"So, you were out with Blaine last Thursday when you agreed to be tutored by David Karofsky of all people, and now you're spending the entire day with little ol' me instead of tutoring with Karofsky?" Mercedes bluntly asked.
Kurt was sitting on his bed with his best friend Mercedes. Mercedes was always a brutally honest person and while Kurt loved that about her, he didn't like it when the subject matter was him.
Kurt smiled at Mercedes.
"Enough about Karofsky. He's a changed man and, sweetie, you've been gone for over six months. There's no way you could believe he's changed without seeing it." Kurt explained, a little desperation in his voice.
"OK, Cedes." Kurt began, "Just one more hug. It's so good to see you!"
Kurt and Mercedes fell into each other. They had been friends for so long, and even though the exchange program separated them temporarily, they truly missed each other. Kurt gently held Mercedes, but she uncharacteristically held Kurt tighter and tighter around his back.
Suddenly, Kurt loudly winced and pulled back. Mercedes looked at Kurt with shock and concern in her eyes.
"Oh, sorry Cedes," Kurt began apologetically, "I hurt my back in the shop the other night."
Mercedes was instantly even more concerned.
"Kurt, baby," Mercedes said, "how did you hurt your back in the shop?"
"Sweetie, do you know what a torque wrench is?" Kurt asked. And without waiting for an answer, Kurt continued.
"I just didn't grip it hard enough and when I tried to get control of it, I overcompensated and hurt my back a little."
"Oh, Kurrrt." Mercedes purred. "Are you OK?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine." Kurt answered abstractly.
Mercedes looked at him with concern in her eyes but decided that Kurt would be OK.
"OK, white boy. You need to dish." Mercedes said, with an ornery look in her eye.
Kurt looked at her, distracted by her fingertips.
"Oooh, I like that color!" Kurt said, looking at her fingernail polish.
"Kurt!" Mercedes practically yelled. "Dish!"
"What do you mean?" Kurt genuinely asked, looking back up at her. He released her fingertips.
Mercedes briefly looked frustrated before her ornery grin returned to Kurt.
"Blaine!" Mercedes declared.
"What about him?" Kurt asked.
"Well?!"
Kurt, again, just looked confused.
"OK. The last time I saw you, you were alllll googley-eyed about him. He is really cute." Mercedes smile was completely infectious. Kurt couldn't help but smile back at her.
"Well….." Kurt began, intentionally withholding information from Mercedes.
Mercedes had no patience whatsoever.
"White boy, you need to tell me what's up with Blaine?!"
Kurt paused, a little smirk on his face.
"Blaine and I have been seeing each other from time to time. I wouldn't exactly call us boyfriends or anything…."
Mercedes giggled.
"Ooooooh!" Mercedes cooed.
"Cedes, don't forget. Love really is just around the corner." Kurt said. And with that statement, he was smacked with a flashback of an intimidating Karofsky walking by in the cafeteria, saying 'Sup, homo' and a foolhardy wink. Kurt shuddered at the memory, knowing full well that Karofsky was dead. David was….
"Kurt? Hello, Kurt?" Mercedes asked, just slightly concerned.
"I'm fine, Cedes. C'mon. Let's go do something. Let's go online and see what the outlet stores near Columbus have on sale."
Mercedes clapped her hands together, that infectious smile flooding her face.
"OK!" she began, "but just don't go all dreamy eyed over Blaine like you did just now."
"I won't."
.
Dave listened to Kurt on his cell phone, recount this entire story with Mercedes. Dave loved listening to Kurt, loved his little almost girly inflections in speech, and especially loved Kurt's laughter over Dave's input. He was glad Kurt had a good friend like Mercedes in his life. He was also grateful Kurt hadn't forgotten to call him, since Saturday night phone calls with Kurt had informally been going on since the midterm debacle in geometry class.
OK, so this was only the second Saturday since then, but Dave was hardly counting. Not really.
Dave was grateful that Mercedes seemed at least open up to the idea that he was a changed man.
"Kurt, thank you so much for saying nice things about me to Mercedes." Dave said, appreciatively.
"Of course, David! You are a good friend, you know." Kurt quickly answered.
Neither boy said anything. Dave was mulling over Kurt's words, loving and committing to memory every single one. Kurt cleared his throat. But Dave was the next one to speak.
"Well, I should probably go to bed. It is getting kind of-"
"Dave?"
Kurt's tone of voice shifted and Dave did not like the sound of it. Instantly, Dave was worried.
"Yeah? What's wrong?" Dave asked, troubled.
There was a pause on the other line. Kurt's breathing had become a little irregular, something only noticeable to the closest of friends. Dave didn't like this one bit.
"Kurt?" Kurt, baby, please talk to me baby!
"Um….I know we said Sundays weren't good for tutoring because I have glee, but….."
"Go on. I'm listening." Dave encouraged, softly.
"Could I come over tomorrow after glee for, um, tutoring?"
Dave knew full well that Kurt didn't want to come over for tutoring, but decided to play along. He knew something was wrong and Kurt wanted to talk. He was not about to turn down any offer to spend time with Kurt, especially if Kurt needed his help.
"Of course you can!" Dave answered, probably a little too enthusiastically.
"OK. We should be done around 4 o'clock, so can I come over around 5?"
Dave barely let Kurt finish his sentence.
"Yes, of course you can!" Dave dumbly repeated. "I mean, yes, please come over at 5 o'clock. I'll have my geometry tutoring hat on and some snacks."
There was a pause then. An ugly pause. Kurt didn't even snicker at Dave's stupid joke.
Oh God Kurt, what's wrong?!
"OK. I'll see you then."
Dave tried to respond but Kurt had already hung up. Dave was very, very uneasy.
.
It was 4:50PM on Sunday afternoon. Dave sat on his couch, his left leg bouncing up and down and up and down nervously. He'd asked his Dad if he could have some privacy with Kurt. He was annoyed when his Dad practically giggled, and then was horrified when his Dad reminded him of the importance of condoms. Dave groaned but was grateful when his Dad went out to eat, leaving him alone in the house.
Dave made sure everything was set. He had some creux de ta set on a nice, glass dish, with some onion dip. He made sure to have chilled, Diet Coke in the refrigerator, and his geometry text book and paperwork neatly placed on the coffee table. Dave checked it all again.
His nerves wouldn't let him be! He wanted to impress Kurt for their very first and long overdue tutoring session.
Of course, he knew they probably wouldn't study much, if at all. Kurt's very disturbing end to an otherwise enjoyable phone call made Dave so edgy that he could barely focus on anything that day. He wanted Kurt to be at peace and Kurt simply wasn't.
He looked at the clock again – 5:05PM. He got up and looked out the living room window. No Kurt.
He returned to the couch and suddenly got back up, racing to the bathroom. He made a quick inspection of his teeth, his hair, his breath. He was dressed in a simple Polo shirt and dark blue jeans. He knew the shirt was a little tight but he enjoyed those moments at school when he would see Kurt's eyes drift towards his chest and arms from time to time in that shirt. Dave smirked.
Dave heard a car pull up. Dave raced out to the living room window and, sure enough, Kurt was emerging from the driver's side door, satchel being placed over his shoulder.
Smiling, Dave quickly walked to the front door and opened it as Kurt was approaching.
Dave's smile faded. Kurt's eyes were puffy and red. His hair was slightly messed up and his shirt was untucked near his belly button.
"Hi." Kurt said weakly, upon entering the house.
"Hi, Kurt." Dave said neutrally.
Kurt stood in the hallway, waiting for Dave to shut the door. Dave escorted him into the living room and invited him to sit on the couch. Normal housewarming behavior ensued – Kurt politely declined anything to eat but accepted an offer for a Diet Coke.
Dave practically ran to the kitchen to grab Kurt's drink. He grabbed two ice cubes from the freezer and carefully poured the black, bubbly drink into two glasses.
Please be OK, Kurt.
Having filled the glasses, Dave grabbed one in each hand and started back towards the living room. But when he took one step into the living room, he stopped, horrified at what he was seeing.
Kurt was crying. And not just a tear here and there. Kurt was full out sobbing. He had fallen towards the back of the couch, hands covering his face, body shaking uncontrollably.
Dave froze for just an instant, and then he went into protector mode. Dave quickly set the drinks down on a nearby table and slowly walked up to Kurt. For Kurt to display this much emotion, things had to be handled very carefully and responsibly.
Dave simply went beside Kurt and sat down. He didn't know exactly what to do, but he knew he had to do something.
Slowly, Dave reached for Kurt's hand. As soon as he was touching it, Kurt jumped a little, but accepted Dave's hand. Dave held Kurt's hand, gently stroking over his knuckles and under his palm.
Whoever or whatever made you cry like this will pay dearly.
Kurt's sobs were nearly out of control. Dave couldn't take it anymore.
Ever so gently, he pulled his hand out of Kurt's, and engulfed Kurt's body in his large arms. Kurt then fell onto Dave's chest, sobbing and sobbing. Dave felt like crying himself, he was so distraught over what he was seeing. There was no use talking to someone when they're crying this heavily. No response could be given. So Dave simply waited it out.
But he didn't like it. He never, ever wanted to see Kurt cry again. He'd made Kurt cry enough because of him and he vowed never to see it again. And here Kurt was, crying uncontrollably on his chest.
Dave decided to strengthen his hold on Kurt, hoping his strength would give Kurt strength to stop crying. So, Dave tightened his hold around Kurt. He pulled Kurt even closer, arms tightening around him.
Suddenly, Kurt winced, yelped, and jerked away from Dave. Kurt sat up, his hand covering his upper back, just below his shoulder blade.
Dave blinked, taking this all in.
"Kurt? What's wrong? What's wrong with your back?" Dave gently asked.
Kurt bleakly looked at him.
"N-nothing." Kurt softly replied.
"Yes, there is. What happened?" Dave asked, very concerned.
"A work accident."
"A work accident?"
"Yeah…."
Dave narrowed his eyes at Kurt.
"Are you sure?" Dave asked, tilting his head towards Kurt's back.
Kurt didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know if he should.
"How do you get a back injury helping out your Dad, filing and doing office work?" Dave asked. Kurt explained that lately, his Dad had asked Kurt to do most of his office work – filing invoices, processing supply orders, updating his business spreadsheets, etc. Nothing in office work gives that kind of injury.
Dave didn't like this one bit. Kurt didn't say anything.
"Kurt?"
But still, Kurt said nothing. He stared at absolutely nothing. Kurt was nothing.
"Can I see?"
Kurt's eyes shot up towards Dave. Fear. Absolute fear. Kurt was afraid.
But he's not afraid of me.
Dave gently grabbed Kurt's arm and began pulling it straight up.
"Dave…no…"
"It's OK, Kurt. Just let me see."
"Dave…."
Dave had Kurt's arm elevated well above his head. Still holding up Kurt's arm in one hand, he used his other to untuck Kurt's white cotton shirt. Slowly, he gathered some material in his hand and rose the shirt up.
Dave was about done carefully pulling up the shirt, while Kurt sobbed and tried to complain some more. Once Dave had the shirt bundled up to Kurt's shoulder blade, he turned and looked at Kurt's back.
His eyes bulged.
Oh my God!
Kurt burst out into a new set of tears.
There were three bruises, all in varying sizes. The biggest was the size of a tennis ball, the smallest the size of a quarter. Two scratches were below two of the bruises. Dave winced and nearly came to tears himself.
Dave shakily released Kurt's shirt and Kurt himself pulled it back down.
"Who did this to you?!" Dave angrily asked.
Kurt jumped back and away from Dave.
Who the fuck hurt you?!
Dave did the incredible task of forcing himself to calm down, and gently clasped Kurt's hand.
"Kurt, baby, who hurt you?"
Kurt's eyes widened, and then quickly looked away.
Dave beckoned with his eyes. He couldn't cry in front of Kurt. Not now.
Please not now.
"Please, Kurt." Dave quietly beckoned, "who did this?"
Kurt very slowly looked back at Dave. He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. He looked away again and felt Dave's fingers gently stroking his hand. He looked down at the two hands, a little smile on his face.
Then, he looked back at Dave.
"Remember," Kurt shakily began, "when I said I was helping my Dad in the shop last Thursday and canceled our tutoring session? I lied. I was somewhere…else."
Dave simply blinked, waiting for Kurt to continue.
"He said," Kurt shakily began, "that he was having a bad day…"
Dave waited. He knew this would be difficult for Kurt to explain, so he kept quiet.
"He said he was sorry. But after he slammed me into the wall the third time, he said he wouldn't do it again…..I called him a liar and he hurled a textbook at me. His geometry text book!" And with that agonizing admission, Kurt fell into his hands again, tears upon tears sobbing his life away. Kurt was struggling to breathe and Dave held Kurt's hand a little tighter.
Dave was in a quiet fury.
"Please tell me it wasn't who I think it was." Dave asked, trying his best to keep his fury at bay.
Kurt couldn't even look at him.
"That's why I can't do anything with you. I can't be anything more than friends. I know that's what you want! I can't! He knows where I live!"
Kurt was screaming and crying at the same time. Dave's heart poured out for the fragile boy, and boiled ferociously at the boy who was supposed to be Kurt's friend. Nothing could calm Kurt down then and Dave knew it. So, he did what all supportive, loving people should do – Dave pulled Kurt into a gentle embrace and held Kurt as he cried.
.