A/N: So this I always thought these two should have had a scene together to clear the air. I know it was important for Kurt to, but he wasn't the only one Karofsky bullied. So here is chapter two of three. Let me know what you think! :)
David Karofsky stared out the window of his hospital room; he wasn't in thought or distracted by anything, he just stared. He was numb. He had so many visitors since he had woken up, he was grateful to finally be left alone. Everyone was so relieved that he was okay, well physically anyways. A sudden knock on his door caught his attention. David was caught off guard to see Rachel Berry at his door. She was dressed in a sun dress, her hair down, but the sides are pulled back. She held a big brown paper bag and a carrier with two drinks.
Rachel suddenly felt nervous. She fidgeted from one foot to the other and chewed in her bottom lip. [Maybe this was a bad idea.] "Hey." Her voice was quiet and came out as a squeak, like a scared little mouse.
"Berry?" He was confused to say the least. Rachel and David were never friends; in fact, they were the exact opposite. He bullied and humiliated her while she took the abuse in stride. As he looked back on it, with his 'now' experience on the other side, he regretted it. Rachel cleared her throat and offered him a smile.
"I brought some food and a drink." He held up the brown bag and drinks. He nodded as he took notice of the smell of food. "May I come in?" she finally asked. She didn't quite understand why he felt like she needed his permission to enter. There was this thick awkwardness in the atmosphere around them. It was as if they didn't know how to act around each other. Perhaps that was true.
David nodded, "Oh, yeah sorry." Rachel ducked her head and moved completely into the room. She set the carrier and the bag down on the moving tray. He watched her movements not quite sure what she was doing here.
"It's, uh, Jimmy's Burgers. I hope that's okay." Rachel looked up at him. David mumbled a 'thank you' as he nodded once again. "The drink is a slushy." He gave her a weird look. His nose wrinkled and brows pulled together. Rachel chuckled as she removed one from the carrier. "Yes, I know. Perhaps the best peace offering, though a bit ironic." She offered it to him, but he hesitated. "Its blue raspberry." He searched her eyes before her took it.
He watched as she found a chair and pulled it closer and took a seat. "Thanks." He looked down at the drink while he tried to figure out how to word his thoughts. "Why are you here?" he blurted out. "I mean, we have never been friends." Rachel frowned and sighed.
"True. We hated each other before now. Well – I hated you, before now." Rachel looked down at her hands in her lap. She released a breath in annoyance with herself. She was always so good with words before. "Look, I don't even know why I'm here. One minute I was in Glee then I was driving around town." She raised her gaze to meet his finally and shrugged. "I suppose I wanted to know how you were doing."
David snorted and looked away from her. "I don't need your pity or anything, ya know." He grumbled. He's had enough of that to last him a lifetime.
"I'm not here out of pity!" she argued, she crossed her arms and huffed.
"Then why are you here?!" he snapped at her, his eyes hard as he glared at her.
"I'm questioning that myself!" she bit back just as aggressive. They each seemed to relax after a moment of a harsh silence. Rachel sighed, "David," he looked over at her, surprise. That was that first time she had ever called him by his first name. usually it was 'Karofsky' or some insult that related to his intellect. " – I do genuinely want to know how you are."
Her intense gaze made David uncomfortable. He looked away from her before he decided to speak. "I'm fine." He managed to choke out. It felt as though his throat had closed on him. His eyes suddenly stung with tears.
"You're not." Rachel muttered, and when he didn't turn to look at her she continued. "I know that because I wasn't 'fine'." That caught his attention. When David looked back he caught her teary eyes. "I said it a lot though. They all believed me; My dads, the Doctors and nurses. All those acting classes finally paid off I suppose." She gave a pathetic chuckle as she dropped his gaze for just moment. "I thought maybe if I said it enough times, I would end up believing it too."
Rachel looked back up and smiled sadly, she reached out and grabbed his hand. "You – you tried to kill yourself?" his voice shook, his words stuttered out. How was that possible? Rachel Berry? Suicide? She was probably the last person, he thought, that would ever even think about suicide.
Rachel nodded and squeezed his hand, a tear finally made its way down her cheek. "I thought things would never get better. I thought I was so alone, so despised by everyone. I thought killing myself would solve everyone's problem." Karofsky shook his head and pulled his hand away from hers.
"No, wait. This doesn't make any sense." He looked at her, the wheels in his mind working overtime. "You have everything. The Glee club, friends, two doting dads. I don't get it." Rachel straightened up and wiped away the few tears that had fallen.
"First off, though my dads are 'doting', as you put it, they're never home. Between Dads many business trips for his firm and his and Daddys extravagant multiple honeymoons, they're never home. I get an allowance directly deposited into my account every month to help pay bills, buy groceries and keep myself occupied. They are only 'doting' because they give me everything I want because they feel guilty."
Rachel shrugged as if it weren't a big deal, David, on the other hand, found it hard to believe. "Okay, but what about school, glee and stuff?"
"Oh you mean the school where you and others made my life a living hell?" she bit out. He shifted in the hospital bed, his hand tightened around the foam cup. "Sorry." Rachel apologized once she noticed how rude that must have sounded.
"Don't be, it's true. I suppose I deserved that."
"And more." Rachel quickly added. David was surprised with her attitude. Everyone else had tip-toed around his feelings, watched their tone and words. No one wanted to upset him, unsure of how he would react. But here she was being honest, she told him how his actions had, more or less, led her to think about suicide. "I had no one at school. You and the rest of the jocks made sure of that. Even once Glee stared up, I was still unwanted by everyone. I was the school pin cushion so to speak. Everyone poked and poked at me to make themselves feel better or just to fit in." she shrugged, "They need my voice to compete and win competitions, so they pretended to be friends with me."
David stared at her, he never realized just how much damage they had all done to her. To him it never seemed like a big deal. The words, the slushies, the times they had 'accidentally' knocked her into the lockers. "I'm sorry. I – I didn't think. I didn't think it was that bad." He shook his head. He felt his cheeks burn and the rim of his vision blurred.
"No you didn't. but that's okay, because now you know. You know what its like to be hurt by others." Rachel shook her head and gave him a smile. "But I didn't come here with food to make you feel bad and rub it in your face. You didn't deserve the things they said about you. You don't." Rachel ran her tongue over her lips in attempt to wet them. She suddenly had a dry mouth and was at a loss for words.
"You're a good person David. Despite everything in the past, you're still good. I want you to know that, from here on out you're not alone. I will be here for you. Even if all you need is some to vent to. Despite what others say, I don't talk all the time." David cracked a small smile as the pain he'd pushed away since he woke up finally made its way to the forefront of his being. Rachel reached out, once more, and grasped his hand. "I want to be your friend, from here on out. I want you to lean on me, so that this – " her eyes finally settled on the dark colored bruise that lined his neck.
It was something that, until then, she had avoided afraid it would make him feel worse. "So, that this won't happen again. Because it can't. We can't do that again to our families. It's hard on them too. So let's be friends. Let us show them that we are strong, together." Rachel smiled and squeezed his hand. David nodded and smiled through the tears that tracked down his cheeks.
"Okay." That's all he said, 'okay'. They smiled at each other and let a comfortable silence settle over them. David sucked in a breath as he looked away from her and tried to blink away anymore tears. Rachel went to pull her hand away, but stopped when he held on tighter. She looked up to see him staring at her. "Thank you." His voice was solid yet shaky all at once. Rachel smiled and gave a curt nod, "Really Rachel. Thank you." Rachel felt herself starting to tear up again. She sucked in a breath and stood up. She used her free hand to tuck her hair behind her ear as she leaned over his bed and kissed his cheek. David let his eyes close when he felt her lips touch his skin. She was so warm. There was a feeling of content and confidence, something he hadn't felt in such a long time, settle over him.
After her lips lingered for a few moments she pulled away and smiled down at him. Her eyes shined with un-shed tears. She gave his hand one last squeeze before she pulled away. "Alright, what do you to say to eating this food before it gets any colder?" she asked and walked around to the bag. David grinned suddenly aware of how hungry he was. He placed the tip of the straw into his mouth and took the first drink of the slushy. Rachel took his silence as an okay. She began to pull out the contents of the bag.
David heard his stomach rumble when he saw a giant burger and bigger pile of fries. Rachel handed his the Styrofoam box, then grabbed hers. She sat back down and opened her box. David took a big bite out of his burger before he noticed Rachels food. "Hey, aren't so vegetarian or some stupid shit like that?" he asked with his mouth full of food. Rachel laughed and nodded. She took a bit of her burger and chewed quietly before she spoke.
"I was yes. However, my Doctor said my body wasn't getting the proper nutrients from what I was taking in. He said I needed more protein in my diet due to my active lifestyle." She smiled as she popped a fry into her mouth before she sucked on her straw. He nodded and took another bite.
"Cool." Rachel giggled as she took another bite of her burger. They ate in silence. There was nothing else that needed to be said. The air between the two was clear not that they had confronted each other. Though David didn't quite forgive himself for his treatment of the diva, he was grateful for her forgiveness and acceptance of who he was. Maybe, just maybe, he could move on from this. He wasn't alone after all, there was someone who understood what it was like, someone who got it. "Hey David," he looked up at her, "want to go shopping with me when you get out of here?"
He snorted and shook his head. "Fuck off Berry!" he tossed a french fry at her as she laughed. Everything was going to be okay, they were going to be 'fine'. [I'm not alone anymore.]