*Disclaimer, I own nothing you recognize*

I know Dave Karofsky is sort of a controversial character in this fandom. Some love him dearly, some hate his guts. Please don't send me hate messages based on your opinion. If you don't like my story that's one thing, but I hope you guys will just take the fic as simply a story and not some deep character analysis or whatever. This is just for fun!


Saturday, August 24th

David trailed awkwardly behind his father as they strolled into Target. He was playing closer attention to his phone than anything else and cursed when his character was devoured by monkeys yet again.

"What's that?" his father asked.

"Temple Run," he answered offhandedly, stuffing the phone into his pocket. "I lost anyway, so whatever." He snatched a printed list from the babyseat of the cart and looked it over.

"So basically I'm just looking for anything that I'd usually buy if I knew I had to pack for a vacation," he concluded as he read down the list of toiletries.

"Not just." Paul corrected. He flipped the list over to reveal recommendations for furnishings and the like.

"They don't give you any furniture?"

"Usually just standard stuff issued by the college. Desk, bed, chair, lamp. So here's what we'll do. I'll take the cart and go look at a dorm sized refrigerator, see what other things I might come across. You go get a basket and grab smaller stuff. Shampoo or whatever. Buy big sizes, it'll need to last you."

Dave hm'ed his understanding and wandered off, snatching an abandoned basket from the end of an aisle as he walked. He soon found himself in the 'shopping stupor,' staring aimlessly at a long line of men's body wash and deodorant brands. Finally, unsure why it had taken him so long to come to a conclusion, he snatched the stuff he normally kept in his shower and tossed it in the basket. He meandered down the aisle and across to another, eyeing the contents of the shelves that he ambled past. Toothpaste, floss, mouthwash, an extra toothbrush, a cool little do-hickey that capped your toothbrush and sanitized it too, shampoo, spray-gel, razors and shave cream, a generic first aid kit, he stopped just short of running into another customer that was the same height as him when he came to the end of an aisle.

"uh, sorry," he mumbled, trying to duck around the guy.

"Nice basket, Karofsky, got a vacation planned? Not coming back though, are you?" the teenager spoke sarcastically.

"Nah, Man. College actually. Moving in next week, but whatever," Dave mumbled. He tried to act as though the conversation was much less hostile than it actually was. He made to step around again but an arm blocked his way.

"They're letting you in?"

"Yeah, I got my acceptance letter before summer started. Look, Simon can you just let me though?" David asked, hoping to remain calm and praying that this wouldn't escalate.

"They making you share a room?"

"Yes, it's a corridor style residence hall for freshman." He began walking forward, and Simon backed up with him, keeping an arm in his way.

"Poor fucker getting stuck with you for a roommate," the kid taunted.

Sick of it, David reached out and grabbed at the arm blocking his path, intending to swing it down out of the way, but Simon recoiled harshly and quickly.
"Don't fuckin touch me, you sicko!" he raised his voice, though not enough that it could be considered shouting.

Dave opened both of his hands, palm up. "I'm not the one who's got a problem here," was all he said.

"Yeah, whatever, Man," Simon wrinkled his face at him and nudged his chin up threateningly. He began to walk away, knocking his shoulder roughly into David's. Then he reached out and grabbed a pink box from the shelf, tossing it swiftly into the basket that David still held. "Don't forget your tampons, Lady," he smirked and took off down the aisle without looking back.

David breathed and counted to ten. He fished the tampons from his basket and settled them back on the shelf. He turned the corner of the aisle and paused momentarily at a display of condoms along part of the wall. Beside the display were several shelves of gels and lubricants, then the pregnancy tests. Dave snorted. His hand hovered over a box of Trojans and he looked over his shoulder, feeling like he was five years younger. He looked at the box again but didn't take it. He shook his head mentally and left the pharmaceutical area of the store, wondering what department his father would be in by now.

When David finally found Paul, the cart was already well stocked with a mini fridge/freezer, clothing hangers, packing bins, stacking shelves, notebooks, a variety of other office supplies, a desk lamp, and a poster. Not mentioning the tampon bully, David pointed to the poster.

"What's that?"

"Blackhawks- thought you might like it."

"Who's on it?"

"Patrick Sharp."

"Excellent choice," David grinned appreciatively.

Paul cuffed the back of his head. "I only indulged you because he's got the whole uniform on. And don't think I would be buying you bikini pin-ups if you were straight."

David pretended to be very serious. "What, Dad? I only admire his athleticism and skill. Besides, no one needs pin-ups anymore. That's what the internet is for."

Paul closed his eyes. "I don't want to know." He settled the basket of Dave's toiletries on top of the cart and maneuvered it down an aisle, changing the subject. "Do you need an alarm clock?"

"No Dad, I've got my phone."

"Calculator?"

"No Dad, I've got my phone."

"They've got homework planner calendar things over here, David. Fifty percent off."

"That's because everyone just writes stuff in their phone now, Dad."

They passed the electronics section where there was a bin of $5 CDs. "Any music you wanted?"

"I'll download it on my phone."

"You know, when I went to school we had the entire damn car packed with crap and now you go and carry it all in your pocket."

"Yeah, Dad, and we don't have to ride dinosaurs anymore either."

"Hey!"

"My phone can't microwave stuff," David swiftly changed direction.

"Microwave it is." Paul chuckled and pulled the overfilled cart back toward the appliance section. "When I moved into my dorm at OSU your grandfather told me he had a gift for me," David's father explained as they perused the makes and models of microwaves.

"Hm?"

"Yup. A deck of cards. He told me I needed to bring a 'friend-maker' to school with me."

"What happened?"

"All the guys on my floor thought I was the weird anti-social kid that played solitaire in his room with the door open."

"No friends?"

"None that a deck of cards won me," Paul admitted. "But eventually I got to talking with the other boys, we found things in common, kept it touch with some. I'd say I certainly had friends while I was at school."

"How?"

"You know what a real friend-maker is?"

"What?"

"Be the guy that has food. Not all the time, because then they start schmoozing, but that first weekend the one who gets conversation going is the one that has all the food."

Dave checked the price on a decent sized black microwave and then reached back into the shelves for one that didn't have a crushed box. Balancing it in his arms he shuffled into a squat until he could shove it onto the rack beneath their overloaded cart.

"I don't really want to resort to bribery to make a friend, Dad."

Paul nodded understandingly. "You get your roommate assigned yet?"

"Yeah, they sent an email this morning."

"Recognize the name?"

"Nah, Dad. Everyone from both my schools that I know of is either staying super local or getting lost. BGSU is like an hour away and people in this town are either too scared to leave a 10 minute radius from home or desperate to get as far as possible."

Paul smiled. "I'm proud of you, Son."

"I know."

"So what's the roommate's name, then?"

"uh, Nicholai something. Goes by Nico. I thought about finding him on Facebook. Might do that later."

Paul was about to ask something else but Dave cut him off, taking control of the cart and steering it toward the front of the store.
"Dad I'm just feeling kind of tired of talking for now, ok? I think I'd like to just go home and start organizing or packing stuff up."
Paul looked him over carefully but nodded, willing to end the conversation for the time being.


Note: Another short background chapter. I'm estimating around 20 total chapters for the fic- I don't think it will be horribly drawn out.

Patrick Sharp is a particularly attractive player for the Chicago Blackhawks hockey team. You should Google him.

Please review!

-darkestAngel13