Title: Manning Up
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Through Furt
Word Count: 1,281
Summary: "That's not a closeted guy hitting on you. That's sexual harassment."
Notes: Written for a prompt on the angst meme.
One thing Kurt has been grateful for: outside of school, his tormentors have, for the most part, left him alone. Aside from sneers, slurs, and the memorable Lawn Chair Incident that remains the reason his father bolts all the outdoor furniture to the patio, they leave him alone. There are no lockers to slam him into, no slushies to throw in his face, and no convenient toilets to dunk his head in. Now that he no longer attends McKinley (official, as of eleven am yesterday) he figures he won't have to worry about them. He definitely doesn't have to worry about Dave Karofsky, who must live on the other end of town, because Kurt never runs into him outside of school.
Except, then he does.
They're at Walmart, of all places. Kurt usually shops at the grocery store down the street from the garage but Carole insists that everything is cheaper at Walmart. She's not wrong, exactly, but Kurt doesn't think the long lines, loud displays, and hideous clothing section are worth it. He's waiting at the end of an aisle with Finn, leaning against the cart as Carole looks for the low-sodium tortillas. The display is for Guitar Hero, which seems out of place among the groceries but maybe it's just good marketing this close to Christmas, because Finn is five seconds away from adding it to the cart. Kurt doesn't even notice anyone come up behind him until they've already slapped him on the butt.
He spins around, an outraged gasp already escaping his lips, and finds Karofsky smirking at him. Kurt freezes, gripping the handle of the cart with white knuckles.
"Missed you at school yesterday," Karofsky says, sneering.
Kurt can't make himself say anything. He stares up at Karofsky, unable to even tell him to go away.
Finn does it for him. "What the hell, Karofsky? Get out of here!"
"It's a public place," Karofsky says. "I've got just as much right to be here as you two homos."
Finn steps in front of Kurt and even though Kurt knows how it makes him look he's grateful for it. He'll take anything to have some sort of barrier between himself and Karofsky.
"Get out of here," Finn says again.
Karofsky's glaring, but he takes a step back, looking over Finn's shoulder at Kurt. "Got a new boyfriend to protect you now?"
Kurt still doesn't say anything. "Fuck off," Finn says, taking a step towards him.
Karofsky shakes his head and heads off down the aisle, turning to look back at Kurt. "See you around, Hummel," he winks.
Finn turns to Kurt. "What was that?" he asks, but Kurt's not paying attention, he's still watching Karofsky walk away. The jock has stopped, halfway across the store, looking at a display. "Kurt?" Finn touches his arm and Kurt jumps. "You okay?"
Kurt shakes his head, trying not to start shaking like he did the other day in the hallway. "Can we go home?"
"Uh…"
"I want to go home."
Finn frowns, confused, but nods. "Yeah, sure. Let's find Mom."
They find Carole two rows over, still looking for tortillas ("They aren't with all the Hispanic food. Why aren't they with all the Hispanic food?"). "What's wrong?" she asks.
Kurt just shrugs. She looks at Finn, who mouths "Karofsky" at her. She sighs, and starts fishing around in her purse. "Okay, well, let me grab some toilet paper and a pizza or something for dinner tonight." She pulls out her keys and hands them to Finn. "I'll meet you guys at the car, okay?"
"Sure," Finn says.
Finn starts the car up and Kurt claims the front seat, fiddling with the heater and vents as soon as they get in. The only noise is the roar of the heater as Finn pulls the car around to the front of the parking lot to wait for Carole, then he says, "Shit."
"What'd you do, hit someone?" Kurt asks sarcastically, looking up.
"I'd like to," Finn says, glaring out the windshield. Karofsky is standing in front of their car, smirking at them. Kurt stiffens. Finn honks at him, and Karofsky walks off again after banging a fist against the hood of the car. "What is his problem?" Finn asks. "It's like he's stalking you or something."
"Or something."
Finn frowns, turning to look at Kurt. "How come you didn't tell me he'd gotten so much worse? I'd have had your back," Finn says earnestly.
"I…"
"You should have told me he was threatening you," Finn adds.
"You couldn't have done anything," Kurt tells him.
"Yes, I could've," Finn insists. "We all could have, everyone in glee. But you have to tell us stuff."
"There wasn't anything to tell."
"He threatened to kill you!"
"He only said that because he—" Kurt stops himself.
"Because he what?" Finn asks.
"Nothing."
Finn clearly doesn't believe him. "What was that earlier? Slapping your ass?"
"You saw that?" Kurt asks.
"Yeah," Finn crosses his arms.
Kurt sighs, looking out the window. There's still no sign of Carole, but thankfully Karofsky has disappeared as well. "He's just…"
"What? He's gay?" Finn asks. It's clear he's joking, but Kurt hesitates anyway.
"Holy shit," Finn breathes. "Karofky's gay?"
"Finn, you cannot tell people about this," Kurt says.
Finn's mouth is still hanging open. "Oh my God. How did you find out?"
It's suddenly such a relief to be able to say this to someone who will understand just how much of a jerk Karofsky is. Someone who won't try to tell him that Karofsky's just confused or scared. Kurt likes Blaine, but sometimes he just doesn't get it. "He kissed me," Kurt says.
Finn's eyes, already wide, grow wider. "What? When?"
"About a month ago, in the locker room," Kurt explains. "I was yelling at him for shoving me and he just grabbed me."
Finn looks a bit horrified. "And you didn't tell anyone?"
"I told Blaine." Finn's expression doesn't change, so Kurt adds, "I didn't want to out him. I shouldn't even be telling you this."
"Why do you care about him?" Finn asks.
"I don't," Kurt says. He shrugs. "I've just been there and—"
Finn cuts him off. "You've terrorized other people because you didn't want to admit you were gay?"
Kurt bites his lip and wonders when his step-brother became insightful. "He's not terrorizing me," Kurt says, ignoring the fact that "terror" is exactly the right word for what he feels whenever Dave Karofsky is near him. "He's just…" Kurt can't find the right word.
"What? Hitting on you?" Finn asks sarcastically. Kurt frowns. "Dude," Finn says. "Kissing you? Slapping your butt? Whatever else he's done? That's not a closeted guy hitting on you. That's sexual harassment."
"It's not—"
"You're transferring schools because of it!"
Kurt looks down, messing with the dial of the heater, and doesn't say anything. "Have you told Burt about this?" Finn asks.
"No," Kurt says. "And you're not going to tell him either." He looks up at Finn, giving him a hard stare. "This is stressful enough already." Finn raises his eyebrows. "I'm already transferring; I won't have to see Karofsky anymore. There's no reason for Dad to know about everything else."
"What about when you run into him, like tonight?" Finn asks.
Kurt crosses his arms. "I'll be fine. Dalton's a boarding school, remember?"
Finn still looks skeptical, but before he can argue anymore the back door of the car opens, startling them both. "Hey," Carole says, climbing in. "Sorry, the checkout was crazy. You guys okay?"
"I'm fine," Kurt says, looking at Finn when he says it.
Finn frowns at him, unconvinced, but says, "Yeah, we're fine."