Chapter 1, Part 2
Story flinched when he heard the sound of another body hitting the locker, and was grateful that it wasn't his own because that one seemed worse than the one that he received. Curiously, he lifted his eyes to see who they were going after next only to see that it was one of the jocks that was locker checked by a much larger man. Story's eyes were wide as he watched this guy frighten off the jocks like dogs with their tails between their legs before he went back to his locker and got his own bag.
Story bit his lip and adjusted the things that were clutch desperately to his chest, his fingers sore from holding on till his knuckles were white for a little too long. He winced softly as they loosened up, looking down at them as he noticed feet in front of him. Slowly, the younger teen looked up, by quite a bit. This guy was huge.
He nodded, smiling softly, his frightened rabbit-like expression fading completely. "It's okay, really, it's not nearly as bad as my old school. There were a few kids that got locker checked so hard that they had fractured shoulder blades and stuff like that. So honestly, here is like getting pushed around by infants." He didn't admit that he was one of the victims that ended up with worse damage than having a bit of a scarred high school life. He had to have surgery to repair his shoulders because of the way he hit the locker that day tore the tendon.
"Thank you, it's good to know that there are people that still care about the little guy getting pushed around." He didn't know if there was much else to say. Aside from the fact that this guy just swooped in like a knight in shining armor and took down the bullies that had hurt him. What was Story supposed to think? He tugged at his lip with his teeth slowly, looking down at his books for an awkward moment before remembering something. "Oh! I forgot to introdu-" The sound of a long beep aired over the intercom and Story looked around as the halls went quiet. Partially because people were getting to class and partially because of the sound of an announcement before the voice of Principal Figgens aired over the loud speaker.
"Story Heights and David Karofsky, please go and see Ms. Pillsbury, thank you." There was a click that showed that the speaker was off and life in the hallway returned as people began chatting again rather than listening to an announcement, a few looked their way and Story wasn't entirely sure why. He smiled up at the larger teen, "Well, I have to go. It was nice meeting you! And thank you again." He hurried away without really waiting, mostly because he didn't want to keep a kind woman like Ms. Pillsbury waiting, that would just be rude.
The moment he reached her office, he knocked once and opened the door, stepping inside. "You wanted to see me?" He watched as the doe-eyed redhead looked over her shoulder at Story while setting up a new display of pamphlets, making sure that they were all straight and even and perfect. She smiled a kind smile, "Yes, please take a seat. We still need to wait for David." Story nodded and sat down. He didn't understand why Ms. Pillsbury would want to talk to both of them, whoever this Dave guy was, and he really hoped that it wasn't about Story's incident back at his old school.
Dave listened to the boy as he explained how rough things had been in his old school and how, compared to that school, it wasn't at all that bad here. Well, that made Dave glad that he wasn't at that school but still had Dave fuming that things were still so bad here. It seemed that he still had work to do and he would make sure that it happened. He wanted to leave High school feeling like he had actually accomplished something.
The boy thanked him and Dave couldn't help but stand up a little straighter and smile a little brighter because hey, he got to be the knight and shining armor to someone. He got to show that he could use his size and strength for more than just harassing others. He could stand up for the ones that really couldn't stand up for themselves. And though yes, he technically was one of the low men on the ladder as he wasn't back on the football team yet and was now more or less outed, that didn't mean that he wouldn't kick ass if he had to.
It was quiet for a moment after that, the boy was looking down at his shoes, tugging on his lip and… Really just looking really cute. Wow, it had taken him a moment to really notice it, but this guy really was cute… As cute as Kurt... Maybe even a little cuter! He hadn't checked out that many guys before, but now that he was sure that he wasn't going to get his chance with Kurt, maybe he should start looking elsewhere.
The boy started talking again when the P.A system came on and he heard his name. He sighed heavily before the boy said that he had to go and ran off. He watched him go and sighed, "Nice meeting you too…" he muttered, but the other teen was already gone. The others that were still in the hall glanced his way and he looked around at them before hurrying off to Ms. Pillsbury's office.
"Morning Ms. Pillsbury," he said once he reached the woman's office, giving her a small smile before walking in moving to sit down in the empty seat. He glanced over at the boy that was in the other chair and his eyes widened slightly. It was the guy he had just met in the hallway! What the hell was this all about? He looked to Ms. Pillsbury with confusion on his face. "What's going on?"
Story sighed softly, looking around the office that he was sitting in, reading the titles on some of the pamphlets that Ms. Pillsbury just happened to have printed out rather recently. So recently, in fact, that Story could still smell the ink that was coming off of the colorful paper. When he heard the door open to her office and the voice saying good morning to the counselor, Story turned to see that it was the guy from before. His knight in shining armor. The teen smiled brightly, wiggling his fingers in a light wave before watching as he sat down.
Ms. Pillsbury turned and took a seat in her desk, putting her hands on it as her eyes went from one teen to the other for a moment. "Dave, Story. I wanted to bring you both here to make sure that you met. I know McKinley isn't a big school, but it's a wonder how students can go years without knowing the names of the others." She turned around, reaching back and grabbing a pair of pamphlets that Story couldn't see the title to. She put them in her lap before turning around.
"Now, I wanted you to meet because of the situation that you both are going through right now after what had happened with both of you and because this is such a specific case, I wanted you two to support one another." She put the pamphlets on her desk and slid them towards the two boys. Story reached forward, grabbing one and putting it on his lap as he read the title, You Tried to Kill Yourself Because You Like Boys. The teen blushed brightly, not looking to see Dave's expression. He kept his head down, averting eye contact from everyone in the room.
But he couldn't help but wonder what happened to Dave. He didn't really seem like the type that would be gay at first glance, even though he was cute, and he had saved Story without even a second thought. "Dave, I want to make sure that you'll protect Story. I know that this school can get a little rough sometimes and with your experience with the Bullywhips, even in Santana isn't willing to help, you could at least really make a difference for one person at McKinley until you graduate."
That meant that Dave was a Senior; that meant that his Knight in Shining Armor was only going to be here for one year and then Story was going to be on his own all over again. That made the teen even more nervous than before. He glanced up at Ms. Pillsbury who was looking at them both eagerly, hoping that her word would stick before he looked over at Dave. Story felt vulnerable, exposed. He hadn't even told his parents yet, and now this guy that he just met knew his secret already. He didn't know which was a bigger secret, the fact that he was gay or the fact that he had tried to commit suicide. Either way, it made his thoughts about his first year at McKinley shift to something a little less optimistic.
Dave looked to the boy again, taking in what the woman said. Yes McKinley wasn't all that big, but with clichés and everything, it's not all that surprising that not everyone knew everyone else. He then looked back her way as she grabbed the pamphlets. He bit his lip and wondered just what these were. Ms. Pillsbury's pamphlets were legendary around here so he could only guess what these were going to say.
Then she pushed them their way and he reached out, taking it up in his hand and silently reading it. After having read over the title a few times, Dave lost it and started laughing. He threw his head back and started to just laugh out loudly, the pure stupidity of this. It was crazy. But then... He really thought about it. The boy beside him, Story... He had tried to kill himself as well. That sobered the large boy up right quick and he wiped the tears from his eyes from his laughing fit and went back to silently listening.
She was taking the words right out of his mouth. School around here really could get rough and, after everything that he had done and gone through, the least he could do was try and help someone get through the waters of William McKinley High. Who knows, maybe he could fix things around here for the ones that would be coming after them.
He sat up a little straighter and nodded, holding the pamphlet tightly. "I was actually thinking about starting up the Bullywhips again." he said with another nod, looking over at Story and smiling slightly. "I know I wasn't always the nicest guy... But I really want to change that. I want to help out, however I can." He then looked down silently, not really knowing what else to say about all of this.
Story jumped slightly when he heard Dave explode into a fit of laughter. A blush formed over the younger teen's cheek as his body burned with embarrassment. Was he the one getting laughed at? He didn't want to think about someone as nice as Dave being the person to laugh at him. Story didn't have any friends yet, and if anyone that was close to getting that title were to start laughing at him, he wasn't sure how he would take it. Probably not very well.
But something seemed to dawn upon Dave, something that he hadn't realized before and his laughter died down before Story could feel those eyes on him. He blushed more, bowing his head down low in a wild attempt to hide his face from the larger teen. He looked up slowly, looking at Dave when he heard the other start talking.
Ms. Pillsbury nodded, clearly pleased with what she was hearing. "Good, that's very good, Dave. I know that they made a difference last year, aside from the incident at prom." She smiled, looking from one boy to the other before clasping her hands together. "Good, now that this has all been straightened out, you two may go get ready for class." She waved her hands slightly to shoo them out.
Story nodded and stood up, looking at Dave for a moment before he gathered up his things, tucking his pamphlet away inside of his notebook and slid out of the room. He sighed when he reached the hallway, breathing in the less-tense air that filled it. He heard the sound of kids chattering, laughing, walking by one another, and he could feel eyes on him. He turned slowly, looking behind him to see if Dave was coming. There was no way that he was going to just walk to class by himself, not with the halls being filled like this.
Besides, there seemed to be time yet before the bell was even going to ring. He waited a moment longer until Dave joined him in the hallway. The smaller teen looked up at him for a moment. "So…" He didn't know what to say. He turned his gaze away, blushing in slight embarrassment. It was weird, feeling like he could talk about what happened to someone that wasn't a professional. He looked at Dave again, suddenly feeling panic fill his chest. "Please don't tell anyone. About anything. My parents don't exactly know why I did it…"
He had never come out to his parents. Even when he was in the hospital, sick and sore from having his stomach pumped for hours. He didn't want his parents to know that their son was bullied for being gay. He didn't want his parents to know that their son was gay in general. He didn't know why, but there was something about his family that made him feel uncomfortable with telling them something like this.
Dave winced as he thought about Prom. That horrible prank that those jerks had pulled. But how Kurt had walked up that stage with his head held high, got his crown and had become Prom Queen. He had been so brave and confident… And Dave had been a coward, running away because he couldn't come out to the school. All that hiding and still he was outed… Funny how things turned out.
Story was the first one out of the office, Dave needing a moment to compose himself before getting up and slipping out, Story standing right there and soon asking that he not tell anyone about what he now knew. The boy's parents didn't know why he had tried to kill himself... This made Dave sigh and run a hand through his hair.
"I wish my parents didn't know... Well, I wish that my mom didn't know." he said with a nod as he looked around at everyone that was still in the halls. He wasn't surprised, it was the first day of school, nothing important happened on the first day, so not many of them were that worried about classes, seniors especially.
"Your secret is safe with me" Dave smiled a little bit before looking around again and then looking back to the boy. "So... Should I give you the tour? It's not that big of a school, but it's easy enough to not know where things are." He was sure that anyone would be able to see through his reason for wanting to show him around the not really that large school. He wanted to spend as much time in Story's company as he could. There were only a few gay guys around and this boy obviously didn't mind the larger teen's company and that was something that he didn't want to let pass him by.
"We don't have to talk about...you know, all of that, if you don't want to. I just wanna hang out more. It's nice to have someone to talk to that doesn't know me from before… Someone that isn't gonna judge me." he then stated before sheepishly nodding his head and starting to walk, hoping that the other boy would follow.
Story looked at Dave, "They know?" He bit his lip, his mom didn't agree with his sexuality it seemed and that sounded like Story's family. They were so unpredictable that he didn't want to risk mentioning anything because he was afraid of what they might do. They would probably say that he was just confused and put him through even more therapy to treat his 'condition.'
He smiled, feeling assured when Dave said that he wasn't going to say anything. Story looked up at the larger man and nodded. "I'd like that." He would love to go on a tour with the other man, it would give him a bigger chance of stealing glances towards him. He liked looking at Dave, liked seeing their height difference, how the other male seemed to tower over the smaller teen. He had a kind face, despite his size. And he didn't look like he could do something awful to anyone. He had such a kind face.
He nodded, "No, it's okay. I don't mind talking about it, just not here. I don't want people to know about what happened. I'd rather just be thought of as the new kid." He smiled at Dave softly. He would be willing to talk about these things with this man. He didn't understand why, maybe because he didn't have anyone to talk to, really. He didn't have his parents to trust, he didn't have siblings or cousins or friends to confide in. He was alone, but then there was Dave. Dave would be there for the teen, right?
He smiled, "Actually, if you could show me where the Glee kids practice, it would be really convenient knowing that place first. I mean, I want to join Glee club, but I just hope that I'm good enough." He chewed at his lip. "Will you come to my try-out?" He looked over at Dave, wanting the support of the other. He needed it, craved it like a drug. Craved that protection that the other could provide. He began to wonder what it would be like wrapped in those strong arms, held close and told that it would be okay if something bad ever happened.
Story swallowed and snapped out of his own mental haze, trying hard to focus on whatever Dave could be saying. He was so curious about it, so eager to know. He wanted to know what it would be like to be felt by another guy. Story wasn't sure how he knew that he was attracted to guys, but he just knew. He knew that there was nothing that a girl wanted if he didn't like it on her. So, that's how he figured that guys were the second option. He was attracted to Dave, but that could all be a shiny phase that can go away after they get used to one another. Maybe being friends for now would be wise.
I want to thank my co-writer again for being amazing and playing the part of Dave. You're awesome, Luxy. Reviews are appreciated!
