Chapter 38

(A.N: I'm back. Sick, but back. Ugh I miss Italy, but I also missed you guys. On a completely different note, that scene with Karofsky, Blaine, Kurt and Santana tonight made my heart sad. I honestly felt like Karofsky's mother. I guess I've been writing this fanfiction for so long that I feel like it is an actual Glee story and not something I made up. It really hurt to see Karofsky letting out his aggression like that, but only because I feel like it will set back people's opinion of his character. That it will resurface all the negative feelings about him, and people will have a harder time looking past that. His look when Santana was standing up for Kurt and Blaine was complete agony).

"What is he doing here?" Dave asked suspiciously as a dark haired boy in a dark blue sweater came running over. The boy took Kurt's hand in his own and kissed him on the cheek gently. Dave felt a painful shiver down his spine.

"Be nice" Kurt hissed under his breath at Dave, but he wasn't sure he would be able to be nice. At this moment the very idea seemed impossible.

"What's he doing here?" asked That Blaine, staring at him hard.

"Have you seen his ensemble, he obviously needs to be here" Kurt said, blushing from the kiss.

"That's not what I mean hun. Why is he here with you?"

"He is living with us right now, and I cannot have anyone in my household have taste as bad as his" That Blaine's face twisted in confusion. "I'll explain it to you later; right now the two of us need to show him how to dress. We can be like...Queer eye for the new homosexual guy." That Blaine raised his eyebrows. "You can be Carson."

"Done! Alright, let's turn this pumpkin into Cinderella" That Blaine said, laughing, forcing a smile.

"Wait, hold up! I don't want this guy dressing me up like a clown."

"Well you're doing a pretty good job of it yourself" That Blaine remarked, Dave growled.

"Watch your mouth" Dave murmured, his defensive nature rising to the surface. Dave stepped forward to threaten That Blaine, forgetting he was on crutches. Before he knew it he was stumbling to the floor, his balance failing him. He was sure he was going to clatter the ground, but Kurt caught him before that could happen.

"Both of you can stop this. There are no brawls in shopping" Kurt hissed.

"You obviously haven't gone into American Eagle during a big sale" That Blaine gave Kurt a knowing look and smirked. Dave felt a weird churning in his stomach; he had a bad feeling that he was going to be way in over his head with this. That Blaine looked around anxiously. He obviously was still unhappy about being around Dave. He looked Dave up and down taking in his crutches, and cast. "So where do we want to take him?"

"I'm not sure. I think we should start with the Gap and go from there" Kurt said critically, looking Dave over. "We definitely cannot take him to Marc Jacobs looking like this. I would never be able to show my face there again."Kurt chuckled and shifted his head to the side, pointing into the direction they would be walking. Dave followed moodily as That Blaine and Kurt walked hand in hand towards their destination.

The moment Dave walked into the store he felt overwhelmed. He had worn the same clothes for the last three years, and he had bought them at a thrift store on a Monday afternoon. This was a Sunday, in a legitimate store, where there was more than one style, in more than one colour.

"Excuse me" said a woman behind him. He hadn't even realised he was blocking the way. That Blaine and Kurt looked at him in confusion.

"Don't worry Karofsky, we aren't going to hurt you" Kurt said, but Dave wasn't so sure. Slowly he made his way into the store, the two taking him into the men's sections. The racks became a blur in Dave's eyes.

"What colours do you think we should go with?" That Blaine asked, looking through shirts.

"Uh, greens and blues would be best. We need to stay away from dark drab colours, though we should get some black more elegance, but charcoal not midnight. We should definitely stay away from dark reds" Kurt commented absent minded.

"I like reds" Dave mumbled, thinking about his team colours. Neither Kurt nor That Blaine seemed to listen though.

"What do you think of this?"Asked That Blaine, holding up a light pink blouse.

"No, I'm thinking more of something like this" Kurt said, holding up a small dark green polo.

"Really? I don't know if it is right for his body type. Also, that green is all wrong, I think we should go with an emerald or mint green."

"You're so right; it would go much better with his eyes."

Dave stopped listening. He didn't understand colour or patterns or fabrics or styles. Kurt and That Blaine saw differences in tops that looked exactly the same to Dave. That didn't bother him so much though. He didn't mind all the talk of fashion and what not, he even found it semi-interesting (even though he had no idea what any of it meant), and though it wasn't really his thing. It wasn't really as bad as he had thought it would be.

The problem was that they were shopping for him, without any input from him. They were acting as though he didn't exist. Just like his dad always did. He had pretended he was just background. That his opinions didn't matter. Everyone treated him like he didn't have the brain capacity to think for himself, or that even if he did nothing he said could have any shred of importance. That he was just a football playing machine with no other abilities or functions. That he was nothing.

He felt his arms being stuffed with clothes. "He can try these on" said Kurt to That Blaine. Dave felt his numbing anger again. He didn't want to fight anymore though, or do something irrational so he did the only thing he could think of; he walked out.

Dropping the clothes on the floor, Dave limped out of the store towards a bench and sat down. He wasn't sure what he was going to do, but it was better than snapping. He didn't want to be an raging bully anymore.

"What was that all about?" he heard Kurt say, his hands over his chest as he walked towards Dave.

"Nothing, forget it" Dave grumbled, grinding his teeth.

"Well I can see how much you've changed" Kurt said sarcastically "from bully with anger issues to..."

"Why don't you just go shopping with your little boyfriend and leave me alone" Dave shouted, barely noticing the people staring at them. "You don't need me to be here anyway, you don't care what I have to say anyway. I'm just dead weight, you don't even need me here. Go pick out your corals and magentas and leave me out of it" it took everything in Dave not to clench his fists and ram them down Kurt's throat.

Kurt looked shocked, but nodded. Dave was sure his was in for an unwanted battle, but he no longer cared. He didn't want to take this anymore, from anyone.

"You're right" Kurt sighed. "I'm sorry."

Dave was flabbergasted "What?"

"You're right. You may not have any taste, but these clothes are going to be for you, not me, and not Blaine. We should at least ask what you think of them before we force you to try them on" Kurt gave him a look of genuine apology. "Do you even like anything in the Gap?"

"Uh, I liked that light green shirt thing, with the collar, and uh...those beige pant things" Dave stumbled, unsure of himself.

"Alright, let's see how those look on you" Dave smiled and went back into the store with Kurt.

"And one red shirt" Dave added.

"You're really pushing it, but I will allow one red shirt" Kurt looked at Dave with a mock glare "One."