It had been two months, fifteen days, seventeen hours, and forty-one minutes since David Karofsky told his parent that he's gay.

It was the last Sunday before school let out for summer the previous year. They had taken it surprisingly well, deciding that he was still their son and that they would love him no matter what, even if he preferred men to women. Dave's friends took it way better than expected as well. Most if the team now playfully teased Dave about being gay, but it was nowhere as bad as it had been with Kurt. Even Azimio was doing great with it, although Dave didn't actually come out to him. He guessed shortly after Kurt had switched schools back in October. Dave had felt so guilty about making the boy switch that he swore he wasn't going to be a coward and a bully any longer. He was determined to change for the better for himself and for Kurt, on the off chance that perhaps Kurt would once again make his presence in Dave's life. He had also changed a lot physically, too; he lost all the chubbiness and was now extremely muscular.

Dave could remember the day Azimio guessed as clearly as it had been yesterday. Dave wasn't acting like himself, and Azimio put together all his suspicions to come to the conclusion that Dave was gay.

[Flashback]

Dave had been moping around and beating himself up mentally about what he had done ever since he found out that Kurt was switching to Dalton because of him. Dave and Azimio were hanging out in Dave's basement, watching a basketball game on Dave's flatscreen television. The smaller boy was silent throughout the game, the complete opposite of the enthusiastic visage he always observed the game with. Azimio looked over to his friend, concern etched onto his features.

"Hey, man, you okay?" he asked, turning to face Dave. The other boy shrugged his shoulders, his eyes still staring blankly ahead. Azimio sighed. "What's been with you lately?"

"It's nothing," David said after a moment. "I'm fine."

Azimio shook his head before realization struck him about the suspicions that he had been having since they came back for their junior year. He shook his head again, hoping that he was wrong, but the more he thought about it, the more plausible it was that Dave had feelings for the boy. "Is it because that fag left?" he asked, testing out the waters by using the word fag. In the old days, Dave didn't have a problem with that word, but since Kurt left, he couldn't stand it.

"Don't call him that!" Dave exclaimed angrily, his eyes flashing dangerously in anger.

"I knew it."

Dave's brows furrowed in confusion. "Knew what?"

"You like Hummel."

Dave's eyes widened in panic. "What? I—no! I'm…. straight, remember? I like tits, why would I want that fag?" Dave flinched as his voice cracked and got suspiciously high towards the end of his exclamation. One glance at Azimio's face told Dave that he had been figured out. His shoulders dropped as he realized he could very well lose his only true friend if Azimio didn't approve.

Azimio rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and I'm the queen of England. You like Hummel, so what? If you think about it, it was actually obvious, like pulling a girl's pigtails in elementary school." Dave grimaced, causing Azimio to laugh. "Being your friend for so long has shown me what you're like, man, and you are anything but straight."

"You don't hate me then?" Dave asked in a small voice.

Azimio punched him in the shoulder. "'Course not. I've been your friend too long to drop you just 'cause you like cock."

Dave laughed. "Thanks, man."

"Anytime," Azimio answered. "Now we just need to get you your man."

Dave's face fell again. "There's no way he'd want me. I may lo—I mean, I like Kurt, a lot, but I was such a dick to him, and forced a kiss on him—"

"Wait, what?" Azimio interrupted. Dave looked at him in confusion. "When the hell did you kiss Hummel?"

"Uhm, right before he left school," Dave admitted. "I pissed him off pretty badly and he followed me into the locker room to yell at me. He got too close to me, plus he looked fucking sexy all angry like that. I just couldn't help it. Then when I went in a second time, he pushed me away. I was so hurt I punched a locker and threatened to kill him the next day. That's why I was expelled, and that's why he left McKinley." He put his head in his hands. "I'm such a fucking idiot. Who threatens the guy they're in love with?"

Azimio's eyes widened for a moment at the mention of love, but hetried not to show his shock.

(End Flashback)

"Dave!" a voice called, pulling Dave out of the memory. He looked up to see Azimio looking at him expectantly.

"What?" Dave questioned as he realized that Azimio was waiting for a response to whatever it was that he had said. Azimio groaned before gesturing to a boy walking down the hall.

"I said, I think I just saw your man pass by," the larger boy repeated.

"Are you sure?" Dave asked, his voice slightly shakey. Azimio shrugged as the get-to-class bell rang, signifying the end of the boy's conversation. Dave and Azimio separated and each went to their own class.

OoOoOo

Throughout the entirety of Dave's first class, he was in a daze. Could Kurt really be back? Why was he back? Would he see how much Dave had changed for him in the last eight months that it had been since they had seen each other, or would Kurt still see him as a monster, even though Dave was friends with nearly everyone in his precious glee club? Would he still hate him for stealing his first real kiss? It caused Dave's heart to ache, but he was pretty sure Kurt would still hate him, at least for now.

Dave was still lost in the clouds when class was over. He was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't notice someone stop in front of him in the hall. The collision caused both boys and their things to go flying.

"Ah, shit, man, I'm sorry," Dave started as he helped the other boy pick up his things. Once Dave finally looked up, his eyes went wide. The boy looked even more beautiful than he had remembered. "K-Kurt?" he stuttered. The other boy's head snapped up at his name and his eyes narrowed.

"Karofsky," he sneered irately, dislike shining in his cerulean eyes. At least it's not total hatred I see, Dave thought to himself miserably. He smiled sadly at Kurt before standing, pulling the smaller boy up with him. He handed Kurt back his books before walking away. A voice from behind him stopped him dead in his tracks. "What, no insults today? Have you lost your touch, Karofsky?"

Dave turned around slowly. "I've changed, Kurt. No more insults, no more bullying." He shrugged his shoulders before heading to his next class. He shook his head and took a deep breath to clear his head before heading into the classroom, where he met up with Finn and Puck.

"Sup, Karofsky?" Puck greeted as Dave sat down in the desk next to him. Dave nodded his greeting before turning to Finn.

"Hey, why's your brother back at McKinley?" Dace asked his friend, biting his lip.

Finn looked up. "I don't know exactly. Some shit went down between Kurt and some Warbler, so he transferred back here. Blaine, too."

Dave's face hardened at the mention of the curly-haired singer, but he tried his hardest not to let his jealousy show. Instead, he asked another question that had been weighing heavily on his mind since the half-time show that the football team had performed with the glee club last year. He glanced back and forth between the boys. "Hey, uhm… I have a question for you guys. You know that offer about me joining the glee club, does that still stand?"

Finn looked at the boy in surprise. "Is David Karofsky considering becoming a gleek?"

"I'm shocked!" Puck exclaimed sarcastically, chuckling. After a moment, he said, "Well, actually, I'm not shocked at all. More shocked that you didn't join last year, to be honest…. But then again, Kurt wasn't back yet, was he?" Puck winked.

Dave's face burned as all his blood rushed to his cheeks. "Shuddup," he muttered, hiding his flaming face in his hoodie.

Finn laughed. "Yeah, you can still join. Just talk to Schuester after school about auditioning. Dave nodded and looked up to the front of the room where the teacher was beginning her lesson. Finn, on the other hand, continued to watch his friend, his wheels turning. He couldn't help but think about what Puck had said. Could there be a correlation between Kurt coming back and Dave wanting to join New Directions? If so, was it possible that Dave had a thing for Kurt? Finn knew that Dave was gay. Everyone knew Dave was gay. But could he be into Finn's brother? Guess I'll have to watch and figure it out, Finn thought.

OoOoOo

A few weeks later, Dave was standing outside of the glee room just a few minutes before practice was due to start. His stomach was filled with butterflies as he took several deep breaths to try and calm his nerves. He had already seen Blaine and Kurt head into the room. Blaine had smiled at him encouragingly while Kurt just narrowed his eye at him in confusion. Dave knew that both the boys had been alerted of Dave's new persona, as well as his coming out. According to Finn, Blaine had taken the news swellingly, but Kurt would need a bit more convincing before he accepted that the man who had threatened to kill him really was different.

"It's now or never," Ddave murmered softly to himself before walking into the room. He leaned against the piano at the front of the room when Mr. Schuester made a motion to introduce him.

"Alright, guys, most of you know David here," the majority of the club smiled warmly at Dave, who smiled shyly back," and he wants to audition." Mr. Schuester turned to the boy. "Good luck." He walked away to sit down next to Santana.

"Uhm, hi guys. I'm going to be singing one of my favorite songs that I've kind of felt connected to the last couple of months." He took a deep breath and glanced at Kurt.

"I feel guilty, my words are empty… no signs to give you, don't have the time for you," he sang, his eyes flickering around the room at his friends. "You say I'm heartless, and you say I don't care… I used to be there for you and you said I seem so dead, that I have changed but so have you…."

Dave's voice was shaking as his eyes met with Kurt's. As he sang the first chorus and the next verse, Dave's eyes never left the boy he was so in love with. "Guilty…. Woah, guilty, I feel so empty, yeah. Empty…. You know how to make me feel. I put a shield upon you, didn't mean to hurt you. I would have only poisoned your mind, never meant to make you cry. You've been so thoughtless, I can see right through you. You used to be there for me… don't you leave or say goodbye, cause you have changed but so have I."

As Dave sang the rest of the song, his confidence level grew and he was enjoying himself more and more, even if he was exposing himself to his enemies-turned-friends. When he was done, everyone (except Kurt) clapped loudly. Finn stood and clapped Dave on the shoulder. "That was awesome, man," he commented before both the boys went to sit down.

Dace smiled as he took the chair that Mr. Schuester had been previously occupying. He glanced over at Kurt to see the countertenor staring at him, his eyes trying to calculate just how different Dave was. He flushed as Dave winked at him before turning to face forwards.

As Mr. Schuester started to talk about the new assignment, Kurt continued to state at the side of Dave's head, thinking about just how different the boy seemed, both in appearance and personality. Kurt hated to admit it, but Dave had gotten extremely hot. Even though Kurt had told Dave that he wasn't his type, he was lying before, and he would definitely be lying now if he said the same thing. Dave's newfound slenderness and muscle as completely drool-worthy. Kurt bit his lip as he realized that if Dave truly had changed, and if he continued to be friendly with him, then there was a very real hat possibility that Kurt would fall for his ex-enemy.

Kurt was broken from his thoughts by a nudge in the side from Blaine. "If you keep undressing him with your eyes, he's bound to notice," Blaine whispered.

Kurt glared. "I'm not 'undressing him with my eyes', Blaine." He narrowed his eyes before turning to face the front again, but he couldn't resist sparing Dave a final glance.

From his position in the front row, Dave's eyes were sparkling as he was filled with excitement to Kurt's staring.

OoOoOo

"….it was so much fun, Azimio. You should really reconsider joining," Dave continued, telling his friend all about his first day in glee club. "And that's not even the best part. We're preparing duets to sing for the back-to-school assembly, and Mr. Schuester decided to pair me up with Kurt."

Azimio laughed. "That's cool, man, but can we go back to our game?" Dave nodded and the boys went back to playing Call of Duty for another hour before Dave checked his watch.

"Hey, I've got to go. Kurt and I are meeting up at noon at his house to work on choosing a song," Dave commented before standing up. Azimio waved and said goodbye as Dave walked out to his beat-up blue pickup truck in Azimio's driveway.

As he drove to Kurt's house (he knew how to get there because he had driven Finn home from football practice earlier that week), Dave sang under his breath. He pulled into the driveway the same time that Finn did. The other boy greeted Dave and both went inside and downstairs to the boys' room. Kurt was sitting on the couch, his legs crossed, flipping through a pile of sheet music and sucking absent mindedly on the end of a pen. Dave felt his heart beat faster as the boy looked up and saw the pair. He smiled softly and nodded a greeting. Kurt beckoned Dave over to look at the music as Finn went back upstairs.

"So, Karofsky—"

"Dave," Dave corrected the boy. Kurt looked at him curiously. "My name's Dave. If we're doing a duet together, you might as well call me by my name. I call you by yours."

Kurt nodded. "Okay, Dave," he said, testing the name out on his tongue. He decided it would take some getting used to, but eventually he'd be able to call the boy by his given name. "Do you have any song that you want to sing?"

Dave shook his head. "I was kind of hoping that you'd have some ideas. I mean, you know more about music then I do, so you're probably better at finding a song that would match both of our voices." Dave went silent for a moment before his heart started to speed up again. "Do you think—no, nevermind, it's stupid."He looked at the ground.

"What is it?"

Dave took a deep breath before bringing his eye's back up to Kurt's. "Could you sing something for me?"

Kurt's eyes opened wide in surprise. "Why do you want me to sing for you?"

Dave shifted uncomfortably. "I've never heard you sing by yourself, and I want to," he admitted in a small voice. "I mean, I heard you when you were a cheerio, and with the rest of the glee club, but I've never heard just you."

Kurt shrugged before a mischievous look come across his eyes. "I'll sing something for you if you sing another song for me." Kurt had to admit, Dave was pretty attractive when he sang, and Kurt wanted to see more of that attractiveness. Shit, I'm already starting to get attracted to him, Kurt realized as he noticed the comfort he felt when talking to the other boy.

Dave paled slightly. "Uhm, okay," he mumbled as Kurt walked over to his stereo and flipped through another one of the music books that was sitting on his shelf. Finally, he placed one on the piano desk, and started to play. Dave quickly recognized the piece as "Corner of the Sky" from the musical Pippin.

As soon as Kurt started to sing, Dave couldn't help but stare. Kurt's eyes sparkled like a diamond when he sang, and Dave was filled with the urge to kiss the beautiful boy in front of him. Kurt really did look stunning when he sang, Dave mused as the boy smiled. Kurt was so engrossed in his song that he didn't notice how intently Dave was watching him. The sweep of his head and the way that Kurt's fingers glided across the piano keys made Dave blush and his heart race.

When Kurt finished his song, he smiled teasingly at his companion. "Your turn." Dave looked around the room until he spotted Kurt's old guitar. Dave gestured at the instrument, and at Kurt's approval, walked over and picked it up. (A/n: chose this song because my co-author loves it!)

"When I watch you, wanna do you, right where you're standing, yeah. Right on the foyer, on this dark day right in plain view… oh, yeah. Of the whole ghetto, the boot-stomped meadows, but we ignore that, yeah. You're lovely baby. This war is crazy, I won't let you down… oh, no no…" When Dave started singing, Kurt stared at the boy. Holy Gaga, he's hotter than Blaine is, Kurt thought as he took in the boy's biceps that bulged with every strum of the guitar. Dave was wearing a muscle shirt that left nothing to the imagination. Kurt mentally begged the shirt to disappear before looking at the man's large, calloused hands. Oh Gaga, I wonder what those hands would feel like on my… no, bad Kurt! Don't think thought like that! He's David Karofsky, remember? Bully, homophobe…. Who is now out at gay, and friendly. And everyone in glee loves him, so something must have changed since I was gone, right?

Kurt was forced out of his thoughts by a hand waving in front of him. He hadn't even noticed that Dave had finished his song. "Zoning out, buddy?" Dave asked, winking. Kurt blushed.

"Hey, what do you say we take a break?" Kurt suggested, suddenly not in the mood to sing. More than anything at that very moment he wanted to be closer to Dave, but at the same time, it was the very last thing that he wanted to do. Dave laughed, saying that they hadn't even gotten anything done yet, but agreed anyway. The boys decided that they would just hang out at get to know each other better.

The boys fell onto opposite sides of the couch. Kurt was the first to speak. "Okay, Dave, tell me why you've apparently changed." Dave's eyes widened in surprise at how to the point Kurt was for a moment before he regained his composure.

"Promise you won't laugh?" Kurt nodded. "Okay. Well, after you left, I felt horrible about what I had done. I'm so sorry about everything, by the way. I was a total dick to you. I'm shocked that you're even being nice to me," he admitted softly before getting back on topic. "Anyway, after you left, I came out to my friends almost immediately. Well, technically, Azimio guessed, but that's not what we're talking about. After I came out to the football team and hockey team, I realized that the only reason I had been such a jerk was because I was terrified that someone would figure out what I really was, and since I was out, that wasn't an issue anymore."

"What about the slushy-ing and pushing people into lockers? When did that stop?"

Dave blushed. "Well, actually…. Uhm…. You were the only person I pushed into lockers." His blush darkened even more as he looked at Kurt. He looked back away. "And the slushies….. Well, I just decided that there wasn't any reason to slushy anyone. I guess I kind of hoped that if you ever came back, I'd be a different, nicer person, and I didn't like the person that I had become at all." Dave looked up again. He jumped slightly when he realized that during his admission, Kurt had moved closer. Dave's breath caught as he realized that their thighs were touching, and that Kurt had placed his hand over Dave's. Dave once again feel the overwhelming urge to kiss the boy at the same intensity as it had been in the locker room before everything went wrong, but this time, Dave wasn't so sure that Kurt would push him away if the look in Kurt's eyes held any truth. Deciding to test the waters, Dave started to lean forward slightly. Kurt too began to move forward. Their noses were almost touching when Finn came bounding down the steps, causing the boys to jump apart.

"I better get going," Dave said in a rush as he quickly stood up. Finn gave Dave a strange look, his head cocked to the side. "I'll see you tomorrow to practice, Kurt." Dave sent a brief smile towards the boys before heading up the steps and outside. Once he was gone, Finn looked at Kurt.

"Did I miss something?" he asked.

OoOoOo

That night, Kurt couldn't sleep. He couldn't stop thinking about what had nearly happened with David. He was going to kiss me. David Karofsky was going to kiss me. Kurt shook his. He knew that Dave was most likely still attracted to him, if his actions had anything to do with it. Actually, I don't know for sure that Dave was ever attracted to me, Kurt thought. He was shocked to realize that he was actually somewhat disappointed that he didn't know. Dave had never flat-out said that he had a thing for Kurt. Sure, he kissed him in the locker room, so what? It's possible that perhaps Dave was so confused about his feelings that he couldn't help but try and kiss the only other gay guy at McKinley. That would make sense. But what about tonight's almost kiss? What did that mean? Maybe it was just in the heat of the moment, like an afterthought. Kurt hoped that wasn't the case.

Kurt groaned he thought more about how different the boy had been with Kurt in the last month. Dave had been thoughtful and friendly with Kurt, smiling at him in the hallways and helping him in Algebra 2 a few days earlier when Kurt was confused about a problem that Dave had already completed several minutes prior. The more Kurt thought about it, the more he realized that he definitely had developed a crush on the boy over the course of the first month of school. He was struggling to believe it was true, though. Why would Kurt fall for the boy who bullied him for three years? It didn't make any sense, and yet, talking to David and being near him physically felt like the most natural thing in the world. And if Dave didn't feel the same way back…. Kurt groaned again as he hit his head against the pillow. He needed to find a way to tell if the boy wanted him back. He needed Blaine.

OoOoOo

A/n: I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter! I write most of this when I cadet teach since I currently do nothing in that class. Next chapter will be up soon.

Review and add to your alerts!

-Kris

xoxo