Prologue

It all started when he was seven years old, curiosity drawing him into his mother's closet while she was occupied downstairs, preparing dinner whilst his father was still at work. It started with an attempt at walking in a pair of red high heeled shoes that were far too large for his feet. He stumbled with his first few steps, but felt incredibly pleased with himself when walking became easier. He giggled as his new found height made it a little easier to look through all of the garments hanging in the closet. He found a pink baby doll dress tucked near the back of the closet and pulled it down. He pulled it over his head, falling loosely over his seven-year-old frame and reaching to his ankles like a proper dress, covering his corduroy pants and only showing a portion of his blue's clues striped green t-shirt at the top. He stepped out of the closet and approached the full length mirror across the room, with very few stumbles. He stared at his reflection, admiring the dress and giggling at himself when he fell, attempting to twirl.

At that moment the door was pushed open, the little boy looked in the reflection of the mirror and watched in trepidation as his father's face contorted with a couple of emotions. At first he appeared confused but it quickly morphed into something akin to disgust and rage. He approached his son with quick and pounding footsteps. The man roughly grasped the seven year old's left arm and yanked him upwards,

"What the hell are you doing?" His voice was dangerously low as the words came out dripping with disdain.

The little boy could only yelp in pain, far too frightened to answer the man's question. After a few more seconds of silence, his father bent down and grasped both of the boy's shoulders. "You answer me, boy!"

The child's lip started to tremble as his eyes watered, "I… Daddy, I'm sorry."

The man started shaking his son, "Don't you DARE start crying!"

Out of nowhere his mother appeared and pulled his father away from him, "Why are you yelling at him like that?"

The seven year old boy crawled as quickly as he could towards the wall farthest from his angry father, doing his best to not start sobbing. His father pulled away from the grip his mother had on his collared shirt.

He pointed towards his son, "He's wearing a dress, like a little faggot! You coddle him too much, look at him, he's hiding in the corner, crying like a little sissy!"

"He's only seven, Greg! He doesn't know any better! And you screaming at him and shaking him would make anybody cry!" His mother approached her son, knelt down, and pulled him into her arms, "Shhhh, baby, it's okay, Daddy didn't mean to frighten you."

Greg scoffed in disgust, "If our kid turns out queer, it'll be your fault, Rebecca." He threw another disgusted look in his son's direction before stomping out of the room.

"Am I a sissy, Momma?" He looked up into his mother's face, sniffling and biting his lip.

She stroked his face, "Oh, baby. No, you aren't, just so long as you don't do this anymore, okay?"

He nodded and wiped his nose with the back of his hand, "I'm sorry, Momma! I won't, I won't."

She smiled at him, "Good boy. Come on, let's get you out of my clothes and go downstairs for dinner." She gently pulled the dress over her son's head and grabbed the shoes that had been left haphazardly in front of the bed when her son had crawled away from his angry father. She bent slightly and held her hand out for her son, "Come on, Dave. I made macaroni and cheese for you."

He pulled his shirt up to wipe his face and grabbed his mother's hand. As they walked from the bedroom to the dining room, the little seven year old decided then and there that no matter what, the last thing David Karofsky would ever become was a sissy, or a faggot – whatever that was.

Breakthru

Dave Karofsky stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. It had been two weeks since he lost the battle with his conflicting emotions and kissed Kurt Hummel. He didn't look any different. He didn't look queer. He scowled at himself as he hissed, "Fucking idiot." All of that hard work disassociating himself with anything remotely gay; the locker slams, slushies, dumpster tosses, and verbal slurs, and he still found himself giving into his immoral desires and kissing the object of his obsession. His heart is heavy with guilt, self-hatred, and desire as he recollected the kiss. He quells an urge to punch the mirror. Instead he spits at his reflection, "You are NOT a homo. You are NOT a sissy."

His thoughts are disturbed by his mother calling out to him, "Dave, come eat something before school!"

He shook his head and wiped the dripping spit from the surface of the mirror with the sleeve of his jacket. He stared once more at the now slightly blurred reflection and sighs, "You can't be a homo."

Kurt found himself at school a little earlier than usual that day. He had found coming a little later did not spare him from the continuous and worsening torture from Karofsky and his cronies. Perhaps coming earlier would enable him to get to his class earlier and at least miss out on the morning harassment. He sighed with relief when he walked into the hallway where his locker was and found the place nearly deserted. He had never been more grateful for getting his driving privileges back, not to mention how busy Carole was keeping his father with preparations for the wedding that weekend. It gave him an unbelievable amount of time to spend with Blaine without any questions being asked. He opened his locker and stared contentedly at the framed picture hanging on the door. His new budding friendship with the courageous, not to mention gorgeous, warbler made the insane revelations and increased torment of the past few weeks seem almost insignificant. For the first time, since he came out of the closet, he felt truly happy.

His reverie was rudely interrupted by Karofsky slamming his locker shut. Kurt jumped back, partly from surprise and partly for self-preservation. Kurt rolled his eyes, so much for arriving early to avoid his daily dose of locker metal. "I'm really starting to get bored with these tactics, Karofsky. Can't you at least come up with something fresh? Perhaps a 'kick me' sign on my back or maybe a wedgie? Seeing as that appears to be the accurate level of maturity for you…"

Karofsky scowled, "I'm just checking in, making sure you're keeping your mouth shut."

Kurt folded his arms across his body, "I haven't said anything."

Karofsky smiled viciously, "Good."

As the larger boy turned to walk away, Kurt found himself already regretting what he was not going to be able to stop from coming out of his mouth, "But, you do realize every time you slam my head into my locker, my memory gets a little fuzzy. What am I not supposed to tell people? That the big, bad, Karofsky…" Kurt looked around to ensure there were still no students and lowered his voice, "kissed the fabulous, ladyboy, Hummel?"

Karofsky spun around so quickly it almost made his head spin. He grasped Kurt by the lapels of his designer jacket and held him up against the locker, "Why can't you just learn to shut the fuck up?" He hissed.

Kurt wondered that himself as the pain in his back from the pressure of the padlock did not let up, "Why must you resort to second grade tactics to get the attention of someone you like?" Kurt closed his eyes in regret of his stupid mouth and in preparation for the blow he was entirely certain was about to come. He flinched when he heard Karofsky's fist slam into the locker next to his right ear. Kurt slowly opened his eyes and saw anger mixed with pain in the eyes of his tormentor.

"I'm not a goddamned homo, Hummel."

Kurt decided to keep pushing his luck and asked with complete sincerity, "Then why did you kiss me, Karofsky?"

The larger boy blanched. The question had honestly never occurred to him. He'd spent so much time trying to convince himself and everyone else, that the last thing in the world that he was, was queer. But someone who wasn't queer would not have kissed another boy, nor would he currently be suppressing the urge to kiss aforementioned boy again. He decided to go with his original tactic and gritted out, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Kurt couldn't help but feel a pang of pity for his tormentor in that moment. It was short lived, but he felt it none-the-less. He sighed, "You know, Karofsky, denial can only take you so far before you get eaten alive by your repressed emotions."

In that moment, Karofsky felt himself losing the battle with his urge, he drew closer to Kurt's face, doing what he could to mask the pain in his voice, "Why can't you just disappear?"

Kurt's breath hitched, he was terrified the larger boy was going to kiss him again, but not too terrified to reply, "You can't make your feelings disappear." His eyes grew large when he realized that Karofsky was, indeed, drawing in closer.

Before he could even shut his eyes and prepare for another mouth assault, Azimio appeared out of nowhere, "What are you doing, Karofsky?"

Karofsky jumped away from Kurt, causing the smaller boy to almost fall from the loss of momentum. That's when the jock noticed a few more students had started to come in. He had almost completely forgotten himself. He kept eye contact with Kurt and rolled up the sleeves of his jacket, "The homo here hit on me."

Kurt scoffed and attempted to smooth out the creases in his jacket, "I did no such thing."

Azimio didn't bear his usual grin that torturing his self-deemed lower peers brought him, instead he looked positively revolted. He approached Kurt and grabbed his arm, "Disgusting, we gotta teach this fag a lesson."

Before Kurt could try to wriggle out of the larger boy's grip, or protest, or anything, he was met with an overwhelming amount of pain to his midsection. This was new. The bullies of McKinley had never resorted to actual violence before. Kurt was bent over, trying to regulate his now ragged breathing when Azimio laid another blow into his side. Kurt cried out this time. When Azimio kicked the side of his knee, Kurt fell to the ground. The few students that were in the hallway watched in horror, but no one was brave enough to intervene.

Azimio turned to his friend, "Come on, show this fag that he can't get away with that shit!"

Karofsky was torn. He never wanted to actually hurt Kurt, he just wanted to make him feel physically the way he himself felt emotionally. A wave of nausea hit him, he didn't want to kick this boy who had done nothing to deserve this, but he couldn't let Azimio down. Just as he was about to land a kick into Kurt's midsection, he was impeded by a loud, "Stop!"

He turned and saw the new kid, Sam, running towards Kurt. The blond bent down near his friend and touched his shoulder, "Kurt, are you okay?"

The smaller boy coughed in reply, but nodded half-heartedly. Sam turned around and stood, "What the hell is wrong with you guys?"

Azimio scoffed, "Your boyfriend here tried to come on to Karofsky, we had to teach him a lesson."

Kurt let out a weak, "No, I didn't."

Sam furrowed his brow, "You ignorant homophobes, even if he had come on to you, so what? No one deserves the shit being kicked out of them."

Azimio invaded Sam's space and shoved him, "You homos all got to stick together, don't ya?"

Sam shoved the larger boy back, "No, but us decent human beings need to!"

Azimio reeled a little at actually being shoved by someone else, but his confusion quickly turned to rage. He clenched a fist and smashed it right into the side of the blond boy's head. Sam stumbled and tripped over Kurt. Azimio grabbed the blond by his shirt and lifted him up off the ground without any effort, leaned him against the lockers, and started laying punches into his abdomen. He then yanked Sam forward and threw him against Karofsky, looking at his fellow bully expectantly. Karofsky let out a small sigh, punched the blond in his right peck and pushed him to the ground. Azimio started to kick Kurt and Sam in intervals.

As more students started shuffling into the hall, they all found themselves stopping and simply staring at the display. Karofsky looked around and was stunned at the lack of response. The Sam kid was nowhere near as big as himself or Azimio and still attempted to stop it. He grabbed his friend and pulled him back, "That's enough."

Azimio attempted to wrestle out of Karofsky's grasp, when Will Shuester turned the corner. When his eyes projected the image he had seen to his brain, he ran to the two boys on the ground, "Oh my god, Sam! Kurt! What happened?" Neither boy was capable of saying anything, they both just groaned and coughed. He wheeled around and stared at Azimio and Karofsky, "You two, go to the principal's office, NOW."

Karofsky was taken aback, he had never seen Mr. Shuester that angry. Azimio rolled his eyes, "They deserved it!"

The teacher's face contorted with disgust, "If you both aren't in the principal's office in five minutes, I am calling the police and having them deal with you. Go, NOW!"

As Karofsky pulled his friend's letter jacket sleeve to guide him in the direction they needed to go, Finn and Puckerman came out of nowhere and rushed to help Mr. Shuester bring Sam and Kurt to their feet. Finn glared at Karofsky as he helped Kurt start to walk. Actually feeling ashamed, he looked down and just kept walking.

Dave was sitting outside of the principal's office, hearing the faint sounds of yelling coming from inside. Azimio was inside, with Principal Sue, Mr. Shuester, and his father. At that moment, it sounded like Sue was the one yelling. He could faintly make out words, "Unacceptable," "Zero tolerance," and "expulsion." Dave felt his throat go dry. A few minutes later Azimio walked out looking truly stunned, shortly followed by his father, who stopped in the doorway,

"Please extend my sincerest apologies to both the boys' parents and if you can," Mr. Azimio pulled a business card out of his pocket, "Please have them contact me if either of the families wish to press charges against my son for assault."

Dave widened his eyes. 'Assault charges? What the fuck have I done?' He bent his head down and ruffled his hand through his hair. Mr. Azimio grabbed his son's arm and practically dragged him out of the school. Dave sat there for a few minutes, his head reeling from recollecting everything that had just happened. How did another almost kiss turn into possible criminal charges? He was shaken from his thoughts by Mr. Shuester calling him into the office. He dazedly sat in the closest chair as the door was closed behind him.

"We've contacted your father, so we will wait for his arrival before we go into detail of your punishment." Sue said with as much monotone as she could muster.

Dave nodded mutely and before he could process the bizarre tone of the Cheerio coach turned principal, his father barged through the door.

"What the hell is this about? Dragging me out of work?"

Mr. Shuester pointed to the chair next to Dave, "Please have a seat, Mr. Karofsky."

His father just stood in the doorway, his arms folded in aggravation, "Just tell me why the hell I'm here."

"Your son's possible expulsion," Sue snapped.

Mr. Shuester sighed, "Your son and a friend assaulted two fellow classmates this morning."

Mr. Karofsky narrowed his eyes and looked at Dave, "This true?"

Dave nodded again. He winced in preparation of the verbal onslaught he was about to receive, but it never came. Instead his father shut the door and sat next to his son and looked toward Principal Sue, "So, what are we talking about here?"

She turned her nose upward, "We're talking about our zero tolerance policy and possible assault and hate crime charges."

"What do you mean?" Mr. Karofsky scowled.

Mr. Shuester was about to interject when the door was slammed open again. Everyone turned to look in the direction of the sudden noise. Burt Hummel was standing in the doorway, his face red with anger.

Mr. Shuester approached the man, "Mr. Hummel, please, this is a private meeting."

"I want to look in the eyes of the coward who beat the hell out of my son just for being gay!"

Dave ducked his head in shame. Mr. Karofsky stood and looked at the man in the doorway, "Your son's a queer?"

Burt narrowed his eyes at the man, "So, what if he is?"

Mr. Shuester interrupted, directing his response towards Mr. Karofsky, "Azimio had stated that the reason they attacked Mr. Hummel's son initially was because he had made a pass at your son, and the other boy had intervened to protect Kurt…"

"You're telling me the little fag tried to come on to my son? Then it sounds like he got what was coming to him! That sort of behavior is unacceptable! We should file sexual harassment charges against the queer."

Mr. Shuester had to hold Burt back from leaping across the room to attack Mr. Karofsky. Burt was unintelligibly screaming random profanities. The teacher was finally able to get the angry man to calm down, telling him his son needed him and that required prevention of another heart attack.

"What's unacceptable, Mr. Karofsky, is beating a boy up for his sexual orientation." Sue had never been so serious.

"If this queer came on to my son he can't be held accountable for his actions, this is ridiculous! David, did this boy try to come on to you?"

Dave looked around, eight eyes staring at him expectantly. His heart was hammering in his chest. Even though he hadn't been the one to physically attack Kurt, he had kicked Sam, he had stood idly by and allowed his friend to beat the shit out of them. He was facing expulsion, possible criminal charges, two very angry fathers, and two even angrier teachers. His head was spinning. What had he done? All because he couldn't be fucking honest with himself? His breathing got ragged. He'd never had a panic attack before, but he was pretty certain that this was how they started. How the fuck had he gotten himself into such a mess?

His train of thought was interrupted by his father, "Well, David?"

He looked away from the four pairs of eyes and focused on a spot on the wall across the room. He inhaled sharply and quietly replied, "No."

His father's tone got dangerously low, "What?"

Dave decided if he was going to come clean, he was going to come completely clean, he lifted his head and looked his father directly in the eye, "I said, 'no', Dad. Kurt did not hit on me. I…" He couldn't stop his hands from wringing in dread, but he forced himself to continue, "I came on to Kurt. Azimio walked in on it, so I told him Kurt started it and he kind of lost it. I…"

"I don't want to fucking hear anymore." His father spat. He brushed off his jacket and turned to Principal Sue, "Whatever punishment you decide to give him is fine with me. Whatever you want to do with him is probably only too good for him. We're done here." He approached the door to leave and Dave started to stand up and follow when his father halted him, "You stay here. You are NOT to come home, do you understand me, boy?"

Dave ducked his head and nodded mutely.

"Mr. Karofsky that's a little drastic…" Mr. Shuester started.

"This conversation is finished. Please do not contact me again in regards to David." The older man left the office without even so much as a look back to his son.

Mr. Shuester finally released Burt, who stared dumbly at the scene he had just witnessed. A part of him wanted to chase after the ignorant bigot and beat the everloving shit out of him. But, for his son's sake, he remained where he was.

Principal Sue looked to Dave, "Is there anything else you want to tell us?"

Dave sighed, biting his lip to stop the tears from coming. "Just, I started it, but I never hit Kurt. I kicked that Sam kid, and I stood by and let it happen, but I never hit Kurt." He briefly looked up to make eye contact with Kurt's father, his voice shook with unadulterated regret, "I'm sorry, Mr. Hummel."

Mr. Shuester looked to Sue, "I think one week's suspension will be punishment enough, if Mr. Hummel finds that acceptable."

Burt looked to Dave and at that moment, felt incredibly sorry for him. This kid was really messed up. And with a father like that, he couldn't really say that surprised him. He realized just how true it was when Kurt had told him he was so lucky to have a father like him. The Karofsky boy didn't just have to deal with the confusing and hellish feelings of being homosexual in a small town, but he had absolutely no support system to help come to terms with it. Burt wanted justice for his son, but when it came to this particular bully, he realized the kid was going to get enough punishment from just trying to live his life. He nodded his acceptance. "Yeah, I do. I'm going to go now."

As the door closed behind him, Mr. Shuester sat next to Dave and placed his hand on the boy's shoulder in an attempt at comfort, "Was your father serious, David?"

He couldn't help but scoff, "You heard him."

Mr. Shuester nodded his understanding and turned to Principal Sue, "I'm going to take David to my place, Sue. Could you get Holly to cover for me today?"

Dave's eyes widened with shock. He didn't know what to think, he just stared gratefully at the Spanish teacher and breathed out a very sad, "Thank you, Mr. Shuester."

As Dave had grabbed a couple of things from his locker, Will had to be grateful classes were in so there wouldn't be any gawking. Despite still being quite angry at the violence that had escalated earlier that morning, his heart beat with pity for the large boy trailing sullenly behind him as they walked out to his car. David Karofsky was the prime example of how bullying is entirely about nurture, not nature.

The drive to Will's apartment was uncomfortably silent. He couldn't even rely on the consolation of his Journey's Greatest Hits CD to fill the void; his stereo had stopped working a few weeks ago. When he pulled into his car port, Dave followed his teacher up the pathway towards the building entrance. When they reached the apartment, Will opened the front door for the jock, "Come in, make yourself at home."

Dave looked around. The apartment was tasteful and clean. It looked as though Mr. Shuester still had a wife, it did not resemble the apartment of a newly divorced single man. The décor appeared very feminine. The only thing that seemed at all masculine was a number of action DVDs scattered about on the coffee table.

"The Boondock Saints, that's a good movie."

Will nodded his agreement and pointed towards the couch, "Have a seat, David. Would you like anything to drink?"

Dave moved to sit on the couch, "Uh, I'm okay, Mr. Shuester. Thanks."

Will nodded and moved to sit on the large chair next to the couch. He sat there for a few minutes, watching Dave fidget nervously with the hem of his jacket, and keeping his eyes glued to a spot on the coffee table. He finally decided to bridge the noise gap and asked, "Well, would you like to talk about what happened today?"

Dave's face paled, the last thing he wanted to do was talk about what was plaguing his brain. Finding words were failing him at that moment, he merely shook his head.

"That's okay. A lot happened today. And you might not want to talk to me about your feelings about your sexuality…"

"I'm not gay," Dave interrupted. He sighed to himself. Even after everything that happened today, he still couldn't admit it to himself. He still found his default setting the proclamation of his heterosexuality, no matter how far from reality that was.

Will's eyes reflected the amount of sympathy he was feeling for the confused teenager at that moment. "Look, David, I know it can't be easy for you, it's not easy for anyone, but you are safe here, from judgment, I would like to try and help you…" He started at the sound of Dave slamming his fist against the edge of the coffee table.

Dave stood up, "I don't need your help or your pity!" His eyes shone with a trace of wetness starting to accumulate. "I need to be normal! I don't want this! I don't want these… These feelings! I'm supposed to be a man!"

Will watched calmly as the bereft teenager paced in front of the length of the couch, "David, you are a man, and having sexual or romantic feelings for another man doesn't make you any less of one, doesn't make you abnormal. You're basing your opinion on what a man should be from a man who kicked his own son out for being different."

Dave halted his movement and just stared at his teacher. It was as if his whole world had started to crumble around him. He WAS basing everything he believed in on the voice of a man who could not even show even a remote amount of affection to his only son. A man who berated him as a young child for crying. A man who refused to let him watch any musical films for fear of him becoming a pansy. A man who forced him into any and all sports at too young of an age to train him to be a real man. A man who's bigoted views made him treat people like dirt. How could he have been so stupid? How could he have thought that being the tough guy, the bully, the asshole, would have gotten the love and respect he had so desperately craved from his father? Dave slumped to the couch and for the first time since he was a child, started to cry. He hunched over, his face in his hands as his body trembled with sobs. He cried for all of the years he held back his tears for fear of a smack or worse from the man who was supposed to love him no matter what. He cried for all of the kids who he had mercilessly abused over the years for an acceptance and validation from a man who had never and will never give it. He cried for all of those times he hated himself for still becoming what he had been trained to not become.

Will moved from his spot and sat next to Dave on the couch, he gently pulled the boy forward into a side hug, rubbed his upper back and just let the teenager cry, not saying anything. He knew he had to provide the comfort this boy had probably never once been given.

After a good thirty minutes of sobbing, Dave had been truly exhausted. Will had pulled his couch out into a bed, gave him a blanket, and told the younger man to just sleep. After Dave had finally fallen asleep, Will grabbed his keys, left a note for him with his cell phone if he woke up before he got back, and walked out of the door. He flipped open his phone and dialed a number, after three rings he was greeted with a stern, "Principal Sue."

"Hey, Sue, it's Will. Can you text me David Karofsky's address? I want to try and talk to his parents."

"I think that's probably some sort of violation of something, but if you are planning on using it to take a bat to that smug asshole's car, I think I can make an exception…"

Will rolled his eyes, "No, Sue, I really just want to talk to them."

She sighed, "Fine, but I know people, we could get something arranged that would never get linked back to us. I'm still good friends with some of the boys in the special forces and…"

"No, Sue, just text me the address." He closed his phone before the woman got any other ideas in her head and waited patiently to start his car until he got the text he was waiting for.

Kurt woke up to extremely bright lights over his head and a strange object in his nose. He tried to sit up and instantly felt pain. He groaned and started to look around. He realized he was in a hospital bed and found he was met with relieved and smiling faces. Burt had stood and leaned over, to stroke the hair out of his son's eyes,

"Hey, kid. How are you feeling?"

He sighed, "Like I've been run over by a train."

"Yeah, the Karofsky-Azimio express," Finn interjected bitterly.

Kurt raised his brow, slightly impressed with his soon to be step-brother's rather witty comment. "What happened?"

"Those goons beat the hell out of you for no good reason!"

Carole touched her son's arm to calm him down, "Honey, Kurt's had enough stress, let's try to not yell." Finn nodded at his mother, but still appeared to be incredibly angry. Carole turned to her soon to be husband, "Burt, honey, do you know what happened? I hope those boys were expelled."

Burt nodded, "Yes, that Azimio kid was expelled. Karofsky was given a week's suspension…"

He was interrupted by a simultaneous, "What?" from Carole and Finn.

He raised his hand to halt them, "From what we understand, Karofsky didn't actually attack Kurt in that confrontation."

"Bullshit!"

"Finn!"

Finn looked chagrined, "Sorry, Mom. But I'm serious, he has it out for Kurt, there's no way he didn't do this!"

Burt sighed, "He said that he started the fight, and he did kick your friend Sam, but he never once hit or kicked Kurt," He looked to his son and asked gently, "Is that true? Because if he lied, I don't care, I'll make sure he gets what's coming to him."

Kurt's memory was a little fuzzy, he remembers the threat, the again almost kiss, the accusation and then it was all a blur of punches, kicks, and pain. But if he thinks about it, the few times he had looked up, Karofsky had just stood there, not stopping his friend, but not helping him. Actually, he remembers that Karofsky eventually pulled Azimio back before he was surrounded by Finn and Mr. Shuester. He slowly nodded, "Yeah, Dad. It's true. Karofsky didn't really do anything, he just watched. Like everyone else…" He added bitterly.

Burt nodded, "Then yeah, that kid is going to have enough punishment as it is."

Carole looked at him bemusedly, "How do you figure, honey? One week's suspension still doesn't seem like a suitable punishment."

Burt sat down, "Well, I don't really think it's my place to talk about it, but if what that kid said was true, it won't come as a shock to you, Kurt."

Kurt looked curiously at his father, "What are you talking about, Dad?"

"I was in the principal's office when Karofsky and his father were there. The kid admitted that he had told Azimio that you had hit on him, and caused the fight, but he had actually hit on you."

All three of the listeners gasped. Kurt asked, "He just came out and said it? What happened?"

Burt shook his head as he recollected the older Karofsky's absurd reaction, "Yeah, poor kid, his father said some things, told his boy to never come home."

Kurt felt another pang of sympathy for his tormentor, it slowly transitioned into an overwhelming swelling of his heart for his own father, and an appreciation of just how damn lucky he was. "So, where did he go?"

Burt shrugged, "Don't really know. I left after they decided the punishment."

Kurt frowned. He wasn't used to having sympathy for someone who had been consistently making his life a living hell for as long as he had been in high school. Don't get him wrong, he wasn't so altruistic that he'd forgive this bully just because he so happened to be a conflicted, closeted homosexual, who had just been kicked out of his home by his father, but he could still feel sorry for the guy. He decided he wanted and needed a change of subject; he turned to Finn, "How's Sam doing?"

Finn laughed, "Oh, man, that guy, he gets the crap beat out of him, and when he wakes up, the first thing he asks is if there's bruises on his abs! But, yeah, he's fine. He has a sprained ankle, and some bruises and cuts and stuff, but other than that, he's fine."

Kurt smiled and as his new family all were discussing Sam's abs, he found his thoughts trailing back to Karofsky. He couldn't understand why he felt that he needed to know if the jock was alright, because he certainly had no intention on forgiving him, but he just couldn't fathom having to go through what he's going through, literally alone. David Karofsky was going to need a friend, an ally, and goddamn himself, he knew he was going to be the one to offer that.

Will Shuester pulled up alongside of the curb in front of the Karofsky residence. He inhaled deeply to prepare himself for, well, what? He didn't really know. He hadn't really planned on what he was going to say, he had just hoped that the boy's parents would listen to what he had to say. He exited his car and approached the front door of a house that could have rivaled the Brady Bunch's. He rang the doorbell and waited, feeling a little anxious as he heard the footsteps of someone approaching the door.

A woman, who didn't appear to be much older than Will, dressed in a very classic black and white polka dotted dress, opened the door. She smiled softly, "Can I help you?"

Will smiled back, "My name is Will Shuester, I'm one of the teachers at McKinley high school."

She frowned at that revelation and sighed sadly, "Is this about David?"

Will nodded, "Yes, Mrs. Karofsky. I was hoping I could talk to you and your husband?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Shuester. My husband is at work and I'm afraid he's quite adamant about his stance in regards to David." She started to close the door when Will halted her.

"He's your son…"

Mrs. Karofsky looked as though she was about to cry, and replied in a very monotone and obviously trained manner, "I'm afraid he isn't. Not any longer."

Will sighed, "Then please, at least let me come in and get some of his things."

She stared at him for a few moments and acquiesced, "Okay, but you have to be very quick."

Dave woke up with a start. He had been dreaming about running through a never ending forest, towards or from something, he wasn't really sure, all he knew was it was a terrifying place. He shook his head and looked around. He suddenly remembered where he was and sighed. It hadn't been part of his terrible dream. He hadn't dreamt that he was suddenly an orphan. A fucking gay orphan. He pulled the blanket off of himself and stood up.

"Mr. Shuester?" He glanced around the still apartment. The lack of a reply made him feel uneasy. He walked towards the kitchen and called the teacher's name again. No answer, but he noticed the note that had been left on the dining table.

'David, I've gone out to run a couple of errands, help yourself to anything in the kitchen, my cell number is 555-5309, call if you need anything at all. – Mr. Shue'

The last thing Dave wanted was food, so he decided to have a better look around the apartment. He noticed the hallway that, assumedly, led to bedrooms and a bathroom-had several framed pictures hanging on it. Some were of Mr. Shuester when he had been younger with a group of kids. He wondered if they had all been in the glee club together. His breath then hitched when he saw one section of the wall completely dedicated to McKinley's current glee club. There was a great shot of them in black and gold costumes, all in some sort of pose. He wasn't sure if it was done on purpose, or at the end of a performance, but instantly his eyes were drawn to the smaller boy standing on the left side. His smile beamed from the picture and made the still have more life than he had ever seen in a photograph. He traced his fingers over the face of picture Kurt Hummel and sighed sadly. If only he could do that in reality. If only he could be the cause of such an amazing smile. He removed the photo off of its hook and walked back into the living room. He wasn't sure how long he sat there, just staring and gently touching the picture, but when he heard the lock on the front door click open, he quickly hid the picture inside of his letter jacket.

He looked towards the door and saw Mr. Shuester struggling with a couple of large boxes and a couple duffel bags slung over each shoulder. Dave instantly rushed to the teacher's aide and grabbed the boxes from him.

"Thanks," Mr. Shuester chuckled. "Guess I'm not as strong as I used to be…"

Dave smiled half heartedly. He noticed that the duffel bags had the McKinley logo on them. His brow furrowed in slight confusion, "What's all this stuff?"

Will placed the duffel bags on the ground near the couch, "It's some of your clothes, school books, and some other things I thought you'd might want to have."

Dave's throat went dry, "How'd you get all of this stuff?"

Will froze. He didn't want to lie to the boy, but he had already been through so much emotional trauma for his lifetime, he didn't want to add anymore pain. His father brushing him off entirely was one thing, but finding out your mother is completely on board with such a callous decision? No one deserved to be hit with that sort of information, at least, not all in the same day. "Sue called and said this stuff had been dropped off at the school for you, so I picked it up."

Dave sighed sadly, "Oh."

Will decided to change the subject, "So, I was thinking Chinese for dinner, I picked up your assignments for the day, might as well keep up with your school work, but I would understand if you would want a break tonight. We could watch a movie or something?"

Dave looked at the teacher in absolute awe; he couldn't stop the question from coming out, "Why are you being so nice to me, Mr. Shue? I've done nothing but torture your glee club, I'm not a nice person."

Will sighed and approached the younger man. He sat at the table and pointed to the chair next to him, silently requesting Dave sit down. After he took his seat, Will started answering the boy's question, "Look, I will never condone your actions. Bullying is terrible and inexcusable. I won't say you're an angel, David, but I'm not going to say you're a bad person. You're young, scared, confused, but your actions don't define who you are as a human being. Who you are is determined by the way your actions mold you. If you got more violent, aggressive, and turned into a monster that would inevitably end up in prison, it would be in direct relation to the decisions you make now. If you use the mistakes you've made to make the right decisions for you, you will head in the direction you want to go. It's not too late, and you're going to have a week away from all of the outside influences that may cloud your judgment. I hope you really spend this week thinking about how you want to be, who you want to be, and what you want. And I'll gladly listen if you want."

Dave nodded mutely. It was going to be a long week.

Kurt was slightly annoyed that morning as he made his way to his locker. He'd almost wished he had agreed to stay home for the rest of the week like his father had wanted, but he absolutely refused to miss any classes and have to make up for it later. Not to mention, his injuries were nowhere near as bad as they could have been, he had several dark bruises and a cracked rib, but he was actually damn lucky. Luckier than some young kids who find themselves on the other end of a gay bashing. He also refused to permit anyone thinking less of him, or thinking him weak. He grabbed the book he needed for French and started heading towards the class. He walked passed Mr. Shue's Spanish classroom and noticed Ms. Holiday inside writing something on the white board, the only words he understood were 'Jersey Shore'.

"Ms. Holiday?"

The energetic blonde whipped around, "Kurt, oh, I'm so glad you're okay!"

He smiled, "Thanks, are you subbing for Mr. Shue again?"

She nodded happily, "Yes, he'll be out for the rest of the week, so you'll get me for glee club again as well!"

Kurt couldn't help but grin, he felt just as excited about that as Ms. Holiday appeared to be. But curiosity got the better of him and he pressed for more information, "That's wonderful, but is Mr. Shuester okay? I mean, he isn't sick again, is he?"

"Oh, no, not at all! A kid got suspended for a week and kicked out of his house, so Mr. Shuester took him in, and so he has to stay home with the kid, which is a drag, but I'm guessing it's to make sure the kid doesn't hock his stuff or something."

Kurt quirked his brow. That was interesting; the kid had to have been Karofsky. How many other students were suspended for a week yesterday AND kicked out of their house? Kurt thanked Ms. Holiday and promised to see her after classes in glee. At least he knew that Karofsky was somewhere safe. He wasn't going to even begin to contemplate why that relieved him so much.

Kurt had his arm linked with Mercedes on their way to the cafeteria when he noticed Finn off in a corner, whispering something to Jacob. His blood ran cold, "Mercedes, I'll meet you inside, okay?"

She nodded and once she had disappeared, Kurt approached the pair. Jacob was grinning like a child who had found all of his Christmas presents hiding in the closet. Or, well, Chanukah presents. Just as Kurt reached them, he heard Jacob thank Finn before scurrying off. He folded his arms and stared at his soon to be step-brother, "What was that all about?"

Finn smirked, "Just some well overdue payback."

The smaller boy frowned, "What are you talking about?"

"Don't worry about it." Finn attempted to walk off when Kurt grabbed the sleeve of his jacket.

"Finn, what did you do? What did you tell Jacob?" His tone was serious and very concerned. He had a dreadful feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"I just gave him a little inside information on the sexuality of the school's favorite bully." Finn shrugged, "What's the big deal? After everything he's done, it's the least he deserves."

Kurt felt sick. He released his grip on Finn's jacket and smacked the boy upside his head.

"Oww! What the hell'd you do that for?" Finn rubbed the spot where he'd been smacked and glared at the smaller boy.

Kurt huffed in aggravation, "Well, for one, stooping to a bully's level!"

Finn looked a little shamed at that.

"And second, for outing someone! That's terrible! That is one of the most difficult and painful decisions a gay person has to come to terms with. Accepting it and then finding the courage to tell the people you know, people you care about. It's a decision that should be made when you're completely ready, not spread around as dirty gossip in an attempt at ruining one's reputation!"

Finn looked a little dumbfounded and merely replied, "Oh." He looked at Kurt and attempted an innocent smile, "My bad?"

Kurt rolled his eyes, "Yes, you're bad. You're very bad. That was an awful thing to do. Remember how you felt when the whole school found out about Quinn's pregnancy from Jacob's trashy blog? Well, imagine that feeling and multiply it by a thousand, and maybe then you'll get a semblance of an idea of how it would feel to be outed to your entire high school."

"Maybe I could go talk to Jacob and convince him to not write it?" Finn looked to the smaller boy with a very hopeful expression.

"You could try, but I doubt it. You'll be lucky to convince him to not write that the reason he knows this tidbit is because his source is Finn Hudson, and the reason Finn Hudson knows is because it was from firsthand experience."

It took a second to register just exactly what Kurt had implied. Finn's eyes widened with fear, "Shit, you think he'd do that?"

"I think Jacob would throw his own mother under a bus if it got him a few more readers."

"Shit." Finn ran off in the direction Jacob had disappeared.

Kurt stood there for a moment and rubbed his temples with both of his hands. Finn's heart had been in the right place, but sometimes the jock just did not think. He sighed in frustration. Through all of the humiliation he had been through, he could not even imagine how he would have felt had he not been the one to tell his friends, family, and school peers that he was gay. Karofsky wasn't even as comfortable with himself or in his own skin the way Kurt was. It was these sorts of situations that brought young gay teens to thoughts and even suicidal actions. Shit. He knew what he had to do. Goddamn his altruism.

Dave had just gotten out of the shower when he heard the persistent banging on Mr. Shuester's front door. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist as he rushed out of the bathroom to the door. He assumed that the teacher had forgotten his key or something and thus didn't even think twice about opening the door in his current state of undress. His jaw dropped when his eyes rested on the last person he would have ever expected to have been on the other side. Kurt fucking Hummel.

Kurt wasn't expecting Karofsky to be the one to open the door, let alone glistening and dripping, evidence of a fresh shower, and clad only in a white bath towel. His mouth went dry. His comment about the jock's physique being chubby had been entirely incorrect. Burly, bulky, built, a number of alliterative terms popped into his mind, and none of them even remotely resembled the adjective 'chubby'. He cleared his throat, "Can I come in?"

Dave shook his head in confusion, "What are you doing here? Are you here to see Mr. Shuester?"

"Umm, actually, I came to talk to you."

"How did you know I was here?"

Kurt shrugged noncommittally, "My dad told me what happened at school and Ms. Holiday let it slip that Mr. Shuester took in a student, I merely put two and two together."

Dave widened the door and stammered slightly, "Ye… Yeah, come in. I… I'm going to ummm… I'm going to get dressed, I'll be right back."

Kurt nodded and walked towards the couch to sit down. He only waited for a few minutes before Karofsky returned, wearing jeans and a plain t-shirt. The jock moved to sit next to Kurt on the couch. The pair sat there in awkward silence for a few minutes before they both happened to speak at the same time,

"Like I said, I came to…"

"I'm so sorry, Kurt…"

They both chuckled, a hint of nervousness in both of their tones. Dave shook his head, "You were going to say?"

Kurt gave a small smile, "I was saying, I came to talk to you. I know you're going through a lot right now, and I don't want to get you upset, or anymore upset than you already are, but I thought it was only right to tell you what you may have to expect when you come back on Monday. I couldn't imagine having to deal with that, or any of what you're dealing with and…" Kurt couldn't stop himself from rambling, he knew he was avoiding the point, but he thought maybe if he prolonged the revelation, it wouldn't seem as bad.

Dave looked at the blabbering smaller boy dazedly, trying to process the jumble of words that seemed to be pouring out of his mouth. He decided to just enjoy the rambling, this was the most civilized conversation they had ever had, and he kind of found himself enjoying it. He realized he should have paid a little more attention, because Kurt had finished talking, and all he had managed to catch was the last word, 'outed'. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I said, Jacob may or may not out you and what happened to the entire school. Finn was really upset about what happened and thought that would be the best means of revenge."

Dave nodded and shrugged, "It's not like I don't deserve it."

Kurt was taken aback. That had been the very last reaction he was expecting. He looked at the jock's face, which now appeared to be filled with a mellow sadness. "No one deserves to be outed."

Dave scoffed, "Are you kidding me with this, Kurt? I harass you, I bully you, I do all of these terrible things to you for the past couple years, try to make your life as miserable as I could, threaten your life if you reveal my secret, stand by and do nothing while someone beats the shit out of you, and you come here to warn me that everyone at school is going to find out I… I'm… Uh…"

"Gay?" Kurt offers.

"Whatever, I don't get you. Why? Why would you try to warn me? After everything I've put you through? Tell me." The last part had sounded more like a plea than a command.

Kurt shrugged, "I don't really know, to be honest. I mean, I haven't forgiven you for the hell you put me through, nor do I intend to, but I think I kind of understand where you're coming from. A dark place filled with fear and confusion. No one should have to go through that alone, no matter how much of an asshole he is or was. And at the end of the day, you were the ONLY person in that hallway that put a stop to Azimio, well, I mean, Sam did try, but fat lotta good that did me."

Dave chuckled.

Kurt smiled, "See? I think there could potential, you have potential to be the kind of person you want to be. You just need to stop hurting people, bullying, and stealing first kisses."

Dave lifted his gaze to meet Kurt's, the smaller boy was still smiling, but there was a sadness in his eyes. Dave's gut twisted with guilt. "I'm sorry."

Kurt waved his hand dismissively, "It's in the past now…"

"No, it's not okay. Kurt, I am really, truly, sorry. I'm sorry for every slushie, for every dumpster toss and locker slam. I'm sorry for making you feel scared or, I don't know. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for ruining your first kiss. I know you won't forgive me, but I am sorry."

Kurt gently grasped Dave's hand in his own. "You don't need forgiveness right now, Dave," Kurt marveled at how strange it felt to say the jock's first name, "What you need is to know you are not alone, okay? That you have people to talk to, that you have someone who will listen if you have need of it. That, with time, you could have a true friend who will be there for you."

Dave shook his head in amazement, "I don't deserve that, I…"

"Okay, stop with that, no more self-hatred. You've had enough of that for two lifetimes, time to start moving on!"

"But I deserve all of the pain in…"

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Kurt sighed in exasperation; he leaned forward and shut the older boy up with a gentle press of his lips. He let his lips linger for a little longer than he had planned, but he had no intention on deepening the kiss. He pulled back and let out a quick laugh at the dumbfounded expression on Dave's face. Kurt pulled a piece of paper and a pen from his satchel and started to quickly scribble, "No more self-hatred. I'm giving you my number and the number for the Trevor Project."

Dave quirked his brow, "Huh?"

"The Trevor Project is a non-profit organization to help prevent and bring awareness of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youth who are feeling suicidal."

"I'd never…"

Kurt gently smacked the jock's hand, "I didn't say you were, but their hotline is 24 hours, and there's always someone on the other end who will gladly listen to anything you have to say. Even if you're just feeling lonely and want someone who can understand where you're coming from."

Dave looked at the smaller boy, nodding at the subtle hint, "So, the likelihood of you staying here to make out with me is not very high?"

Kurt laughed, not a malicious or mocking laugh, but an amused and endeared laugh. "Dave, what you need, more than anything right now, is a friend, maybe a few. You need to break out of your comfort zones and try to find yourself. What I'm offering is better than a make-out session. You probably don't even have actual feelings for me; it's more likely that you were fixated on me because you actually KNEW I was gay. You just need to work on being you, before you could even begin to get ready for being in a couple."

Dave nodded, he wanted to argue, protest, kiss the smaller boy again, but he knew it would be moot.

Kurt squeezed his hand again and moved to stand, "Okay, well, I'm glad we talked. I'm going to go home, I'm still exhausted from yesterday."

Dave winced, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Well, no, be sorry, just stop saying it. I know you are." He smiled at Dave as the jock followed his actions and walked him to the door.

Dave opened the door for Kurt, but halted him before he walked out by gently grasping his arm, "Can I ask you something?"

Kurt turned to look at him, "Sure?"

Dave bit his lip in a nervous little action before asking, "If… If I hadn't been an asshole. If I had just been Dave, random hockey player, who happened to be gay and into you, do you, well, do you think we could have had a shot? Like, a real shot?"

Kurt looked up at the taller boy, keeping his eyes locked with Dave's, "I… I honestly don't know."

Dave nodded and looked away, "Okay. Well, drive safe."

Kurt lifted his hand to tilt Dave's face up, to look into his eyes again, "Just because I don't have the answer, doesn't mean the real answer isn't the one you want."

They exchanged smiles and Dave watched as Kurt walked out of the main building hallway before he closed the door. Kurt approached his car and as he got in and started the engine, he stared at the direction he just came from. He smiled to himself, he was pretty sure he had just forgiven David Karofsky.

Author's Notes: First off, I have not read or written fanfiction in almost three years, and then the infamous S2E6 happened and I have once again dedicated my brain to fandom. The title is based on my favorite Queen song, the spelling is NOT an error. I read a pseudo spoiler for the upcoming "Furt" episode and this is what happened. I hope you enjoy the story.