"'Sup, Karofsky and Azimio!" There was a resulting high five, as was one of the customary greetings between jocks, before his fellow football member continued on his way.

Azimio could only find one problem with this: Karofsky was in no way next to him. He wasn't beside him, above him, he was pretty sure he wasn't below him and he was confident that he wasn't hiding in the nearby trashcan. Unless Karofsky had painted himself with invisible paint that morning and was secretly standing next to him, he wasn't there. Azimio wasn't Azimio anymore. His new name was Azimio and Karofsky.

In normal circumstances he hadn't noticed it, because in normal circumstances Karofsky was actually next to him. Now he realized that they were now so closely associated that it didn't matter if one of them was missing, that was all they were. A pair. People probably believed them literally to be conjoined at the hip, but it wasn't so, especially not lately. Anytime something arose with Hummel, his best friend appeared to be missing. Some people took notice; others kind of just treated him as though his best friend wasn't missing at all.

The worst part about being best friends with someone was that people thought you wanted to know every single thing that was happening with them. Even things that were already known. He did not want to hear everything about Karofsky. Either he knew already or it wasn't something he needed to know.

"Dang, in class today Karofsky looked totally spaced out, what's wrong with him?"

"I don't know."

"Hey Azimio! Wassup! Hah, Did Karofsky forget who he was? He seems to be out of it lately… is something bothering him?"

"I don't know."

"Yo Azimio-"

"I don't know." It had become his automatic response to everything because it was the truth. Lately, he just didn't know what was going on with Karofsky. It was sad to say, but they were drifting apart. Everything his friend did was becoming increasingly odder, and just like everyone said, he was becoming less and less aware of his actual surroundings. Yes, he really had almost walked into a couple of walls.

When your surroundings changed, so did your role in life. Thus, Azimio had become the silent observer. Ever since that day he had the first talk with his comrade, he had been committed to this.

In what could only be called 'stalker status', Azimio had kept a close watch on Karofsky's every move. After Hummel had left he however, he had seemed perfectly fine and there had been no odd behavior for him to observe. That was the second indication that Karofsky's problem was linked with pretty boy. The first had been the excessive bullying.

The third proof he had was at the Super Bowl Party when every single person there had witnessed Kurt Hummel dashing out of David Karofsky's room. That was the third strike. To Azimio, Karofsky was now out. That was when he decided his suspicions were correct.

It wasn't like he had planned to confront his best friend on Valentines Day. Not only was that not the right time, it was kind of cruel. It was like reminding someone they were never going to be loved on the day they were supposed to be loved the most. It had just kind of happened.

Similar to Karofsky, Azimio had sat through classes such as 's. He had gotten the same Scarlet letter rant. Plus other rants that seemed to involve some kind of situation where love went wrong. Having been observing things for a while, this was something else that hadn't escaped his notice. Every single one of these people just needed some help. They all needed advice, support, or maybe even a push in the right direction. Loving someone wasn't always easy, but if you had someone to support you with it on the way, it sure helped.

It just so happened all these thought had accumulated in his mind on the way back from the bathroom during Science class. That was when the plan had formulated, and that was when he had decided it was time to have a talk with Karofsky.

Having his best friend confirm he was gay was perhaps the most awkward conversation he had ever had. Azimio had already guessed it… but it still didn't stop it from being weird, and it was easy to assume Karofsky could even have a crush on him. Though he knew this obviously wasn't the case. He knew that Karofsky had fallen hard for Kurt Hummel.

"No, I hate me." Azimio's parting words now echoed through his mind. He hated himself for many reasons. He hated that all this time he had partaken in the bullying of gay people when the very person besides him was gay. He hated himself for not being able to handle it, for having to walk away. He hated that he was nothing more than someone associated with Karofsky. He hated himself for thoughts of abandoning their friendship. He hated himself for even considering it. He hated himself for falling right into the trap that was high school popularity.

Though he had already left the Karofsky household and was now making the lonely walk back to his house, Azimio suddenly felt he was more close to his friend than ever. There was something he wouldn't hate himself for: being there for his best friend. It was time to come to a decision, and that was just what he did. He wasn't going to abandon him, he couldn't. He was his buddy and that was violating the system.

Yeah, this is a pretty short chapter… but I don't think it really needed to be any longer.

Also, has that ever happened to anyone else? Someone really almost called me 'Marta and Melissa' once.

* Two days away from 'Born This Way' :DDD*