A/N: I just want to say thank you to everyone who's been reading and enjoying this story. Now, more than for my sake, I want to make sure that I give Karofsky the best redemption I can. I'll try not to let you down. :)

Chapter Four

Dave spent most of Sunday thinking about Kurt, and about his own self image. He found himself standing in front of the full length mirror on the back of his bedroom door far more than was probably healthy, sucking in his gut and flexing his muscles, trying out various poses looking for the one that said "I'm hot and you want me," in whatever form of body language it was that Kurt was fluent in. Dave decided that he was not an unattractive guy. I mean sure, he weighed 200 lbs, but he was also 6'2". And being a jock, he had well-developed muscles.

I'm not chubby. I'm in great shape. I mean, I guess I could cut out some of the junk food... Maybe it's the letterman jacket? It's pretty bulky. Sweaty, though...? I mean, I'm an athlete. Of course I sweat. I don't think I sweat any more than the next guy... and balding? My dad still has a full head of hair, and I'm pretty sure I got his genes...

Dave decided that he was over thinking this. He was sure that Kurt had only said those things in the heat of the moment, and with the goal of hurting him. Dave himself wasn't exactly on his best behavior either.

But then why doesn't he seem interested in me?

He thought about this for a moment, comparing himself to Blaine to try to make the connection. Blaine was attractive, skinny, fashion conscious and at least a little bit effeminate, where as Dave felt that he himself was rugged and masculine, with chiseled features, a muscular physique, and a manly outlook on his wardrobe and most other aspects of his life.

Hell, I'm so manly, I can't even be bothered with women. Only another man can serve my needs.

Dave chuckled to himself. Then be thought about his own mental image of Blaine and compared it to Kurt, and realized just how similar the two were when you broke them down.

Huh. Kurt basically wants to date himself? Creepy. I'm gonna have to change his mind somehow.

"Dave, honey! Time for dinner!" Dave heard his mother bellow from downstairs.

"Coming, Ma!" Dave gave himself one more once-over in the mirror and then headed down to eat.

Later that evening, Dave found himself with nothing to do. He wasn't tired, he finished his homework, and he wasn't in the mood for Netflix or Xbox. As he found his mind wandering to thoughts of Kurt (as was becoming quite a habit lately), he also realized that he was getting aroused. Seeing as he was already sitting in front of his computer doing nothing in particular, he thought now would be as good a time as any. He opened a private browsing session in his browser and did a search for "gay porn," finding an astronomically high number of sites in the results. After picking one that seemed to feature the type of content that he thought he would find most appealing (twinks, naturally), he undid his fly and reached one hand into his pants, leaving the other on the desk to control the mouse.

Dave had looked at porn before, but never gay porn. He foolishly thought that if he didn't give in to the urges, he could simply choose to be straight. Obviously he realized that this wasn't true now, and so he could think of no better time to get over that hang-up then now. And besides, while the straight stuff was usually effective eventually, he needed release and didn't feel like taking any chances.

"You know now I know you're gay, Karofsky?" Dave asked aloud to himself. "You knew you were gay even before you worked up the balls to watch guys doing it."

He was managing well enough, quite enjoying himself, and questioning why he hadn't done this sooner when there was knock at his door, and it began to open. Dave scrambled to close the window and remove his hand from it's compromising position before his mother walked in, and stopped short. There was a look of mild shock on her face, and for a moment Dave was sure that she had not only caught him masturbating (that was obvious) but that she might have actually heard it and deduced the particular variety. However, her expression quickly dissolved into a smirk, and she shook her head.

"I'm about to make some hot chocolate. I was wondering if you wanted any."

"Oh, uh. N-no thanks."

"Okay. Well, I'll let you get back to what you were doing."

"MOM!"

"Please. It's nothing I haven't seen before." She closed the door behind her as she left.

You sure about that?

Dave arrived in the parking lot at McKinley on Monday morning, parked his truck and just sat there for a moment. He took a deep breath, grabbed his book bag and headed in. It wasn't long after walking in the front doors that he spotted Az and Strando. They were standing at the other end of the hallway talking, and had noticed him yet. He could have avoided them entirely, but he really needed a book for his first class, and his locker was only a few feet away from them, so he started walking toward them. Once he was within earshot of them, Strando noticed him out of the corner of his eye and stopped Az in the middle of what he was saying to point in Dave's direction. Az looked at Dave, but then just rolled his eyes, waved dismissively and signaled for Strando to follow him as he continued what he was saying while they walked away. Dave breathed a sigh of relief and opened his locker.

"Boyfriend trouble?" The question, clearly directed at him, made Dave's heart skip a beat, but he managed to calm and not show it. He turned around to address the speaker.

"Just seems strange. You and Az always seems like a match made in hell," said Sam.

"Yea well, Az is a prick."

"Hey, you would know, right?"

"Listen, Evans. I'm sorry about giving you that black eye a while back."

"Ah, so the rumors are true then. Dave Karofsky is a changed man."

"Yea, well. Changing, I guess," Dave said, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets.

"I don't buy it," Sam said crossing his arms. Apparently he still held a bit of a grudge.

"I don't expect you to, but just because you don't believe it doesn't mean it isn't true."

"I apologized to Kurt. That was why you fought me in the first place that day, isn't it?"

"Yea? Well last I checked, he was still in a different school." Sam stepped up into Karofsky's face as he said this, doing his best to seem intimidating.

"He'll be back."

"Whatever," Sam said, and walked away.

"Hey, what do I have to do to prove that I'm changing?" Dave called after Sam, but he didn't turn back.

Dave was used to the gleeks not liking him, but it always seemed easier when he had Az and the team backing him up. Now, alienated from his old clique, he realized he was not very well loved by anyone at the school. It made him feel lonelier than ever.

Walking down the hall after lunch, he noticed that most of his fellow students ignored him, if he was lucky. If he wasn't, it was either a teammate glaring at him or mocking him, or else it might have been a gleek giving him a wary look, trying to figure out if he was sincere. Apparently any goodwill he had earned with them last week had worn off, and they were back to suspecting him of being up to no good.

Dave's mood was quickly turning dark again, in spite of attempts to cheer himself up. Things have to get worse before they get better, Dave. I'm sure life won't suck...eventually. Before he got too lost in his own thoughts, though, he heard Artie pleading. As Dave rounded the corner he saw that Artie was surrounded by football players, with Az front and center. All of them were holding Slushies. The hallway was crowded with students, who were looking on, but did nothing.

So this is what it's like on the other side. Nobody's going to help him? This is horrible. I can't believe I used to do that...fuck this.

Dave had made up his mind...or lost it, he wasn't sure which. Either way, he knew what he had to do.

"Hey, Az!" Dave strode toward them purposefully.

"Dave! You come to join in on the fun? I knew you'd come around..." But then Dave came to a stop directly between Artie and the football players, and Az wasn't so sure. "Uh, what's this?"

"This is me, growing a pair."

"What? What the fuck is this? Are you one of them now?"

"I don't know what I am, but sure as hell know what I'm not." Az took a step closer to Dave so that they were mere inches apart, but Dave didn't even flinch. Once Az saw that he wasn't intimidating Dave, he stepped back to his original position.

"Well, I think you know what happens now. Boys?" The football players raised their Slushies in the air, but still Dave stood his ground. The turned the cups over on Karofsky, soaking him in red, sticky ice. Dave, who had closed his eyes when it happened, reopened them and then licked his lips.

"Mmm. You know, these things are pretty good. You should try drinking them once and a while."

Az looked angry and offended, but didn't know what else to do, and so he signaled to the football players to follow him and they headed off down the hallway. Artie, who had been flinching behind Dave during this whole thing, now relaxed.

"Uh, Dave?" Dave turned around to face him.

"Yea."

"Thanks."

"Eh. I had it coming," Dave shrugged.

"Yea, probably. But still...thank you." Artie extended his hand, and after a second Dave shook it.

"Well, I have to get to class. I'll see you around."

"See ya."

Artie wheeled off down the hall, and Dave wiped some of the Slushie off his face, but he knew it was futile and he would have to go shower.

"So you said you wanted to know." Dave turned around, and Sam was once again standing behind him.

"Huh?"

"You wanted to know what you needed to to do prove that you're changing. That was a start." Sam smiled, and then headed off down the hall. As Dave headed to the showers to get washed up, he smiled too.

Dave finished showering and put on a change of clothes that he had in his gym locker, then headed out toward his the parking lot to head home. On the way, though, he heard the singing coming from the choir room. The glee club was rehearsing. Curious, but not wanting to be seen, Dave snuck over to the door, which was slightly ajar, and stood next to it, hands in his pockets, listening in.

They were singing Beat It, and it made Dave think of the halftime show, and the week rehearsing for it.

It really had been a lot of fun, hadn't it? Can I admit it now? What do I have to lose?

Dave remembered when Mr. Schuester had stopped him after rehearsal, and what he'd said to him: "If you took that energy you use bullying people and put it into this, you'd be one of the most talented guys in the school."

He risked taking a peek inside. The routine was still a bit rough, but it impressed Dave. At that particular moment, though, his phone decided to ring. He jumped and, in the process, accidentally pulled his phone out and flung it a few feet, where it clattered and slid on the floor, still ringing. Dave scrambled to pick it up, realizing that the music had stopped in the choir room, and once he grabbed it he sprinted down the hallway and around the corner before anyone in glee caught him lurking.

Once he felt he was a safe distance away, he answered it, still walking quickly to put distance between him and the choir room.

"Hello?"

"Dave!" He stopped walking.

"Hey, Kurt. What's up?" His heart was beating a bit faster, though that could have been from running.

"I heard what you did for Artie."

"Oh yea?"

"Of course. Just because I haven't come back to McKinley yet doesn't mean that I'm out of the loop. Mercedes told me."

"Ah. Cool."

"Yes, it certainly is cool. That was very admirable of you, to stand up for him, and against your own friends."

"Yea, I guess. I'm not sure I'd call them my friends anymore, though."

"Oh, yes. True. Sorry."

"Nah, don't worry about it. They were jerks anyway."

"Obviously. I'm just so glad that you're not one of them anymore. I'm so proud of you, David." Dave blushed in the mercifully empty hallway. "So, I was wondering what you're doing tonight."

"Me? Nothin."

"Good. Would you want to come visit? We can get dinner again, like last time."

"Sounds good. Same time?"

"Yes, eight works. I'll see you then?"

"Yea, see ya."

Dave hung up and put his phone back in his pocket, practically skipping out of the building.