Chapter 9 - First week of McKinley

So far Monday was turning out to be a shitty day. Kurt had barely walked away from his car in the McKinley high school parking lot when he was set upon and tossed into a dumpster. He felt the familiar cold sting of two slushies before lunch and one of them was from Puck. It wasn't like he even got any consolation from his Glee friends because they were rather cold towards him.

"Sorry Kurt, but I feel little pity for you. Frankly, it's good you're back so that you can take the heat that we were feeling last week," was all Mercedes said when she saw the results of his latest slushie facial.

Kurt was annoyed but not put off. When he grabbed his lunch he knew what his plan would be. It was dangerous but he was going to do it anyways. He was going to join Dave for lunch even if it meant facing the football team to do it.

Kurt slipped into the chair beside Dave at the table full of hulking football players. The reaction was immediate. "Hey Hummel! What the hell! Get away from here now!" bellowed one of the boys.

The ambient cafeteria noise immediately died down as every conversation stopped so they could watch what was about to happen.

Kurt doggedly stayed where he was. "It's a free country and I can eat where I want. And I want to eat with Dave."

"Hold this please." Kurt heard Azimio's voice behind him and before he realized what that implied, his chair was suddenly tossed aside with him in it. He and his lunch went scattering across the floor. Azimio righted the chair back up, grabbed his lunch from the football player who agreed to hold it for him and casually sat in the chair beside Dave, in the space that Kurt had previously occupied.

Kurt picked himself up and brushed himself off. He looked over at the table at Dave. Dave was determined to keep eating, pretending nothing was happening while his friends were tense, waiting for him to try something again. Kurt decided wisely to leave it for today but he was determined to try again tomorrow.

Tuesday, wasn't much different from Monday. It started with another flying trip into the dumpster. He still was a social pariah. None of his friends hung around him fearing they would be targets too. Students in the hall would stop and stare at him as he went by and conversations would stop when he came into a room. Dave was always with one of his friends and they pointedly ignored him. Kurt would be tackled and shoved away any time he tried to approach his former lover.

He was slowly making amends with Mercedes who could never really hold a grudge for long. Funnily enough he seemed to impress Santana with what she called his blood thirstyness. It wasn't really the compliment he was looking for but he was feeling lonely and any friendly face was welcome.

Lunch was better. He sat by Dave again at the jock's table and nothing happened for about 30 seconds. Azimio caught the eye of another jock and they both got up from the table and standing on each side of his chair. They lifted Kurt in the chair up and walked him over to the garbage where they upended the chair so he fell in. The part that made it better, was that Kurt heard Dave call out after them as they removed him from the table. "Don't hurt him!"

Tuesday ended up with Glee practice. Mr. Schuester allowed him back into the club, but told him that it was conditional. Apparently the Glee members had a secret meeting to decide on whether they wanted him back or not. In the end, it was decided that their chances were better at nationals if he was with them. Mr. Schuester cautioned him that this was his one chance and if he blew it by being disruptive he would be kicked out of Glee. Kurt wasn't sure what he meant by being disruptive but decided he would lay low and not cause any ripples until this whole thing blew over.

The rest of the week went along the same lines. Getting dumped in the dumpster. Getting slushied or pushed into lockers. Trying to get close to Dave. Sitting with Dave at lunch until the jocks disposed of him, usually in the nearest garbage pail.

Friday finally came and went, the only highlight of the day being Glee practice. Learning the songs and the choreography for the nationals helped Kurt forget his troubles for a little while at least.

On the weekend, Blaine contacted him and asked him out for a coffee. Kurt was happy to comply since he missed Blaine as a friend and confidante.

"I talked to David Karofsky." Blaine stated after they met, exchanged stilted greetings, ordered their coffee and grabbed a table.

Kurt almost spluttered out his coffee onto the table. "You did? When?"

"This week. We had quite an interesting conversation." Blaine replied.

"Um What did you talk about?"

"You of course. We compared notes so to speak. It seems you and Dave were quite busy."

"Well yes, but it just sort of happened. He pulled me into the boys washroom and was going to punch me and…"

"I heard how it started," Blaine interrupted. "I also heard how it continued."

"I was scared and confused. I didn't know what I was doing. Besides, you weren't where I was in our relationship!" Kurt shot back annoyed.

"NO I wasn't and it appears I was correct to be cautious. At least I wasn't hurt to the depth that Dave was."

"It was because you were too cautious that I ended up fooling around with Dave in the first place." Hissed Kurt fed up with all the blame continually dumped at his feet.

"You ended up fooling around with Dave because you wanted sex and you wanted to control when you had it!" Blaine angrily hissed back. "Kurt, I felt so bad for you when I first met you. My heart went to you when I heard how badly you were bullied. We became good friends but now I can hardly stand to look at you. You are a user, and worse a deluded user because you can't even see what you did wrong."

"Was I supposed to take a punch in the face? Would that have made you happy?"

Blaine sighed and picked up his coffee. " Kurt, I came here to talk you out of pursuing Dave. He's confused enough as it is. Chasing him is just hurting him further. Please, just leave him alone."

"Are you jealous I eventually picked him over you?"

"No, I'm relieved. At least I don't have to try to fend you off and try to protect my feelings. Dave and I had a long heart-felt chat and it turns out we have a lot in common. He seems like a nice fellow once you get past the brusqueness. He doesn't deserve what you are doing to him. Please, just leave him alone and let him heal." Blaine finished his coffee and gathered his stuff to leave." Bye Kurt, I hope I have given you food for thought."

Kurt did think about it, all weekend. He couldn't stop thinking about it. He had sleepless nights but was tired and listless through the day.

"What's up Bud?" asked his father Sunday afternoon when they met in the kitchen, "You've been moping around all weekend."

"Dad do you think I'm a bad person?" asked Kurt cautiously.

"I think you're young. And the young have to make a lot of mistakes so they can learn."

"Then I'll be super smart by the time I'm thirty, the way I'm going."

"You'll only be super smart if you actually realize WHY you went wrong and recognize HOW to stop it from happening again."

"What if you don't know where you went wrong?"

"I guess you have to really dig deep inside of yourself and figure it out." Burt had started to amble out of the kitchen but he turned around, "Kurt, people are gonna do what they're gonna do, they're gonna think what they're gonna think. The only actions you can effectively control are your own."

Kurt was strangely comforted by what Burt said. He continued to mull it over in brain. He still couldn't sleep however, so he was completely exhausted by the time Monday rolled around. He didn't want to go to school, but he got up anyways to face the music.