Fuck.
He was sore. Like - really sore.
True in the midst of his thrusting and nearly acrobatic performance with Kurt last night he barely registered the pain. It was easily trumped by fast coursing arousal and sheer erotic, toe curling pleasure.
But today, he feels exactly like he'd been hit square in the back with a fucking bat.
Fucking Nick prick.
Fucking heavy ass wooden bat. Fucking wooden bats in the hands of stupid pricks.
He groans when he attempts to sit up. He's halted by the feel of something cool on his skin.
"Lie still. This might help."
Dave slumps face first back onto the mattress allowing Kurt to caress some sort of substance onto what he presumed was the location of some grotesque bruises.
"Hopefully it'll keep your muscles from cramping and ease some of the pain. I also have some pain killers on the bed side table when you're ready."
"Mmm. That feels good."
"I'm glad. Do you think you're up for eating? I was going to make us something."
Dave grins happily but then he's hit by a reality check when a familiar bespectacled face swims in his mind's eye.
"Sounds perfect, but um - what time is it?"
"About 11:30. Why?"
"Danny. She's gotta get back or my Dad's gonna freak and hold her captive the rest of the summer."
Kurt continues to rub in the ointment and responds with a sense of ease, "I called over there a little while ago. Amy said your Grandma Mary was planning to head over around noon to pick her up."
Dave huffs. He knows that he could simply allow his Nana to handle it. But something feels wrong about it - like there was some other force pushing him to reject the notion and instead take on the task himself.
"I'd love nothing more than to stay with you and have a proper breakfast. But I have to ask you a favor."
Kurt's fingers slow into a light, barely there caress, until they halt completely.
"Anything you want Mr. Karofsky."
Dave practically beams a hole into Kurt's face at the playful retort.
It was awkwardly silent as Danny looked out of the window, a neutral expression on her face. Kurt thankfully had agreed to give Danny a ride home from Finn's place.
There were so many things to bring up, the same pattern of things left unsaid solidifiying between them, reminding him of his strained relationship with Paul Karofsky.
Dave was struggling. He wanted to pose direct questions - cut to the chase, but he knew his sister well enough to know that approach only resulted in her withdrawing further into herself.
Danny caught his eye in the side view mirror.
"What?" she barks.
"Honestly?"
"Yeah, I guess. You look like you ate a serving sized bowl of Lisa's spinach casserole - by yourself."
Dave chuckles. "You remember that?"
"Yeah. You had to drink like ten beers just to get the taste out of your mouth."
Dave smiles, his eyes narrowing as he observes her in the mirror, his mind slowly coming to a decision.
"I didn't have to drink that many beers kid, I just chose to."
Kurt shifts in his seat, readjusting himself as he breathes out a sigh. Dave keeps his eyes trained on his sister, waiting.
"She cried. Later that night - I saw her," Danny reminisces. "You acted funny after. Like you didn't care about being honest and didn't just let her yell - you yelled back, a lot. She left the bathroom door cracked open, and I saw her face... she was really sad."
Dave swallows, his jaw setting tightly as the good humor dwindles away, seeping out of him with every second passed.
"Danny - Dad wasn't wrong for wanting me to leave. Maybe part of the reason was wrong, but I have a problem that I needed to work on. That night with Lisa was an example of it - one of many."
"Drinking?"
"Mmhm - yeah."
Danny shakes her head. "But you're not some alcoholic. That's not you - "
"Yeah. It's not all of who I am, but it's a part. And who I was when I was drinking was that guy who couldn't keep my job, who hurt people... Who just didn't care about himself anymore. But I needed time to start the process of getting better - to really work on myself, and Dad knew it."
"That's not why he threw you out." Danny deadpanned in a monotone voice.
"No. Not entirely," Dave counters.
Suddenly, her voice wavers, and a few stray tears slowly meander down her cheek. "He's gonna hate me," she whispers.
"What do you mean kiddo?"
Danny shakes her head, pushing her glasses up so she could wipe away her tears.
"He didn't want you around b-because - you l-love, Kurt. He'll k-kick me out too, if he knows."
"Knows what?" Dave breathes.
"T-that I'm like you."
Kurt's knuckles are whitening with the harshness of his grip on the steering wheel; his blue eyes leaking quietly as he stares ahead at the road. Dave's heart is absolutely aching for his sister.
Dave turns to look at her over his shoulder, knowing full well that eye contact through the mirror would no longer suffice. She needed to understand...
"Danny, Dad loves you very much. I even think that deep down, he still has love for me too. He just - he doesn't understand. And when people don't understand something, they do what they think is the best thing, which is push it away - "
"Like what you did to Kurt?" she asks quietly, a sense of mutiny underlying the tone.
"Yeah. Exactly."
"Why would you do that? How could you do that if you cared about him? I don't get that!" she spat, anger pouring into her once quiescent disposition. Dave had a feeling that part of her words weren't meant for him, that maybe a certain blonde was partially deserving.
"Why would you even like him after everything he did?" Danny poses at Kurt. Kurt looks over at Dave who gives him a subtle nod of permission. Kurt exhales a deep release of air, poising himself in order to broach this terribly heavy subject.
"I've never hated anybody in my life, until I met David Karofsky."
Dave feels a familiar shooting pain stabbing at his insides with those words. He braces himself the best he can for whatever was next.
"There was a time when his taunting and bullying made me... hate myself - made me feel inhuman. Like I was nothing. But as I got older, I suppose I came to understand something. That Dave's bullying wasn't really about me. It was because he didn't like himself or accept himself for who he truly was. I love him now Danny, because I know that people make mistakes when they're scared or feel alone. And sometimes, there's a thin line between love and hate."
Dave eye's are brimming with tears but he doesn't look at Kurt. He just takes it as a good sign when he feels their fingers interlock, Kurt's free hand holding tightly to his.
"So it's better to be honest. Right?"
"It can be hard. Sometimes one of the hardest things you'll ever have to do, but after the smoke clears, you'll be happier with yourself. Trust me kid, I'm years overdue for that lesson," Dave explains, returning Kurt's comforting squeeze.
They sit in silence for the rest of the way, which happened to only consist of less than five minutes. When they come to a stop, they're greeted by the sight of Paul Karofsky himself, standing on the front lawn, one large hand hidden away in his khaki pants pocket, the other clutching a glass full of a brown-ish colored liquid. Two guesses what that could be...
Danny wastes no time as she slips on her back pack and clambers out of the back seat, marching determinately forward.
"Should I maybe - "
"No. Just stay here for now. I'll go," Dave states coolly as he steps from the Navigator and follows along in Danny's wake.
"Hey sweetie. So how was it?" Paul was asking as Dave made his way up the lawn toward the pair.
"I kissed Jamie. And I liked it."
"W-what?"
"I like girls Dad. I have for a long time. I didn't tell you cause I was scared you'd think I was a freak like everybody else at school. I didn't want you to not love me anymore."
"Danny - I - where is this coming from?"
Dave didn't miss the accusatory glare shot in his direction immediately following the question.
"Davey is perfect the way he is. And so I am. And we both love you. So figure out what you want. I'll be up in my room skyping the girl I kissed. If you're gonna kick me out, I suggest you do it before dinner time so that way Grandma Mary won't miss her movie night."
And with that, Danny left them alone, disappearing inside the house without a second glance.
Paul downs the rest of his drink, Dave watching him with a careful eye. Then Paul shakes his head, a rough laugh permeating the tense silence.
"This is exactly what I was afraid of," he comments with a disbelieving chuckle.
"What are you talking about?"
"Now she thinks she likes girls David."
"What, you think I turned her gay?"
"I think you had a definite influence - "
"I didn't even know anything about it until yesterday - "
"Yeah but she knew about you. It's not exactly hard to figure out, even for a twelve year old when you're hanging out with Kurt all the time - "
"Leave him out of this!"
Paul sneers, shaking the left over ice in his glass around causing it to rattle and clink.
"I thought you said that's what this was all about? That everything had to do with him, right?"
"It does for me. Not for her. She's her own individual person Dad. Stop treating her like she's some extension of me - "
"She worships you David. Everything you are, and everything you do. How can you expect her to make up her own mind under that kind of influence?"
"Because she already has. Her feelings, her thoughts, her desires, they're all hers. That's why she struggles to fit in. Because she's always been the type of person to have her own way of thinking, to just be herself despite everybody else. Now she finally has someone in her life who appreciates that about her. Don't punish her because you're pissed at me for being a disappointment to you."
Paul appears thoughtful for a moment, his dark eyes trained on Dave, the rattling sound from the glass ceasing.
"I love you, Dad. Even if you hate who I am, I'll still love you. And I'll always love her. And I don't want her to turn out like me anymore than you do. I want her to learn to love herself early enough, that she'll be able to deal with the shit, that I had to drink myself stupid, in order to handle. I can't help that I'm in love with Kurt, anymore than you could with Mom. And I'm not gonna be ashamed of it, I won't waste another second of my life, being ashamed anymore. I'm gay - but I'm still Dave. I'll see ya around, Pops." Dave then turns on his heel and returns to the car.
Paul stays put, his eyes volleying between staring at the over-grown grass of the yard and catching his son's eye.
When Kurt pulls away, Dave watches in the rearview mirror as Paul finally retreats into the house.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. I am. My sister just came out."
"What? Are you serious?"
"Yeah. And so did I. Officially, I mean."
"Wow..."
The silence isn't awkward in the least. It's suitable, comfortable. Kurt of course decides to break it.
"Who would've known that all you needed was a decent hand job to get that closet door swinging open. If that was the case, I would've done it years ago as a charitable venture."
Dave leans over and pecks Kurt's lips.
"The hand job was divine, but I think it might've had more to do with me getting to stick my dick in your ass. Just a guess."
"Crass. But likely true."
"You know you loved it, Fancy."
"Every inch, Mr. Karofsky."
"I did say, I love you, right?"
"Yes. But that's one thing I'll never get tired of hearing more than once."
"Good. Cause I think I'm getting gayer by the day, since I want to tell you like every other minute."
"That is pretty gay."
Dave pulls Kurt into a lingering kiss and sits back with a swift smile. "I love you, Kurt Hummel."
There's a moment in which the intensity of the words seduces them into a silent exchange, cajoling them into a brief spellbound state.
"Sooo gay."
Dave rolls his eyes, laughing jovially as he recaptures Kurt's hand within his own.
A/N: Fluffy, I know. I thought the guys could use a dose of it after the marathon of angst they've gone through. I like the idea of them settling down into their semi-coupleship, especially after doing the deed ;). The story is soon to come to a close. I feel it, a conclusion tickling the back of my neck. Not sure how much more is coming but the end is near. I hope you liked this chap (Danny finally got to get some much needed crap off her chest - woo woo!) Please review! I really love your guys feedback and thoughts.