This is the author speaking. A reader of my work and I had struck-up a friendship. Being that the work which they liked was Dave-centric Glee fan-fiction, we discussed the character of Dave Karofsky on several occasions. As of the beginning of the show's fourth season, I had no interest in seeing the character Dave or the actor Max Adler on the show. My logic was two-fold: (1) Max was a better actor than easily two-thirds of the cast and the current state of the show was beneath his ability, and (2) I didn't trust the show to treat the character with any level of credibility, respect, or integrity at this point. I'd rather remember the realistic, well-addressed character of the show's second season than to have his memory soiled by terrible writing or embarrassing scenarios.
Today, my friend posed this question to me. It is followed by my answer.
If Max Adler HAD to come back to Glee, under which circumstance would you be okay with it?
It's one of those reunion shows, like Glee had been cancelled several years before, and they're showing what's become of all of the characters.
It begins with Kurt returning home to Lima from NYC. He worked a lot of odd-jobs on the stage, but never got his big break. Word in the industry was that he was just too unusual to make it as a conventional lead and not unusual enough for the fringe-market. He spent most of his time in NY working as a waiter in several bars and restaurants. He made decent money, but it wasn't what he wanted to do.
Upon returning to Lima, he's kinda depressed, but he enjoys seeing some of his old friends. He starts working at Hummel Tire and Lube while he tries to figure out where to go with his life henceforth. Blaine, having failed in his career bids to be a pop musician and matinee idol actor has returned to Lima and has also been working at Hummel Tire and Lube. Though he and Kurt are friends, they're both too stuck on the idea of "perfection" in a partner to consider the other seriously ever again (I mean, who wants to be stuck with a freakin' auto-shop-worker when you've been on Broadway or had a brief recording contract and a couple of direct-to-video movies under your belt?).
They're working together at the garage one day when a fancy, state-of-the-art, electric SUV pulls into the parking lot. Kurt is at the counter and sees the car's approach. Out of the car step two handsome-looking men. One has a kind-of stocky, ex-football-player's build while the other has a trim-and-toned runner's physique with broad shoulders and an angular frame. The trim man steps into the garage and walks to the counter while the bigger fellow stands outside for a moment, looking around at the surroundings. Kurt greets the man at the counter. He's handsome and rugged-looking, athletic but not likely a gym-rat. He has reddish hair and scruffy stubble on his face. He's very polite and he informs Kurt that he and his partner were driving from Chicago to Lima so his partner could visit his family. On the way, about ten miles outside of Lima, they'd gotten a flat tire, and they were stopping by to get it repaired. Kurt informs the man that he can have it fixed and have them back on the road in less than thirty minutes. The man then says that his partner had the keys to the car and that he'd be in momentarily.
The door opens slowly, and the man's more thickly-built, dark-haired partner enters and approaches the counter. Kurt and the man recognize each other immediately, smiling and laughing, shaking hands: the man is Dave. Kurt and Dave speak briefly, and Kurt tells him that he'd just returned to Lima from New York. Dave informs Kurt that, after he'd completed college, he'd moved to Chicago for work, first as a youth counselor, then a high-school teacher in the public school system, and currently, a teacher at a private school. He'd met his partner while working as a counselor, and they were married in his partner's hometown of Boston that previous summer.
Dave hands Kurt the car keys, and Dave and his partner take seats in the waiting room. Kurt, though happy for Dave, is somewhat stunned silent, almost embarrassed to talk about his own life since high school. Dave is obviously doing well for himself, and Kurt is happy in knowing that.
Twenty minutes later, Kurt tells the couple that the flat tire is fixed and their car is ready. Dave pays Kurt, and Kurt returns Dave's keys. Kurt holds out his hand to shake Dave's, but Dave instead reaches across the counter and hugs Kurt briefly, giving a friendly, respectful smile as he released. Dave looks at Kurt and quietly says, "Thanks. For everything." Kurt's and Dave's eyes linger on each other's for a moment: Dave is smiling and appreciative, almost reverent; Kurt is facing downward, but his eyes are looking up addressing Dave's. Finally, Dave backs from the counter, faces his partner, places his arm around his shoulder, and exits the shop. As he does this, he looks over his shoulder and says, "Great seeing you, Kurt." Kurt merely nods, wordless.
NOTE: If you're curious or want to complete the mental image, I imagine Dave's partner resembling Colby Keller before he became really ripped-looking.