Fic: Once Upon A Future (2/?)
Title: Once Upon A Future (2/?)
Author: tomatoe18
Rating: PG-13 [this chapter]
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Dave Karofsky/Kurt Hummel, Rachel Berry, Sam Evans, some OCs
Genre: Future fic, romance, drama, fluff.
Warnings: A bit of flangst in this chapter.
Spoilers: all of Glee season 1 and 2, probably AU after season 2.
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or any of its characters. I also don't own any recognizable names or brands that make an appearance in this work of fanfiction. This fanfiction is not made for profit.
Summary: Dave and Kurt find each other again after a 10-year separation.
Author's note: This part may come across as somewhat maudlin. It won't stay that way forever. Dave and Kurt are pining at the moment so this can frustrate you a little bit. But things will be happier soon. | I mentioned a LGBT romance title by Kensington in this chapter, called He's The One by a quartet of authors who call themselves Timothy James Beck. It's one of my favorite LGBT titles ever published and two the characters in the story are very Kurt and Dave-like. In the book, these characters don't get together but their friendship is solid and beautiful. I highly recommend this to everyone who likes LGBT literature.
Previous parts: One
*
JUNE
New York
The billboard in Times Square for the cK jeans advertisement has not been taken down or replaced so, every chance Dave gets, he's there to admire Kurt (and wonder if the man is in the same city he now lives in). Thank god no one has caught on to his odd habit yet although he has been doing this practically since the first day he starts his new life in New York. He has a roommate and his best mates are permanent fixtures in his present life but luckily they're all too busy with their own goings-on to notice what Dave has been doing since coming to the Big Apple.
In this bright summer morning, he drops by to 'see' Kurt after he finishes jogging in Central Park. Running is his preferred way to keeping himself fit. He prefers it than going to the gym because it gives him a chance to familiarize himself with the layout of the new city he now lives in. That, and back when he was an insecure, questioning youth, he read a LGBT romance book by Timothy James Beck called He's The One where the main protagonist - a formerly closeted jock who just moved to the city bumped into the guy he used to bully in the park while they were both running. He liked the book not only because he identified with the main character Adam's struggles but also because it gave him hope that he would one day be able to become Adam.
But Dave doesn't hold much hope of being able to run into his former bullying 'victim' the way Adam met his, whose name is Daniel. For one, Dave's life ended up being different from Adam's in that he resolved his issues much quicker than the character did. And while Kurt, like the character Daniel, works in entertainment, Kurt is a much bigger star than Daniel is in the book. Surely a celebrity like Kurt doesn't randomly take a walk in Central Park, does he?
Still, he goes to visit Kurt again this morning, as he has done in previous mornings that he jogs in the city. Although there are already many cars and pedestrians that come out early, at 7 AM the tourists have not yet hit Times Square. He runs there as soon as he finishes in Central Park, not bothering to go home and shower first. Sweating in his loose T-shirt that bears the insignia his old university and a pair of running shorts, Dave almost feels severely underdressed for his almost daily audience with the beautiful Kurt Hummel… but that hardly matters.
Because, lucky for him, his 'audience' with Kurt is only in the most figurative sense possible: Dave sees Kurt but Kurt doesn't see him. At all.
It's just scary how all of this feels like high school, pre-locker room kiss, all over again. Back then, he had to push Kurt into lockers and steal his first kiss to get him to notice him. Today, he figures, it's going to take a lot more effort than pulling pigtails to get Kurt to see him again.
But he doesn't mind. As long as Kurt receives the recognition the world is giving him right now, Dave will happily remain invisible and admire Kurt from afar. He's content to look at his first love on the billboard and stop at that. He doesn't need more.
Or so he tells himself.
JUNE
London
The first person Kurt turns to when something nags at the back of his mind is usually Mercedes Jones. They may not see each other every day in their lives anymore but she remains, until now, Kurt's best friend. Also, she's now a psychiatrist who is trained to deal with the kind of meltdown Kurt usually has when ghosts of his past come to haunt him in his sleep at night. Not that Dave Karofsky is a ghost per se but he certainly knows how to haunt. Tonight is the fifth time in a month since hearing his name in Paris that Kurt dreams about his senior prom night.
Annoyed with himself for being unable to get over Dave Karofsky, he reaches for his phone, dials a series of numbers for an international long distance call to Boston and waits for someone to answer. When someone says, "Hello?" Kurt immediately says, "When was the last time you heard anything about Dave Karofsky?"
There's a very pregnant pause in the line. A moment later: "Uh, Kurt?"
Kurt furrows his eyebrows because that is decidedly NOT Mercedes' voice. "Yes. Is this… is this Sam?"
Sam Evans' dorky laugh rings in the receiver and he says, "Yeah. This is Sam. Don't tell me you've forgotten how my voice sounds like. The glee reunion was not that long ago, dude."
"Don't call me 'dude'," Kurt replies automatically. Then he winces. "I get enough of being called 'dude' by Finn, Sam."
"To be fair, he calls everyone 'dude'. And by the way, Mercedes is not home."
Kurt gapes. "What? Where is she? Is she at the hospital?"
"No, she's in Europe," Sam answers. "There's a medical conference in Zurich. I'm not sure about the details... I'm kind of apartment-sitting for her. It's a long story but that's the simplest version of it."
A long story. Huh. To be perfectly honest, Kurt doesn't even want to know how that arrangement came to be. Sam and Mercedes are friends the way Kurt and Rachel are. Mostly. (Unlike Kurt and Rachel, however, they dated on and off throughout the years until Sam and Mercedes finally stopped 'benefitting' from each other and started to seriously date other people.) On another day, Kurt would love to tease Mercedes (or Sam) about how they're still clearly unable to get rid of one from the other's life, but right now he has other concerns to deal with so the mystery that is Sam and Mercedes' relationship will have to take the back seat.
In the end he just says, "Oh, okay. When is Mercedes coming back, then?"
"In about two weeks. She just left yesterday. I don't even know if she's arrived yet. She has to transit in London. But, hey, aren't you in London as well?"
Kurt raises his eyebrows at the other man's astuteness. "How did you know that?"
Sam chuckles. "It's all over TMZ and E! Channel, man. And I just read something on Perez Hilton about how you were spotted coming out of a restaurant in Soho yesterday evening."
"Perez Hilton? Really? Embracing your inner gay, Sam?" Kurt teases although he knows full well that Sam's job as a radio DJ often requires him to troll gossip websites for on air materials.
"Err, no, sorry to disappoint you but I'm still a ladies' man through and through, Kurt," Sam quips. "But speaking of gay, did you mention Dave Karofsky?"
Kurt sighs. "Yes, I did."
"What's that all about? I haven't heard his name mentioned by anyone in, like, eight years. He fell off the face of the earth, didn't he? Santana thinks he's dead, says he probably joined the military and died in Afghanistan or Iraq or something."
Kurt shudders at Santana's theory and then deflates. So Sam hasn't heard about Dave for a long time. Chances are small, then, that Mercedes knows anything about him either. Since Sam and Mercedes - as well as Finn - all live in Boston, the last city Dave was known to live in before he disappeared from circulation, they are Kurt's best bet of finding out what happened to him. If they don't know what happened to Dave or where Dave is, no one else would either.
"No, it's nothing," Kurt replies. "I ran into someone who knows Dave but I didn't get a chance to ask how or what he was doing nowadays. I'm just... curious. I mean, like you said, he just disappeared. I guess I want to know why."
"I get it. I don't know him as well as you and Finn do, obviously, but it used to bother me as well that he up and left Boston without saying goodbye to any of us. Not even Finn and you know how tight your bro and Dave were."
Kurt remembers. It's actually thanks to Finn that he and Dave got to be friends and bury the hatchet in senior year. One of the reasons why Finn chose to go to Boston instead of New York, or even staying behind in Ohio with Puck, was because he and Dave had grown so close and they wanted to continue be in each other's company. Finn said that Dave's departure was not totally unexpected for him - obviously he knew things the rest of them didn't - but Kurt could tell that Finn was confused about the reasons. That was the last time Kurt and Finn ever talked about Dave... here he is now, eight years later, trying to remember every word from that conversation to fathom the mystery that is Dave Karofsky.
"Hey, Kurt?"
"Yeah, Sam?"
"Do me a favor. In fact, do us all a favor."
"What is it?" Kurt asks.
"When you do find Karofsky, kick his ass for us, will you? Kick his ass for abandoning ship and running away. Then drag it back to the next New Directions reunion."
Kurt chuckles. "I'll try, Sam. I'll try."
That is, if I can find him.
After he says goodbye to Sam and hangs up, he sits quietly in his suite in the London Ritz for a while, deliberating his next move. Dave's face swims in his mind as he stares into the darkness of his room, filling his head with memories of days gone by. They're not sad memories but the nostalgia they induce makes him feel terribly lonely.
Maybe that's why Dave - or the idea of Dave Karofsky - manages to get under his skin so fast. The idea of him makes Kurt want more out of his life because no matter how successful he is, he knows he's not at his happiest right now. He's happier back in those days when he can call Dave his friend, back in the days where they're constantly in each other's presence, where everything seems a little bit more colorful and altogether more exciting.
He's not jaded... not at all. He enjoys his success, his fame and his wealth. This is what he's always wanted out of life. It's just that... he want something more. Not better. Just more.
Kurt stays that way until the sun finally rises and peeks through the blinds. Not realizing that morning has come, he blinks and squints when the ray hits his face and warms his skin. As he stares at his watch and sees the time, he decides that he's not going to sort out his feelings or his Dave issues anytime soon and finally comes to a decision.
For the second time that morning, Kurt reaches for his phone. The number he dials, however, is for his manager's who is currently staying two floors down in the same hotel.
As soon as Carl answers, Kurt says, "Hey, Carl? Remember the Chanel filming last month? Yeah, I need your help. I'm trying to find a member of the crew who goes by the name Tom. No, I don't know his last name... but I think he's one of the camera guys. Do you think you can get me his number? There's something I want to ask him."
To be continued
Author: tomatoe18
Rating: PG-13 [this chapter]
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Dave Karofsky/Kurt Hummel, Rachel Berry, Sam Evans, some OCs
Genre: Future fic, romance, drama, fluff.
Warnings: A bit of flangst in this chapter.
Spoilers: all of Glee season 1 and 2, probably AU after season 2.
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or any of its characters. I also don't own any recognizable names or brands that make an appearance in this work of fanfiction. This fanfiction is not made for profit.
Summary: Dave and Kurt find each other again after a 10-year separation.
Author's note: This part may come across as somewhat maudlin. It won't stay that way forever. Dave and Kurt are pining at the moment so this can frustrate you a little bit. But things will be happier soon. | I mentioned a LGBT romance title by Kensington in this chapter, called He's The One by a quartet of authors who call themselves Timothy James Beck. It's one of my favorite LGBT titles ever published and two the characters in the story are very Kurt and Dave-like. In the book, these characters don't get together but their friendship is solid and beautiful. I highly recommend this to everyone who likes LGBT literature.
Previous parts: One
*
JUNE
New York
The billboard in Times Square for the cK jeans advertisement has not been taken down or replaced so, every chance Dave gets, he's there to admire Kurt (and wonder if the man is in the same city he now lives in). Thank god no one has caught on to his odd habit yet although he has been doing this practically since the first day he starts his new life in New York. He has a roommate and his best mates are permanent fixtures in his present life but luckily they're all too busy with their own goings-on to notice what Dave has been doing since coming to the Big Apple.
In this bright summer morning, he drops by to 'see' Kurt after he finishes jogging in Central Park. Running is his preferred way to keeping himself fit. He prefers it than going to the gym because it gives him a chance to familiarize himself with the layout of the new city he now lives in. That, and back when he was an insecure, questioning youth, he read a LGBT romance book by Timothy James Beck called He's The One where the main protagonist - a formerly closeted jock who just moved to the city bumped into the guy he used to bully in the park while they were both running. He liked the book not only because he identified with the main character Adam's struggles but also because it gave him hope that he would one day be able to become Adam.
But Dave doesn't hold much hope of being able to run into his former bullying 'victim' the way Adam met his, whose name is Daniel. For one, Dave's life ended up being different from Adam's in that he resolved his issues much quicker than the character did. And while Kurt, like the character Daniel, works in entertainment, Kurt is a much bigger star than Daniel is in the book. Surely a celebrity like Kurt doesn't randomly take a walk in Central Park, does he?
Still, he goes to visit Kurt again this morning, as he has done in previous mornings that he jogs in the city. Although there are already many cars and pedestrians that come out early, at 7 AM the tourists have not yet hit Times Square. He runs there as soon as he finishes in Central Park, not bothering to go home and shower first. Sweating in his loose T-shirt that bears the insignia his old university and a pair of running shorts, Dave almost feels severely underdressed for his almost daily audience with the beautiful Kurt Hummel… but that hardly matters.
Because, lucky for him, his 'audience' with Kurt is only in the most figurative sense possible: Dave sees Kurt but Kurt doesn't see him. At all.
It's just scary how all of this feels like high school, pre-locker room kiss, all over again. Back then, he had to push Kurt into lockers and steal his first kiss to get him to notice him. Today, he figures, it's going to take a lot more effort than pulling pigtails to get Kurt to see him again.
But he doesn't mind. As long as Kurt receives the recognition the world is giving him right now, Dave will happily remain invisible and admire Kurt from afar. He's content to look at his first love on the billboard and stop at that. He doesn't need more.
Or so he tells himself.
JUNE
London
The first person Kurt turns to when something nags at the back of his mind is usually Mercedes Jones. They may not see each other every day in their lives anymore but she remains, until now, Kurt's best friend. Also, she's now a psychiatrist who is trained to deal with the kind of meltdown Kurt usually has when ghosts of his past come to haunt him in his sleep at night. Not that Dave Karofsky is a ghost per se but he certainly knows how to haunt. Tonight is the fifth time in a month since hearing his name in Paris that Kurt dreams about his senior prom night.
Annoyed with himself for being unable to get over Dave Karofsky, he reaches for his phone, dials a series of numbers for an international long distance call to Boston and waits for someone to answer. When someone says, "Hello?" Kurt immediately says, "When was the last time you heard anything about Dave Karofsky?"
There's a very pregnant pause in the line. A moment later: "Uh, Kurt?"
Kurt furrows his eyebrows because that is decidedly NOT Mercedes' voice. "Yes. Is this… is this Sam?"
Sam Evans' dorky laugh rings in the receiver and he says, "Yeah. This is Sam. Don't tell me you've forgotten how my voice sounds like. The glee reunion was not that long ago, dude."
"Don't call me 'dude'," Kurt replies automatically. Then he winces. "I get enough of being called 'dude' by Finn, Sam."
"To be fair, he calls everyone 'dude'. And by the way, Mercedes is not home."
Kurt gapes. "What? Where is she? Is she at the hospital?"
"No, she's in Europe," Sam answers. "There's a medical conference in Zurich. I'm not sure about the details... I'm kind of apartment-sitting for her. It's a long story but that's the simplest version of it."
A long story. Huh. To be perfectly honest, Kurt doesn't even want to know how that arrangement came to be. Sam and Mercedes are friends the way Kurt and Rachel are. Mostly. (Unlike Kurt and Rachel, however, they dated on and off throughout the years until Sam and Mercedes finally stopped 'benefitting' from each other and started to seriously date other people.) On another day, Kurt would love to tease Mercedes (or Sam) about how they're still clearly unable to get rid of one from the other's life, but right now he has other concerns to deal with so the mystery that is Sam and Mercedes' relationship will have to take the back seat.
In the end he just says, "Oh, okay. When is Mercedes coming back, then?"
"In about two weeks. She just left yesterday. I don't even know if she's arrived yet. She has to transit in London. But, hey, aren't you in London as well?"
Kurt raises his eyebrows at the other man's astuteness. "How did you know that?"
Sam chuckles. "It's all over TMZ and E! Channel, man. And I just read something on Perez Hilton about how you were spotted coming out of a restaurant in Soho yesterday evening."
"Perez Hilton? Really? Embracing your inner gay, Sam?" Kurt teases although he knows full well that Sam's job as a radio DJ often requires him to troll gossip websites for on air materials.
"Err, no, sorry to disappoint you but I'm still a ladies' man through and through, Kurt," Sam quips. "But speaking of gay, did you mention Dave Karofsky?"
Kurt sighs. "Yes, I did."
"What's that all about? I haven't heard his name mentioned by anyone in, like, eight years. He fell off the face of the earth, didn't he? Santana thinks he's dead, says he probably joined the military and died in Afghanistan or Iraq or something."
Kurt shudders at Santana's theory and then deflates. So Sam hasn't heard about Dave for a long time. Chances are small, then, that Mercedes knows anything about him either. Since Sam and Mercedes - as well as Finn - all live in Boston, the last city Dave was known to live in before he disappeared from circulation, they are Kurt's best bet of finding out what happened to him. If they don't know what happened to Dave or where Dave is, no one else would either.
"No, it's nothing," Kurt replies. "I ran into someone who knows Dave but I didn't get a chance to ask how or what he was doing nowadays. I'm just... curious. I mean, like you said, he just disappeared. I guess I want to know why."
"I get it. I don't know him as well as you and Finn do, obviously, but it used to bother me as well that he up and left Boston without saying goodbye to any of us. Not even Finn and you know how tight your bro and Dave were."
Kurt remembers. It's actually thanks to Finn that he and Dave got to be friends and bury the hatchet in senior year. One of the reasons why Finn chose to go to Boston instead of New York, or even staying behind in Ohio with Puck, was because he and Dave had grown so close and they wanted to continue be in each other's company. Finn said that Dave's departure was not totally unexpected for him - obviously he knew things the rest of them didn't - but Kurt could tell that Finn was confused about the reasons. That was the last time Kurt and Finn ever talked about Dave... here he is now, eight years later, trying to remember every word from that conversation to fathom the mystery that is Dave Karofsky.
"Hey, Kurt?"
"Yeah, Sam?"
"Do me a favor. In fact, do us all a favor."
"What is it?" Kurt asks.
"When you do find Karofsky, kick his ass for us, will you? Kick his ass for abandoning ship and running away. Then drag it back to the next New Directions reunion."
Kurt chuckles. "I'll try, Sam. I'll try."
That is, if I can find him.
After he says goodbye to Sam and hangs up, he sits quietly in his suite in the London Ritz for a while, deliberating his next move. Dave's face swims in his mind as he stares into the darkness of his room, filling his head with memories of days gone by. They're not sad memories but the nostalgia they induce makes him feel terribly lonely.
Maybe that's why Dave - or the idea of Dave Karofsky - manages to get under his skin so fast. The idea of him makes Kurt want more out of his life because no matter how successful he is, he knows he's not at his happiest right now. He's happier back in those days when he can call Dave his friend, back in the days where they're constantly in each other's presence, where everything seems a little bit more colorful and altogether more exciting.
He's not jaded... not at all. He enjoys his success, his fame and his wealth. This is what he's always wanted out of life. It's just that... he want something more. Not better. Just more.
Kurt stays that way until the sun finally rises and peeks through the blinds. Not realizing that morning has come, he blinks and squints when the ray hits his face and warms his skin. As he stares at his watch and sees the time, he decides that he's not going to sort out his feelings or his Dave issues anytime soon and finally comes to a decision.
For the second time that morning, Kurt reaches for his phone. The number he dials, however, is for his manager's who is currently staying two floors down in the same hotel.
As soon as Carl answers, Kurt says, "Hey, Carl? Remember the Chanel filming last month? Yeah, I need your help. I'm trying to find a member of the crew who goes by the name Tom. No, I don't know his last name... but I think he's one of the camera guys. Do you think you can get me his number? There's something I want to ask him."
To be continued