"So…"

"So…"

And that is all that Kurt and Dave have said to each other since they met at the Lima Bean for coffee a half hour ago. Oh, sure, there are plenty of things that they COULD be talking about, but neither is sure of how to initiate conversation. They haven't really done this much, getting together for conversations that don't end in either screaming matches or inappropriate fondling. Kurt's mind is spinning, trying to come up with safe topics. He takes a sip of his mocha, letting the bitter taste clear his thoughts.

He settles on, "How's school been for you?" It's a non-sexual, if not potentially painful, subject. Dave looks up at him, his eyes saying almost everything. Kurt can see that the boy hasn't been sleeping well. He wants so desperately to cup Dave's face in his hand, but he knows he can't.

Dave clears his throat. "Well, Azimio finally spoke to me today. Long enough to tell me that he doesn't care if I'm 'gayer than a picnic basket', but as long as we're in school, I'm not to address him in public. That felt real good." He chuckles darkly. "I never knew how bad it could be, Kurt. How bad YOU had it."

Kurt gazes at him sympathetically. "I know, Dave. But it WILL get better, I promise." A thought occurs to him, one that has occurred to him before, but he's never had the opportunity to verbalize it to Dave. "I have an idea." Dave looks at him hopefully, and it breaks Kurt's heart. "Now, it may be something you're not too keen on, but please just hear me out."

"You helped me come out, Kurt. I will do almost anything for you at this point," Dave says bluntly, and Kurt flushes an attractive pink.

He decides it's best to just blurt it out and see what happens. "You should join Glee."

There is a long pause. Dave freezes, his mouth hanging open slightly. Kurt takes Dave's silence as his cue to keep going. "I know you think Glee is stupid, and maybe it is sometimes. I mean, Rachel Berry alone is a deterrent. But I have never felt freer anywhere. I can be myself there, Dave, and know that no one is staring at me in disgust, or talking about how I'm a dirty little faggot." Dace flinches at the last word, because he's used it, and in the not-too distant past, too.

"Kurt…" Dave begins, then rethinks what he was going to say. He takes a huge gulp of his chai tea before he continues. "I have thought about being in Glee. Ever since that football game, I have had a secret respect for what you guys do. Singing and dancing like that, hearing the crowd go wild…I never thought it could be like that for something other than football. But I see a couple of giant road blocks in my way."

Kurt smiled wanly, reaching into his satchel (which is apparently the official name for his man-purses, or so he told Dave) for a notepad and a pen. "Okay. Let's hear them."

"You're seriously making a pro-con list?" Dave asks incredulously.

Kurt nods, uncapping the pen. "I most certainly am. Now, I believe that under the pro column, you should include 'getting to be myself.'" He writes this in tiny, perfect handwriting. "What else?"

Dave rubs his chin. "Okay. In the con column, put 'merciless slushie-ing by entire football team.'"

Kurt mock-glares at him. "Um…'slushie-ing' is not a word, but okay. Ooh, under the pros, you could put 'get to see Kurt Hummel's beautiful face every day.'" He says it lightly, but the mood at the table instantly changes. Dave turns a flattering shade of scarlet, and Kurt hides a triumphant smile.

"You can write that." Dave says it so softly, he isn't sure that Kurt hears him. Until Kurt chokes on the sip of coffee he's drinking. He stares at Dave with those incredibly blue eyes, almost daring him to go there. So he does. "I won't lie, Kurt. Seeing you every day for one uninterrupted hour, where I wouldn't have to physically restrain myself from looking at you would be worth every slushie facial the guys on the team could hit me with."

Kurt's throat constricts. Blaine has never said anything so romantic. Well, okay, there was the whole "you move me, Kurt" speech he heard months ago, but nothing since then. And it means twice as much coming from Dave Karofsky, the last person in the world Kurt ever thought could make his stomach go flip-flop. He feels the tears coming, and he curses his sensitive nature, but he manages to hold it together long enough to do what he swore he wouldn't do: he reaches across the table and threads his fingers through Dave's.

Dave's heart stutters when Kurt's soft hand is suddenly in his larger one, and he tries not to stroke Kurt's fingers, but Kurt beats him to it. "Thank you," is all Kurt can manage before he silently breaks down. Dave is uncomfortable watching men cry, but this is Kurt (your Kurt, a tiny voice at the back of his mind whispers gleefully). So he just holds Kurt's hand while he cries, thinking of all the ways he can turn that frown upside down.

Dum Dum Dum… Ending things on a slightly dirty note…more chapters to come. Don't worry, Blaine should be gone by the next one.