A/N: Just a reminder that this is canon up until NBK. So FURT and everything after did not happen. Thanks for reading, and any feedback would be appreciated. Thank you to SunMonTue for the review. Love you, hon! Also thanks to all of you who alerted and favorited or even just read this story. I hate the thought of Kurtofsky shippers dwindling away and if I can do anything to keep that from happening, I will! This is just a short chapter to build the suspense. Enjoy!
Art of Deflection: Chapter 9
The world stood frozen as Kurt glanced from the Karofskys to their son. Dave's face was a mixture of shock and terror, his hand still reaching out awkwardly. Then time righted itself. The hand dropped as the young girl kissed her brother before racing off to her room. Both boys tried to erase the telltale tears on their faces.
"What's going on here, David?" Mr. Karofsky asked, not unkindly.
Dave cleared his throat. "Nothing. Kurt was just… um…"
"Dave left his book bag at school. I thought I'd drop it off for him."
"Really…" Mrs. Karofsky said, her voice like ice. "So you two are friends?"
"Yes."
"No." Although they answered at the same time, it was Kurt that caught the woman's attention.
"Then there's no reason for you to stay."
Kurt couldn't even look at Dave. He didn't want to cause any problems with his family, but he'd still held out hope. Hope that someday they could be together. Obviously that wasn't going to happen.
"I'll see you later then," Kurt said dejectedly as he headed for the door. Heated whispers went on without him.
"Mom. That wasn't very nice."
"I'm sorry, David, but you can't be too careful. I don't want you hanging around with those sorts of people."
Kurt ignored the surge of anger he felt at her words. He just had to make it to the door without incident.
"What sorts?" He recognized that same anger in Dave's voice and noticed the warning signs that the other boy was going to explode. His mother must have realized it as well.
"Never mind, dear. Let's just have a nice evening."
"Stop, Kurt."
He'd just reached the door, was about to escape, when he heard the plea. He turned around reluctantly.
Dave was next to him in a second, pulling him back into the room.
"We're going to try this again," he said. "Mom, dad, this is Kurt Hummel. He's a friend of mine."
"Hi," Kurt said softly.
"Paul. Do something about this," Patricia Karofsky said, crossing her arms angrily.
"Of course," he said holding out his hand. "Nice to meet you, Kurt. Would you like to stay for dinner?"
