A/N 1: This story begins a few weeks after the end of The Longest Journey. Most pairings are as they were at the end of season two, i.e. Kurt/Blaine, Finn/Rachel, Tina/Mike, Sam/Mercedes. The only exception is that Puck and Lauren broke up the same way they did in canon.

Dave ducked into a nearby classroom as he saw one of the hockey players round a corner with a slushie in his hand and a determined glint in his eye. It had become second nature over the last few weeks to keep an eye out for things like that. Dave's sexuality was old news now so he was no longer a primary target but he was still considered to be as much of a loser as any of the other gleeks.

He still found it weird to think of himself as part of the glee club. It was a very strange little community with a complicated web of relationships that took a lot of getting used to. Kurt had described it as a family and that analogy seemed to fit. They were always bickering and squabbling amongst themselves but when it came down to it they really cared about each other. Just last week an argument between Rachel and Mercedes over a solo had gotten so heated Dave had almost expected it to result in a physical fight yet immediately afterwards, when a passing cheerleader has made a cruel comment about Mercedes weight, Rachel had unleashed a torrent of furious insults, a number of which Dave had never heard before. (And that was saying a lot because Dave was smarter than he looked and because Kurt had had reason to call him many names in the past.)

Though Dave was gradually settling into the glee club, he still hadn't really found his place in the group. While they seemed to have gotten used to his presence at rehearsals and at their lunch table, most of them seemed to not quite be sure what to make of him and there were a couple, namely Rachel, Mercedes and Sam, who still harboured a fair amount of resentment towards him. He didn't blame them. Honestly, he was amazed at how many of them had forgiven him. The friendship he'd begun with Kurt and Blaine over the summer had continued to develop and Finn was pretty cool as long as Rachel wasn't around. Dave and Puck shared a mutual sense of understanding as they'd both done some pretty bad things in the past and had been lucky enough to get a second chance with the people they'd hurt. Dave and Santana also understood each other fairly well but since Santana wasn't ready for everyone to know just how much they had in common they tried not to appear too friendly in public.

Dave made it to football practice a couple of minutes later than he would have liked thanks to that short delay.

"Damn, I was hoping you'd finally decided to do us all a favour and quit." Strando greeted him with a sneer.

Dave ignored him and started getting his uniform out of his locker. He'd gotten used to Strando's derision. Fortunately he was the only football player that was particularly outspoken against Dave. There were a few others who would usually back Strando up once he got started, but when he wasn't around they seemed content to simply pretend Dave didn't exist

"Seriously, when are you going to get the message? We don't want you in here sneaking peeks at us."

Dave snorted. "As if anyone would want to look at you."

Strando stood up and took a threatening step towards Dave. "Are you seriously talking back to me? You don't belong here. Football's for real men, not fags like you." He spat those last words out, glaring at Dave as if he was a particularly disgusting form of life that was never meant to have existed. Dave, however, refused to retreat, staring the other football player down defiantly.

Azimio, who'd been watching the exchange from the other side of the locker room, looked as if he was about to say something but at that moment Coach Bieste stormed in furiously.

"Alright, that's it. I've had enough of this. If you're not going to act like you're a part of this team," she addressed Strando, "then you may as well not be on it at all. Get out of my sight."

Strando was clearly shocked and outraged but a murderous glare from the coach quickly silenced him. He angrily packed his gear up and left, shooting one last glare at Dave as he walked out the door.

Coach Bieste turned to the remaining football players. "Now if any of you have a problem with Karofsky or anyone else on the team you either deal with it or leave now. If you guys can't work together we've got zero chance of winning the championship this year."

No one said a word; suddenly they were all very focused on getting ready for practice.

"Good. Now get your asses into gear, I expect to see you all out on the field in five minutes."

Football practice was much less tense than usual due to Strando's absence. While a number of the football players were still hostile, they had lost their ringleader and were too afraid of Coach Bieste to say anything out loud anyway. They avoided Dave as much as they could and occasionally glared at him but that was easily ignored.

By the time practice ended, Dave was completely exhausted. Coach Bieste was a hard taskmaster but Dave knew that her methods were the reason they had won the championship last year so he couldn't hold it against her. She'd also made sure to let Dave know, after he'd been outed at the start of the school year, that her office door was always open if he ever needed to talk about anything.

When Dave wearily made his way out to the parking lot he was surprised to see a very familiar car parked next to his own with an even more familiar boy leaning against it. Dave momentarily forgot his fatigue as he rushed over to pull his boyfriend into his arms.

"What are you doing here?" he asked after they moved apart.

Alex shrugged. "Missed you. Had a free afternoon."

Dave checked that no one who was likely to give them trouble was around before leaning forward to kiss Alex softly.

"What do you want to do?" Alex asked.

"Do you mind if we just go back to my place and hang out? I'm really wiped from practice."

"Sure. As long as I get to spend the afternoon with you I'm happy."

While both boys would have preferred to spend every minute they could together to make up for the time they had to spend apart because of school, it made sense for them to drive to Dave's house in their separate cars.

When they entered the house, hand in hand, they encountered Dave's father who was in the living room reading a newspaper.

"Hi boys," Paul greeted them. "I didn't know you were coming over this afternoon, Alex."

"Neither did I," Dave explained. "He just kind of showed up."

"I can move into the study if you want to watch TV in here."

"No, it's ok. I think we'll go hang out in my room for a while."

"Well make sure you leave the door open then."

Dave rolled his eyes but secretly appreciated how comfortable his parents now were with his and Alex's relationship.

They curled up together on the bed, easily falling into a position where they fitted into each others arms perfectly.

"How was school?" Alex asked, resting his head on Dave's shoulder.

Dave sighed. "It was school."

"Still sucks, then?"

"Yeah, pretty much. One good thing did happen though; Coach Bieste got sick of Strando's bullshit and kicked him off the team."

"I'm glad. From what you've told me, that guy's an asshole." That sentiment sounded particularly harsh coming from Alex, who normally liked to think the best of everyone. Where Dave was concerned he tended to get a little protective. "How are things going with the glee club?"

"Awkward, same as always."

"And is that your fault or theirs?"

Dave shifted so he could look Alex in the eye. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, confused.

"Well you've been saying things are difficult because they don't know what to think of you, but is that because they don't want to get to know you or because you're not giving them a chance to see who you really are?"

Dave took a moment to consider his boyfriend's words. "I suppose it's a little of both. Some of them haven't forgiven me yet and with the others I feel so bad about the way I treated them that I don't know how to talk to them."

"What about Kurt and Blaine? You were getting along with them fine over the summer."

"Things are still good with them but whenever they're together they're usually too distracted by each other to notice anyone else much. I can't say I blame them," He added as an afterthought. "I certainly have trouble paying attention to other people when you're around."

Alex laughed. "You're not going to get out of this conversation by being cute, you know."

Dave looked sheepish and blushed a little. "It was worth a try."

Alex couldn't resist giving him a quick peck on the lips.

"How about I promise to try to be more social and you kiss me properly," Dave suggested.

"Deal," Alex relented, moving to press their lips together again. Neither of them spoke again for quite a while; their mouths were far too busy with more important things.

A/N 2: I didn't originally plan to write a sequel but I had a few ideas bouncing around in my head and someone suggested in a review that they might be interested in reading one so I figured I may as well try to tidy up some of the things I left unresolved. I started working on this fairly soon after I posted The Longest Journey but between exams and family events I haven't had much time to write and it's been a slow process because I don't have as clear a plan for this story as I did for the first one.

I have five chapters written so far and I'm planning to post a chapter a week for the moment, though I might post chapter two earlier than that because this chapter is basically just an introduction and as a result feels kind of boring and uneventful compared to the following ones. Just to warn you, the amount of free time and internet access I have may be a little erratic over the next month or so.

I had wanted to have more written before I started posting but I figured I'd better get this up before everyone completely forgets The Longest Journey (if you haven't already) and I'm hoping that the time pressure will motivate me to write more.

I can't seem to stop second guessing myself about this story so any feedback you feel like giving me would be much appreciated. Even if you hate it, feel free to let me know, I just like knowing where I stand with people.

And I apologise that the A/N is almost as long as the chapter.