Author's notes:

As always, I don't own Glee or any of the songs/movies/television shows/things referenced.

Rating is for language and eventual sexual content.

Approximate words this chapter: 4,250

Dave at Thurston, Part 3

Coming as a complete surprise to Sean, Randy approached him during Tuesday's homeroom period and apologized for the previous day's incident. "Hey, man: sorry I'm such an ass sometimes." He continued, "guess it comes with the uniform."

"It's cool, and thanks," Sean replied. "My locker needed cleaned out anyway." Both guys laughed; Sean was more than a bit baffled, shaking his head as Randy walked away.

Sean told Dave about the apology in Calc class during their standard morning greeting. He said it in a hushed tone, not wanting to be overheard, not wanting to invite repercussions. Dave just smiled and nodded, quietly adding, "oh, yeah?" with a mock-surprised look on his face.

"So, where are you going to be over lunch?" Sean asked.

"Oh, I'll be in the cafeteria. Thing is, I ran into a guy I knew from a few years back: we were in a youth bowling league together. He's in another one of my classes. I was gonna hang with him and his friends over lunch today. Truthfully, since I really didn't know anyone here a week ago, it was my plan to kinda hang with different people every day, but I've been enjoying hanging with you and your friends, so that's where I've been most days. I'll probably continue to hang with the rest of the team on game days: it's good for camaraderie before a game."

Sean nodded and smiled.

Wednesday saw Gretchen and Howie plotting to make a mall excursion for that evening, and they were firming-up their plans over lunch. "You actually discuss such minutiae to make a trip to the mall?" Dave inquired.

"Well, yeah, to make sure our schedules work and everything, and make sure we have a ride there," Howie replied. "Gretchen's gonna help me pick out some clothes: she's our fashion consultant as we're all pretty handicapped in that respect." Howie was probably the nerdiest-looking guy of the bunch. He was tall and fairly thin, but he had a bottom-heavy shape to his body: he had to be sure to select his wardrobe with care so as to avoid becoming someone with a terminal, premature case of plumbers' butt. His medium-brown hair was typically unkempt, and regardless of how often he washed it, his hair always appeared either greasy or frizzy. He wore glasses which never seemed to rest upon his face quite right.

"I couldn't get one of my parents' cars until after six; Howie wouldn't be out until even later," Gretchen chimed.

"I'm done with football practice at 4:30," Dave offered. "I could ride you if you wanna wait around that long, but I have a truck. One of you would hafta sit on the other's lap. Unless, of course, one of you wanted to ride in the back," Dave added, not serious in the least.

"I'm tiny," Gretchen said. "I'm used to sitting on laps to mooch rides; Howie will forget I'm even there."

"Yeah, right, hottest action his lap will ever see," Sean razzed.

"Eeeyyoow!" Gretchen voiced her displeasure at the thought; everyone else laughed while Howie stared silent daggers into Sean. Dave just smirked and silently chuckled, shaking his head.

"If this is a definite thing, I'll call my parents and let them know that I won't be home for dinner," Dave said. "We could grab dinner at the mall if you two want to do that."

"That's good on my end," Gretchen answered. "The earlier we get out, the better. Waiting for one of my parents' cars would get me out later than I'd like."

"Works for me too," Howie added. "It's really great of you to offer, Dave."

"So, is there some reason that you require an image overhaul, Howie?" Dave asked.

"I did some research work over the summer for which I'm being awarded a scholarship grant," Howie explained. "I'll be accepting the award, and I'll be giving a speech."

"Whoa, congratulations, Howie!" Dave beamed, rising from his seat and extending his right hand to give Howie a congratulatory handshake.

"Thank you!" Howie shook Dave's hand firmly and mock-bowed as the Gretchen, Sean, Scott, Justin, and Spence clapped.

"Maybe we'll do a wardrobe-makeover for Dave too," Gretchen teased.

"Nah, I'm fine with the way I dress, Gretchen." Dave shook his head and held up his hands as if to say the conversation had gone far enough.

Sean chimed in: "I believe the word Gretchen used when she first saw you was 'bohunk'?" The statement inflected like a question at the end.

"Maybe that's accurate, and maybe I'm okay with it as long as she didn't mean anything too derogatory or personal by it," Dave answered to Sean but looked at Gretchen.

Gretchen blushed a bit, busted, and said, "In Dave's defense, he can rock a pair of cargo pants in a way I didn't think possible."

The rest of the bunch whooped and chuckled at that. Gretchen's eyes addressed Dave's directly with an expression which seemed to say, 'so there!' Dave tilted his head to one side and looked right back at her with a smug, sly grin.

"So you're saying that, although cargo pants, in your opinion, aren't sexy, I can somehow make 'em work?" Dave pressed Gretchen.

Gretchen answered fearlessly, "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."

The rest of the bunch gave a collective "ooooohhh!" at the last comment. Dave grinned wide, mouth gaping slightly, and blushed intensely.

"Okay, I think we'll leave it at that for now," Dave mumbled just loudly enough for the group to hear.

There were enough after-school activities going on that day that a good part of the school was still populated well-after classes ended for the day, and Gretchen and Howie were able to hang out in the Library until Dave finished with football practice. Football practice finished earlier than usual, so Dave met them at the main entrance to walk them to his truck.

The ride to the mall was a little chatty, but largely uneventful. Once at the mall, Dave declined to accompany them on their clothing excursion, instructing them to text him where and when to meet once they have completed their shopping. Much to Dave's surprise, they were finished before 6:00. The three of them bought food at the Asian restaurant in the food court and sat down to eat. Though it was dinner time, the food court wasn't terribly crowded: the three were able to eat in relative seclusion. Perhaps their energy level was waning after a day of school; perhaps they just didn't feel much like chatting over dinner. They were back in the truck and on the way home by 6:30.

Howie was giving Dave directions to his house as needed. It was a fairly direct route and not too far out of Dave's route to get home himself. Gretchen lived a little farther, but in the same general area. The radio was on a very low volume: just enough to know it was on but not loud enough to identify any of the music. Gretchen asked Dave to turn up the radio as there wasn't much conversation happening. Dave obliged. The radio was on a typical hard rock/classic rock station.

"What kinda music do you like, Dave?" Gretchen spoke over the music.

"Ah...I guess I like some of everything," Dave replied. "I can't say it's something I think about much. When I really like something, I'll get it on my iPod. Every once in a while, I'll hear a song which really blows me away. And there's some music I can't stand at all."

"Liiiiiiiike...?" Gretchen teased.

"Uh...show-tuney-kinda stuff. And thumping dance music. I can't really say I hate it, but I just wanna be anywhere else when I hear that kinda stuff. I like a good party-tune if I'm in the right place at the right time. What do you like, Gretchen?"

"I like a little of everything. My mom and dad were in college in the 80s, and they listened to this kinda alternative pop stuff which would be similar to what would be called 'indie' music today: I like a lot of that stuff. But, then, I like regular dancy pop music, indie music, modern rock: I'm pretty-much cool with everything. I have an uncle who plays cello in the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra; through him, I found that I really dig a lot of classical music. Heck, I even like what we're listening to now," Gretchen said with a smirk.

"Hey! Are you ripping my classic-rock vibe?" Dave said through a chuckle; Howie, largely silent through most of the ride, snickered as well.

"Well, admittedly, I don't know much about this kind of music; but it does play well with your bohunk persona," Gretchen needled Dave playfully.

Dave wasn't buying, though. "I am what I am. Either accept it or I'll take my sexy cargo pants elsewhere." He averted his eyes from the road for a fleeting moment to see Gretchen's icy blue eyes staring at him, playfully defiant. "Besides, music is one of those things I can't get too wrapped up in. I can't see arguing about it like some people do." Dave's attention broke suddenly, "Oh, man, I love this tune!" He reached down and cranked the volume knob.

A blistering, distorted guitar chugged out a mid-tempo rock riff while drums thudded and cymbals rang nearly shrill and a singer whooped out some crazy-sounding party-yells. Gretchen gave a stunned smile; Howie appeared nearly annoyed, wanting to cover his ears from the volume. Dave shouted along with the chorus of the song:

thought you'd never miss me 'til I got a fat-city address
non-stop talker, what a rocker
blue-eyed murder in a size-five dress
Change-nothin' stays the same
Unchained-yeah-yeah, hit the ground runnin'
Change...

Dave looked over at Gretchen, smiling, Gretchen was laughing back at him, more appreciating his cutting loose than mocking him. Dave turned the volume back down to a normal level as the song ended, and the look of near-pain subsided from Howie's face.

"Hey, is that you?" Dave asked Gretchen with a silly smirk on his face, "like in the song: 'blue-eyed murder in a size-five dress?'"

"HA!" Gretchen laughed and put a hand up to Dave's mouth as if to say 'shut up!'. "I guess it could be, but you don't know me well enough to make that call!"

Dave pulled his truck up to the curb in front of Howie's house. Gretchen and Howie got out of the passenger seat, and Howie retrieved his bags from the space behind the seat. He thanked Dave for driving and walked up to his house as Gretchen returned to the passenger seat. Dave remained parked until he saw Howie let himself into the house, then he pulled away from the house and continued down the street.

Gretchen's house was less than five minutes away, though a little deeper into a suburban maze of streets. He pulled up in front of her house. It was a fairly typical, well-kept suburban house with what appeared to be an enclosed porch off to one side. The windows of the enclosed porch were filled with various, different-sized objects-shapes he could barely make out in the fading daylight.

"What's that over there?" Dave asked, pointing to the enclosed porch.

"That's my mom's studio. She's an artist, mostly pottery and sculpture," Gretchen replied.

"Aahhh, runs in the family, I see," Dave looked at her with a half-smile and nodded.

"Yeah, dad's pretty artistic too in his spare time, but he has a 'regular' job. Mom makes artwork and teaches art classes at the community college."

Dave nodded and shut off the engine of his truck.

"I'd invite you in to say hello to my parents, but they'd probably freak out, saying that the house is a mess or something," Gretchen said.

Dave laughed. "It's cool. I totally understand. Parent thing."

Gretchen sat back in her seat, addressed Dave's eyes directly, and spoke with a scheming smile: "take me to the Homecoming Dance."

Dave's face sobered, Gretchen's comment seeming to come out of nowhere. "What?"

"You heard me. I've never been to one, and I wanna go. C'mon, it'll be fun."

"I wasn't even going to go myself," Dave stated.

"Oh, geeze, you're on the football team, you almost hafta be there."

"Ahhh, no, I don't hafta be there," Dave subtly mocked Gretchen's words.

"You'll be expected to be there."

"There are probably many things which people expect me to do which I haven't and don't plan to do. Besides, I didn't figure you for the high-school-social type."

Gretchen considered before responding. "Maybe I just wanna leave some impression on these people."

"Well, I won't be leaving any impression. I'm just as bohunk as the rest of them, and I'm fine with that. With your edgy fashion-sense, we'd be the most incongruous couple there."

"Nothing wrong with that. And not necessarily. I'm sure I could find an image which suits your personality and complements the look I'm going for at the same time."

Dave groaned: "gawd, does this mean you'll be dragging me clothes-shopping sometime soon? IF I agreed to go?" Dave added the last part hastily to what came out sounding too much like he was agreeing to the proposition.

"That, too, will be fun. And you'll never know until you try it." Gretchen gathered her purse and book bag, preparing to exit Dave's pickup truck and go into her house. "Just think about it, but don't think too long. We only have a couple of weeks to find something awesome for you to wear."

Dave was in his Calc class early the next day, waiting for Sean to arrive. "Hey, Sean," Dave greeted with a hint of nervousness upon Sean's arrival.

"Hi, Dave. What's going on? How was your mall excursion with Howie and Gretch?"

"Uh, it was okay. Nothing too eventful." Dave hesitated before continuing. "Can I talk with you later? There's kinda some stuff I wanna ask you."

"Sure, Dave. Are you going to sit with us at lunch?" Sean asked.

"Uh, yeah, but I wanna talk to you without Gretchen being around."

"Uh...okay. I could hang out after school for a while," Sean said with a hint of concern.

"That works, but I have football practice. How long could you hang?"

"I was getting a ride home with Scott. I wouldn't want him to wait for me that long."

"Oh, I could give you a ride home, no problem; but it wouldn't be until around 4:30," Dave offered.

Dave sat with Sean, Gretchen, and their friends at lunch that day, but he was noticeably quieter than usual. He did bring his appetite with him, though, eating an enormous lunch.

After football practice, Dave met Sean at the main entrance, as he had met Howie and Gretchen the previous day, and they walked out to Dave's truck. Dave seemed palpably nervous as he started the truck and began to pull out onto the road.

"Um, so, you and Gretchen are pretty-good friends, right?" Dave began.

"Yeah, Gretchen is probably my best friend at the school."

"She's really pretty. She's hotter than most of the popular girls, and she seems really smart. Why doesn't she have a boyfriend?"

Sean kinda snickered. "She scares people."

"Huh?" Dave exhaled, confused.

Sean turned more toward Dave, facing him from the passenger seat. "Yeah. It's totally weird, double-edged kinda stuff. She tends to freak the guys out because she doesn't hold back for the sake of being polite. They usually get frustrated after one conversation. There was a senior on the hockey team who was dating her for a while last year when she was a junior. Word was, all of the popular girls stopped talking to him because he was dating the 'weird chick', but at the same time, Gretchen represented a 'threat' to their 'hierarchy' because she couldn't be bothered with their 'trendy', popularity concerns," Sean flashing finger-quotes appropriately. "His friends, under pressure from the cheerleaders and stuff kinda gave him the cold-shoulder over the whole thing, even though any one of them would have jumped at the opportunity to get into Gretchen's pants. It was a no-win for everyone involved until it all ended unceremoniously. One day they were an item; the next day it was like they never knew each other."

A short silence, then Sean asked: "Lemme guess, you like her."

"Uh, buh...," Dave stammered before he collected an answer, considering that he didn't want to offend her good friend. "She's awesome, and she's really pretty. I really wanted to stay out of the melodramatics this year. That's one of the big reasons why I transferred schools. I like her, but not anything beyond what we have going on already. I wanna keep it friendly and nothing more."

"Yeah, I gotcha." Sean paused again before asking, "so, why bring it up to me just now?"

"She asked me to take her to the Homecoming Dance."

"Wow." Sean's expression perked to a small-but-genuine surprise at the admission. "I haven't talked to her that much about you, but I can tell that she respects the conversational rapport the two of you have. That's obvious. She can rip you a little, and it doesn't bother you; and you just throw it right back at her, and she digs that."

More silence.

"Hey, it's just a dance." Sean finally breaks the silence. "If you decide to go, you might have a really great time. If not, I'm sure Gretch isn't gonna lose sleep over it-she's way too realistic for that. It's probably just some plot to turn heads and show all of the guys what they've been missing for the last two years by not paying attention to her; and she finally found a guy who she considers her equal on some level. Despite her seeming indifference to the whole thing, Gretchen is well-aware of how attractive she is."

Dave smirked. "Are you saying that she thinks I'm hot?"

"I can tell that she finds you easy to look at. She respects your intelligence also. She's not so shallow as to be drawn to somebody just for their looks, and she's not going to disown you if you don't take her to the dance. She may really want to go, but, in the end, I'm sure it's not really that important to her. She's way too grounded to be having prince-charming fantasies."

The day after David's suicide attempt; Wednesday February 22
Kurt calls Sean

"Hello"

"Hi. This is Kurt. Sean?"

"Yeah, I'm Sean. Nice to meet you."

Kurt exhaled a level of exhaustion and futility with the situation. "Thanks for letting me call. I was looking at those comments on David's Facebook, and I nearly started to cry."

"It's tough. Those people are so fucking wrong."

Kurt exhaled melodramatically again. "So, how do you know David?"

"We go to the same school. We have a few classes together."

"What was going on at that school? Is that where this all started?"

"Um, yeah." Sean's words were hesitant, as if he were personally ashamed of others' deeds. "There were rumors going around for most of last week; then yesterday, something just reached critical mass or something. I saw him at school in the morning, then he disappeared. Didn't see him at lunch, wasn't in the later classes. I guess by the time I saw all of those comments on his Facebook, it was too late. Not sure it would have made a difference if I could have contacted him earlier, but I'd hope it would have. I sent him several messages on Facebook. He probably never saw them. I was probably too late."

"How exactly did this start?"

"Well, Nick, this bigshot on the football team, said that he saw Dave leaving a restaurant in the aftermath of what appeared to be a Valentine's Day date gone-wrong with another guy."

Kurt gasped loudly.

"People were buzzing about Dave's behavior for weeks before that, but it really hit the fan when that story started going around the day after Valentine's Day."

Kurt audibly started to cry.

"Kurt? Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I saw the whole thing happen on Valentine's Day. I was there. I was that date-gone-wrong."

Silence on the other end of the phone.

"I tried to get him to stay, to talk out what he was feeling, but he left looking very bitter. Then that guy stopped him. I tried to defuse the situation, to cover for David."

"You mean, it's true?" a reply finally came, slowly spoken.

"Yes, it happened."

Once again, a slow response: "Then, Dave is gay?"

Silence. Kurt was caught in an ethical dilemma. Either Sean was incredibly naive or didn't want to believe the evidence before him; and his implied attitude on the matter was irritating to Kurt. It took a few seconds for Kurt to remember that David had already been outed, and that confirming this fact to Sean wasn't any ethical crime. "Yes, David is gay."

"Oh..." the single word held-out for a few seconds.

Kurt responded, making no secret of his irritation this time: "Is there something wrong with that?"

A quick response: "Oh, no! Dave didn't deserve what happened." Sean was obviously trying to phrase his response carefully. "It's just kinda disappointing."

Sean regretted his word choice the second he said it. Kurt ripped into him.

"What do you mean by that?"

Sean, trying for damage-control, not succeeding. "Um, he was such a nice guy and friendly to everyone. It was kinda nice to think that me and my group of nerdy friends were also cool with someone who was, like, on the football team and, well, a normal guy."

Verbal suicide. Kurt seethed for a moment then exploded: "David is normal! Gay is normal for David! Trying to be straight would have been abnormal for him!"

"Uh, I-I know that. That didn't come out right. I am sorry! I didn't mean that."

"It's exactly what you said!" Kurt yelled into the phone. "I think this conversation is over," Kurt growled.

"Please, Kurt, please talk to me for a little longer. If I piss you off again, you have every right to hang up on me. I'm freaked out and I'm not thinking right. This guy that I considered a good friend for a while, who was obviously struggling with something, tried to kill himself, and I feel terrible that I couldn't help him. And I feel terrible that I'm fucking up this conversation so badly, but part of the reason is that I'm fucked-up over this thing."

A long period of silence. So long that Sean thought Kurt might have hung up.

"Tell me about your friendship with David?" Kurt asked, now composed, quietly and politely.

The song referenced is Van Halen's 1981 track "Unchained". I don't own this track; I hope that my use of it doesn't bother the people who do own it. I always imagined Dave Karofsky listening to harder music whether it be hard classic-rock, music fringing on punk, modern hard-rock, or nu-metal. I don't see him as an emo/indie or straight-up pop fan as some other writers have envisioned him.