Dave

I felt betrayed. It would have been different if he'd disagreed with it in the first place, but to know that he was on my side and still did something like that. I couldn't cope with it. I just wanted to crawl into a cupboard and lock myself away from the rest of the world. Instead I just lay on my head, my head thrown into a pillow like a sappy teenage girl. But I didn't care.

There was a soft knock at the door, but I didn't budge. I just lay and let my emotions out into my pillow. I heard the door creak open and calm footsteps approach. There was a light weight on my bed and a hand on my back.

"Dave," came a whisper and I recognised it was Lauren. "Dave are you okay?"

Of course I wasn't okay. Lauren knew this. I'd known Azimio for years and I'd been prepared to lose him when I came out, but I hadn't and it made me feel invincible. I had my best friend, my brother. Nothing could hurt me. The slushies or whispers or comments didn't get to me. I had my brother still.

But I didn't think he'd be the one to hurt me.

"I know you're hurting, Davey. Both physically and emotionally, but it's going to be okay," she mumbled whilst bringing a hand up to rub my back gently.

"No it's not," I whimpered, sounding more pathetic then ever.

"Yes it will. It's not the end of the world," she told me.

"You don't get it, do you!" I moaned, sitting up and staring at her. Her expression was soft and concerned, but I wasn't bothered right now. "He was my best friend, Lauren! My best frickin' friend and he beat me up! He helped knock me out and left me in the locker room to bleed to death. My own brother almost killed me! I can't even describe it, I'm so angry. I want to literally kill him right now! He said we were still brothers..." I ranted, but trailed off when my eyes began to burn and I had to shove my head back into the pillow.

"I know Dave. He's meant to be your brother and he hurt you. Trust me I want to kill him right now! But you still have me. You still have Kurt. And we'll always be there no matter who your best friend is and how much of a prick they are. I promise you, you will always have someone there for you no matter who you are and how you act. I don't want you to feel alone, Davey, 'cause you're not," she declared.

I knew she was right. Azimio probably wouldn't always be my best friend and I'd probably meet other friends who are more accepting. Yeah, I always would have Lauren and hopefully I'd always have Kurt. But I'd been friends with Azimio for years. We'd grown up together, we'd been brothers for as long as I could remember. He was always there when I needed him there. Now he'd gone and hurt me.

I didn't answer Lauren and she took the hint. She whispered that her and Kurt were downstairs if I wanted them and left. Left me to let more tears fall into my sodden pillow.

Kurt

I felt terrible. I'd just let Dave find out that way. He was hurting already and now it had just been made worse. Lauren had gone up to talk to him, but she was back down a few minutes later with a sorry expression on her face.

"I think we'd better leave him to think for a bit. He's really upset and angry. Azimio's his bro and I think he feels betrayed," she explained.

"I'm not surprised. I think he was the happiest he'd been when Azimio accepted him. It was like, once he had his approval he was fine. I honestly couldn't believe he'd do something like that. I was actually kind of hoping when I went to his house earlier that he'd say it wasn't him or even that he'd not been involved. But nope. He didn't even bother making up a good excuse. He just said he had to otherwise he'd get beat up himself. Don't worry, I had a good yell at him and I think by the end of it he felt like crap. I hope he did anyway," I told her.

"He did it because they threatened to beat him up?"

"Yeah. He tried to excuse him by saying that he technically didn't beat him up, just held him down. But if you ask me that's just as bad."

"I can't believe him. I think he's pathetic. Just the thought of..." she trailed off, her voice cracking. Of course, Lauren was Dave's sister. If I was upset by the thought of him being held down and beaten then she would be more upset. Not only was it her brother, but from what I understood, Azimio and Dave had been very close. They'd been friends for a very long time and he was probably a friend of the family too. So to think of him holding down her brother to be beaten would be awful.

I moved in closer and rubbed a hand on her back. "I know, I know. But he's fine. He's going to get through this. At least it didn't result in the worst," I said in a hushed voice. She nodded and rubbed her eyes.

"I just hate that it's hurting him so much. This is going to effect him so much. His trust and his friendship. I hate him suffering," she told me, leaning into my touch. I wrapped my arm around her and let her lean her head on my shoulder.

"It sucks, I know. But for now we'll focus on fixing Dave. Making him happy," I mumbled into her hair.

"I can see why Dave likes you. You always know what to say. And you give awesome hugs," she laughed. I chuckled and beamed at her.

"I've had a lot of practise. I hang around with girls. Girls have a lot of problems," I told her. She nodded.

"Tell me about it. Apparently so do tough, gay jocks," she said with a smirk,

"Yeah, but I wouldn't want him any other way. Darn, I get involved with some complicated guys, don't I?"

"Been there. I kind of gave up on guys..."

"Oh. Decided to join my team?" I joked with a wink.

"Ha! Not quite. I've decided to stop trying to meet guys and if I meet someone then I meet someone. Damn me, spilling this to my brother's boyfriend when I should be focusing on my brother!"

"I don't mind. Let's go sit down until Dave decides to come down. He can't stay up there forever."

Dave

I got over the anger after an hour. The betrayal was still there, but it was easier to ignore now. I emerged from my bed and glared at my alarm and decided I may as well face the world. I got up, not bothering to change out of the t-shirt and shorts I was wearing from bed, and stumbled downstairs.

Kurt and Lauren were sat on the settee in the living room watching what looked like Friends. I walked in, both of them glancing up with a smile at me but without a word. I went and took a seat next to Kurt, who shuffled next to me and wrapped his arm around me.

They continued their conversation, which was from what I gathered about clothes. I wasn't really sure how someone could get so much enjoyment out of clothes, but I guessed that if Kurt and Lauren enjoyed them then that was all that mattered.

"I went in last week and they only had them in yellow. Yellow does not look good on me!" Lauren was saying. Kurt laughed at her and he ran his long fingers through my hair.

"You can get them online I think, but I'm not sure what colours they do them in," he said.

"I'll have to check it out. I have my wage coming through soon and I have to spend it on something!" Lauren replied.

I still loved how easily my sister and boyfriend, the people who meant to most to me, got along. It was kind of upsetting, however, that they both had so much in common, yet I didn't. I was the kind of guy who had the same t-shirt, just in 5 different colours, and wore trainers that had been worn so badly that they were practically falling apart. I played sports, watched action films and played xbox. I was a guy. Not like Kurt wasn't a guy. If he wasn't then I wouldn't be dating him. But he hung out with girls and watched chick flicks and dressed well.

Kurt smiled down at me and I suddenly didn't care about our difference in interests. As long as he still wanted to be with me I was happy.

"Hey, handsome," he chuckled.

"Hey," I said softly and smiled back at him. He leaned in closer towards him and he gave me a squeeze on the shoulder. My head found a comfy spot between his shoulder and chest which I nuzzled in.

"Want some food, guys? I'd say it's lunch time," Lauren asked.

"Food sounds good. Want some help?" I replied.

"Yeah go on then. You're better in the kitchen than I am," she laughed.

I got up from Kurt's hold and followed Lauren into the kitchen. Kurt followed us both and took a seat at the the kitchen counter so he could watch as we made lunch.

I looked through the fridge and cupboards, seeking out something good to eat. The normality of the situation made everything feel better, like nothing was wrong. Although I did notice both of their eyes flickering down to the bruises on my exposed arms, legs and neck. Kurt flinched every time he spotted the cuts still visible on my arm.

Between us, we decided we'd have what Lauren called 'The super famous, super tasty Dave Karofsky cheesy toast special', also known as cheese on toast with a few added ingredients. I'd just put the food back under the grill and I decided that I'd bring up the elephant in the room.

"Okay guys," I muttered. "We're going to have to talk about it sometime, so let's make it now..."