Author's note: Thanks for all the reviews and you patience with my slightly sporadic updating at the moment. If I could bake virtual Dave and Kurt cookies and send them out to everyone I so would...
CHAPTER SIX
He doesn't know why Azimio sat with them at lunchtime today, but it had been a slightly scary experience. They'd all sat there in silence, the others out of fear, but he'd been curious. He knew he was likely to blame, but it's not like he and Azimio can strike up a conversation about Dave without everyone wanting to shake some sense into him. He rings the bell and waits for Dave to answer.
"Hey…"
"Hi. So… I have a bone to pick with you," he states, stepping past Dave and into the house, and it's kind of nice to have a guy friend whose house he's comfortable to do that in.
"I… okay?" Dave replies, losing the door behind him and he pauses, hearing the sound of babbling coming from the living room, where Dave is heading for. He has no complaints, he's kind of become entranced by the twins. He knows it's probably the novelty factor, because he's never really been interested in babies before, but conversation seems to flow easily and he likes seeing Dave interact with them. The twins are in imprisoned in a playpen in the middle of the room and the rest of the room looks like a tornado has whipped through it.
"Ah… problem?"
"Uh, can't find the remote. One of the kids hid it."
"Oh. Well. That sounds like a challenge. We can talk while we look."
He watches as Dave takes off the cushions off the sofa, runs a hand along all the crevices and wonders where he can start looking.
"So, you wanted to, uh, pick a bone?" Dave asks, pulling out a bunch of coins, some balled up dust and a brightly colored blue plastic block from the corner of the sofa.
"Yes. I do. Why would Azimio have lunch with us today? Why would he want to?"
"He… seriously?"
He nods, and decides that the floor is probably a better place to start looking than his eye level. If he were a baby where would he hide a remote? He starts by running a hand beneath the nearest chair.
"So, you have any idea why he might suddenly decide to sit with the glee club for lunch? Apart the amusing side effect of scaring everyone into silence?"
"Are you guys one club again?"
"No, but today was a day of split lunch period so we band together. Safety in numbers. Which is why they were so freaked out that Azimio sat with us. I don't know if any of them actually ate anything."
"Huh. That's kind of funny. He's… I don't know. Taking a leaf out of my book?"
"And what book would that be?"
"At Carmel I rotate who I sit with at lunchtime," he shrugs. "I started it right at the beginning of school, math geeks, drama kids, football team, hockey team, cheerleaders…"
He stares. He can't help it. The idea sounds so foreign and the fact that it's Dave doing it makes it sound even stranger.
"Really? You don't get hassled for it?"
"I'm the new kid. I'm allowed a certain degree of weird. Plus now it's something I've always done, and I'm on the football and hockey teams so no, no-one gives me shit."
"Really?"
"Really. I mean, they've asked questions about why, and I've kind of explained that I have some issues and getting to know the different social groups helps me… deal with those issues."
"Advice from the therapist?"
"No. Just something I thought I could do. It's nice, I kind of have friends in every social group."
"Including Vocal Adrenaline?"
"Except them."
"What, still too low on the social ladder?"
"At Carmel? Vocal Adrenaline? You're kidding right?" Okay, so it was a bitchy comment to make, but he feels a little stung at the idea of Dave making friends with all the different strata of social levels at his new school. "Anyway, I don't sit with them. For a couple of reasons, one, they're all crazy. Like seriously obsessed. And secondly… it feels, I don't know, weird. They compete against McKinley and I'd support you guys over them, and making friends with them would mess that up. They're way too cliquey anyway. I'd probably get stabbed with multiple forks if I ever sat down at the same table as them."
"You'd support New Directions over Vocal Adrenaline? Wait, you compete against McKinley with football and hockey though right?" He can't help feel a little thrill that
"Yeah. But I'm part of the team competing. I want to win. Anyway, that's what I do, and one of my teammates has started joining me, and I was telling Az last night. Which brings me to a point, you shouldn't have interfered."
"Me? Interfere? Never…" but he hides a smile and hears Dave snort in amusement. "So, how did it go? You guys friends again?"
"Yeah. Yeah we are. I have to let him beat me at Call of Duty and all other games he might get us to play in the foreseeable future, but we're cool. So thanks. Even though you shouldn't have…"
He shrugs, compared to some of the things he's done recently approaching Azimio Adams was a small thing. Seeing him wander around the hallways alone always makes him feels a little twinge that Dave is no longer at McKinley, even though he knows Dave is much happier and calmer at Carmel. He looks up to see Dave lowering one side of the sofa back to the ground and he swallows as he notes the flex of muscles in Dave's arms and across his shoulders. He shakes his head and goes back to peering underneath the furniture.
"So, did you tell him?"
"Tell him what?" Dave asks, distracted as he peers around the room, sparing a quick glance at Lily and Adam who are engrossed in some garishly colored toy.
"That you're gay…"
"Oh, that, yeah… he already knew. He heard you and Blaine confront me on the stairwell that first time."
He stops what he's doing; looks up to Dave again to see him continuing with the search and god he hadn't ever thought about the possible implications if someone had heard them. What if someone random had heard? At the same time he's pondering how badly it could have gone the ease at which Dave is talking about it all is heart warming.
"That wasn't one of my smartest moments."
"Hmm? Oh. Pfft. Like what, I'm an Einstein? I think in ten years we can look back and just put all our mutual acts down to stupidity. Well, I hope we can. I already view what I was like at McKinley as… fear and stupidity and… yeah well."
He shrugs again and he supposes that's what Dave is doing now at Carmel, setting things right, so he can look back in ten years and have no regrets. He lets out a little sigh, because he had thought this year was going to be perfect…
LSY
He's not sure what seems to have gotten Kurt down, but he's not going to pry. Kurt will talk if and when he wants to. He's learnt that much at least. He's amused by the fact that Az seems to think that he can just start sitting with the glee club. He's pretty sure that's going to blow up in his face sooner rather than later, but he likes knowing that there's another person kind of keeping an eye on Kurt. Not that the guys in glee aren't doing an admirable job, Blaine's broken nose not-withstanding, but Az is deliberate. He'd be sure of facts before going in anywhere guns blazing. He's pretty sure he and Kurt would get on alright if they ever manage to find some common ground. The fact that he'd admitted yesterday that he kind of finds Kurt a little intimidating is not something he'll be sharing with Kurt.
"So, who did you have lunch with today?"
"Math geeks. I feel like when I find this remote I need to put a homing beacon on it or something."
"Does this happen often?"
"Everyday, but usually it's in a really obvious place. Covered in drool with buttons pushed down so that it doesn't even work half the time, but yeah… all the time."
"You know you could just press the buttons on the TV itself right."
"Haha. Yes. I know. But I kind of freak out that they might rip off the little rubber button things and eat them, even though I know it's one sheet of rubber, I just… worry. They're on my watch right now, you know?"
Kurt nods, smiles and he smiles back. Normally he doesn't have to look after them very much at all, but Claire has made a doctors appointment at his dad's insistence because of her slightly weird behavior the last couple of days, and he's glad he hadn't been imagining it.
"Are you planning on moving away for college or anything?"
"Well, it's not like Lima is overflowing with opportunities, but I haven't really figured out what I want to do exactly so I've applied to lots of places and hope that I get some choice in the matter."
He won't say it out loud, but he doesn't want to be too far away from Lima. He doesn't like the idea of Lily and Adam growing up and not knowing him, having him be treated like a stranger every time he comes back for the holidays.
"I've kind of got my heart set on one place. I should probably apply to more than one though…"
"Uh, yeah. I mean, what if you change your mind between now and then?"
"I…don't think I'll change my mind about what I want to do, but you're right, I should give myself more options. More avenues to get out of here."
The sudden blaring of the TV startles them both to stare at the sudden picture on the screen and then he looks to the playpen where Adam is waving the remote and looking decidedly pleased with himself and he sighs, certain that he's being laughed at.
"You didn't look in the playpen first?" Kurt asks.
"No, I didn't. Right. Well. You want a piece of cake? Claire made three yesterday, and one was meant to be for you but with Az here… well, he should be glad it was a low-fat thing cause he ate almost an entire one himself."
"Of course. Claire's cakes are becoming a thing of my daydreams. She's an amazing baker."
"Yeah, she's good. She gave up trying to teach me though. She makes everything from scratch. I need to learn how to make stuff before I move out of home though, otherwise I'm going to starve."
"Well, we couldn't have that. Just make sure you install some smoke alarms wherever you live…"
"One day I'll find something you're bad at and mock you for it, just so you know."
"Good luck. I'm brilliant at everything I try. It's a gift."
"So humble with it too…" Dave says drily and the sound of Kurt's laugh makes him smile.