Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. I don't own Dashboard Confessional (Hands Down). I really wish that I owned both, because then I could always listen to epic music and never have to wonder if Kurt and Karofsky could be happy together one day.

This will be Kurt/Karofsky, thus the M rating for future chapters.


Lima really isn't a big town. Even I know that…we will eventually run into each other. With one movie theater and one main date-night food-joint, it doesn't take a genius to figure it out.

The first time that I really see Kurt after I forced him to transfer is at the championship football game…Hummel has taken his seat early, strutting in right next to that cocky looking Dalton kid, his father, and what I recognize as Finn's Mom, making her Hummel's step-mother, I guess. She was nice enough when we were younger, bringing things like cupcakes for us on one of those meet-the-parent nights.

When I look at them, I can't help but think that Hummel looks nothing like his pops. Hell, how did his dad even accept that Hummel was gay? His father looks like a manly man, someone who could really pack a punch. This actually isn't the first time I've wondered this, and I absently rub my neck from the incident where the man shoved me against the wall. Even being sick he seemed like he at least thought that he could take me.

"Should we remind him that his type isn't welcome here?" Azimio asks as he sees me looking up into the stands and spots where my eyes are fixated. I just grunt, letting Az know that it really isn't worth the trouble anymore.

"Beiste is already mad, and I don't really want to get expelled…the old man would be pissed." Azimio seems to take this at face-value and he laughs, "Right, that fag isn't worth getting kicked out of school. Again." He laughs again at his own joke and punches me in the arm. Really, we both know that Beiste is just pissed at us for not manning up- as if that hasn't been enough of a problem for me lately. Regardless, I just gesture to Azimio to follow, and we start to walk towards the stands to watch the game go on without us.

"How is Beiste even going to play this game without us, man? Like, there aren't enough dudes on the field..." Azimio starts to ask. When the announcer comes over the intercom to introduce the Titans, it suddenly hits us how the game is still going to happen. We see some of the usual guys, the Glee guys, walk out onto the field, so we head towards them, first. Obviously this isn't surprising, they want to sing the damn song.

"It's not too late" Finn says, like he's offering us a life-line. I snort, "To commit social suicide?…How the hell you gonna play with five guys, huh?" I ask, and Finn answers me by looking towards the other players walking onto the field. I think we are all a little shocked when we see some of the Glee girls taking our places, these girls that can't possibly know how much it fucking sucks to be tackled by someone.

"You have got to be kidding me." I state. This is a stupid idea. Az apparently also thinks this is idiotic by tossing in his two cents, "What the hell are they doing?"

"What you don't have the balls to do." Finn replies before he runs off to join the girls while Azimio mutters "Stupid."

Really, this is a fucking stupid idea and they have to know it, too.

The game starts with a bang, and it's pretty easy to sort out the strategy- the girls just lie down on the ground as soon as the ball is snapped back. Our stands aren't that big, so it's easy to hear the girls squeal every time that they flatten themselves to the ground, and I can't help but wonder if the girls squealing is the only thing breaking the attention of the other team, keeping the Titans from being absolutely demolished. Maybe we should squeal like little girls next season and see if it works out for us.

Not long into the game, the only thought going through my head is that the game is awful. These girls are out on the field to prove a point, but that Berry chick is like 95 pounds soaking wet, she'll get flattened if she tries to actually do anything with the ball.

I know that that's my job out there, to protect. Even though I'm not too happy with the idea of protecting Hudson right now, it's not right to see those girls out there trying to take our places. I look over at Azimio and the rest of the group and laugh as he says "maybe this will remind Beiste how much she needs us," he pauses for a second while most of the guys agree, and then barks a short laugh "and remind them that singing is for losers." I laugh with the rest of the guys, but I think we are all ready to get out of there.

It's when one of the more courageous girls runs with the ball and gets tackled that we all finally realize how stupid this is. She was pretty ballsy, I admit it, but she could have really been hurt out there. That tackle wouldn't have taken me down, but I'm a hell of a lot bigger than she is. I don't think that I can watch the game anymore, and apparently I'm not the only one. One of the other guys asks if we should just go ahead and go get our stuff...we don't want to watch our team go down like this.

I'm not really sure why I follow the rest of the guys into the locker room, there really isn't any point for us to even be in here…we are fiddling with our lockers, shuffling items from one shelf to another, or like me putting some of my stuff in a bag to take home. It's not like I really need it, though, and it's not like we couldn't have gotten it really any other time.

It isn't long before Puckerman comes in and gives some impassioned speech on why we should be playing in the game. About how we are willing to be nothing instead of losers. I think I'm okay with that choice. Even my own hockey teammates thought that glee turned me gay, and I think I'd be pretty content with being nothing rather than being gay. It seems like it would be a hell of a lot easier that way.

So, I've taken my stance…a solid no. I'm not really sure how to take it back when Azimio tells me he wants his dad to be proud of him. So I straight up refuse. I'm not ready to concede. I can't, even though it feels weird that my boys are headed out onto the field for this and I'm not. And suddenly I'm all alone, just me and my big, fat, stupid pride.

I head back to the field with my bag over my shoulder, planning on just heading home and grabbing a bite to eat before the town is swarmed with parents and their kids after the game. Santana starts the song, and all I can think of is how much I wish I could let it go, have fun, and run out onto the field with the rest of them. I look up and the crowd is so into it. As much as I like to talk shit about Glee, when I really think about it, the football team is really the only group of guys that really, truly picks on them. At the assemblies and stuff people seem to get into them...right?

...I can't do it with Hummel in the crowd, watching. It's like I'm giving up. While everyone else has started to sing and dance, I'm on the sidelines, standing awkwardly with my bag full of the things from my locker.

I snap back out of my thoughts enough to watch what's going on in the half-time show. Holy shit, these people are really getting into it. Fuck, okay, maybe it IS worth it to play in the second half. That's the only reason I'm tossing on this jersey and running into the field, it has nothing to do with that gay speech Puckerman gave, and definitely nothing to do with the fact that even a little less animosity between Hudson and I means I won't have to feel as guilty. I run out onto the field, give Hudson a high-five to let him know I'm there, and take my place in the dance. It feels epic, to be out here and not really care what people are thinking just because I'm having fun. It probably doesn't hurt that I see Hummel beaming from the stands and for a minute I can pretend that he's smiling at me.

We win the game, and I think I can live on the high of winning and his smile for a while. When I make it back to my house, I run inside, hoping to catch my parents and tell them about what happened. I'm greeted by a note on the fridge "I left a casserole in the oven for you, sweetie, we will be back late. " It's not as good as having them home tonight, but I know they work hard, so it's not really unusual. I grab my phone to call them while preheating the oven.

"Hey sweetie!" She answers her phone enthusiastically "how did the game go?"

"It went well, ma, we decided to do the dance and play the second half, it was close but we pulled through and won 28-24," I explain. I hear her repeating what I say to my Dad in the background, and he seems pretty excited, too. "How is Dad's conference going?" I ask while they are talking in the background.

"I'm sorry that we couldn't be there, Davey," Mom says first "but I'm proud of you for playing hard. We are having a good time, but we wish that we could have been there for the big game. Enjoy the casserole, it's your favorite!" She says before she has to go, Dad is ready for dinner, and hangs up.

It's not that I'm not close to my parents, I like them, but things have changed a little since I knew I was gay, and they have felt the shift, too. I guess I'm just a little more reserved than they are used to, but that's not surprising, really. I don't even think that they wouldn't support me- I know that they love me and want me to be happy…it's not them I'm worried about being disappointed in me, it's me.

After I scarf down some dinner, I'm still feeling a little too revved up from the game and decide to go for a run. I text Azimio to see if he's home yet, maybe I should run over to his place, it's only a couple of miles away, and see if he's up for playing some Halo or something.

You home from the game yet?

He quickly answers that he is, so I grab my backpack and throw some stuff into it, just in case I stay too late and his mom convinces me to stay the night- not that that's hard…stay at his house where we get to sleep in and have pancakes for lunch or my house where no one is home? Not a hard choice.

I start my run and immediately feel some of my tension disappear. It's relaxing to run this time of year, I like the cold, it means I'm not sweating buckets while I'm jogging. It only takes me about 20 minutes to get over to Azimio's place, and he already has Halo out.

"Hey dude, you up for a game?" I laugh and toss my bag down "Hells yes" I grab a remote and we start to play, talking about nothing really at all. Finally, at about 1 he stops suddenly and looks at me, like he's just figured out something major. "What?" I ask, what the fuck is he on right now?

"I know, dude…" he starts, like he already wishes he hadn't said anything."You know what?" I reply, thinking that maybe he knew I mainly headed over here so I wasn't sleeping in an empty house on a night that I should be fucking jazzed about winning. "I know you're gay." I sit there, stunned, for a minute before I can even begin to come up with a reply.

Finally, "I'm not gay" pops out in a small voice, before I can stop it. "Dude, I've known you since I was two. You're gay."

"…how did you even…I mean, when?" I ask him. "I didn't know what the deal with Hummel was, I don't really like the guy, but you hated him. When he left, well, I could tell, I saw how you were changing- I'm not blind" he paused for minute before adding "and, really, you looked like you were going to charge the fucking stands and kill his new boyfriend. That was a little bit of a tip-off."

Sometimes I think that it's hard for me to remember that Azimio plays dumb, too, sometimes, because it's easier that way. There just aren't as many expectations when you're a dumb jock as there are when you make A's and B's. I hadn't noticed that he had been paying more attention, lately, but my attention was focused elsewhere. So, really not surprising, I guess.

Azimio takes my silence as confirmation. "I'm okay with it, man, just as long as you aren't into me and still play video games. I'm not going to start going to plays or the ballet or some shit with you, either. I might be your bro, but there's a line."

I laugh suddenly, not expecting this response from him. "Thanks, dude, just…thanks. Now, would you like me to kick your ass at Call of Duty, or are you cool with me just kicking your ass at Halo?" he punches me on the shoulder, "fat chance, either way" he laughs, and suddenly we are playing Halo again like nothing has changed between the two of us. But all I'm really thinking is how happy I am to know Az has my back, that we've won our game, and that things are pretty cool with the team. Life is pretty awesome, and I'm on top.