Title: Redemption (Chapter six)

Author: Siekcsroe

Pairing,Character(s): Kurt/Karofsky

Rating: R

Word Count: 1833

Spoilers: Never Been Kissed

Summary: Kurt pushed himself away from the locker after Karofsky added another bruise to his already impressive collection. His first attempt at a confrontation with Karofsky had just made things worse, but this has got to stop!

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, or Fight Club (the movie mentioned in the Hummel-house scene).

A/N: Woot! Finally got to the first scene I ever wrote for this fic!

A/N 2: Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, and commented! I greatly appreciate all of you lovely people! :)

Chapter 6

Despite the fact that they spent the evening exploring a run-down mall, searching for ways to amuse themselves, Kurt actually enjoyed himself. He happened to glance at his watch just in time to realized that he would be pushing it to get home under curfew.

The ride home was comfortable and only slightly awkward. Dave turned on the radio and flipped through stations until Kurt waved his hand away from the dial. When the pulled up in front of his house, Kurt started feeling a little nervous.

"Even though tonight was a complete disaster," Kurt said, "I had fun."

"So did I." Dave gave him a sidelong glance.

"Bye." Kurt said, then got out of the car before he did something stupid.

~0~0~0~0~0~

After that first fiasco, Kurt and Dave fell into an uneasy alliance. Kurt was afraid that Dave would fall into old habits, and Dave was scared of pissing Kurt off or letting him down. They kept texting and talking with one another, though, and eventually started to trust one another. Their alliance morphed into a tenuous friendship as they began to relax together, but a level of tension remained.

On this particular night, Kurt felt like he was in control of the situation and it made him nervous. Dave was sitting on the couch in his living room and they were both pretending to watch some movie that had a lot of blood and fighting in it. Kurt was starting to wonder if that subject matter had been a good idea. He leaned forward to pick up the DVD case and read the back when he felt a sense of movement behind him.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that Dave had stretched his arm out along the back of the couch. If he wanted to sit back, Kurt would have to lean against him. he felt a thrill of nervousness and excitement at the idea.

Eyes straight ahead on the television screen, watching a guy get his teeth knocked out, Kurt slowly leaned back. He relaxed a little when Karofsky didn't pull him into a sleeper hold. They'd been friends, or the facsimile of, for a while, but Kurt still suffered from bouts of paranoia every once in a while. After that moment of tension, Kurt tilted his head against Dave's shoulder. Dave rubbed his cheek against Kurt's hair and sighed.

For the first time ever, Kurt felt fully relaxed with Dave Karofsky. It was short-lived.

Kurt didn't think anything about it when he heard his dad pull up outside. A random Oh, he's home early, flitted through his mind before he shifted his attention back to the movie. It was getting interesting. It looked to him that the main character had a crush on his best friend.

Kurt said a distracted "Hey, Dad," as Burt started across the living room to the kitchen. But his thudding footsteps stopped halfway across.

"What the hell is he doing here?" He asked, voice deep and thunderous.

"Dad It's okay! He's not-"

"I know who he is, Kurt! You pointed him out to me ages ago, said he was giving you a hard time." Burt had walked back over to glare at Dave.

"Get your hands off my son," Burt growled, and Kurt was reminded that his dad could be really scary when he wanted to be. But if Kurt didn't clear the air right now, it would probably never happen. He grabbed Dave's hand as he started to pull it away.

"I said," Burt's voice was low.

"He won't let me," Dave said, sounding like a scared little boy as he tugged weakly at Kurt's vice-like grip on his hand.

"Dad. Dad!" Burt turned his glare on Kurt, but Kurt had a slight immunity. He only squirmed a little under his father's gaze.

"It's okay," Kurt said, trying to keep his voice calm and soothing. "Karof—Dave is trying to atone for his actions and I think, no, I have forgiven him."

Burt's eyes widened and he finally noticed that Kurt's fingers were intertwined with Dave's. And that they were just sitting on the couch watching a movie. He calmed down a little, which relieved Kurt since he didn't want his dad to have another heart attack.

Burt leaned over Karofsky, finger in his face. "I know guys like you, hell, I was like you. I want you to listen very carefully. If I ever, and I mean ever, hear that you threatened my son again, I will hunt you down. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir." Dave was shaking a little, but his voice sounded strong and steady despite Burt's anger. Kurt squeezed his hand and smiled at him reassuringly.

"Alright, then," Burt nodded, eying one then the other of them. "You boys behave yourselves."

"Yes, Dad," Kurt said, and Dave nodded.

Burt walked into the kitchen and Dave collapsed against the back of the couch, letting go of Kurt's hand.

"I think that's the most scared I've ever been in my life," he said, voice wavering a little now.

"Yeah, Dad's a little protective." Kurt tired not to sound too amused.

"You enjoyed that, didn't you?" Oops.

"No, really I didn't. I just—the look on your face was adorable, all big eyes and your mouth was hanging open."

Kurt flopped back against him, utterly at ease all of a sudden, as if the mini-disaster had been a bonding experience.

"I'm sorry for all the crap I put you through," Dave muttered.

"Let's..." Kurt didn't know what to say. He knew by Dave's tone that there was guilt and self-loathing still luring right below the surface. All those old wounds kept opening back up every time Dave apologized, which was all too often here recently. Kurt just wanted to move on.

"Let's just not talk about the past for a while. I forgive you, but it doesn't mean I want to keep being reminded of what happened. Is that okay?" He asked, turning his head to see Dave's eyes.

"Yeah, okay." Dave's expression smoothed a little. He wrapped his arm back around Kurt's shoulders and gave him a squeeze.

Kurt turned back to the television in time to see a penguin in an icy cave on the screen. The penguin said "Slide," and Kurt turned back to Dave.

"I think we missed something."

"I think you're right," Dave laughed.

~0~0~0~0~0~

Kurt was walking across the school parking lot, talking on his cellphone, when he felt eyes on his back. He glanced over his shoulder, then slowed his pace before stopping completely halfway between the school building and his car.

Dave had been following him at a distance, then trotted to catch up when Kurt stopped.

"Hang on a second," Kurt said into the phone as Dave stopped in front of him.

"Who's that?" he asked, expression bland.

"Oh, it's Blaine. We're making plans to get together on Saturday." Kurt didn't know why Dave was actually speaking to him at school, so he tried at friendly with just an edge of caution.

"You still talk to that jerk?" Dave asked, eyes on the ground.

"Blaine's not a jerk. He's my friend, and you should-"

"Whatever. He tried to..." Dave glanced around, then leaned in towards Kurt. "He tried to out me in front the whole school! He's a jerk."

Kurt heard a murmur of sound from his phone and held it back up to to his ear.

"Can I talk to him, Kurt? I might be able to help."

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea," Kurt said, eying Dace, who had his arms crossed over his chest and was glaring at Kurt's phone.

"Come on, give me a chance."

Kurt shrugged, "Fine," and handed the phone to Dave, who just stared at it and then back to Kurt.

"He wants to talk to you," Kurt said with another shrug.

Dave held the phone to his ear, wearing one of his most ferocious scowls. He just listened, then rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, that was an asshole thing to do," he finally said, then nodded to the phone. "Fair enough. But if you—"Dave looked at Kurt and stopped mid-sentence.

Kurt strained his ears, trying to pick up the other half of the conversation. All he heard was a few disconnected words. "Kurt...friend...right..." Then he got distracted as he watched Dave's angry scowl smooth out into a faintly annoyed look.

"Okay. But that doesn't mean I have to like you." Dave said.

Kurt heard a faint laugh from Blaine as Dave handed over his phone.

"Hey?"

"Yeah, I think we're fine now." Blaine still sounded amused. Kurt itched to ask him what he'd said, but Dave was still standing there, so...

"I'll talk to you later, okay? See you Saturday?"

"See you Saturday, Kurt."

Kurt slipped his phone into his pocket and looked at Dave.

"So, are you and Blaine friends now?" Kurt asked lightly.

Dave shook his head, "I still think he's a jerk."

"Buuut?" Kurt asked, noting a change in Dave's earlier tone.

"He's alright. I just don't like that he— Yeah, he's alright."

Kurt wasn't sure what Dave was going to say before he backtracked, but he had a good idea.

"Look, Blaine and I are just friends. That's it. Yeah, he's sweet, funny, a great listener, and we think so much alike that it's scary sometimes, but he's just a—"

A car door slammed and Dave jumped. He looked across the parking lot and saw a scattering of people walking to their cars and calling to one another as they left.

"Sorry, Kurt," he said, eyes a little wide, "I have to go."

Dave left Kurt staring after him in confusion as he literally fled the scene.

Kurt startled when his phone pinged as he mad his way to his car. He had a new text message from Blaine.

Congratulations. I think Davey's taking a big step forward.

"Really?" Kurt muttered out loud before pocketing his phone without replying.

TBC