A/N: Written for an anonymous prompter on tumblr.

Nothing at All

by ktfranceebee

"You don't have to stay here, y'know."

Kurt looked up from the magazine he had been reading for the last hour at the sound of Dave's timid murmur. Actually, he hadn't looked up so much as his eyes simply flickered in the direction of the blinking monitors on the other side of Dave's bed. Dave swallowed so thickly that the sound was audible in the static room. He picked at a thread coming loose from the hem of the blanket in order to stay occupied as he continued to speak, almost hesitantly.

"It's been hours. You can leave."

In fact, only two hours had passed since Kurt walked through the door to his room, looking as stoic and composed as he had ever seen him. It only took a matter of minutes before Dave was able to realize that this was only in an effort to keep the tears from falling.

The first half hour or so of their meeting had consisted of talking. And a substantial amount of crying on both of their parts. And then Kurt just… left. Exited the room without saying a word. Not that Dave was surprised—Kurt had done more than enough already, and he was as thankful, if not taken aback, by the amount of support he had received. He knew it had to be awkward for Kurt—being in the same room as him. But then the door opened once more and in walked in Kurt, sipping out of a dewy can of ice cold Diet Coke. Dave gave Kurt a questioning look which prompted Kurt to freeze where he stood upon the threshold. Kurt must have taken his look as one of insult, too, because his mouth took the shape of an 'o' as he meekly shut the door. Kurt had apologized, saying he should have asked him if he wanted anything. Kurt's kindness wouldn't have made a difference either way. He was pretty sure food or drink unauthorized by his doctor or nurses while he was still under their watch wasn't allowed. So Dave numbly dismissed Kurt's apology, still confused as ever as to why he would want to stick around.

More than an hour after that had consisted of Dave flicking through the channels in an attempt to find something to watch. There was nothing on at this hour except crummy sitcom reruns, soap operas, and talk shows. By the time he eventually gave in to the regrettable, all-consuming silence that the hospital room provided him as he turned the television off Kurt had picked up a magazine from the small stack upon the bedside table. It wasn't so bad, though—just laying there in his bed listening to the rustle of paper as Kurt gradually turned page after page. He'd watch from the corner of his eye as Kurt would rearrange his crossed legs, bring his thumb to his mouth to wet the pad with a dart of his tongue before turning the page once more. He wished there was a less creepy way of soaking in Kurt's presence—memorizing every little mannerism from the way he tapped his foot in mid-air to the way he would frown in concentration while he was reading, causing his eyes to narrow as two creases formed right above his eyebrows.

"Do you want me to leave?" Dave turned his head towards Kurt. He had almost forgotten that Kurt still needed to supply him with an answer, though he wasn't expecting him to respond in the form of another question. Kurt closed his magazine as he waited patiently for Dave to respond after marking the page he left off on with his finger—the sign of a momentary bookmark for those who knew it wouldn't be long before they would return to their reading.

"No!" Dave said a little too loudly. And quickly. He lowered his voice as he continued in what he hoped could pass as a more blasé tone. "I mean… I just thought you had somewhere else to be… Like school?" Dave nearly forgot it was a weekday. He didn't have his cell phone and there were no calendars on the wall so it was easy to forget, even after only 48 hours, what day it was.

"Hm?" Kurt had gone back to nonchalantly glancing through the magazine. "Oh, no…" he waved a hand dismissively. "I asked my dad if he could take me out of my classes for the rest of the day. It's fine. He understood." Kurt had arrived during what would be lunch time at McKinley. During the first hour Dave just assumed Kurt had a free period. After the two hour mark, he started to worry about getting Kurt into trouble if he was ditching. He let out a breath, somewhat relieved. He had caused enough trouble already. The last thing he wanted was to get Kurt in trouble as well.

"Oh…" Dave said quietly, fingering the device clipped to his finger as he tried to keep the hopeful inflection from coloring his voice. "I'd understand if you'd want to leave. There's not exactly a lot to do here."

"Then I guess we'll just have to do nothing together, then… Won't we?" Kurt said in a clipped tone, nearly interrupting him. Dave raised his head to meet Kurt's gaze once more. His perfectly pink lips were drawn tight and his expression looked serious. It was like he was challenging Dave to even try to kick him out or even mention him leaving again. The gentle, soft-spoken Kurt who reached for his hand earlier had reverted into the Kurt who had rhetorically told Dave how all those people who had a problem with him could go screw themselves.

Dave ducked his head gulping. Kurt really didn't have to do this. He didn't deserve this. And the fact that he enjoyed having Kurt here, whether or not they were both bored out of their mind, left him feeling all the more guilty.

Suddenly, though, Dave was being pulled from his remorseful stupor by a simple touch. He turned his head in confusion to find that Kurt was still focused on the magazine propped up against his leg. But then his eyes raked down the length of Kurt's body, sitting in the chair, only to follow the arm that stretched out towards his hand, which Kurt hand discreetly slipped his own, smaller hand, into.

Dave felt dizzy as the air evacuated his lungs. This wasn't like when Kurt held his hand when he first arrived. This was entirely superfluous. While he and Kurt agreed to be friends, he didn't think he would get used to Kurt's sudden willingness to touch him nor did he expect Kurt to want to.

Even though Kurt was staring at his magazine, Dave could tell by the twitch of Kurt's hand tightening around his own and the subtle smile pulling at the corners of his lips that his attention was elsewhere. As Dave laid his head back down upon the pillow, drawing a breath, he let his fingers curl and fill in the spaces between Kurt's fingers without saying a word. He knew better than to argue with Kurt. After all… His days of bullying people—no matter what the reason—had long been over.