Kurt walked into the choir room after school had ended, smiling at Finn, Mercedes, Quinn, and Mike who were all talking near the piano. He wanted to set his books and his bag down on one of the chairs as he had just received a text from Blaine.
I miss you, it said. Kurt couldn't help but smile. How did he get so lucky? He had a boyfriend who loved him and cared about him so much. It was hard being away from Blaine now that school had started, but he knew that he'd get used to it soon.
While beginning to type out a message back, Sam walked in and stood with the others near the piano. "Dude, guess who I caught singing in the locker room yesterday," he said to Finn.
"Who?"
"Karofsky." Kurt immediately stopped typing out his response to Blaine to listen in on the conversation. Everyone seemed to have a confused look on their face, including Kurt.
"Karofsky? Why was he singing in front of other people?" Mercedes asked.
"I'm pretty sure he didn't think anybody was in there. Beiste made him leave practice early 'cause he got in a fight with Azimio," Sam replied.
Most likely Azimio's fault..., Kurt thought. He couldn't help but wonder if Dave sang well or not.
Quinn's eyebrows shot up with Sam's response. "Wait... since when do those two get into fights? They're usually starting them together."
"I dunno," Sam shrugged.
"Yeah, it was really tense between them during practice... it was weird," Finn added.
Curiosity continued to grow, until Kurt finally decided to speak up. "And how did you catch him singing exactly?"
*FLASHBACK*
Sam is walking into the locker room, where he bends down to grab a bag off of the floor.
[Sam Voiceover] "Beiste asked me to go get some equipment we forgot to bring out."
He seems confused all of a sudden, stopping for a moment to look down the aisle of lockers that leads into the showers.
[Sam Voiceover] "I walk in, and there's Karofsky, singing in the shower."
In one of the shower stalls is none other than Dave Karofsky, washing his hair while clearly singing, though viewers can't hear his voice yet.
[Mike Voiceover] "I'm guessing he sucked?"
[Sam Voiceover] "Actually..."
*FLASHBACK ENDS*
"He wasn't that bad," Sam finishes.
Quinn scoffed, "as nice as that is, we are not asking Karofsky to join glee club."
"Yeah, that is definitely not happening," Mercedes adds.
Sam puts his hands up in defense as he replies, "I wasn't even going to suggest that."
"Did he get pissed when he saw you?" Mike asks.
"Nah, I left before he did."
The subject was soon changed as more members of New Directions began to show up, though the thought of Dave Karofsky singing continued to stay in Kurt's mind. Maybe he's really good..., Kurt suggested to himself. An idea suddenly presented itself in his head, which he immediately thought wasn't good. Yet, after thinking about it for a while longer, maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after-all.
The next day, Kurt was walking down the hallway thinking about how Mr. Schuester said that they needed to add more voices to New Directions in order to have a better shot at beating Vocal Adrenaline and winning at Nationals this year. Last year had been a complete disaster. Finn and Rachel had decided that it was a good idea to kiss on stage during their performance, causing them to place 12th. Santana was still a bit angry with the both of them for that entire incident.
Kurt knew that adding more voices to the group was important, especially since winning at Nationals would mean so much to everyone after two years of hard work. For most in New Directions, this was their last shot. Most were graduating at the end of the year, including Kurt, which meant that he knew what he was about to do was the right decision.
Further down the hallway, Kurt saw Dave standing at his locker putting a few books away. He seemed sad about something, but Kurt took a deep breath and walked over to him.
"Hi," he said, waiting for Dave to turn to look at him.
"Oh, hey," Dave replied, not even looking over to where Kurt was standing.
"Are you okay?"
"I've been better." Dave pulled out his letterman jacket from his locker... or, at least, what was left of his letterman jacket. It had been completely ruined. There were a bunch of cuts and holes all over it, as well as black marks from a permanent marker. Dave still hadn't looked at Kurt.
"Dave, I'm so sorry," Kurt said. He really wasn't sure of what else to say. Kurt couldn't help but think about how many of his own clothes had been ruined by the jocks over the past three years at McKinley.
Dave shrugged. "It's fine... it's just... funny," he said.
"What is?" Kurt asked.
Dave finally looked at Kurt, shaking his head as he thought over what he was about to say. "I spent all summer thinking about the mistakes I've made," he looked down at the floor and then back up to Kurt. "About all the people I've hurt and lied to... just to try and fit in with these guys?" He was asking himself more than anyone, Kurt realized.
"It doesn't make much sense now," Dave continued. "I think about who my real friends are and... I guess I don't have very many, you know?" He shrugged again and turned back to his locker to hang the ruined letterman jacket back up.
"I'm your friend," Kurt replied.
Dave looked back over and smirked just a bit. "Thanks, Kurt." He shook his head again and closed his locker. "Anyways, what's up?"
Kurt took a deep breath before he began saying why he had been planning to say. "Don't freak out, but... I have a proposition for you," he smiled.
Dave raised one of his eyebrows in response, "um, okay."
"As you know, you and I are supposed to start a chapter of PFLAG soon." Dave simply nodded, so Kurt continued. "But... how about this? Instead of joining PFLAG, you join glee club."
Dave looked around the hallway as if he was wondering if he had been dreaming. He gave Kurt a confused look, simply saying, "uh."
"I know, I know. Glee club is for losers, or whatever else you used to say. But just hear me out."
Dave interrupted him. "Kurt, look, I appreciate the offer, but," he hesitated. "I just kinda wanna blend in this year, you know? Especially now. I don't really wanna call any attention to myself."
Kurt scoffed, "how is that going to make you feel any better about, well, anything?"
Dave rolled his eyes, looking away irritated. "I can't even sing."
"Sam heard you."
Dave looked back at Kurt, clearly confused as to what he had just said. "What?"
"Sam," Kurt stated. "He heard you singing yesterday."
The gears in Dave's head seemed to be in motion as he finally realized how Sam could have heard him singing. He seemed to get even more irritated, "why was Evans spying on me while I was taking a shower?"
"David." It was Kurt's turn to roll his eyes. He sighed, shook his head, and looked back at Dave hoping he looked sincere. "He said you were good."
Dave looked away, staring at the lockers, shaking his head. Kurt was waiting for him to say something, but after a few moments, he decided to continue.
"Alright, let me ask you this then," he paused. "Last year, when you had to go out and sing and dance with everybody... did you like it?"
Dave looked back at Kurt, still shaking his head. He didn't seem as irritated as before, yet now seemed a little sad. "Kurt..."
Kurt interrupted whatever he was about to say. "Did you like it? Yes or no?"
Dave laughed to himself lightly, though it seemed to be a sad laugh. "Maybe I did," he said. He shrugged, licking his upper lip before continuing. "But I can't just walk in there and join you guys after everything." Dave's eyebrows came together as if he was still thinking over what Kurt had asked him. "I can't pretend like they don't all hate me."
Kurt looked towards the floor, attempting to come up with the right words to say. He took a few moments before he looked back up. "They don't even know you. Nobody knows you. You never even let anybody in." Kurt couldn't help but be frustrated with Dave. "I forgave you a long time ago, David. Just give them a chance to forgive you too."
His irritation came back almost immediately. "Maybe I just don't want to join, okay?" Dave looked away, where Kurt realized that he couldn't even seem to look back.
He suddenly felt really sad for David Karofsky. "Why do you do this to yourself? Why do you shut everybody out and lie to yourself?" Kurt just couldn't fathom hiding who he really was. It wasn't Dave hiding his sexuality that confused him, but it was just that he knew Dave was missing out on so much in life that could really make him happy. "You talked about all of the mistakes you've made in the past... shouldn't you be trying to change all that now?"
Dave licked his lip again, shaking his head as his eyes began to get misty. He said nothing.
Kurt looked away, feeling disappointed. "Look, I'm not gonna make you join glee club. And, honestly, I'm not even going to make you join PFLAG if you really don't want to do it. It's just... I've seen the real you," he paused. "And I like that guy." Dave looked at the floor as he shuffled his weight between his feet.
"Give other people a chance to like him too," Kurt continued.
Dave still didn't say anything.
"Auditions start at 3 today. Think about it," Kurt stated as he walked away.