Thanks for all of your amazing reviews. I didn't get to spend Easter with my family, so your reviews totally made my holiday! (well, that and about a pound of chocolate!) If you are wondering, I want this story to be a longer one. I guess it depends on if people like it or not. I was going in a different direction with this chapter, then I heard "Lips of an Angel" by Hinder and this chapter is a result. Please tell me what you think!
It was Saturday night and Kurt Hummel had nothing to do.
Finn was out with Quinn, his dad and Carol had gone to her parent's 50th wedding anniversary in Indiana, and Mercedes and all of his other friends already had plans.
Which left him home alone. And more bored than the time Finn had made him look at every month of his Carmen Electra calendar.
He'd already read the latest Cosmo; buffed his nails, did a twenty minute oatmeal facial and sang along to the entire Wicked soundtrack.
He was contemplating sneaking into his dad's liquor cabinet and drinking away his boredom when his phone rang.
Well, not his phone precisely.
Somehow Finn had persuaded him to switch phones for the night; taking Kurt's iphone, and leaving Kurt with his dated flip phone. He'd explained to Kurt that he needed the access to the internet that his phone didn't provide. Something about him and Quinn watching You tube clips of prom queens and kings accepting their crowns. He'd informed Kurt that it got Quinn "in the mood" and he was driving them out to Lucky Lane tonight, so he needed all the help he could get.
Kurt had reluctantly handed him the phone, on the condition that he thoroughly sanitize it before returning it. God, having a sibling required so many sacrifices.
Now Finn's phone was ringing. Should he answer it?
Flopping onto his bed he grabbed it, checking the caller ID.
Karofsky.
Everything stopped. Time. Life. Kurt's heart.
It had been 3 days since "the incident". 3 days of Kurt wondering about this new Dave Karofsky.
What had made him change?
Did this change mean he was going to come out of the closet?
How had he known Kurt's schedule?
When had he suddenly gone from a chubby, sweaty jock to a well built, protective...hero?
Kurt huffed impatiently. First he'd vilified the other boy, now he was turning him into some kind of superhero.
He was just a boy. Just a…
Flipping the phone open he answered.
"Greetings, Finn's phone"
The pause on the other side of the line was lengthy. And strained.
"Umm…is Finn there?"
"If by "there" you mean out at Lucky Lane watching You tube Prom clips on my phone with Quinn Fabray and making out, then yes"
"Oh…"
Kurt could hear the confusion in Dave's monosyllabic reply.
"Listen, we switched phones for the night. Dumb, right? I mean, who switches phones? We are kinda like Lindsay Lohan from that one movie, Parent Trap, only instead of switching lives, we've switched phones. Except that my phone is kinda my life."
Breathless, he paused. Dave probably thought he was completely insane at this point.
"I liked Hayley Mills better in the original Parent Trap"
Kurt was unable to hold in the snort of laughter that Dave's comment elicited.
"You watched the original Parent Trap, Karofsky? That surprises me. I thought you jocks only watched plotless action movies"
Another pause.
"Umm…well, if Finn's not there, I will call back."
Kurt could hear the vague tone of hurt in the other boy's voice. Even though he tried to hide it.
Maybe he was just being polite or whatever, but he had tried to start a conversation with Kurt and he'd shot him down. Kurt was being as rude and snide as Dave had; until recently, always been to him.
Some habits die hard, Kurt realized, the smirk sliding from his face. Grasping Finn's phone like a life line, he rushed to speak.
"Wait...wait"
Suddenly it was the most important thing in the world that Dave Karofsky not hang up.
A long pause made Kurt think that maybe he was too late. Then,
"Yeah?"
"Look, Karofsky. I'm sorry for making fun of you. I guess I don't know how not to be defensive with you. I'm always waiting for you to make fun of me. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't know how to talk to you anymore"
Kurt didn't know what he expected the other boy to say. He certainly didn't expect the emotional confession that followed.
"God, I am so sorry. I can't say it enough. I know its lame, but I harassed you the most and hurt you because you made me feel things I didn't want to feel. You made me feel like a coward. I don't know how to talk to you either. Sometimes I can't bring myself to say anything, and other times I want to say too much. I want to tell you…everything. God, I'm so stupid. You don't need to hear all this crap."
Kurt could hear the other boy's frustration; and though he was still reeling from the other boy's words, he had to reassure him. He had to.
"No, no. This is what I need to hear. If things are going to change, if you want them to change..."
Dave's anxious voice cut into Kurt's speech.
"I do, I want everything to be so different. Please, I want to change everything about...I don't know …everything"
Kurt was genuinely shocked by the words Dave was saying. The desperation he could hear in Dave's voice. Beneath his shock he felt an answering emotion. A anguish similar to Dave's. A desperation for things to be different between the two of them. For things to be better.
"I want things to be different too, Kar...Dave. I do. It's not going to be easy though. I have finally kind of forgiven you. I don't know if I can trust you though, you know?"
Silence.
Finally; Dave spoke, his already husky voice thickened by the unshed tears Kurt could hear in his voice.
"You've forgiven me? God, it means everything to me to hear you say that. I promise I will try and be worthy of that forgiveness every day…oh my god, now I sound like some lame hall mark card…Thanks…just…thanks, Kurt"
Kurt; holding back tears of his own, smiled into the ancient flip phone, and scooted his body on the bed, resting his feet up against the bedroom wall.
"So, what makes Hayley Mills better than the infamous Lohan?"
"Ugh, where do I begin? Let's start with her horrific British accent..."
3 hours later, Finn Hudson strolled in the door, hair mussed, lipstick on his collar, eyes dreamy. Kurt assessed that his Lucky Lane plan appeared to have met with success. He was glad someone's night had ended well. Too bad he couldn't say the same.
"Finn Hudson! Where is your phone charger?"
Finn; lost in his own thoughts, was startled back to reality by the accusatory tone in his step brothers voice.
Kurt was perched on the landing, half way down the steps, Finn's phone in his hand. His face was flushed, and he was clearly in a state of agitation.
"I just ransacked your room looking for it, but it was no where to be found. What kind of person doesn't have a phone charger, Finn? What kind of idiot doesn't have a phone charger?"
The last of the dreaminess faded from Finn's eyes and he took a defensive step back.
"Whoa, crazy Kurt, you need to simmer down. You know I don't have a plug in charger. I lost it ages ago. That's why I always charge it in my car. But it was fully charged when I gave it to you. What's the problem?"
Kurt was taking deep breaths, trying to rein in his emotions. This was ridiculous, he was being ridiculous. God.
"I'm sorry, Finn, I got to talking to a someone who called, and the phone died and it just bothered me. I don't have their number memorized, so I couldn't call them back on the house phone and I couldn't find your charger…and...whatever, I'm sorry"
Sighing, Kurt sat down on the landing, the outburst having drained him of energy.
Finn was still puzzled.
"Dude, you'd have had to talk to someone for 3 hours to lose all the charge. Who were you talking to for 3 hours? I thought all of your friends were busy tonight?"
"It was..." Kurt paused, walking down to the base of the stairs. He dropped Finn's phone into his hand, and held out his hand out for his own phone. "It was no one"
But Finn, handing Kurt his iphone, was still trying to figure out the whole situation.
"How would anyone have known to call you on my phone anyway? Quinn was the only one who knew we had switched"
Kurt was holding his phone gingerly, carefully applying hand sanitizer from the hall table to its surface.
"He was calling for you"
Finn shrugged his shoulders.
"Oh, ok. Who was it? I'll go plug my phone in and call him from the car"
"Dave Karofsky"
Finn halted in his tracks, hand on the front door.
"Karofsky called for me? At what time?"
Kurt; walking up the steps, still carrying his phone gingerly away from his body, answered, his voice sounding distracted.
"I don't know. 7 maybe"
Finn's hand dropped from the door.
"That doesn't make any sense"
Kurt paused, arrested by the sound of confusion in Finn's voice.
"It doesn't make any sense for Karofsky to call you? Aren't you two friends from before he joined Glee and all that?"
Finn shook his head.
"It's not that. It's not weird for him to call me; we talk a few times a week. We've got a lot of classes together. What doesn't make sense is him calling me tonight. I saw him at the restaurant Quinn and I were at. We were in the salad line together. God, why Quinn forces me to go and get a salad when she knows I'm just going to stare at it is beyond me..."
Kurt's impatient voice interrupted his rambling.
"Wait, he was in the salad line?"
"Umm yeah, he told me that he was going to the movies with his cousins from out of town after dinner. I told him about taking Quinn to Lucky Lane and how I was going to use your phone to look up Prom clips. He told me that I was a genius but..."
Finn looked at his step brother; whose cheeks had begun to flush a deep pink.
"How did he call you if he was at the movies? And why did he call my phone if he knew that you had it?"