Dave understood more than the most the downfalls of fashion. Being both an avid fan, and a potential employee of the industry, he knew that it didn't matter what you wore; there was always going to be some part of your body he abhorred. Some were easily hidden, but others were more difficult. A flat chest as easily compensated with a riffle technique; wide figures could be slim lined with pinstripes (in moderation, of course—there was fashion forward and then there was looking like a Tim Burton wet dream).
Personally, Dave didn't like his arms. It was an odd thing to hate about one's self, but it was true. His arms were just… unattractive. They were just there as a constant reminder of what the rest of his body looked like. His chest and legs were always hidden under the many layers of clothing he dressed himself in, but his arms weren't as easy to hide. Especially not when the washing machine was busted and he was out of long-sleeved shirts.
In his years at William McKinley High School, no one outside his gym class had seen his arms. No one ever commented anyway, but he still felt the self-conscious waves of worry and he looked at them now.
God damn it.
"Blaine, I don't want to do this," Dave said with a sigh.
Blaine looked over at Dave, and put a hand on his shoulder. "You look amazing, like you always do. Don't think about it."
Dave grip tightened on the steering wheel. Damn it… this was just pathetic; it wasn't like anyone ever paid attention to him anyway. No one would see the flabby, hairy, doughy excuses he called arms. They'd be too busy shopping. This wasn't a big deal. He could do this. It would be fine.
"Courage," Blaine said with a smile.
And that was all he needed; the soft word of encouragement that had become a mantra over the years. Courage. "… Okay." He climbed out the car, and grabbed his side satchel from the back seat. "Come on- we need to get you something that doesn't need a bow tie."
"I don't see what's wrong with them!"
Dave laughed and locked the car. "They're cute. But you're painting a bulls-eye on yourself. It would be nice for you to experience a slush-free first day." He smiled. "That and you'd look hot in some fashionable clothes.
"I… think that's a compliment. More of a slur on my clothes, really…"
Dave laughed once more, and led the way in to the mall.
When Blaine had told him he was moving to Lima, Dave was beyond excited. He loved his Glee friends more than anything, but Blaine had always been his best friend, ever since their dads started working together at the Westerville Law Firm. When his dad left to open his own firm, Dave and Blaine remained close friends. They grew up together—Dave, Rachel and Blaine, the three musketeers, the golden trio, Gene, Donald and Debbie!
Dave still found it amazing that he was always cast as the comic relief, even when he had assigned the Singing in the Rain cast roles himself.
Ultimately, though, geography kept them apart. Weekends were their time; they could shop, see movies, stay over… holidays were the best. But come term time, they were left with two days a week, sometimes less if commitments got in the way. It was a hard time, but it was worth it for those weekends.
But now, after Blaine's parents had the divorce…
So what did this mean in the long run? Well, their dad's would once again be firm partners, and probably football buddies. The Andersons would be moving to Lima permanently, and not all that far from the Berry household. Blaine would move from Dalton to McKinley. It was a silver-lining, even if it was a small one. Blaine and his mother never really got on, but she was still his mother; he took the divorce hard.
Dave had always mothered his friends, but Blaine in particular. Maybe it was the ridiculous height difference, or maybe it was the year gap, but Dave and Blaine had always had that sort of relationship. There was never anything romantic between them.
… Okay, there was that week in sixth grade, and that month they spent at camp years ago, but that was it! Honest.
Blaine wasn't Dave's type. Dave's type was always straight. Every single fucking time he dared to let himself fall for a boy, he was always playing for the other team. It should be so hard to find a gay man in Ohio.
Instead, he always ended up falling for the clearly heterosexual; aggressive, strong… muscled and big. Of course, finding any man bigger than himself was the equivalent of trying to find genuine Prada on the street stalls of New York. He would happily forsake that for someone who didn't expect him to top all the time.
He'd given up on finding love in Ohio; instead, he looked forward to college and Chicago. But for that to happen, he needed to give it his all this year. He had a portfolio to complete, an application to fill out; who had time for love anyway?
"Dave, are you okay?" Blaine asked, putting a delicate hand on Dave's shoulder.
"Musing. Come on; let's go talk you out of those hideous red jeans you're eyeing up."
"You don't let me have any fun!"
In the end, Dave had been unable to deter him form the scarlet monstrosity. Still, at least he had managed to convince him that getting the yellow ones as well would be like painting a target on his back.
They sat in the food court, eating fries and debating Colin Firth in Mamma Mia.
"He was adorable," Dave said with a fond smile.
Blaine laughed. "It was an embarrassment."
"He played the comic relief."
"And he doesn't do it well. I'm sorry, but he was embarrassing to watch."
He took a drink of his milkshake and shrugged. "You just have no taste."
Blaine stuck his tongue out. "Bathroom break; be right back!"
Dave waved him off, and took a moment to investigate his purchases. A new sketch book, the last of his English text books, a gorgeous scarf…
Honestly, this year was going to drag by; one more year, and he'd be completely free and Chicago-bound.
He heard the shrill sound of the chair next to him being pulled out, and he looked up. He met the gaze of warm blue eyes, surrounded by blonde curl.
Dave grinned. "Hey Brittapuff."
"Davey Bear!" Brit cried, launching at him for a hug.
Dave laughed and hugged her back. "Are you here for school stuff?"
"No! I'm on a date."
Now there was an interesting development. He had been urging Santana to make it official with Brit for a while now, just to let the blonde girl know where she stood. He smiled approvingly. "Great! Anyone I know?"
"Uh, Brit?"
"Hi Kurtle!"
Dave looked up, startled. There he was; Brit's date, looking down at them, clutching their tray of food. Brittany was dating… Kurt Hummel.
… Did he have death wish? Santana was going to kill him for this.
Dave attempted a warm smile. "Hi Kurt."
"Uh, yeah." He said dismissively. "Brit, I thought you were getting a table."
"I did!"
"Well, yeah, but—"
She frowned. "I just wanted to tell Davey about our date."
Kurt looked at Dave, regarding him with an odd curiosity, and some other identifiable emotion that shone in his brilliant blue eyes. Dave offered a cautious smile. "Um… hi?"
Kurt looked down. "Brit, we should eat…"
"Oh! Yeah!" She grinned. "See you later, Davey."
He sighed. "Bye then…"
Not one single, solitary attempt to talk to him as a person; that would make this new relationship difficult to work around. If Brit caught on that her boyfriend didn't like Dave… well, she'd have to make a choice that Dave wasn't sure he'd win.
"Oh, Brittany! Who's this?"
Dave looked up to see Blaine returning.
"Hi Blaine!" she said happily.
That was enough for Kurt. He took hold of Brittany's hand, and pulled her towards a free table on the far side of the food court. Dave watched them walk away, with the vaguest sense of sadness. Blaine returned to his seat, confused by the pair, but otherwise happy
"Well, he was cute… who was he?"
Dave smiled. "Brit's date… that was Kurt Hummel."
Blaine's chocolate eyes widened in apprehension, his mouth falling in to a comical 'o' shape. "So he's the one who—ahh… want me to talk to him for you?" he offered.
"No, it's fine; he won't get laid unless he keeps Brit happy. He can do whatever he wants," he said with a shrug.
Blaine glanced over at the pair, who seemed too preoccupied in conversation to notice their spy. "Still, he is the hottest homophobe you've ever had to deal with."
"No question," Dave said with a laugh. "He's not overtly rude. He's just… standoffish."
In Dave's experience, there were two kinds of homophobe. There was the kind like Kurt, who was docile and sometime amiable, until they were confronted with something that offended their delicate sensibilities. In Kurt's case, his trigger seemed to be Dave; just Dave.
The other kind was overtly judgemental, sometimes violent. In that category, he could firmly place the other McKinley Titans, and his mother…
He often wondered, during Kurt's random spiteful outbursts, what he ever did to earn such an outright hatred. Sometimes, he thought that Kurt had caught on to a past crush…
It was four years ago that Dave Karofsky saw Kurt Hummel for the first time. Kurt had been his first serious crush, but undoubtedly heterosexual. Worse, whenever Dave tried to approach him, Kurt would freeze. As the reaction became more aggressive, Dave was forced to accept that the crush would yield no fruition, and move on.
Maybe that was it; Kurt was afraid he still liked him.
Wonderful.
Dave sighed. "Come on, we better get going."
The pair picked up their trays, disposed of them, and left, happily discussing their plans for the Glee Club auditions, and other clubs Blaine may consider joining.
Kurt watched their retreating figures and sighed. He at least managed to utter a few words to him without clamming up. That had to count as some kind of victory. And since when had Davey had those sexy arms of iron?
He definitely needed to wear short sleeves more often.
He turned his gaze back to Brittany, who just couldn't grasp the situation. She was drinking her strawberry shake with a childish pout. "I don't see why all four of us couldn't have gone on a date! We would have had way more fun!"
"Brit, we're not on a date though."
"Me and 'Tana date like this, so we've got to be."
Kurt resisited the urge to his head off the table; honestly, he could hit that bitch sometimes; her stupidly transparent closet made his closet that harder to deal with. "Well, yeah, but that doesn't mean all shopping trips are dates, you know?"
"Davey was on a date."
… Oh. "He was, huh?" He glanced to where they were sitting. That tiny, hair-gelled pretty boy was the boyfriend Puckerman always brought up? They did seem pretty close. And hadn't Brit called him Blaine?
That still wasn't a damn name! "That's… the boyfriend then?"
"Not yet. But Rachel says soon," Brit said with a knowing nod.
So it was a matter of playing the waiting game. Fan-fucking-tastic. "Yeah, okay then…"
Now there was something to tell Tumblr; the misadventure of his not-a-girlfriend telling his gay crush and his boyfriend that he was taken. Where was the justice, really?
Strangely, he'd actually gained followers, which was kind of weird to think about. It was like people reading his diary or whatever. But screw it; if they got some kind of schadenfreude from it, let them laugh. He was sure to cause some kind of riot with this hellish almost-double date.
And it had helped; he felt a bit lighter after he poured his heart out to the internet. It was cathartic to know he could talk it out and not be judged.
Brittany seemed oblivious to Kurt's inner-musings as she happily danced her fries through the vivid smear of ketchup. She beamed up at him. "I'm really enjoying our date, Kurtle!"
Kurt laughed tiredly. She wasn't going to give in to his way of thinking; it was best to indulge her. "Yeah… me too."
Sorry about the delay! There was a wedding, and I was ill... this completely slipped my mind!
Anyway, thank you so much for all your kind reviews! And thank you to xechada who went ahead and liked everything... that was so sweet :D
Please, follow Kurt's fully functioning Tumblr. And feel free to leave him asks. He'll answer what he can!
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