A/N: This is showing Dave's first official day as an apprentice! Just a heads up: I will most likely be writing and uploading these chapters out of order. When a new chapter is added, I'll place it where it belongs in the story line, so be on the lookout for that! Chapter titles should be the date of the events, so check there for changes!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee! Basically, if you recognize someone or something, it isn't mine. If it is mine, I'll stake my claim.

WARNINGS: Santana and Puck have potty mouths! There be foul language ahead, so if that's a no-no for you, turn back now, or forever wish ye had!

September 15th, 2012

Today was my first day officially apprenticing under Crazy Jim. I had been watching him work in the shop until he had ushered me into Clarisse's piercing studio. I was currently sitting back on one of her stools, flipping through a scrapbook she'd made of her piercings. She was late today, but it was cool. I'm pretty sure she'd called Crazy Jim saying she had car troubles, but I could be wrong.

Just as I was thinking about her, she burst through the door, several cups (in a drink holder) balanced with a box of donuts in her hands.

"Breakfast!" she chirped, depositing her purchases on the main desk before joining me in the back room.

"Morning, Dave. You ready to learn some more?" she asked, ruffling my short hair as she passed.

"Yeah. What's on the menu for today?" I asked, turning to face her.

"Well, first off, we're gonna pick some jewelry out for your stretching. You know I pierced you at a higher gauge than usual, and that you'll need to wait some more time before you start the stretching process, but it'll be nice to have when you are ready. That, and you can show it to your boyfriend when he visits in a month," she replied, rummaging through her case of body jewelry for something special.

"You remember how gauges work, right?" she asked, pulling out a few packages.

"Yeah. The larger the number, the smaller the hole. After double zeros, it goes to inch measurements," I answered.

"Good boy. You're currently at a fourteen, and I'm hoping to stretch you to at least a size 2, that is, if your boyfriend will allow it," Clarisse states, handing me a few packages of tapers and tubes.

"How long will it take me to reach size 2?" I asked, looking over the pieces of jewelry.

"A while, possibly a year? Maybe more if you do it correctly. If you stretch too fast, bad things can and will happen," Clarisse replies, pulling some new tools out of a plastic bag. They look like confetti punchers, but with a long, green handle.

"Clarisse, what are those?" I asked, gesturing to the afore mentioned tools.

"Oh. They're called Dermal Punches. Some people don't like to wait to stretch their ears, and start with a big gauge right away. We don't use it on ear lobes, but we sometimes use it on cartilage piercings. It's painful, and not many people can tolerate it," she replied, handing me one to look at.

It was basically a circle punch with a really sharp edge. Just the thought of pushing that through someone's ear was enough to make my stomach churn.

"Not your thing?" she asks, taking the tool out of my hands.

"I don't think so. It sounds painful," I reply, spinning around in the chair once more.

"It is. The guy who did my piercings tried to talk me into getting one done, but when I saw him punch my friend, I chickened out. It wasn't my thing either," Clarisse said, placing the last dermal punch in a drawer.

Before we could move on to the next lesson, we were interrupted by the arrival of a young girl and her mother.

"Hi, what can I do for you? My name is Clarissa and this is my apprentice, Dave," Clarisse said, introducing us.

"I want to get my bellybutton pierced," the girl said, her voice nervous.

"Okay, we can do that. Dave, will you explain the paperwork to the client and her mother? I'll get set up," Clarisse instructed, gesturing to the front desk.

"Sure. If you ladies will follow me, we'll get this show on the road," I said, rising from my seat. Fifteen minutes later, the paperwork was finished and Jen (our client) was laying back on the piercing table being disinfected by Clarisse.

"How long have you been into this scene?" Jen's mother asked, fixing me with a slight glare.

"Not very long, ma'am. I've only started apprenticing here recently," I replied, giving her my best "people-pleasing" smile.

"Pity. You should be going to school, boy, not working in a place like this," she grumbled, picking at her fingernails.

"I am going to school, ma'am. Getting my gen-eds done at a community college before I transfer to NYU," I said, annoyed with the woman.

"Weren't good enough to get in the first time?" she asked, distain evident in her voice.

Now I was angry. "I was accepted, but had to defer my admission for a year because I can't afford it, even with the scholarship they gave me. I'm taking the year to save up, hence the job," I grumbled, trying not to get snippy with the (vile) woman next to me.
"Dave, please come here. I want you to hold the base of the needle, so you can feel what it's like to pierce someone," Clarisse instructed. "Is that okay with you, Jen? He won't mess me up, I promise."

"Sure. He knows what he's doing, right?" the teenager asked.

"Hon, he's only started learning, but I promise you, everything will turn out fine. He's not actually doing the piercing, just getting a feel for how it goes down," Clarisse replied, clamping her navel. I joined the two with clean, gloved hands just as Clarisse lined up the needle.

"Okay, take a deep breath, and you're going to feel a little pinch," Clarisse instructed, waiting until Jen had inhaled to push the needle through the skin. It was a weird feeling. The needle met a bit of resistance at first, but as we were just a few millimeters in, the resistance gave way, allowing the needle to slide through with ease.

"The worst part is over," she said, corking the pointy end of the needle. "Now Dave will slide your jewelry in, screw on the top ball, and you'll be done."

I stared at my mentor. "Are you serious?" I asked.

"It's easy. I saw you practicing on the silicone molds yesterday, so I know you can do it, just be gentle. Pretend she's Kurt."

"Is Kurt your brother?" Jen asked, propping her head up on an arm to look down at me.

I flushed. "No, Kurt is definitely not my brother," I replied, my voice oddly high.

"Is he your best friend?" Jen's mother asked. I inwardly groaned.

"Sort of," I replied, threading the barbell through Jen's new piercing. She squealed as she pieced it all together.

"Oh my gosh! He's your boyfriend! That's so cute!" she squealed. I couldn't help the soft smile that appeared on my face. Just thinking about Kurt lightened my mood.

"Yeah, I love him a lot. He's attending college in New Your this year," I said, bragging slightly.

"Sweet! What's his major?" Jen asked.

"Fashion design, but I wouldn't be surprised if he switched to Modeling. As much as he loves designing clothes, he likes wearing them even more," I replied, screwing the silver ball onto the barbell.

"Do you have a picture of him? I totally want to see! I have a gay cousin, but I've only met him once. My Aunt died when I was five, so I haven't seen him in forever!" Jen gushed, sitting up slowly on the table.

"Yeah, just let me get my phone. Clarisse, will you clean her off?" I asked, pulling off my gloves.

"Sure. You don't get to show your boyfriend off often enough," she replied, picking up the antiseptic.

Flipping through my pictures, I found one of Kurt and I. Finn had snapped it when we weren't looking, and Kurt was beautiful in it.

"This is him," I said, handing her my phone. A soft smile overtook Jen's features as she regarded my screen.

"Is this man Kurt Hummel?" she asked, her voice soft.

"Yeah, but how did you-"

"He has Aunty Elizabeth's eyes. Mom, come look," Jen explained, holding the phone to her mother.

The woman just stared at my screen. "Yes, he does. He's grown a lot," she commented, handing my phone back, her face stony.

"Well, Jen, you're done. It looks like Crazy Jim is ringing you up. Thank you for your business," Clarissa said, disposing of the soiled materials.

"Come on, Jen, let's get you home," her mother said, walking out of the back room to pay.

"Sorry about my mom. She's really against people who are different. It took a lot of begging to get my piercing," Jen said, descending from the table.

"Jen, it's okay. I'm used to being treated like that," I commented, flashing her a smile.

"I'm so coming back to get more work done when I'm eighteen! You'll do if for me then, right, Dave?" Jen asked.

"Sure, if I'm still here. Otherwise, I'm sure that Clarisse would be more than happy to pierce you," I replied, offering the girl my hand.

"Deal, but if you're in New York, I want to come there instead. Besides, I want to meet Kurt," she said, accepting my hand shake.

"Sounds like a plan, Jen. Now you might want to go before your mother drags you away," I instructed, holding the door for her.

"Okay. Bye, Dave! And thank you both for your work!" the young girl chirped. As soon as she was in the main shop, her mother latched onto her arm and dragged her out of the shop and around the corner, her face set in a deep frown.

"Well that was interesting," Clarisse commented, coming to stand next to me, a hand resting on my shoulder.

"Yeah. I never thought I'd ever meet some of my boyfriend's homophobic family while helping you work on a customer," I said, musing more to myself than to her.

"Why don't you go get some coffee and call Kurt? It looks like you need to talk to him," the woman said, squeezing my shoulder slightly before turning back to her materials, re-organizing them for the third time this week. Following her orders, I exited the shop, walked to the nearest coffee house, and called Kurt. Clarissa was right. I just needed the comfort that my boyfriend gave me, even if he was a couple hundred miles away running between classes.

A/N: Aaaand, cut! That's a wrap for this scene! If there's something you'd like to see, drop me a review! If you loved it and want to give me feedback, drop me a review! If you hated it and thought it was the worst thing you've ever read, why are you still here? Eh, you could drop me a review too if you wanted to. :) Thanks for reading, everyone! Hopefully I'll have some more things posted soon!

Cheers!

~Musicxisxmyxlife753