and red blouse walked inside.

“Hey, Richard,” she greets, smirking, and closing the door behind her. “You wanted to see me?” She asks with a flirtatious tone of voice and Richard eyes at her, getting up from his chair.

“Hey, gorgeous. I always want to see you,” Kurt mutters, and shakes his head, trying to get rid of those images.

He lowers his head, in order not to see who this woman or this man are. But he watches out of his corner of his eye; a shinny red car passes by him. The visions are even clearer and stronger, as the car passes by him and the fade as soon as the car dries away from him. Kurt trembles at the sudden assault of more visions than he can handle, and pants, looking up. He sees a nice looking family parking a car next to the circus tent. A brunette woman with two kids get out of the car, and the Richard guy does the same.

Kurt stares at Dave, who is still among the people and Kurt stops in his place. He can’t and won’t get any closer. Not being nervous as he is. He can hardly control his visions normally, but it works even worse when he’s anxious.

Maybe just a few more feet…

He’s still far from Dave, but far from the tent as well. So he walks forwards, just a bit. He can call for Dave, and if people start getting closer, he’ll run back to the camp.

Although, he should run back to his trailer right now. He really can’t cope with his fear anymore.

But Kurt keeps on walking, and he freezes when he spots a truck filled with people, driving in his direction. They’re going to pass by him. They’re going to pass by him, and the panic he’s feeling paralyzes, not allowing Kurt to move. He feels unable to either walk forwards or run back to the camp.

This was a terrible idea. He should have let Rachel get what she deserves for being sneaky, and for stealing Quinn’s corset.

“DAVID!” Kurt shouts at the top of his lungs out of desperation, clutching at the wet hand chief inside his pocket. His eyes are fixed on the truck that is now passing by right in front of him.

The truck parks just a few feet in front of him, and several young guys and girls who are sitting in the back of the truck jump to the ground.

Kurt gasps.

He can’t see anything but the view in front of him.

*

Dave smiles at the people that passed by him. He’s not wearing any circus clothing, but it seems that some people recognize him from the previous day, since they all nod at him as a way to greet him while they pass by, heading to the tent.

He’s standing on the streets anyways. Dave’s aware that he can’t get near to the tent during the show, but he has learned to calculate at guess the distance he has to keep from the circus’s guys.

He’s sure that he’s doing it right; otherwise, someone would have walked outside to let him know that he’s too close to them. At least Rachel would notice that she can’t read his friend’s minds, even if she shouldn’t.

There are sill some people outside the tent, and Dave is not sure if they’re arriving late or something. As far as he knows, the show is supposed to star in fifteen minutes and people keep on arriving.

It’s the first time that Dave gets to see how a show day is and even if he’s not part of the show, Dave’s enjoying himself. There’s a cheerful mood in the air that is contagious. The guys were jolly this morning, and all these strangers seem to be the same way. The atmosphere is chilled and happy, and he may not perform in the show, but he’s part of the circus that brings.

It’s nice to be someone who can do that.

The tent looks nice put up. It’s plain white, and even if they all said that the circus is not a big one, the tent looks big enough to Dave. Definitely, it’s the prettiest thing that Dave helped to built up. This plain white tent is by far better than any house or building that Dave worked on during the days he got daily jobs at some construction.

“DAVID!”

Dave turns around as he hears his name being called in the distance. Definitely, it didn’t come from the tent since he’s in front of it and he can’t see any of his friends there.

So Dave walks around, trying to spot someone familiar and he stills instantly when his gaze lays upon Kurt’s figure. Is it possible that that’s Kurt? Does Kurt know him or his name?

He sees Kurt standing far from him, and he isn’t even looking at him. Instead, Kurt is very much still, with his eyes fixed on a truck filled with young boys and girls that are now getting out from the vehicle.

Dave’s not sure if he should walk towards him; he wants to, so he can finally meet Kurt and get rid of the constant curiosity. But he doesn’t know if his ability is going to harm Kurt. Damn, at this distance, Dave’s not sure if he’s already cancelling him.

Yet, Kurt called for him -Dave assumes Kurt’s the one who called him- so he starts walking towards Kurt.

“Kurt?!” Dave calls out, as he gets closer to the other boy. As the distance between them narrows, Dave can notice that Kurt is panting. “Kurt?”

The boy is also holding some piece of black fabric in one hand.

Kurt looks up, and takes a step backwards like he’s scared of him, so Dave stays still in his place in order not to frighten the boy. They still don’t know each other, and he doesn’t know what the deal with Kurt is, or what’s going on through his head.

Kurt’s acting far from what’s normal.

There are only some several feet between each other. Dave can see Kurt very well from here, and far from being deformed, Kurt is actually a very pretty boy. But Dave doesn’t pay much attention in the boy’s look; unlike the first time he met the rest of the circus’ people, Dave can tell that there’s something wrong with this kid.

“Did you call me?” Dave asks, loud enough to be heard, breaking the silence.

Kurt nods quietly, and takes a hesitant step towards him. Kurt gasps, and Dave frowns at Kurt’s behavior. Yet, before he can do anything, Kurt hurries towards him, until they’re standing right in front of each other. The boy holds Dave’s arm tightly, and stares at him with glassy blue eyes, and he’s panting as if he was about to cry.

What the hell is happening to this boy?

“Can you hear that?” Kurt whispers with faltering voice.

This is definitely weird. Not the girly voice that comes out from Kurt’s mouth, but how low and shaky it sound right now. In addition, the strange question. “What thing?”

A smile quivers in Kurt’s face. “Silence. There’s nothing.”

Dave stares at his sides; there’s definitely no silence. There’s a lot of noise coming from the circus tent; people are hustling to get inside since the show is about to start and even if they’re standing around half block away from it, he can still hear the noise.

“Are you alright?” Dave asks Kurt, hesitantly.

Kurt lets out like it sounds like an abated short laugh. “It’s gone,” he tells Dave, with a relieved voice, looking almost happy. “I’ve got to give this to Rachel,” Kurt says excitedly, and then he runs away from him.

Dave turns around to watch the strange guy speeding in direction to the circus’ tent. Dave stays in his place, watching him since he knows he’s not allowed to go very near to the tent.

He doesn’t really know what to think about Kurt. Within the last couple of days, Dave spent a lot of time wondering the way that Kurt was, or looked like, but he definitely wasn’t expecting their first meeting to be like that.

He shouldn’t have been surprised about finding odd people in the circus since it’s… well, a circus. Yet, out of all the people he has met since he joined the New Directions, Dave can tell that Kurt’s the weirdest one. Probably it’s because he still has no clue about who is Kurt, even if he just saw him. But Rachel was weird at first, until he got to know her and her abilities. Now, she’s just a pretty much average girl to him, just like the rest of the guys are, even if they all have extraordinary gifts.

Dave shrugs.

The show is about to start, and there’s nothing much he can do until it ends, so Dave decides to head back to the camp. He glances at Kurt once last time, but he quickly frowns when he sees that the boy didn’t get into the tent to meet Rachel, like he said he was going to.

Instead, Kurt is pacing around in front of the tent’s entrance; walking around erratically, back and forwards, and Dave sees people giving him weird gazes.

From what Dave can appreciate at this far distance, Kurt has his head bent down, and seemed to be talking to himself. He drops the black fabric to the ground, and takes his hands to his head, covering his ears. Dave takes a step closer, perplexed, trying to figure out what’s going on with Kurt until Kurt grows incredibly still. He seems talking louder, none stop; Dave can even hear him even if he can’t make up what he’s saying. People that are walking by Kurt stare at him with apprehension.

Dave’s torn between going to see if Kurt’s alright -he clearly isn’t- and stay where he is. Kurt’s right next to the tent, in an area that Dave shouldn’t step on in order to prevent his mates from loosing their abilities.

It gets worse when an old man approaches Kurt, apparently concerned and touches the boy on his shoulder. Kurt jerks away, yelling “Don’t touch me! Stay away from me!” so loud that Dave hears him perfectly.

Before Dave knows what’s happening, he sees Kurt sticking his hand inside the pocket of his pants, taking something out of it. Whatever is that he took, Kurt uses it to cover his mouth and nose and after just a few seconds, Kurt collapses onto the ground.

“Shit,” Dave hisses, and starts running towards him, forgetting completely about the safe distance he has to keep from his friends.

A curious group start surrounding the fallen boy, and Dave has to elbow his way to Kurt. When he finally reaches the boy, he freezes as he sees Kurt, lying on the ground, unconscious.

Dave’s breath picks up, nervous, and he kneels down in front of Kurt, trying to figure out what to do. He doesn’t understand what just happened, so he quickly grows anxious as he realizes that he has no clue about what to do now with Kurt.

He bends over him, placing his ear over the boy’s face. He feels Kurt’s warm breathe against his skin, and Dave sighs relieved, knowing that at least Kurt’s alive.

“Excuse me! Excuse me.”

Dave looks up as he hears William’s voice. “William! William, it’s Kurt! He’s sick or something!”

“What?! Please, excuse me,” William’s voice sounds firmer and louder, until he finally makes his way among people. He’s completely dressed in his emcee costume, but Dave is too busy worrying about the kid passed out in front of him to pay attention in that. Dave only catches William’s red jacket.

“Oh, Jesus, Kurt!” William breaths out as he keels down as well, on the other side of the boy and right in front of Dave.

“He’s breathing. I don’t know what happened, he just-”

“This,” William cuts him off, holding the hand chief that is laying in the ground next to Kurt’s hand. “Oh, Kurt. What are you even doing here?” he whispers, carefully running his hand through the boy’s hair.

“What’s that?”

William looks up to the people who are standing around them, curiously watching the whole scene. He forces a smile. “Everything is fine, ladies and gentleman. I’m sorry for this little inconvenience; our boy Kurt came down with a fever.”

Dave frowns at William. Kurt is unconscious right in front of them! And definitely it’s not a fever.

“Please, go inside the tent and take your seats. The show is about to start,” William tells them in a very good humored mood and for some reason, Dave grows pissed.

Kurt’s still passed out there and Dave still doesn’t know what to do about it, while William is being so casual, talking to people about the show. Sure, they need to perform in order to get money, but Kurt’s right there sick or something!

The people around them nod, not very convinced and some of them start moving away. Some of them walk inside the tent, while just a few others stay around, to watch the scene.

“Can you carry him?” William asks him in a quiet voice.

“Yes,” Dave replies instantly and picks Kurt up from the floor. He holds him in bridal style; the boy weighs nothing.

“Let’s take him away from here,” William tells him hurriedly, but as soon as they start walking away, they hear Finn’s voice.

“Hey, what’s going on? Dave, man, I don’t want to be rude but we can’t do anything in here.”

They look around to find Finn approaching them, on his costume as well. Noah and Mercedes are walking behind him. They didn’t come out from the tent from the entrance that the public is using, so Dave guesses that there’s another way out from the tent in the back of it.

“Oh, Jesus. Kurt?!” Mercedes exclaims, as she notices the boy in Dave’s arms.

Their faces fall, and they gape at the same time. The three of them run towards them, looking almost frightened.

“What happened? Is Kurt alright? William, tell me-” Mercedes gushes out, running her hands anxiously over the boy’s face.

“He’s fine, Mercedes. I’ll explain later. Let’s go, Dave,” William tells them hurriedly, motioning him to walk in direction to the camp.

“No! Kurt’s here and hurt,” Noah stated, exasperated. “What the hell happened? What is he doing here?!”

Dave rolls his eyes, unbelieving. He’s standing in front of a circus tent, with four people with special abilities dressed with corsets, colorful jackets, tight pants, hats, high fitted boots, while he’s holding an unconscious boy in his arms, after witnessing the most awkward situation with this kid.

What on earth has happened with his life? Three days ago, he was just an average guy who worked in a lousy gas station.

“We have to take him away from here, alright?” William grits between his teeth. Dave can sense some distress in his voice. “David, please. I walk you and you tell me what happened.”

They start heading towards the camp, and Finn, Mercedes and Noah follow them.

“I don’t know what happened,” Dave says honestly, looking down. If he didn’t know that Kurt’s actually completely passed out in his arms, he would say that he’s just sleeping. “I heard him calling me.”

“He called you?” Finn inquires, bewildered. “Like, calling you? You were outside.”

Dave starts feeling pretty much pissed off. How he’s even supposed to know what the hell just happened if he doesn’t know what the hell is going on with the guy he’s carrying in his arms? His patience grows thinner every second that passes.

“He called me,” Dave repeats, doing his best not to snap. “And yes, he was outside. He was close to the camp.”

Suddenly, everyone is staring at him like he’s crazy.

“He never goes outside,” Noah points out.

This is exactly what’s quickly infuriating Dave. He doesn’t even know what’s the big deal about Kurt being outside; he is not supposed to be there? They are all asking Dave for explanations about things that no one took the time to explain to him in the first place.

“Well, obviously he did,” Dave finally snaps, pointing at Kurt with his head. “I don’t even know him, but there he was. I heard him calling me, and when I turned around he was just standing in front of a truck filled with people. He was looking odd.”

“How did he get to the tent?” Mercedes asks him.

Dave shrugs, moving Kurt in his arms to get him in a more comfortable position to carry him, since the boy starts growing heavier as they keep on walking. He didn’t realize how far is the camp from the tent. “He just ran to it.”

Mercedes snorts. “He would never do that,” she states, skeptically.

Dave glares at her. “Well, he did. I saw it. No one dragged him there.”

“But-”

“Did you two run against each other?” William asks.

“Yeah, he-”

“That’s why, Mercedes.”

Dear Lord, will they ever stop talking in riddles? They can’t keep the Kurt secret for much longer, right? He’s holding the boy, the unconscious boy right in his arms.

Dave sighs loudly. “He called me and he looked odd,” he tells them. They obviously worry about this guy, so Dave prefers to let them know what happened. “I have no clue about what he can do, so I wasn’t sure if I should approach him, but I did. As I said, he was weird.”

They reach the camp, and William looks around, scratching the back of his head. “We should take him to his trailer. It will be better if he wakes up there,” he says, sounding upset.

“I can take him.”

William nods. “I’ll walk you.”

“We’ll walk you too,” Finn states firmly and Dave is not sure if they’re distrusting him, or if they’re simply very protective of Kurt.

“How weird was he acting? I mean, he’s usually weird,” Finn tells him, and Mercedes smacks him on his arm. “I’m not saying I mind, but he is, Mercedes.”

“I don’t know how weird he usually is. I’ve met him just minutes ago,” Dave reminds them all. “He was just off. Then he said some random stuff. I asked him if he was calling for me, and he nodded so don’t ask me how, but he knew me. He told me it was silent, and I didn’t get what he meant, but then he laughed and said he had to give something to Rachel and he ran away. But then he reached the tent, he started pacing around, acting all crazy. Talking to himself and then he started yelling, and then he took something out of his pocket and put it in his face and he passed out.”

The guys exchange a look and say nothing. No one says anything else until they reach Kurt’s trailer. William opens the door for him, and Dave walks in. So far he hasn’t seen how his mates’ trailers look in the inside, but Kurt’s is… very much packed.

He doesn’t look around much though. Instead, he spots the bed right away and he carefully deposits Kurt on it, sitting down in a chair of the vanity desk that’s next to the bed. He’s tired; the boy doesn’t weigh much, but he carried him for quite a long distance.

William walks inside, and so does Mercedes. Finn and Noah stay by the door.

“Would it be too much if I asked you to stay here, David? With him?”

“What?” Mercedes intercedes. “Kurt doesn’t know him.”

“He shouldn’t wake up alone after this, Mercedes. Someone needs to check if he’s alright and we have to perform. Considering the recent events, it could be good if David’s around.”

“But Kurt still doesn’t know what-”

“Not to be rude, but can someone explain to me what the hell it’s going on? And please, stop talking like I’m not in here,” Dave cuts them off, sharply.

He never gets mad like this, but he’s quite sick of this Kurt thing. Maybe, fifteen minutes ago it wasn’t Dave’s business but that changed when Kurt actually called him, went all kinds of crazy and passed out in front of his eyes. Or in the moment that Dave ran to ail him, and carried all the way to his trailer.

Dave thinks that the least he deserves is some answers.

They all stare at him, and fortunately, instead of looking mad at him, they look slightly guilty.

William nods slowly. “I promise we’ll tell you everything later. But can you stay here in case he wakes up? He might sleep through the whole show, so maybe we’ll be back before he wakes up. But in case he does, I don’t want him to wake up alone.”

Dave looks up at William, who’s staring at him with hopeful eyes. Dave’s actually glad that he’s finally going to receive some answers, and he would stay here even if they didn’t offer for any. This boy doesn’t look like he should be waking up alone, and the guys need be in the show.

“If he wakes up, is there anything I should do?”

“Water. Give him water. There’s his bucket,” Mercedes says, pointing at the bucket by the vanity desk.

“He’ll be a little unsettled at first, but he’ll quickly come up to his senses and he might be scared at first; disoriented. Last thing he remembers is being in the open, so waking up in here will be at first, confusing until he starts putting his thoughts in order,” William tells him. “I believe he saw you already, so he knows you from before. Tell him we’ll be back soon. But I don’t think he’ll wake up.”

Dave nods. “Alright.”

“Kids, lets go. People are waiting for us. Kurt’s going to be fine, I promise.”

Mercedes approaches the sleeping boy, and kisses him on his forehead. They give Dave and Kurt one last look, and they leave. Dave sighs, once he’s left alone. He stands up and starts checking the place. He’s usually not nosy, but Kurt’s trailer is pretty much packed with all kinds of stuff, and he doesn’t have much to do anyways.

He’s not going to open any drawer though.

Dave doesn’t have much room to walk around. One of the walls of the trailer has several costumes hung on a long rack, one over the other. He looks at them, since so far he hasn’t seen the circus costumes until just a few minutes ago that William, Mercedes, Finn and Noah were wearing them.

All the costumes look actually good. Sure, there are very colorful but they’re circus clothing, and it’s not just all kinds of shiny colors. It’s all in different dark shades of purple, red, blue, then black, lots of fabrics with stripes… all kinds of colors, but nothing flashy. Dave would even say that they looked elegant, and he never thought that circus clothes could be elegant. As Dave watches outfit after outfit, he notices that they all make sense together, since even if they’re all different, some patterns are common to all outfits.

Dave looks around, and he finds a sewing machine table. He smiles; he hasn’t seen one since he lived with his aunts, and this one looks quite modern. Kurt’s the one who sews all the circus costumes? Dave believes he is when he turns around and finds the two mannequins. He has never met a guy who could sew, but… he has never met people who could fly, so little by little, Dave starts loosing his ability to be surprised.

There are several sketches of different circus clothing stuck to one wall, along with some flayers of their presentations in different cities and Dave realizes by now, that Kurt doesn’t perform in the show.

He sits at the vanity desk, and stares at the phonograph placed in the table. Kurt’s trailer has a similar dinner area to the one he has in his trailer: a table between two banquettes. Dave gets up again, and checks on the phonograph; it has an Ethel Waters record on, and Dave likes this singer. Being obvious that Kurt likes her as well, Dave plays it on in a low volume.

Maybe if Kurt wakes up, the music will keep him relaxed instead of confused and disoriented as William said he could be.

Dave returns to his seat at the vanity desk, that happens to be next to the bed, and for the first time, he takes a good look of Kurt. Being able to observe the kid better, the first thing that Dave notices is that Kurt is also dressed in circus clothes. If Dave didn’t know different, he would guess that Kurt performs in the show.

Kurt’s wearing the tightest pair of black trousers that Dave has seen in any men, and black fitted boots that end right under his knees. There’s a piece of clothing that Dave doesn’t know what it is, covering Kurt’s waist. It’s dark purple, and has two lines of silver buttons in the center of Kurt’s belly. That piece of clothing disappears under what seems to be a fitted vest, of a darker shade of purple and the collar of a white shirt comes out from under the vest. Kurt’s also wearing a silver neck chief, stuck inside the shirt and he has a black jacket on. Just like most of the pieces of clothing, the jacket is very fitted around Kurt’s torso, but it’s slightly wider in the bottom, right over Kurt’s hips. All the borders of the jacket has been decorated with a thin silver stripe, and even if the jacket is currently open, the jacket has also two lines of buttons and a silver horizontal straight line connecting every pair of them.

In this unusual clothing, the kid looks absolutely stunning. And damn, Kurt’s really gorgeous. He’s simply laying there, with his eyes closed but he has the most delicate features. White milk skin that seems to be so soft that Dave has to fight against the urge to touch those rosy cheekbones; plump lips that are meant to be kissed and…

Why does the pretty one has to be the crazy one?

Dave can’t believe his luck. There’s a big chance that this kid is not into men, but even if he is, Dave’s for sure going staying away from this one. He has a very complicated life; Dave loves sex since when you were poor and frequently homeless, it’s the only pleasurable thing you can get for free.

So yes, Kurt’s the kind of guy that if Dave could, he’d put his hands on. Yet, something tells him that this boy is someone far too complicated for Dave’s liking. And Dave’s not at some dark and secret club where he can flirt with someone in order to have sex with them. He’s part of a circus whose members seem to be more like a family than just friends, and Dave likes being here. In spite of his annoying ability, for the first time he’s in a place where he feels comfortable and even happy. He’s never been so lucky in his life like he’s now.

Dave found a place where he can have friends, a sort of room for himself, a bed, a roof, food and travel around. He won’t compromise it because he happens to find one of the circus’ members attractive. Very attractive. He’s not going mess with this boy, not only because of the problems that that could bring, but also because Kurt doesn’t look like he’s someone… normal, not even under the circus’s standards.

And in any case, Dave is sure that he’s not going to get just sex from this kid -if he likes men.

It doesn’t take much to Dave to take the idea of having something with Kurt. He really doesn’t like complications, so he pushes his desires out of his mind with no efforts.

He has nothing much to do, and eventually the record comes to an end. Dave starts feeling sleepy, and he doesn’t even get up to start playing the music again. He crosses his arms over his chest, and little by little, he falls asleep.

But Dave’s eyes snaps open when he hears Kurt letting out a deep sigh. He stares at the sleeping boy, who’s now slowly moving in his bed, and Dave grabs quickly an empty glass and sinks it in the bucket of water, just in case. Kurt really seems to be about to wake up, and for some reason, it makes Dave feel a bit anxious and a bit excited at the same time.

He stays very still in his place when Kurt finally opens his eyes, and the boy doesn’t do much. Kurt has just his eyes open, and he stares around lazily, completely lethargic until he blinks once, twice, and in a quick motion Kurt jumps on his place, sitting straight up, panting.

Dave flinches. “Hey, take this,” he says slowly, handing the glass of water to him, but Kurt hasn’t noticed that there’s someone else with him, so jerks in the bed as soon as he hears Dave’s voice.

Kurt turns around, and stares at Dave with apprehension, making Dave feel quite bad. He’s not someone scary, right? Why is this kid so jumpy about him? Kurt stares at him with a glimpse of… fear or something when they met outside as well.

“Wha-what-” Kurt stutters, looking at him, and then at his surroundings. “I- don’t- where…”

“Please, have this,” Dave offers again the glass of water. “It’s just water,” he clarifies, just in case this kid believes he’s trying to poison him or something. Kurt nods slowly and takes the glass of water, drinking all of it.

“You were outside,” Dave explains to him, since Kurt really looks quite confused. The boy looks intensely right into Dave’s eyes as soon as he hears those words, like he’s -once again- scared. “But you passed out or something. William and I brought you here, your trailer. They’re in the show now, but they asked me to stay with you so you wouldn’t wake up alone. Do you remember that?”

Kurt stays silent for several seconds, and then he nods quietly.

Dave sighs. The boy remains silent, and Dave starts growing uncomfortable. “Do you need anything?”

Kurt shakes his head no, without saying a word and Dave thinks that’s just great. He’s stuck with a pretty but weird kid, who also hardly speaks, making the whole situation even more uncomfortable than it already is. In addition, Kurt’s clutching the glass of water in his hands, not keeping his eyes of Dave. The boy stares at him shamelessly, like Dave’s some kind of freak, and if Dave remembers right, he’s not the one who was acting like a lunatic before passing out.

“Do I have something in my face?” Dave inquires, trying not to sound too annoyed.

Kurt flinches and shakes his head no, again. Dave rolls his eyes.

“Can you speak at all?” Dave asks, and he knows that this kid can talk since he heard him. He didn’t say much, but he at least spoke a few words and this weird silence is really upsetting Dave.

And he’s not even surprised when Kurt replies, nodding.

“I can’t see you,” Kurt whispers, but Dave hears that and frowns; is this boy suddenly blind? He’s staring at him right into the eye, making Dave uncomfortable. How come he can’t see him?

Dave waves his hand in front of Kurt’s face. The kid moves away, glaring at Dave.

“You can’t see?” Kurt rolls his eyes like Dave’s stupid and Dave glares back at him, annoyed this time. “I’m sorry, I don’t get you.”

“I don’t know what’s going on,” Kurt tells him, or to himself with a worried voice, looking away.

Slowly, Dave starts putting all pieces together. He remembers that he has a bad special ability, and that Kurt probably has one too. Whatever that Kurt can do, probably is not working right now because they are next to each other.

“Your abilities are not working?”

Kurt’s eyes are quickly fixed back on Dave, and he nods. “How do you know?”

Dave sighs. “When people like you are close to me, they lose the ability to do… you know, what you do,” he explains, fidgeting on his seat. “William said I cancel people’s abilities, and well, that’s mine. I don’t know what you can do, but if you can’t do it now, it’s because I’m here.”

The boy’s eyes seem like they’re about to fall out from their orbits and… has no one told Kurt about him? Dave’s aware that for some reason, the guys kept the Kurt deal away from him but he didn’t expect that they did the same with Kurt, by keeping ‘Dave’s deal’ away from him as well.

But Kurt knows him. Kurt called him; he knew who he is.

Dave can’t help asking. “No one told you about me?”

Kurt shakes his head no. “No one told me what you do,” he replies quietly.

“But you know who I am. You recognized me outside.”

“I saw you before.”

Dave scratches the back of his head. This is getting way too confusing; it’s almost like talking to a wall; a very pretty wall but a wall in the end. Everything that this kid says, instead of throw any light on the subject, it only confuses Dave the more.

“The guys say you don’t go outside. I never came anywhere near here, so how come you saw me?” Dave asks and then frowns, thinking about this whole thing better. “What is that you do?”

Kurt blinks, like he’s surprised about his question. “Did anyone tell you about me?”

Dave snorts. “They don’t say anything about you. At least not to me.”

The boy swallows hard, and nods, looking suddenly gloomy. “I see the future,” Kurt tells him quietly. “People’s future.”

Dave leans back to his chair; he didn’t really expect that. He spent lots of time wondering about what could Kurt do, but he never imagined something like that. It doesn’t seem to be something dangerous or anything to treat Kurt as if he was some kind of stick of dynamite ready to explode.

And this kid looks anything but dangerous. In fact, from what Dave gathers this boy looks quite disturbed.

But Dave nods, trying to understand this whole thing. “And you saw me it… some people’s future? That’s how you know me?”

“Yes. I saw you at some gas station with Rachel and William,” the boy says with a low voice. “Then in Blaine and Sebastian’s old trailer, with Sam, Finn and Mike.”

Dave stares at Kurt, completely dumbstruck. That’s incredibly accurate. The ‘seeing people’s future’ sounded vague at first, until now. It’s really amazing; he actually saw that happening? It’s incredible!

Then he notices that Kurt’s right hand is slightly trembling, and once again, he wonders if he looks scary or something.

“You don’t have to be afraid,” Dave tells him. “I’m not going to hurt you or anything.”

“I’m not afraid of you.”

“You’re shaking. Your hand’s shaking,” Dave says, pointing at Kurt’s hand and the boy stares down at it.

Kurt shrugs. “It always does that.”

Dave sighs, defeated. This is getting very uncomfortable, and this kid is not helping to make this supposed conversation any easier. What can Dave say about that? Absolutely nothing, since they don’t know each other like to ask too many questions. He can’t really ask why does his hand shake, or if this always that bad, or how does he manage to do anything if his hand is constantly shaking.

He looks around the trailer and spots the circus costumes. That can be a good conversation topic.

“You make costumes for the show?” Dave inquires, and Kurt, who’s still staring at him like he had two noses, nods silently. Dave tries again. “They look good.”

“Thank you,” Kurt replies, saying nothing else.

Dave decides to give up. Obviously, he’s not going to get many words from Kurt, and Dave’s not the most talkative person in the world either, but they’re both stuck together, alone in a very small room so they could at least talk for a bit. It’s weird to stay in silence but Kurt doesn’t seem to mind, so Dave won’t try in vain to chat with this kid, since the kid is so little responsive.

And Dave remains silent, ignoring how Kurt keeps on staring at him. It does make him feel awkward, and he starts wishing William or someone else showed up right now so he could leave.

They spend the next minutes not talking at all. Dave doesn’t know how much time passes, but it seems to be forever until they hear someone knocking at the door.

Kurt jumps in his bed, startling Dave. “Hey, calm down. Must be William or someone.”

“I- I’m not used not to see them coming,” Kurt replied, panting and Dave doesn’t know what that’s supposed to mean, but he lets it pass.

Dave gets up, and answers the door. The whole circus crew is standing outside Kurt’s trailer, and they’re all still in their costumes. The picture is quite bizarre. William, who’s in front of the guys, asks him. “How’s Kurt?”

“Awake,” Dave informs, and he can already see the worried faces in everybody. He still doesn’t get what’s going on but he reminds to himself that soon, he’s going to know. “Want to see him?”

William nods. Dave turns around, and since he hasn’t been asked to leave yet, he returns to his seat. “You have visits,” he tells Kurt.

Kurt frowns, but he nods. William walks in, followed by Rachel, and when Mercedes walks in as well, Kurt gasps. “Stop. Go away, you’re too many,” he whispers and Dave hears him, but the others don’t seem like they caught what he just said.

Once again, Dave has no clue what that meant, but he pays close attention to the boy, and he’s starting to pant, even more when, in spite of the packed state of the room, Finn and Mike manage to walk inside.

“Hey, Kurt,” William greets with a tender voice. The boy is now pressed back against the wall, looking scared as hell.

“Please, leave,” Kurt mutters, with frightened eyes. “You’re too many.”

This time, the guys hear him. “It’s fine, Kurt,” Rachel tells him sweetly. “David’s here so you won’t have any trouble with us.”

Rachel’s words don’t seem to relax Kurt in the slightest. Kurt’s eyes show nothing but terror, and why are they not leaving? Dave gets that they’re all worried and concerned, but can’t they see this kid is scared as hell? Dave can see this, even if he has no idea about what’s going on; the others should be able to notice this as well.

“Kurt, honey it’s okay,” Mercedes tells him, obviously noticing how upset Kurt’s getting.

Kurt instead, shut his eyes close, panting louder and Dave moves to the bed, sitting by Kurt’s side. He holds his trembling hand, trying to do something to calm the kid down, but Kurt’s hand shakes harder in Dave’s.

“Can’t you see you’re upsetting him!?” Dave asks them, exasperated. “He asked you to leave, why are you still here? Just go away!”

William turns around. “Kids, you wait outside.”

“But Dave’s here,” Finn replies. “He can’t see our-”

“He’s not used to this,” William says. “Please, wait outside.”

They all look disappointed, but they do walk away, until it’s just him, Kurt and William inside the trailer. William sits in the chair that Dave was previously occupying, and Dave whispers to Kurt’s ear. “They’re gone. You’re good now.”

Kurt blinks, and opens his eyes. He stares at Dave, swallowing hard. “Thanks,” he mumbles, sheepishly.

“We’re just two,” William intercedes, with a warm smile on his face. “You can handle that.”

The boy nods. “Yes. Yes, I can do that.”

“How are you feeling? You’ve got us really scared. We’ve never thought we were going to find you outside.”

“I’m fine.”

William sighs. “Why did you go outside?”

Kurt says nothing for a few seconds. “Can I have a few words with you? Alone?” he asks William, and then he gives Dave an apologetic glance. “I appreciate your-”

Dave shrugs. “It’s alright.”

He knows when he’s not wanted around, and honestly, he can’t wait to leave this trailer, so he can step out from this whole strange situation. He untangles his hand from Kurt’s, he didn’t realize he was still holding it, and stands up.

“Tell the guys to go back to the camp,” William tells him. “No one has to stay around.”

“Alright,” Dave replies. “Nice meeting you,” he tells Kurt, even if this meeting was far from being nice.

“You too,” Kurt says quietly.

When Dave walks outside, the whole circus crew is still there. They look at Dave expectantly, like they’re waiting for him to say something incredibly important and Dave sighs tiredly.

“Kurt wants to talk with William in private. I’m going to my trailer, unless you need me for something,” Dave informs them, even if he knows they need nothing. There’s going to be another show tomorrow so they don’t have to put down the tent right away. “William asked me to tell you to go back to the camp. He doesn’t want anyone around.”

Dave still doesn’t know what that means, but they all seem to understand William’s order and they start follow him towards the camp. They all still look like they can’t wait for him to tell them something more, but Sam’s the first breaking the silence.

“Was Kurt alright? When he woke up, was he fine?”

Dave rolls his eyes. “He’s alive,” he states, tiredly. “I don’t know what you all want me to say. I don’t know Kurt, I have no clue about how he usually is, so all I can say is that, he’s weird, but maybe that’s just me since so far, no one has even told me anything about this boy’s existence.”

Dave looks back, and they all look remorseful but he has quite a stressing time already so he doesn’t feel sorry for being an ass.

“It’s complicated, Dave,” Mike tells him.

Dave snorts. “Tell me about it! If it’s complicated for you, and you’re aware about the whole deal, imagine how complicated I’m finding all this. I’m walking blind in here, and when I was in that trailer with him, I had not a damn clue about what to do.”

“But-”

“No, Rachel,” he cuts her off. “He woke up, yes. He was disoriented but apparently that’s normal. And that he shakes or something, or that he starts panicking when people is around. I don’t know; I get that I’m the new guy in here, but if anyone told me anything about this kid, maybe we could have avoided this whole complicated for my sake, for Kurt’s and for all of you. And it didn’t help much the fact that no one has told him about what I can do. That seemed to shock him quite a lot as well,” Dave finishes.

He heads to his trailer, in order to find some peace. He notices that he’s shaking, and he snorts at this realization. Dave wasn’t aware how much tense he has gotten until now that the tension starts leaving his body.

When he arrives to his trailer, the first thing that Dave does is throwing himself back onto his bed. He’s not going to waste his time speculating about the random things he got to learn about Kurt. Someone is supposed to give some explanations to him, and probably those explanations are something that Dave would never guess.

So Dave sighs deeply, and shuts his eyes. He woke up very early today, and maybe a little nap will help him to relax.

next.