Kurt sat at his desk, rubbing his hands over his face. This was his chance to say everything that he wanted to say to get Dave back. This was going to be it. The words he wrote, the song he chose, that would all determine whether Dave would be his again. He didn't know if he could do it. His mind was blank. He just didn't know if he had what it took to get Dave back on his side and into his arms. He almost hated the interference of all of his friends in this instance. They would never let him give up now.

Finn was stretched out on Kurt's bed, propped up on his elbow as he focused on the game on Kurt's tv. He'd moved his xbox into Kurt's room because this was where they were holding yet another plotting session. Well, for the most part. Because it was a weekday, Sebastian and Blaine weren't present. Brittany wasn't either, as she had plans of her own. So it was just Kurt, Finn, and Santana and their bickering was not helpful in any way.

"Fine! If you think you can do it, be my guest!" Finn said, tossing the controller at Santana. She rolled her eyes, but grinned as she picked it up and asked him what buttons did what. Finn covered his face with his hand and shook his head. "You cannot be serious."

"But of course I am, Finniekins." Santana said sweetly. Kurt burst into laughter and wondered how the hell Santana could keep a straight face while saying that. Finn was just glaring at her, and Kurt realized that it probably wasn't the first time she had called Finn that. How could these two not be distracting?

"SO Kurt!" Finn said brightly, looking over at Kurt. "How's it coming? Chosen a song yet?"

"Eh," was Kurt's reply. He doodled in the corner of the paper as he said, "I've got a small list of songs that might do the trick. I just... how do we even know this is going to work?"

Santana put down the controller and looked over at Kurt, frowning. Santana had been entirely too optimistic and hopeful for his tastes in this last week. She really honestly believed that this was going to work, and if any of them indicated that they thought otherwise, they got that disapproving frown that she was directing his way now. Why was she so goddamn invested in this?

"It's going to work, Kurt. He loves you."

"Maybe that's not enough."

Santana sighed and Kurt braced himself. That sigh meant one of two things. She was getting ready to tear him to shreds, or she was getting ready to give some long lecture. Luckily for him, it was the latter, as she said, "Dave is stubborn. He thinks that what he's doing is for your own good, but I think that after this, he'll see how much you guys really should be together. Maybe you can get through to him that you need him in order to be happy. You have to make him believe that he's necessary to your happiness, because that's probably what's most important to him. Right now, he thinks that he can make you happy in the short-term, but in the long-term of it all, you'll be miserable with him. You have to somehow show him that it's not true at all. That even when you go off to New York and become some big performer and are successful, you'll still need him in order to be happy. Otherwise, he's going to hold out and then go off on his own after he graduates. My guess is that you'll never see him again after that."

The room was silent as everyone turned over her words in their minds. Kurt had never really considered the long-term of it all. He'd always been so focused on either the past or the here and now. The only time he'd really ever brought up the future was when they had talked about college, which had always led to fights. He wondered if that was what had ultimately changed Dave's mind. If he thought back to their last argument before they split... yeah, it was about college. But why did they fight about college? Dave was intelligent and could probably get into any school he really wanted. Oh, wait. Dave didn't believe that.

"She's right." Finn said finally. "If he doesn't think he can really fit into your life after high school, he's not going to give in. He needs to know that you'll need him."

"Does Rachel know that's how you feel?" Santana asked, laying a hand on Finn's shoulder. Finn just shrugged and looked up at Kurt.

"So what about those songs?" Finn asked.

Kurt frowned. He hated when Finn deflected like this, and he could tell by Santana's own frown that it bugged her as well. Kurt knew from experience that as long as Finn had something else to focus on – usually another person's problems – he would use that to avoid his own. But Finn was running out of time. It was already December, and he was going to have to figure things out already. Santana cleared her throat, interrupting Kurt's thoughts and she shook her head as he looked over at her. This first, she was saying. They'd deal with Finn later.

"Um. Well. I've got I Call Your Name, I Want to Tell You, Got to Get You Into My Life, Don't Pass Me By, and I Need You." Kurt said, looking over the list he had in his hands.

"What about Oh! Darling?" Finn asked.

"Don't know why I didn't think of that one." Kurt said, scribbling the song down on the list.

"Or... Crying, Waiting, Hoping?" Santana suggested. Kurt stopped writing, his pencil freezing in mid-letter. He must have skipped over that one, because he didn't really remember seeing it in iTunes. If he had, he would have certainly added it to the list.

"It's kind of short, isn't it?" Kurt mused, tapping the eraser against his lips.

"Maybe that's not such a bad thing, though," Finn said, sitting up. "You don't want to say too much. It's desperate, isn't it? And it implies that you'll never stop waiting for him to come back. That sort of 'I can never live without you' message that you need."

"It's perfect," Santana murmured and Kurt nodded his head as he wrote it down and circled it. So that would be the song. "A suggestion if I may?"

Kurt and Finn both looked at Santana, surprised. She didn't normally ask, so Kurt was aware that it was probably some huge change in their earlier plans. The delivery of the song, so to speak. He wasn't wrong.

"I don't think you should write it in a note or anything. We need to go bigger."

"Yeah, I think so, too. Writing it in a note seems a little silly now. It's not big enough."

"So what would you have me do?" Kurt sighed.

"We could graffiti it on his house," Santana said, grinning. Finn rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"I'd rather do something I won't get arrested for."

"You could sing it." Finn said.

"We discussed that before. We'll never get him into the choir room or the auditorium."

"So sing it somewhere he will go," Santana gasped. She grinned and Kurt could see her mind forming some big idea. He was almost scared to ask her what she was thinking, but she would tell him anyway. "How much do you love Davey?"

"That's a stupid question." Kurt huffed.

"Enough to sing a song to him in front of all of our fellow classmates?" Santana asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The cafeteria... perfect!" Finn said. Santana wore a smug grin as she looked from Finn to Kurt. Kurt felt his stomach twist into knots. It wasn't something he was new to. He'd sung in front of his classmates before, so he shouldn't be so nervous right? He'd never done something like this before, though. Never serenaded anyone in front of a whole room full of people. He smiled a little, thinking about the Gap Attack. Blaine had been nervous, too. Of course, it hadn't worked out for him...

"Come on. What have you got to lose?" Santana asked.

"Alright, alright. I'll do it. I'll serenade him in the cafeteria." Kurt agreed.

Easier said than done, Kurt realized when he was standing in the doorway to the cafeteria the next day. Well, he was actually just peeking around the door because his nerves had him so on edge that he wasn't quite ready to be spotted by San or Finn just yet. He could see Dave sitting at his usual table, laughing with his football friends and completely unaware of what Kurt was about to do. He let out a shaky breath. He couldn't do this. It wasn't going to fix anything. He would just be creating more problems because Dave would probably get upset with him for doing something like this. Kurt was making a complete fool of himself, and he was probably going to embarrass the hell out of Dave. He backed away from the door, getting ready to turn and run, when he backed right into someone. He tilted his head up to find Finn staring down at him.

"Thought you might try that."

"It's stupid! It won't work! He's just gonna-" Finn clamped his hand over Kurt's mouth to shut him up. Kurt could feel the panic building up with each word he said, and Finn stopping his speech stunted that panic for a moment. He certainly didn't enjoy having Finn's hand over his mouth, so he did the one thing he knew would work. He licked Finn's hand.

"Oh, gross!" Finn said, tugging his hand away and wiping it on his shirt. "Disgusting."

"It's not like we've never shared food or drinks or anything," Kurt muttered, rolling his eyes as he folded his arms across his chest.

"That's a more indirect way than outright licking someone. And you're not going to distract me Kurt. If you don't go in there, Santana's going to come out and drag you in there. Is that what you want everyone to see? Santana dragging you while you're kicking and fighting like a three year old who doesn't want nap time?" Finn asked, grinning.

"I'm not a three year old!" Kurt said.

"Exactly. You're a lovesick seventeen year old who needs to go in there and serenade the man he loves."

"Right. I can do this. I got this. I just need to go in and sing. Right?" Kurt asked uncertainly, looking up at Finn.

"Right," Finn said, spinning Kurt around and giving him a push towards the cafeteria doors. "Just get in there and give it your all. True love and all that shit depends on it."

"Oh that's not – okay!" Kurt said as Finn shoved him into the cafeteria. He went unnoticed as he made his way up to the little platform Finn and San had set up during their free period. He'd heard the kids talking about it earlier, wondering what would be going on in there. He looked around, spotting Santana standing near a set of doors leading outside. She gave him a tiny wave and a big smile as she and Brittany made their way up with him. They'd be singing back-up. He took a deep breath. Yeah, he could do this.

Finn was on drums, Puck on guitar, and then he and the girls were singing. He glanced at Finn and Puck as Finn counted down and then he and Puck began to play.

Crying (crying)
Waiting (waiting)
Hoping (hoping)
You come back
I just can't seem to get you off my mind

If they hadn't had the attention of the students before, they definitely had it now. Kurt realized that the music and their voices were the only sounds to be heard in the cafeteria. It wasn't every day kids got up to sing in the cafeteria, and Kurt was sure there was probably a really good reason for that. Well, he did remember the food fight that had started after We Got The Beat, but god, he hoped something like that didn't happen now.

Crying (crying)
Waiting (waiting)
Hoping (hoping)
You come back
You're the one I love, I think about you all the time

Kurt looked directly at Dave, who was staring right at him. Kurt realized that this was the first time in a long time that the two of them had really actually acknowledged each other. There was nothing standing between them right now. Him and Dave. As he sang to Dave, he forgot everyone else. None of them mattered right now. This was between him and Dave.

Crying (crying doo doo doo)
My tears keep on falling all night long
Waiting (waiting doo doo doo)
It seems so useless, I know it's wrong

Keep a crying (crying)
Waiting (waiting)
Hoping (hoping)
You'll come back
Maybe someday soon, it'll change and you'll be mine

He couldn't read Dave's face. Well, he could at first. Dave had obviously been shocked. But after that, Kurt just couldn't tell what Dave was thinking or feeling. He just watched Kurt, listened as he sang. But he was hopeful. Maybe Dave would see how much he really needed him. Maybe Dave would understand that Kurt didn't want another person in the entire world, and he just might stay away from love for ever if Dave didn't take him back. Dave was the only one for him. Maybe Dave would see that.

Crying (crying doo doo doo)
My tears keep on falling all night long
Waiting (waiting doo doo doo)
It seems so useless, I know it's wrong

Keep a crying (crying)
Waiting (waiting)
Hoping (hoping)
You'll come back
Maybe someday soon, it'll change and you'll be mine

Crying, waiting, hoping

Or maybe he was wrong, he realized as he watched Dave get up and walk out. His heart sank in his chest, and despite the applause coming from all of the other kids, he felt like he was going to puke. He felt Santana's hands on him as his knees nearly buckled beneath him and then he was up, thrown over someone's shoulder and they were carrying him. He wanted to protest, because he had no idea who it was, but then he could see by looking at the guy's ass that it was quite clearly Finn. He wondered if he should be alarmed that he could tell it was Finn by his ass, but hey. They weren't really related, and he still stood by his previous beliefs that Finn was really attractive. He sighed, because he didn't need this treatment. His entire world was literally upside down right now, but he wasn't going to faint or be sick or anything. He'd just come close.

He found himself upright again and realized he was sitting in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs in the choir room. He was looking up at Santana and Finn when Blaine and Sebastian came running in.

"Is he okay?" Blaine gasped.

"We would have been here sooner, but we lost you guys in the crowd and got turned around. Stupid school." Sebastian muttered.

"I'm fine..." Kurt said, looking from Finn and Santana to Blaine and Sebastian. He shook his head, not comprehending. They weren't supposed to be here right now. They went to their own school miles away and what the hell were they doing here?

"Santana told us you were doing this. You think I was gonna miss it?" Blaine asked, smiling.

"You might as well have the whole group here to support you, right?" Sebastian asked softly, and Kurt cocked his head staring at Sebastian. He'd hesitated to call Sebastian a friend before, because he and Sebastian really hadn't gotten along in the past. Not to mention, Sebastian had blamed him for the failure of his last relationship, and Kurt really didn't see a way around that. He wondered for a moment if Blaine felt the same way about Dave, but then, would he be doing all of this if he did? But.. Sebastian was here to support him.

"It definitely helps." Kurt smiled.

"And now's the part where I talk about what a fucking idiot he is." Sebastian said heatedly.

"I think we all agree on that. He didn't even say anything. He just took off. Who does that? I mean, if you don't want the person, you at least say something to them, right? Running off is so harsh." Blaine sighed.

Kurt sniffled, and god, he was crying. He didn't even realize it, but now he could feel the hot tears on his face. He thought he was done with the whole crying thing, but dammit, this hurt so much. A part of him knew this would happen, but the other part had hoped that maybe, just maybe Dave would see the light. But now he knew he was just going to have to accept this. Maybe they had all been wrong. Maybe Dave didn't want him back at all. Maybe Dave didn't love him anymore.

"Oh, Kurt." Santana said, wrapping her arms around Kurt, and he just buried his face in her neck, letting himself cry. Not that he could stop if he tried anyway. He felt Finn's arms around him and then Blaine and then Sebastian. He closed his eyes. Right now, he was hurting so badly, but later, he was going to be so happy over the fact that he had such amazing friends. Not having Dave was going to be hell, but with all of them by his side, maybe it would be a little more bearable.