Disclaimer: I do not own Glee.
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Monday
Sunday night I slept better then I had in weeks and woke up at about six, thirty minutes before my alarm was set to go off. I rolled over to turn off the alarm and I noticed that the little "text received" indicator was flashing on my phone.
"The hell?" I grabbed the cell and opened my inbox, grinning when I saw who the text was from.
There, on my phone's little screen were two simple words: "Morning, Dave! :)"
"Breath, Karofsky," I said under my breath. "Its no big deal. Just a text."
My hands shook as I responded. "hey, alex. dude what time did u get up"
"5 i'm kinda nervous & excited"
"don't be. itll be fine"
"K CU soon"
"l8r hon"
It wasn't until after I had hit send that I realized what I'd typed. "Oh, shit."
A few seconds later my phone went off again and I cringed. I opened the newest message and couldn't help but laugh. "See you school babe :P"
I was tempted to respond but decided to leave well enough alone and rolled out of bed. After showering and taking way more time then usual getting dressed - I opted for a pair of slightly baggy jeans, white t-shirt and a blue button down - I headed downstairs to have breakfast with my folks.
"Morning!" I said as I dropped into my usual seat next to my dad.
He grunted and lowered his morning paper just enough to offer me a hesitant smile over its edge. "Well, you seem to be in a better mood."
"Yeah. I guess I am. Thanks, Mom" I added as she set a full plate of eggs and bacon down in front of me.
"Is there any particular reason for this sudden change in your personality," Dad asked, setting his paper aside in favor of his coffee.
"I don't know, Dad. Things just seem better today." I shrugged and started shoveling food into my mouth as fast as I could.
"What did you do yesterday, honey?" Mom smiled, ruffling my hair as she slid into her seat.
"Just hung out for a while with a friend." I shrugged and focused even more intently on my plate.
"Oh? Azimio?"
I glanced up at Dad's tone, brow furrowing. "Uh, no. Name's Alex. He's pretty okay."
"You should invite him over sometime. I don't think we've met him."
"Yeah, maybe," I said after roughly clearing the lump from my throat.
My folks nodded, letting it drop and I stood, kissing Mom's cheek quickly before heading for the door. I grabbed my keys and backpack and walked out without another word, leaving my varsity jacket hanging.
The drive to school passed in a blur and I was unbelievably early. Hopping out of the truck, I grabbed my IPod and headed up to the front of the school. Settling on the low retaining wall a few yards from the door, I put my ear buds in and hit shuffle, then play.
I let my eyes wander as Tourniquet by Evanescence obliterated the early morning quiet. Over by the fence that ringed the football field I could see Azimio and a couple of other guys from the football team pushing and shoving at each other as they chatted; oddly enough, I had no urge to go talk to them so I let my eyes move on, stopping only when a brilliant flash of sunlit, fire engine red and blue-black caught my attention.
Standing, I toggled down the volume and tugged the cord until one of the little buds fell out of my ear. "Yo! Alex!"
"Hey!" Grinning, he jogged towards me and I felt my face go utterly slack when I saw what he was wearing. He was still absolutely the most gorgeous guy I'd ever seen and his fashion sense sure as hell beat Hummel's but I had this awful feeling that he wasn't even going to make it to first period without getting slushied.
His jeans were black and tight, though not as tight as Kurt tended to wear, and the Converse trainers he had on were the exact same blue as the polo I'd worn on Sunday. But his t-shirt dragged a groan out of me. I didn't know whether to be horrified, angry or turned on.
I mean, I'd told him I wasn't out and I'd also told him that being out was a bad idea but then he showed up at school in this white t-shirt that was so tight I could almost count his abs from like ten feet away. Across his chest was what looked like an elongated orange rectangle, all 3D with the slogan "+3 Gay Prides" written inside in rainbow colors.
"Alex..."
"Yeah?"
"Your shirt," I muttered as I stood up, glancing towards the football field where, thankfully, Az and the guys were still horsing around. Just to be safe I maneuvered so that I was standing between the jocks and my new friend.
"Oh. Yeah." He sighed and hung his head, bangs falling over his face. It took every ounce of willpower I possessed not to reach out and brush them back so I could see his face.
"Yeah. You realize that you are going to get harassed, right?"
"Yup. You warned me. Look, Dave, I'm sorry if it makes you uncomfortable but this is the first time that I can just be me. Back home... Well, I told you why my parents sent me here, yeah?"
Nodding, I cast another glance over at Az and crew then reached out to brush his bangs out of his face. I grimaced, my chest aching, when I saw the sadness in his eyes and the tight line of his lips "'S'okay. Listen, if anyone gives you shit, tell me. Even if it means I have to lay it all out for them I'll put a stop to it."
I blushed when he looked up, meeting my eyes with this huge smile on his face.
"Thanks," he said softly, shoving his hands into his pockets. "So. What's your first class?"
"Spanish with Mr. Shuester. You?"
"Same."
"Cool. I suppose you need to stop at the office and get your locker assignment and stuff, right," I asked as I thumbed off my IPod and tucked it away in my backpack.
"Yeah. Walk with me?"
"Sure thing. C'mon." I turned and headed towards the building, Alex falling in next to me, our shoulders touching lightly like they had at church just as Azimio called my name.
"Or not. One sec. 'Sup, Az?" Taking a deep, hard breath I slung my arm around Alex's shoulders in what I hoped was a casual manner and turned.
"Not much, Dave. Saw you when you got here. How come you didn't come hang?" Az thumped me in the shoulder with more force then was necessary. He didn't even look at Alex, not at first, and it irked me.
"'Cause I was waiting for my buddy, Alex," I said, watching Azimio carefully. He glanced at Alex, then back at me, his brows furrowing slowly.
I tensed; every muscle in my body tightened up and I stepped a little in front of Alex while watching a storm of conflicting emotions roll across Azimio's blunt face. Even though I was prepared, the words that tumbled out of his mouth in a rush of confused hate rocked me back on my heels.
"The hell? Since when do you hang out with faggy little pansy asses," he asked, lips curling in disgust as he swept his eyes over Alex.
Az took his time and Alex shrank against my side, trying to make himself even smaller. Thankfully, he stayed quiet and Az turned his attention back to me, jabbing a finger in my chest almost like an afterthought.
I didn't respond, couldn't respond as this wave of disgust and anger and shame rolled through me. I felt feverish, shaky and wondered what my face must have looked like since Azimio actually took a step back.
"C'mon, Alex," I said, voice rough. I gently urged him towards the doors. He moved sluggishly and I think all that kept him from breaking down was the weight of my arm across his shoulders.
Alex pulled away once we got inside and my stomach did this weird, sickening little flip. I mean, I knew I'd only known him for a day but this quiet, frightened guy wasn't what I was used to.
I walked him to the office, waiting just outside the door while he got his locker assignment and combo, then I showed him to his locker and walked with him to class.
"Uh, Alex?" I stopped just outside the door to Mr. Shuester's room and set my hand on his shoulder, squeezing lightly. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything."
He shrugged, refusing to look me in the eye and my stomach did that weird ass thing again. "Its fine."
"No. No, its not. I know its not," I said in a rush. "I had to walk away, Alex, cause when he said those things I just wanted to hit him. And that wouldn't have done anyone any good, right?"
Alex peeked up at me through his bangs and I ducked my head, chewing on my lower lip. When he offered me this tiny little nod and bumped his shoulder against mine I knew that we'd be okay. Obviously, he wasn't happy with me, even a Neanderthal like me got that, but I knew we were okay.
We sat next to each other in Spanish and things were okay for the most part. I could feel Azimio's glare digging into the back of my skull and the strange look Mr. Shuester gave me when I shared my book with Alex made me squirm but the hour passed without anything major happening.
Alex and I hung back a minute after class, letting Az and a few other jocks clear out. We had different lunches so I gave him directions to his next class and made plans to meet him by his locker after school so I could walk with him to his car.
The rest of my day passed in a blur of avoidance. Except when I had no choice but to talk to them during class, I avoided Azimio and pretty much everyone else from the football team. They, however, used every opportunity they had to harass me about Alex; it got so bad in a couple of our classes that the teachers actually made us sit on opposite sides of the room.
My last class of the day was chemistry and it was hell. We had forty-five minutes to complete a relatively simple but time consuming titration. As Az and I were lab partners I had no choice but to work with him.
"Seriously, what is with you and that fag, Dave?"
"Dude, Az, let it go. We need to get this done."
"Let it go? Karofsky, a couple weeks ago and you would have been torturing that fag! I don't get it."
"I got expelled for what I did to K-Hummel, remember?" Sighing, I grabbed my notebook and started measuring out the chemicals we needed.
Az shrugged. "So what man. He deserved it. Stupid little freak. And this guy ain't much better. I mean, what the hell was up with his shirt? What does plus three gay whatever mean anyway?"
"Its a joke, Az. Makes me think of stats in like D&D or something. I dunno." I shrugged and tried to focus on the work but Az just kept going. Eventually, I tuned him out. Still didn't get the titration done so we failed the assignment.
Az took off when the bell rang, leaving me to clean up. I got it done in record time, grabbed my back and headed out into the still crowded hall.
Its odd, but without my varsity jacket people didn't really seem to notice me. Only a few kids, like Rachel Berry and that Mercedes chick from Glee bothered to get out of my way. I had to weave my way around everyone else so it took me forever to get where I was going.
I neared the place I was supposed to meet Alex just as Azimio and a couple other guys from the team were walking away from him, Finn and Sam with empty slushie cups in hand.
Finn and Sam were covered in red, syrupy ice; it dripped down their faces and was soaking into their clothing. Finn, who was awkwardly patting Alex's wet, blue-stained shoulder stepped quickly in front of him as I approached.
"D-Dave!" The look in Alex's brown eyes nearly broke my heart and I held my hand out to him without thinking. As a gesture it wasn't much but the looks of shock on Finn's and Sam's faces was priceless.
"Hey." Alex grabbed my hand and I curled my fingers around his, gently tugging him towards me. Sam stepped aside. Finn moved more slowly, this goofy, confused look on his face. I stared him down, daring him to say anything. I nodded when Finn finally looked away and tucked Alex neatly against my side.
Letting go of his hand I draped my arm across his shoulders, shuddering at the thick, goopy feel of the slushie. "C'mon. Lets get you cleaned up."
"Thanks."
"I shoulda gotten here faster. I'm sorry." I held open the bathroom door for Alex and followed him in. A stern look at the couple of boys already in there had them clearing out.
"Its not your fault, Dave. I'm fine. Really. Just wet and cold and blue." Alex grinned at me as he wet a handful of paper towel and I couldn't help but grin back.
I dropped my backpack and stood there, just behind him, watching his face in the mirror as he cleaned up. I don't think he noticed because his smile faded away to nothing and I know I saw tears in his eyes. He managed to get all the syrup off of his face and out of his hair but after a solid minute of scrubbing his shirt was still blue and covered in tiny bits of brown paper.
"Here," I said, hurriedly unbuttoning my shirt as he furiously blinked away the tears. "You can wear this. I've got a t-shirt on so it'll be fine. I mean, its gonna be a little big on you, but still."
"Thank you."
"No probs." I tried not to look as Alex stripped off his shirt but I couldn't help it. Seeing him without his shirt was hot, despite the circumstances, but seeing him in my faded blue button down was hotter.
The shirt was huge on him; it fell almost to his knees and the short sleeves, which only hit my biceps, fell just past his elbows. "Huh."
"Huh, what?" Alex blinked at me as he wadded up his shirt and tossed it into the trash.
Swallowing hard I offered him a smile. "Nothin', Alex. Looks good on you. That's all."
"You're blushing."
"Am I?"
"Oh, yeah. Right now, your face is almost as red as that blonds was after he got slushied."
"Huh. Um, I its probably safe to leave now."
"Yup." Alex grinned and pressed his palm against my chest, right above my frantically beating heart.
"So, we should go," I said slowly.
"Yup."
His grin softened and he leaned towards me, rising up on his toes. I met him halfway, my hands clenched at my sides, and gasped in surprise as he nuzzled his lips across my chin.
"We really should go," he said as he pulled away. His cheeks were flushed and his lips just a little pink from the little bit of stubble on my face.
"Yeah." I grinned and grabbed my backpack before heading to the door. "You comin'?"
We walked out to the parking lot in silence, both of us smiling. I escorted Alex to his car and after a quick look around I pressed a kiss to his cheek, laughing when he blushed and poked me in the side.
I waited until he'd taken off before heading home myself.
Mom was in the kitchen when I walked through the door, working on dinner and I stopped to give her a quick hug, which made her giggle, before heading upstairs to do my homework.
Sometime after dinner, while I was camped out on my bed struggling through the "Canterbury Tales", Alex called. We talked about everything that had happened at school and made plans to hang out after practice on Tuesday.
I fell asleep with a smile on my face and this time, when I had the dream, it was Alex I was kissing, not Hummel.