Dave was standing at his locker, putting away textbooks and notebooks from classes that he had already had earlier in the day. He stopped for a moment, clearly thinking about something that made him happy as he began to smile ever so slightly. He shook his head, taking a deep breath, before shutting his locker closed. Glancing over to his right, he noticed Azimio walking down the hallway directly towards him. The smile that had formed moments earlier slipped away instantly, as an irritated expression grew onto his face quickly as his former best friend continued to get closer to him.

Azimio stopped in front of Dave, a similar expression to Dave's on his face as well. He looked around the hallway for a moment before turning back.

"Did you need something?" Dave asked.

Azimio shook his head briefly, taking a glance towards the lockers. "Man... what's been with you lately?"

Dave slid his hands into his pockets, where one of his eyebrows shot up as he attempted to stand up a little straighter. "Nothing that you need to worry about."

"I definitely didn't say I was worrying," Azimio shot back. He scoffed, shaking his head once more. "What's going on with you?"

"Things change," Dave shrugged. "That's just the way it goes sometimes."

"Yeah," Azimio nodded. "Something like that, right? I mean, one minute, we're making fun of all those losers in glee club and then the next... you're joining them for a song and a dance."

Dave rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well... I'm pretty sure I remember you saying that you liked it last year when you had to go out there and sing and dance with them. But like I said, things change."

Azimio's eyes narrowed, yet he said nothing. Dave still hated that it was like this between them, but he honestly didn't know what else he could expect after everything that had happened.

"You know," Dave continued. "It's funny from this side though, seeing as you kind of seem like the loser around here."

Azimio opened his mouth slightly. "You serious?"

Dave cocked his head to the side as he spoke again. "Did it seem like I was joking?"

"So that's how it is now, huh?" Azimio scoffed once again, only this time, it was in amusement. He took a step closer to Dave, holding his head up a little higher as he was attempting to intimidate him. "Trying to be a tough guy again?"

"You're not even worth it, Z." Dave shook his head, looking down the hallway as he hoped Azimio would just leave. They hadn't actually talked in a few months, besides a few words here and there when football was still going on. Dave just didn't want to deal with any of this right now. He had other things to worry about.

Azimio nodded. "Oh, is that right?"

Dave took a step closer to Azimio, as the irritation was clearly present as he spoke. "Just back off, man. You stay out of my way... and I'll stay out of yours."

Neither noticed how a few students who were in the hallway were watching them, waiting for some sort of fight to break out at any moment.

"And what are you gonna do if I don't? Huh?"

Dave began to smile as he looked to the left and the right behind Azimio. "Well... I don't see any of your backup around here, so... you really wanna settle this little problem that we have right now?"

Azimio's expression softened, and he glanced over Dave's face for a few moments. He let out a deep breath, looking around the hallway towards the few students that had begun to watch them. He took a step back, shaking his head once more. "You know what? I don't need backup just to say something to you."

He glanced at the floor, shrugging as he began to speak again. "Fine... I'm a bit of a jerk and I'd be the first to admit that. But you?" Azimio shook his head. "I don't even get you, Karofsky... I don't get it."

"There's nothing to get," Dave replied sternly. "I was sick and tired of the way things were... I told you that."

"Yeah, I heard that," Azimio laughed lightly. "But for you to make a complete switch without saying anything to me... that, I don't get."

Dave rolled his eyes, taking his hands out of his pockets as he crossed them in front of his stomach. "What do you care? I mean... really? It's not like much has changed for you compared to the last three years, so... what does it even matter?"

Azimio laughed again, nodding. "I figured you'd say something like that. And that's fine," he shrugged. "Maybe you just forgot about how we used to be best friends, but..." he shook his head. "Whatever."

"I didn't forget," Dave responded. "But there comes a time where you wanna stop being an idiot around everybody and you wanna start to grow up a little bit."

"So, I'm an idiot now?" Azimio scoffed.

Dave took a few moments before replying. "All that we did awhile back... everything we used to do to everybody... yeah," he nodded. "We were both acting like idiots. I'm sorry if you can't see that."

Azimio looked around the hallway again, a look of disbelief on his face. "So... what? You just trying to forget about all of your mistakes now then?"

"No," Dave said quickly. "I'm not trying to forget about them. I'm trying to move on from them."

"Right," Azimio laughed again. He turned around from Dave, taking a few steps away before Dave called out to him.

"Hey, if you have something else to say to me, just go ahead and say it so that we can be done with this." He had raised his voice, and it was enough for more people in the hallway to glance their way.

Azimio had turned back around to look at Dave. He slid both of his hands into the pockets of his letterman jacket. It was strange to Dave, to be honest. Azimio was usually quick with words, but this time... it seemed as if he wasn't actually sure of what to say.

"What?" Dave asked, still in irritation, as he took a few steps towards him. "You have nothing else?"

"Man... what else is there even to say?" Azimio looked down towards the floor, shaking his head once again before glancing back up. "I mean... maybe you haven't actually noticed since you've been so busy with all of these new clubs lately," he said mockingly. "But I've pretty much been trying to avoid you for awhile now."

One of Dave's eyebrows shot up in response. "Yeah... except for when you guys decided to ruin my jacket, right? Just had to do one thing to me before you could stop?"

Neither said anything for a few moments. They were both just staring at each other, looking even more pissed off than they were moments before.

Dave looked over towards the lockers, scoffing in amusement. "You know... this is funny coming from you. I mean, you did tell me to watch my back awhile ago," he shrugged. "And then you just changed your mind like that?" he asked, shaking his head.

"Things change, right?" Azimio nodded briefly. "Like you said to me... you're not even worth it." He took his hands out of his pockets, glancing up towards the ceiling as he thought over what he wanted to say. "You really don't get it, do you? What- you think I just came over here to start something with you for the fun of it?" he asked, also shaking his head.

"Whatever, man," Azimio continued. He turned back around from Dave and started to walk down the hallway away from him. After taking a few steps, he turned back towards Dave after thinking about something else that he had wanted to say to him. "Oh, and just to let you know... I didn't do anything to your jacket," he said, shrugging lightly. "See you around."

Azimio turned the corner, leaving Dave standing in the middle of the hallway around other students who had quickly begun to get back to their own business. Dave took another deep breath, turning slightly so that he could lean back against the lockers. He glanced down at the floor, shaking his head again. He hated that things had ended up this way.

Kurt was sitting by himself at one of the cafeteria tables, eating his lunch, while skimming through a magazine. He was so engaged in one of the stories that he didn't notice someone walk up and stand in front of one of the chairs opposite to where he was sitting.

"Do you mind if I sit down?"

Kurt looked up to see Dave standing near the table with his own tray of food. He had the same goofy grin on his face that Kurt had started to love to see, though he wouldn't let himself admit that out loud.

"Hey," Kurt smiled. "I was wondering where you've been."

Dave nodded briefly. "Yeah, I was looking around for you earlier," he said, as he glanced around McKinley's cafeteria.

Kurt took a quick sip of his water, setting it back down onto the table. "Well, now you've found me," he laughed lightly.

Dave laughed too, as he set his tray down onto the table and pulled a chair out in order to sit down. "How are you doing?"

Both of Kurt's eyebrows shot up in response. He took a deep breath, rolling his eyes just a bit. "I'm good, yeah... though, I now have a huge headache after my math class."

Dave's smile grew, though his mouth stayed open slightly. "Well, I'm gonna guess that you don't know what you're doing in there then."

"Ah, good guess," Kurt nodded. "Yeah, I was pretty much just staring at the board with a blank expression on my face... it was a good time," he shrugged.

"Math isn't so bad," Dave chuckled.

Kurt turned his head towards one of the lines of students waiting to get food for a moment, scoffing in amusement. "Well, that's easy for you to say, Mr. Math-Wiz."

It was Dave's turn to shrug, though he just continued to laugh. "It isn't! Trust me," he nodded. "I'll tell you what- if you're really having that much of a problem with it... then I'll help you."

"Well, thank you very much for the offer," Kurt smiled.

"No problem," Dave smiled back.

Kurt skimmed through a few more pages in his magazine, though the smile never seemed to leave his face. He looked back up towards Dave, who had just taken a huge bite out of the greasy cheeseburger he had gotten for lunch. Kurt gave Dave's food a look of disgust, which only caused Dave to laugh again and shake his head.

"So, tell me," Kurt finally said. "What's new with you?"

Dave set his cheeseburger down, wiping his mouth with a napkin. His eyes got wide for a second and he just shrugged once again. "Nothing, really... I'm kind of boring, if you haven't noticed yet."

"I think we're all a little boring at times, so it's fine," Kurt shrugged back.

"Oh, good," Dave laughed. "Maybe I'm not such a loser after-all then," he joked.

Kurt crossed his arms in front of his stomach jokingly in response. "I didn't say that," he said as seriously as he could.

Dave let out a loud laugh. "Harsh!"

He crumpled up the napkin he had been using and through it towards Kurt. It hit him in the shoulder and fell to the ground quickly. Kurt raised both of his hands up near his shoulders, staring down at the napkin for a moment, before picking it up and throwing it back onto the table.

"Do you see how much grease is on that?" Kurt asked, motioning towards the greasy napkin. "Do you see what I'm wearing?" He asked, looking down at his clothes for a moment before glancing back up at Dave. "Don't do that again," he laughed.

"Yeah, yeah," Dave responded. He kept smiling, taking a long pause before shaking his head. "Nice hair, by the way."

Kurt raised his left hand up and let it slide back through his hair. "Oh, you noticed," he joked. He had gotten his hair cut the evening before, as well as had it dyed lighter than it normally was. "Thank you, again."

"Sure," Dave nodded.

Kurt went back to eating his own lunch, turning another page in the magazine he had been looking at. After a few moments, he looked back up and noticed that Dave had that same goofy grin while staring at him. Kurt scoffed again in amusement, looking away momentarily. "Eat your lunch," he laughed.

Dave laughed too. "Yes, sir," he saluted mockingly.

"Dork," Kurt shook his head.

They sat in silence for a little while, eating their lunches, and occasionally glancing towards each other when the other wasn't looking. Kurt didn't know it, but Dave had been trying to tell him something ever since he sat down.

"Hey," Dave finally spoke up. "I, uh... I'm thinking about telling my parents."

Kurt was in the middle of chewing when he looked at Dave. He blinked a few times, wondering if he had heard him correctly. He began chewing again, swallowing hard, as he thought over what Dave had just told him. "When?"

Dave looked around the cafeteria to his left and his right, making sure that no one else was close enough to overhear the conversation that they were having. "Soon, I think," he shrugged.

"Are you sure you're ready?"

"Yeah," Dave nodded. He set the rest of his cheeseburger down, taking a deep breath. "I mean, it's getting closer to the end of the year and... I just don't think I can wait anymore."

He glanced down towards his food, as if he wasn't sure of what else to say. "I've been thinking about it a lot lately and," he glanced back up. "I just don't want to do this anymore."

There were another few moments where neither said anything. They were just staring at each other, looking over each other's faces. Kurt finally began to nod slowly. "Well, I think you should then," he smiled softly. "You've come a long way since last year, and... I think you're ready to tell them, too."

Dave smiled back, though he didn't say anything else. He took another deep breath, glancing back down towards his food. He swallowed once, giving the food a look of disgust before pushing it away from him. "Wow... I start thinking about doing it and... now I'm not so hungry anymore," he laughed lightly, though he knew he sounded nervous.

Kurt kept nodding, though a sympathetic expression had come to his face. "It's gonna be hard on you, I know," he paused. "But I know that you can do it," he smiled again.

"Thank you," Dave replied, after another few moments of silence.

"For what?"

Dave sighed. "Just... everything," he shrugged. "I mean, maybe this sounds stupid, but... I really feel like I wouldn't be where I'm at now if it wasn't for you."

Kurt glanced over Dave's face once again. He didn't want to admit it to himself, but he instantly had that feeling of butterflies in his stomach when Dave had said that. Of course, it wasn't the butterflies in the stomach-kind of feeling that made you feel sick or nervous; it was the good kind that made you feel happy and almost euphoric. Though, he had only had this feeling a few times before... and they were with Blaine.

It took a few tries, but Kurt was finally able to look away from Dave and glance down at his lunch on the table. "I don't know how much help I've really been to you, but," he looked back up, nodding slightly. "You know I'm always gonna be there for you."

"I know," Dave smiled softly. He attempted to get back to eating his food, taking a sip from the can of soda that he had bought. He cleared his throat, grabbing Kurt's attention once again. "Hey, I uh... I kind of have a favor to ask you," he said, where his voice cracked nervously.

"What's that?" Kurt asked.

Dave was staring down at the table, clearly not able to look back at Kurt when asking him whatever he was about to ask. He cleared his throat again, glancing to his left and his right nervously once more. "I was, uh... I was wondering if you could be there with me when I tell them..."

Kurt's mouth dropped ever so slightly, as his eyes grew a little wider. He honestly wasn't sure of how to reply. "Dave... I don't-"

"Just hear me out," Dave interrupted. He had finally glanced back up at Kurt. He looked around the tables near theirs again, rubbing the back of his neck, before letting out a deep sigh. "I'm scared, Kurt... I honestly didn't think I'd ever be ready to tell them anything, but... I feel like I am now," he looked back. Dave suddenly had a sad expression on his face. "I just don't know if I can do it by myself."

Kurt's face turned sympathetic once again. He wanted to reach out and put his hand on top of Dave's as a sign of comfort, but he knew that this wasn't the time or the place. "Yes you can," he replied softly. "I know you can..."

Dave just looked back at Kurt for a few moments, where the sad expression softened slightly. He took another deep breath and began to nod, yet he still didn't say anything.

"David," Kurt continued. He paused for a moment, trying to figure out how to say what he wanted. "This is something that's between you and them," he nodded back. "You can do it."

Kurt just felt that it wouldn't be right for him to be there when Dave told his parents that he was gay. There were so many reasons as to why he felt this way, but he honestly hoped that Dave didn't see him saying no as a sign of not being supportive. Telling his dad that he was gay was one of the most personal moments in his life for Kurt. He didn't want to be there in front of Dave's parents when they found out in case their reaction or response to it wasn't genuine because of his presence.

He knew that Dave had realized that he was saying no as he began to stare down towards his food once again. It looked as if Dave was hurt just a little bit, which caused a feeling inside Kurt that he didn't quite understand right then.

After a few more moments, Dave finally glanced back up.

"But I need you..."

Kurt kept his gaze on Dave, though it was only because he couldn't look away from him. He began to wonder if there was a deeper meaning behind what Dave had just said.

Dave quickly realized what he had said, as his face began to turn red. He cleared his throat again, taking a look to his left and his right once more, while beginning to rub his chin nervously. "I mean," his voice cracked. "I just... wanted to see if you could be there, too. But... it's okay," he shrugged.

"Dave," Kurt said softly. "I'm gonna be there for you. If you need to come over or if you need to call me right after you tell them... I'll be right there, I promise."

It took another moment of silence, but Dave finally looked up with a genuine, soft smile. He nodded slightly, showing that he understood where Kurt was coming from and why he thought that it wouldn't be right for him to be there with him when he told his parents.

"I'm sorry, Dave... I hope I didn't hurt your feelings or anything," Kurt finished.

"No, you didn't," Dave replied immediately. His smile grew a bit more to show Kurt that he meant what he said. "I understand what you're saying."

Kurt smiled back. "You can do it," he nodded. "And I'm going to keep on saying that until you do," he laughed lightly.

Dave chuckled, as he shook his head. "I'm sorry if asking you all that was out of line."

"It wasn't," Kurt shook his head. "Don't even worry about it."

"Okay," Dave replied with his goofy grin.

Kurt laughed once more, leaning back away from the table just a little bit. "Now, eat your lunch," he ordered.

"Yes, sir," Dave laughed.