A/N: Yeah, I gave Karofsky glasses. I know it's unlikely to "suddenly" develop sight problems in high school, but it happened to me halfway through Senior year. Also, I think he'd look really hot with glasses.

Blood, Sweat, and Tears

Dave Karofsky's summer is going great. He doesn't have to deal with school; he can just hang with Az and his other buddies. Of course, they have jobs. He has a job, too. His day off was last Monday, and he went with Az and Johnathan to the fair. He was on his way back from buying more tickets when he saw Evans and a kid – probably his little brother. Sam'd lost his wallet, so Dave paid for their frozen lemonade. It wasn't anything big, just that it was that kind of day. Summer is filled with those kinds of days: the ones where Dave doesn't have to worry about his grades or his family, the ones where Dave doesn't care that maybe, just maybe, he's gay, the ones where no one's going to avoid him because he's a bully, the ones where no one's judging him because it's just him and people he trusts. He wants it to be like that when school starts, but he's the bully. People are scared of him, or they hate him. He feels bad about it sometimes, but most of the time he does it because he can't think of another option – if he doesn't show how tough he was, people might start to think he's looking at guys for the wrong reason. Too bad the wrong reason is the correct one.

It's Sunday now, though, and Dave is working. He has his glasses on; he just got them on Wednesday. Sometimes he forgets to wear them since they're so new. He hadn't realized just how bad his eyesight was until he put them on for the first time. He's near-sighted, and his mom teases him about how it was because his nose is always in a book. That's what's good about working at Barnes and Nobles, though; he gets an employee discount. He's shelving books in the kids' section when he sees a kid reaching for something on the top shelf.

"Can I help you?" Dave asks. Oh. It's the kid from Monday, Sam's brother.

The kid must recognize him, too, because he gasps. "You're the guy who bought us lemonade!"

"Yeah." Dave smiles. "What do you need?"

"Can you reach the Vampirates series?"

"Sure. Which one do you want?"

"Blood Captain and Black Heart, please." The boy looks up at him. "Your name's David, right?"

"Yes, sir."

The kid smiles. "I'm Danny!"

"Hi, Danny."

"Do you know where Sam is?"

"Um, no."

"He told me which section he'd be in, but I can't remember. It wasn't science fiction."

"Probably young adult."

"Where's that?"

"I'll show you." Danny holds his hand as Dave tugs him along the shelves.

There's Sam, loose tee, baggy pants. Dave can see a slice of his boxers clinging to his hips. Dave looks away.

"Sam!" Danny lets go of Dave's hand and races over to Sam, books in hand.

"Hey, Danny." Sam glances at Dave and does a double-take. "Oh, hey. I didn't know you worked here. Or had glasses."

"Yeah, they're, uh, new." Dave puts a hand to them. "I'm still getting used to them."

"They look good." That's just the wrong thing for Dave to hear from a guy whose ass Dave was just staring at.

"Thanks." He looks down at Danny. "Is that all?"

"Actually," Sam interrupts, "do you know if you have audio books of this?" He holds out a book, Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld.

"Audio books are by the front, but if they're not there, I can check in the back."

"Sam, you have that book at home; why do you want the audio book?" Danny asks.

"I want to listen to it in the car, Squirt." Sam bites his lip, though, so maybe that's not entirely true.

The set isn't in the front, so they follow Dave to the door that leads to where everything is stocked. It takes Dave a few minutes, but he finds the audio set.

"Here you are."

"Thanks," Sam says quietly.

Dave walks away and finishes work. His thoughts don't return to Sam until just before bed. When he takes off his glasses, he thinks about how Sam said they looked good, then he thinks about the sliver of underwear he got to see hugging Sam's hips... his skin... Dave wants to grab it, feel that ass under his hands. He wonders what those lips taste like, the lips everyone makes fun off. He wants to kiss those abs, lick that line just inside his pelvis, hear Sam whisper to him. He wants Sam's hands on – and then Dave stops thinking about it. He rolls over and screams into his pillow. His summer was going so fucking great; he can't let Sam screw it up now. But it's not Sam's fault; he knows that. The dude isn't even gay.

When he goes to see his therapist on Tuesday, Dave doesn't say anything about Sam. He doesn't say anything about being gay; he hasn't told his therapist, not in all this time.

"How are you doing, Dave?" Mrs. Allester asks.

"Well," he answers. "The job is going well. I'm thinking about going to the fair again."

"You went last week, didn't you?"

"Yeah." He wants to go and see Sam again, but he's not going to say that. Not that Sam is going to be at the fair.

He almost doesn't go because none of his friends can go and because he knows it's stupid to just go somewhere and hoping to see a guy when he hasn't even hinted that he's going to be there. He goes anyways, and it's weird, but he keeps seeing kids who're in Glee. Santana's digging into funnel cake, walking next to Brittany, who's pushing Artie. Then there's Berry and that black girl, the one Az had a crush on; what's her name? They're talking with Kurt and his preppy boyfriend. So maybe Sam is here. In fact, he turns up right behind Dave at the ice cream stand. Sam taps his shoulder, and when Dave turns around, he almost jumps.

"Dude, you scared me."

Sam smiles. "I didn't think you'd be here again."

I didn't think you'd be here, either. He can't say that, though. "I didn't think you'd be at a bookstore."

"Thanks for helping us, by the way." He's so pretty. Dave wants to reach out and touch his hair. "Let me buy your ice cream."

"No way."

"You bought our frozen lemonade."

"Okay, fine." Sam smiles again, and Dave can't help but smile back. "So whaddyou want?"

"A fruit pop."

"Cool. I'm getting an ice cream cookie sandwich."

After he buys it, Sam wanders aimlessly with Dave around the fairgrounds.

"So, are you here alone?" Dave asks.

"Not really," Sam replies. "Rachel wanted us all to meet up and have fun. It sounded like a good idea."

"Is it?" Dave bites into the Popsicle; it tastes like strawberry.

"It was. We were all hanging earlier, but then everyone split up into their little groups."

"Who'd you split with?"

"Puck, but then he ran off when he saw Lauren," Sam admits.

"Lame," Dave scoffs.

"It doesn't really matter; I'll catch up with them later." Sam wipes some ice cream off his face.

"So, why'd you want the audio book?"

"I, uh, I'm dyslexic."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"It's cool. My brother doesn't know, though."

"Oh." That seemed like a dumb secret to keep, but what did Dave know? He was the youngest of the family.