Oh my god, I am so, SO sorry this took me so long. :( I had a serious case of writers block and just could not get this conversation right. I'm still not happy with it. I think it jumps around a lot and really I don't think Dave would act this way with a complete stranger, but I'm putting it down to natural Darkling charisma. Also, it's fanfiction so anything can happen, but I'm still really really sorry it took so long. I'm so mad at my brain right now.

Which reminds me, I really need some help, but I'll put that in the end note.

As always I do not own Glee, at all.

~o0O0o~

Locker Room Therapy

I had to bite back a laugh as Karofsky jumped and scrambled to hide the wedding topper. Slamming his locker closed, he turned to glare at me.

"What the hell are you doing? This is the boy's locker room!"

"Yeah, I know." I crossed my arms.

"Get out!"

"Why a wedding cake toy?"

He visually paled. I mean, I could actually see the blood drop from his face. He stalked up to me, raising his fist to my face. "I said. Get. Out."

I rolled my eyes. "Put the fist down, Neanderthal, I'm just here to talk." I said, walking around him to sit on one of the benches.

"About what?"

"Whatever you want." I smiled. "Do you want to start with yourself, or Kurt Hummel?"

He flinched, and I internally cursed. I was clearly going about this all wrong.

"What the hell do you know?" he snarled, grabbing me by my shirt front and dragging me to my feet. "What did he tell you?"

I glanced at the fists holding me up. I could easily break his hold, but that would be counter productive, and I was stuffing this up enough as it was.

"He didn't tell me anything. I saw the way you looked at him earlier, and just now, you were staring at a picture of him in your locker. It's not that much of a jump, man."

He let go of me and backed away, falling heavily to the bench opposite me. A look of shock and defeat covered his face. "It's your first day, right?" he said.

"Yeah."

"It's so obvious that even you can pick up on it." He laughed without humour. "My life is over."

"Why would it be over?"

He looked at me like I was crazy. "If a new kid, in her first few hours can figure it out, obviously anyone can." He didn't say it, but the 'duh' was implied.

"I don't get it." I said. "What's the big deal?"

"What's the big deal?" He jumped up violently, and I almost thought he was going to hit me, but he just spun and paced agitatedly, yanking at his hair and groaning. Finally he turned to me and yelled. "I'm not gay! That's the big deal!"

"You're not?" That's not what your aura says.

"No. I'm not. I don't like show tunes or plays or fashion. I don't care what my nails look like, or my hair, or if I've got a few stains on my clothes! I like sports and cars and video games! I'm not some little twink. Look at me, I'm a jock. I can't be gay!"

I waited for him to calm down a little before I spoke. "That's really stereotypical, Dave. None of those things have anything to do with being gay or not."

"What are you talking about?"

"Being gay or straight is just a part of who you are. It doesn't affect whether or not you like sports, or fashion, or any other part of your personality that way. It means you're attracted to other guys. Are you attracted to other guys, Dave?"

He stared at me blankly for a moment. "I'm not gay. It's just him. I never felt this way about anyone until he walked into my life. He did something to me. I don't know what, but this is his fault."

"But deep down, you know that's not true, Dave. He didn't do anything to you."

"He made me feel this way. He was just, there, you know? He walked into my life with his stupid sparkly outfits and that cocky smile. And he never stopped. No matter how much of his clothes we ruined, he still came back everyday, looking freaking fantastic. Always so proud of himself. Like he was better then all of us." Dave slumped back onto the bench, not making eye contact. "Like he's better then me."

Looking down for a moment, I paused. Man, I hoped this wasn't too much. "Well, you do push people into lockers and scare the crap out of them."

Dave didn't look at me, instead hunching over himself and staring at the floor. He let out a snort of dark laughter. "Yeah. He's better then I'll ever be."

"That's not what I meant David." He glanced at me. "There is nothing wrong with you. What you're going through right now is really major. Especially for you, a guy who grew up in this town. This place is defiantly not the ideal environment for really discovering and coming to terms with who you are. Kurt is special. He's known who he is for a long time and he's proud of it. He's confident and comfortable with it. But he's defiantly the minority. There is no rule saying you have to be the same. It's perfectly normal to be confused right now, and compared to some, you're actually handling it pretty well. How you've been going about handling it is a different matter."

I felt bad. He'd been staring at me in confusion while I'd been talking, even a small ghost of a smile creeping in. but with that last sentence, it had vanished. "Dave you have to know that what you've been doing is wrong. Hurting others, particularly someone so important to you, isn't the answer to your problems."

"I know. But what the hell am I supposed to do?" Dave demanded. "If I stop, I'll lose everything. This place is all about reputations and if I lose mine, I'm just another loser. They'll all look down on me. I'll be nothing."

"And in two years, this place will be far behind you. It might seem like the most important thing right now, but are you really going to let the opinions of people who clearly don't even care about you, dictate your life?"

"Look! Even if I was gay, which I'm not, I can't just come out, okay."

"I'm not telling you to."

"You're not?"

"No. That's your choice, and yours alone to make. I'd never tell you to before you're ready. What I'm saying is, these kid's opinions shouldn't matter, because if they can't accept you for who you are, then in a few years, they really won't matter anyway. They aren't your friends if they can't accept you."

He stared at the floor for a while longer, just thinking. I stayed quiet. When he looked at me, he looked right into my eyes. "Why do you even care? What does it matter to you?"

"Because I want to help you."

"Why? And how do you think you know what I'm going through? Are you gay?" he didn't say it with malice, just natural curiosity. I think I made progress.

I smiled sadly. "I don't know what you're going through, everyone's different and their experience is different too. But no, I'm not gay."

"Then why does it matter to you."

"Because I do know how it feels to be hated for what you are. For things you can't change, and wouldn't even if you could. I'm proud of who I am, but no one should ever have to feel that way, or deal with it alone. And I see a lot of potential in you, Dave. You don't have to be that guy who shoves others around. I want to help bring out that other guy inside you." I smiled. "He could really go places."

That tentative smile was back again. Reaching into my bag, I pulled out a piece of paper and wrote a number on it.

"If you want to talk more, this is my phone number. Anytime is fine, I'm awake most hours anyway." I smiled at him and started to leave.

"Wait a second… hey what's your name anyway?"

I glanced back, confused. "Oh, crap, I never introduced myself did I?"

He laughed. "No, you didn't."

"I'm sorry. I'm Wren Larson." I held out my hand, feeling pretty stupid. But he took it without a word.

"What did you mean when you said you know what it's like to be hated for things you can't change?" He looked genuinely interested, and even concerned. I wanted to answer him. But I just pulled away with another sad smile.

"That's a long, complicated story. Maybe I'll tell you someday, but really, you don't want my nightmares, Dave." And with that, I left.

Well, wasn't I just the Mistress of Mystery? Shaking my head at myself, I headed off toward the gym.

~o0O0o~

Hope you enjoyed it, I have no words for how much feedback would be appreciated. Good or bad, everything helps. :) reviews are love!

But I really need help here. You may have noticed, but at this point, Darklings are seeming sort of perfect, in the species category, and that's just impossible, not to mention boring. So I'm thinking they need a weakness, but I can't think of anything good, or even bad. Suggestions?

And just thanks for reading, you guys are so awesome =D

hugs for all!