Breakfast was an awkward affair. Dave and paul chewed quietly, while Larry sat gazing longingly at the pancakes had set in front of hm. He moved the for in his hand contemplating the results of any attempted eating. Breaking his reverie, Paul told him, "They're not poisoned you know." Dave quelled his urge to laugh by shoving another bite of pancake into his mouth.
"I'm sure your pancakes are quite delicious sir, but I am in no state to eat right now," Larry told him wryly. He set the fork down again, and let it tap the plate with a satisfying cling. "I think I'll be fine. Don't worry about me, you need to be worrying about your son." Dave looked confused, and Larry noticed the same expression on his father's face, making the two look more alike. "I'm not going to get worse than I am, that's pretty impossible for a dead guy."
"Surely there's something-"
"No, you misunderstand me. I'm dead. A ghost. I've been buried longer than Davey's been riding a bike... well maybe." Larry told him, the humor fading from his voice. "I'm here to keep an eye on Davey. To see him get his cap and gown, and all that good stuff."
"Was it...? Was it because you were gay?"
"Oh god no. He just wanted to kill everyone at graduation... It was a very complicated school." Larry paused. He didn't think that Paul needed to hear the nature of the murderous being this morning.
Dave finished up the pancakes on his plate. He reached across the table to take Larry's plate, but a warm hand on his arm stopped his movement. "David? I'd like to talk to you about what you said earlier in your room. You… kissed Kurt Hummel?" Dave ducked his head slightly embarrassed. He drew the arm back to his body protectively. "When was this?"
Dave thought back to that moment in time. Sure, he could tell his father, down to the minute that happened, but that probably would be more information than his father wanted to hear.
"A few weeks prior to the first meeting in the principal's office. That was why I had threatened his life. Not that I could have done that. Not to him." The last sentence he spoke in a whisper. "He kept my secret for me, even though I didn't deserve anything from him. He may not be the easiest guy to be around, but he's pretty awesome in my book." Kurt could be a bit snobbish at times, especially with all of his cutesy things that Dave must know if he's going to be gay. Paul nodded quietly to himself, and squeezed Dave's shoulder.
"Is he dating anyone?"
"Daaaad. I don't think I'm ready for a relationship, and if I was, he is taken anyway." Dave said, a note of sadness in his voice. The table plunged back into their silent chewing, and Larry felt a bit out of place here. The happy family breakfast, and here he was, not even breathing. Was this his mission? Helping Dave and his father patching up together, and then leaving them to sort it out, because this felt like the end of Dave's need for him. Looking at his hands, he noticed the edges of his fingers were becoming blurrier than normal, and he didn't like that. "Larr? Is there something wrong?" Larry snapped his eyes up to Dave's searching hazel ones.
"I'm fading Davey. I think I'm done here." Larry explained. Dave looked hurt, but nodded slowly. "I don't want to go, it's just I think The Powers That Be, think I should go."
"Well screw the powers! Can't you just stay? I finally have someone who knows me. Not the jock exterior, not the closeted idiot, but me. I need someone who isn't trying to make me some bigoted idiot, or reshape me into a choir singing, prancing, pretty boy. I'm not that, I'm just Dave, and you get that. You lived that." Dave pleaded with Larry, but he was still fading fast. His entire right arm was missing now.
"It's not my call Davey, I've got to go. I'm sorry. If they let me, I'll be back. Tell you what, if I can swing it, I'll have a surprise for you. I've got to go play Fairy Godfather to someone else now." Larry stood up from the table, and walked to the door. "It was nice meeting you Mr. Karofsky, I wish the situation was a little less stressful. Goodbye for now." It was hard for Dave to tell if Larry walked out of the door, or if he had just faded enough not to be seen, either way he knew that he was gone, and so was a chunk of his heart.
It wasn't until July he remembered that Larry had mentioned a surprise. A package had shown up on his doorstep, sent from a Mrs. Blaisdell. It was a hefty box, and Dave wasn't entirely sure what could be inside it. Taking it carefully to his room, he shut the door, not wanting to be disturbed. He opened the box, and took out a note on the top. Larry visited me, and that was a bit frightening. He told me you might want some keepsakes, and as I have felt more grief, than joy with some of the mementos, I think you should have them. I also made copies of some pictures. I don't know who you are to him, but I hope you know how truly special you are to have been friends with my dear son. Intrigued, he took the bubble wrap off an oddly shaped object, revealing the very letterman jacket he had seen Larry in. Or at least the one Larry had mimicked as a ghost. There was a wooden stake in the box, and a small album of photos on the bottom. The photos were of a small happy child, growing up through the ages, and then a scowling teenager. Near the end, he was smiling again, happy with himself. One picture made Dave's heart clench. A single photo at the end, Larry wearing his robe for graduation in front of the school.