Turn Me Away

David Karofsky had been blessed with a keen intellect, even if he dulled it in public so that the others would accept him as one of their own. A sense of belonging was all he'd ever wanted, but something he'd never felt like he'd had. As he grew closer to matriculation, Dave gradually put more effort into his studies, slowly stepping outside the radius of his social and into his chosen profession. His old mentor, Dr. Beiste, had taken him under her wing, teaching him everything about chemistry and biology that he had not been able to learn in school.

Dr. Beiste had left for research in Germany, putting the laboratory in Dave's care. Although he could continue his current experiment—a cure for lethargy—without her guidance, Dave became slovenly in solitude, forgetting even to eat while he toiled away. Considering the laboratory's immense funding, it was ridiculous that he could let it fall to such a state, and after a few days of chiding himself he decided to hire a helping hand.

A few men and women around town had stepped in after seeing his sign in the window. When they learned that Dave considered the duties of a maid or valet to include assistance in the laboratory, though, they all declined, stating concern for their health.

He found himself working late in the laboratory one night, watching his test subjects (a family of pink-eyed rats) sleep of the after-effects of the serum, when a horrifying though struck him. His mentor was in her forties, single, and though not without friends, she had never had a true romantic relationship, no intimacy of the heart or body. At twenty-six, Dave had already placed himself on the same path. He'd pushed himself out of the building at once. As he walked home, he thought about his life, his choices, and his loneliness.

He thought about Kurt Hummel.

He had been cruel to Kurt when they were younger. Everyone had.

It was no secret, what they said about that boy in classrooms and in the park and in the alleyways between shops, watching him walk past delicately. The boy was a sexual deviant, nothing more, and everyone just watched and waited for him to slip.

Dave had watched, too. Watched when he first saw Kurt, when he first heard his sweet voice. Watched the others go after Kurt, and joined in, a part of the pack like some animal. Watched him fight quietly to finish school, when their classmates sneered and tried to trip him every day.

He wondered if Kurt had left the city, if he'd gone to Paris or Greece to find other men like him. The thought left Dave feeling sad and empty, like he'd lost something he'd never had.

The next day, he went to the park for a while and sat on a bench under the sun with his notebook. Its pages were full of hypotheses and data, so detailed, so fruitless. He turned to a blank leaf and smoothed his palm over the rough paper, wondering if he should give up on his lethargy cure and begin another query. 'A love potion', he thought as a grin slipped over his face.

But, what did he know about love?

Dave picked himself off the bench after a while, the page in his notebook still blank.

Another day, another formula. He scribbled down observations about the thick liquid he'd concocted—another stab at his cure for lethargy—as he eyed the rats wearily. A few had died last week. The little vermin procreated at an insane pace, but sometimes he wondered if they would be able to keep up with the bloodthirsty nature of science.

He selected one and placed it in a cage by itself. As he watched the rodent scurry around and paw at the bars, Dave heard the sound of someone rapping urgently at the front door.

The rat was spared, for now.

He removed his gloves and made his way towards the door. The rapping came again, impatient.

Outside his door stood Kurt Hummel, looking thin and pale and as pretty as he'd been on their last day as school mates. Dave had to look him up and down a few times, disbelieving his own eyes.

Kurt waved his fingers gently in front of Dave's face, and the tiny motion broke Dave's heart a little. He looked beaten down. He should have left the city a long time ago.

"Yes?" Dave asked, keeping his tone short and direct. He couldn't trust himself around Kurt, not without the other bullies from their childhood to keep him in line.

"I'm here to ask…about the valet job," Kurt replied, retracting back from Dave immediately.

Dave caught himself staring at Kurt. His voice was just as angelic as ever…and he felt sick for thinking that. Kurt looked terrified, but more than that, he looked desperate. Desperate enough to go to an old enemy for a job as a servant. If there was evil in Dave's soul—evil that compelled him to want to touch Kurt, to take pleasure from his appearance and voice and body the way he should have taken it from a woman's—then it was Dave's responsibility to find the strength to resist it.

He knew he should have turned Kurt away.

"Come in," he said gruffly, turning on his heel and beckoning for Kurt to follow.

Kurt was prompt and obedient. He seemed genuinely grateful to be employed, even if he failed to derive joy from Dave's company. Dave was pleasantly surprised to find that Kurt was not particularly squeamish about his laboratory duties, which included cleaning glassware, preparing solutions, and caring for the rats. The little rodents flourished under Kurt's care, and Dave caught Kurt petting them once in a while.

After the first one died that week, Kurt had demanded that Dave explain the serum to him and show Kurt all of his work. Although the boy understood nothing about science, he felt ill knowing that the creatures might face their doom at Dave's expense. It was refreshing to see Kurt's old self return, even if it was only for a moment, and only out of compassion for the lesser creatures.

Things seem to run a little more smoothly after that. Kurt cleared a space on the lab bench and would cut apples or cakes into pieces while Dave worked, or sometimes just watch him while sipping tea. As much as Dave appreciated the company, he couldn't hold back the desire that boiled inside of him whenever he felt the pressure of Kurt's gaze. The concerned look that the delicate boy wore so often was more effective than any love poem he'd read back in school, luring Dave towards him. He wondered if Kurt was so lonely in this city that he would consider Dave as a romantic option.

The thought woke Dave up at night, hot and sweaty in his bed despite the cool weather.

Their routine was for the best, though. They always stayed outside of each other's reach, or maybe Kurt was just too afraid of Dave to ever come close enough to touch him. Dave couldn't blame him. He'd been awful to Kurt in the past. It was only fair.

Although it was not officially part of Kurt's duty, he followed Dave home on occasion to cook for him and make sure that he was having his laundry taken to be washed. One night, after a roast dinner, Kurt served tea while he watched Dave work furiously in his notebook.

Kurt's voice cut through the calm, so quiet and gentle that Dave almost didn't hear him at first.

"Why don't you test it on yourself?"

Dave looked up from his notebook, baffled that Kurt would even ask such a question. He watched Kurt's face, trying to find a hint of humor, but his question was, it seemed, genuine.

"It's too risky," he answered at first. When Kurt raised an eyebrow, Dave continued with his explanation.

"The rats are, for the most part, expendable lower life forms. I don't feel incredibly guilty if one of them gets sick or dies from the serum. Because I don't know the effects of the serum until I test it, it would be irresponsible to test it on a person until I know that it works, and is non-lethal, in rats."

"So…" Kurt continued gently, lowering his eyes in a way that made Dave want to tip his chin up with a finger and kiss him, "…if it worked on the rats, would you test it on yourself?"

Before Dave could answer, Kurt leaned across the table and put his hand over Dave's, asking, "If it's something you've never tried…don't you want to know?"

Dave's breath caught in his throat. Kurt kept his eyes locked with Dave's, suddenly intense, and he saw for the first time the boy he'd known when he was younger. Kurt…Kurt was daring him…

They were not talking about rats anymore.

But he waited too long to respond, and the moment was over. Kurt pulled back his hand as if burned. He failed to meet Dave's eyes as he cleared away the tea service, and although Dave was certain that he'd spared himself a trip to hell that night, he felt like he'd taken something away from Kurt.

No, that was idiotic. It wasn't like Kurt wanted him. He must have mentally transferred his own desire (and as of late, frustration) onto Kurt. And if Kurt washed the dishes more vigorously that night, or slammed the front door as he left Dave's house, well, that was all part of the transference.

Kurt was colder to him the next day. He continued to keep his distance from Dave, and he took his free time sitting on a window ledge on the second story. Kurt kept a book perched on his lap, but if his eyes ever made it to the paper, Dave did not know. Kurt spent a lot of time staring off into the distance, like he was waiting for the Sun to crash its way into the town and obliterate him from the Earth once and for all.

'Gravity follows an inverse-square law', Dave found himself musing as he watched his rats after a trial. None of them had died this time. 'The further the distance between two objects, the weaker the strength of the attraction between them.'

But, what could he do to close that distance? Especially when Kurt's innocence—no, his dignity—would be put in peril if he chose to do so?

Dave was a man of science. He had been raised to believe in God, but there had never been a place for deities in his heart. If Heaven or Hell existed, he could only hope that the Creator would be logical enough to condemn men for crimes of violence, and not of love. As secure as Dave felt in his own lack of believe, he did not have the right to set Kurt on that path.

Dave flinched when the rats suddenly began to scurry around their little iron cage. The serum had worked.

Kurt silently watched Dave observe his specimens the following week. He longed to touch the other man, and to be touched, to find a way to end the loneliness he'd imposed on himself for his own protection. The other men in the city still used slurs against him in public, but the usage was infrequent. Most of them had forgotten about their younger days, or simply stopped caring, and gave Kurt a small nod when they saw him or stopped to ask him about his father.

If Dave felt anything for him, it was a mystery to Kurt. They'd grown closer since Dave had hired him, and though Dave had seemed hidden behind a wall of scientific nonsense and rationalism for the first week or so, Kurt had proved to be a fast learner, seeing through the chemicals and data and conclusions so he could understand why Dave would bother with his experiments in the first place.

It was curiosity.

Dave's face had lit up at first when he talked about the lethargy cure. He had been even brighter when he told Kurt tales of his time spent with his mentor, Dr. Beiste. The David Karofsky he'd known in school had been such a slouchy, foul-tempered beast that Kurt had felt like the man before him—intelligent, patient, inquisitive—had been an entirely new person.

He'd resolved to get to know him. Kurt had few friends in the city, and if he could find a true bond with Dave, then why not try? It had only taken a day for him to realize that the brilliant look that crossed Dave's face when he had an epiphany, or when an experiment worked, strayed back to his features whenever he looked in Kurt's direction.

Maybe, he could find more than a friend in Dave Karofsky.

But his offer had been rejected. It was possible that Dave had not understood him, but then, wasn't that for the best? What if those glances—no, those stares—had been his own lonely, overactive imagination? What if he was so desperate for partnership that he would see the ghost of it in a man who'd bullied him?

It was ridiculous. He was better off keeping to himself.

He didn't stop wanting, though.

"You want me to observe you?"

Dave's most recent formula had worked splendidly on the rats. It kept them up at all hours of the night, restless, aggressive. Dave had been ecstatic.

He buzzed around Kurt, rubbing his hands together. If he crossed into Kurt's personal space once or twice, he could always blame it on his excitement. "Yes! It's just like you said—it's time to try a human trial. And why not try it on myself? Granted, I don't know what's going to happen, Kurt…I could be sick, or maybe I won't feel anything!"

Dave beamed as he explained the process to Kurt. If the serum worked, Dr. Beiste would be so proud when she returned! He could be published!

His excitement bled into Kurt, spreading a smile across his face. If this was the only way he could be around Dave, then he would do his part to help. No need to put himself out of a job. Seeing Dave so motivated—the same Dave who'd forgotten to eat all day when he started working for him—was beautiful, and it broke his heart that helping Dave was the closest he would ever come to being able to love him. "I'll do my best," he promised.

If he placed a hand on Dave's shoulder, it was to acknowledge him, to try to make himself trustworthy, Kurt told himself. It had nothing to do with the giddy smile on Dave's face, the one he'd wanted to cover with a kiss for the last few weeks.

They decided, together, that Dave would try the serum at night. Why not use nature's own lethargy, sleep, as a baseline? After some squabbling about trying to run the experiment at the laboratory, Kurt had talked Dave into going home for the trial. It was where he slept anyway—why risk botching the experiment by manipulating variables that didn't need manipulation?

Dave had put the calculation of the proper dose into Kurt's care. Maybe it was to show Kurt that he trusted him. Or maybe Dave was too excited to want to piddle around with details. Either way, it was Kurt who calculated the dose (a direction proportion, given the rats' weights and the average size of their most effective dose), measured it using Dave's old weight set, and brought it to Dave's room that night.

Dave stared at the ceiling. He could feel Kurt's eyes on him, notebook at the ready, waiting to record any detail of merit. It had been almost an hour since he'd taken the dose, and if there was any change in his metabolism, heart rate, or blood pressure, he hadn't noticed it. Kurt would take and record a few of his vital signs soon.

Then maybe he'd take a few things from Kurt, too.

He was surprised by the sudden thought. It must have been the workings of a tired mind. He'd been working hard, harder than he realized, trying to get the serum to work. In all honesty, Kurt had put in an excellent effort too, taking such good care of Dave like a pretty little wife, and why hadn't Kurt's duties included keeping his bed warm, taking care of the problem that he caused Dave every night?

Wait. No, no that wasn't right, that wasn't Kurt's fault, he hadn't chosen to have a pretty face, flawless skin with just a hint of pink, just enough to look scandalized if Dave were to grab him by the shirt and force his mouth against the boy's—

No no no

It was such a crime that Kurt was fully clothed in one of Dave's armchairs, sitting there, waiting to judge him, to write something down. Who gave Kurt that right? Kurt should have been the one lying down on the bed, chest heaving, unsure of what was going to happen to him next.

Some sort of change must have shown in Dave, because moments later Kurt rushed over, dipping the bed and he tried to look at Dave. "Are you alright, Dave?" he asked with that seductively soft voice.

Dave looked up at him, at his wide eyes full of false innocence. Instead of replying to Kurt, he lifted a hand and stroked Kurt's hair, so soft that it nearly slipped through his fingers. His gorgeous, light eyes met Dave's in a question, a warning, but Dave had no intention of answering him. No, Dave was gone.

Mr. Karofsky had arrived.

Kurt's heart nearly went out when he felt Dave's fingers in his hair. He braced himself with one hand against the bed. The desire he saw in Dave's eyes wasn't desire at all, he told himself, just his own loneliness playing with his mind. He'd never shared a bed with another man before, or even a woman, and his proximity with Dave, while it seemed promising, would amount to nothing.

Dave had told him that he might exhibit strange behaviors as a side-effect of the serum. Well, Kurt would just go right on and enjoy the little bit of affection. No need to alert Dave to his wandering hand, or to read more into that look in his bright hazel eyes than was necessary.

"I hope you're feeling alright," he said nervously. A weak jab at conversation as he tried to take Dave's pulse. As soon as his fingers touched his neck, though, Dave just laughed before shoving Kurt back on the bed.

His back hit the mattress hard, and though it didn't hurt him, Kurt was far past feeling alarmed. "Dave?" he shouted back. Oh no! Had he given him too high of a dose? There had to be some explanation…that predatory look in his eyes didn't belong there, not while he was looking at Kurt like a lion stalking a gazelle…

"It's Karofsky," Dave growled, climbing on top of Kurt before he could remove himself from the bed, "and I've never felt better." He grabbed Kurt's hands, preventing him from trying to knock Dave off.

Kurt struggled under him. They'd seen aggression in the rats, but this…this was insanity! His face burned, a counter-point to his hammering heart as he tried to free himself. "Get off! You don't know what you're doing!" he cried out, embarrassed both for himself and also for his employer. If Dave realized what he was doing…no, there must have been something wrong, as much as he wanted attention from Dave, he knew he would never get it, and not like this!

When Dave took both of Kurt's wrists in one hand, he fought even harder, but to no avail. Dave's free hand grabbed a hold of his hair, holding him in place as he got a good look at his former victim.

"You remember this, don't you, Hummel?" he growled down at Kurt. The look of satisfaction on his face drove ice into Kurt's heart because yes, he did remember when Dave used to look at him like that, when he called him Hummel, back when it was Kurt against the stronger boys in class and oh god, oh no, what had they done?

But Dave wasn't finished. "Yeah, you remember," he said, letting Kurt's arms free. But the freedom was a lie, when Dave…no, Karofsky could restrain him with just a look.

"We chased you down…and the other boys made you take off your clothes…you know what I was thinking about, right, Hummel?" he asked, ripping Kurt's shirt off, pulling the tears of fabric away from his body. Kurt screamed out obscenities and tried to push him off again, but a gentle touch of Karofsky's finger to his chest made him tremble in fear.

"I think about it every night. Do you think about it every night, Hummel?"

"Get off of me! Dave, we need to get you to a doctor, something is wrong with you, I—"

CRACK

Kurt's head shot to the side, spun so quickly by Dave's palm to his face that he lost his breath. Tears welled up in his eyes and he shook uncontrollably as Dave pulled off the rest of his clothing, settling back down next to Kurt so that he could stroke his body.

"You look perfect like this…" he said, one large hand stroking down Kurt's chest and stomach to his cock. "Naked and fucking scared with that big red mark on your face…got to find a way to shut you up, don't I?"

He leaned in close.

"Until I can make you scream again."

Kurt cried quietly as Dave touched him. He deserved this…he even wanted it. As Dave stroked his body, whispered filth to him, shamed and terrified him, his cock hardened and started to leak against his stomach. This was a joke, a horrifying joke played on him by god or the cosmos or a deity with no name and a black stone for a heart.

He gave up on talking. He didn't want Dave to hit him again. He wanted to go to sleep and wake up to find the man he knew next to him.

When Dave started to kiss him, he tried to hold his breath, as if that would make this any less real. If he just didn't participate…

…but no, he'd wanted to kiss Dave for so long and now he had it.

He wrapped his arms around Dave's neck and whimpered as he returned the kiss. He sobbed a little when he was rewarded with a tongue licking against his lips, tears spilling out over the corners of his eyes as he returned the gesture. Dave draped his big, muscular body back over Kurt's and dragged his hands over Kurt's sweaty skin, spiking his passion higher and higher until he nodded, giving in, letting Dave take whatever he wanted.

He gasped when Dave's hand closed around his cock. He'd scarcely gone a night without thinking about this and now that he was here, Kurt couldn't help but think that this was fitting. He'd wanted Dave, hadn't he? So what if he could only have a cruel version of him? At least he wouldn't know loneliness any longer. He thought about putting more of the serum into Dave's food from now on…if it ever wore off, where would he be?

Kurt kissed him desperately, trying to take all the heat from his body so that he would never be cold again. And Dave was more than happy to give it.

A few minutes later, Dave dragged Kurt over the side of the bed and made him kneel on the floor. When Kurt looked up at him, Dave stripped off his own clothing and threw it onto the floor. He grabbed a fistful of Kurt's hair and shoved his face into his groin.

"Don't pretend you haven't thought about it," Dave spat at him. He glared down at Kurt, judgmental, and Kurt could only nod weakly as acknowledgement.

"I'm sorry," Kurt said softly. "I know…I was staring at you and…I know you're not…you don't…" he stammered, eyes darting between Dave's face and his big, angry cock. His own erection throbbed in response. Oh, the things he wanted to do with Dave's body…what he wanted to have done in return…

When Dave shoved his cock into Kurt's mouth, Kurt sputtered and gagged, scrabbling for a hold on Dave's hips as he began to thrust into his mouth.

"Don't be fucking shy," Dave ordered him, pulling Kurt down farther onto his dick. "This is your fantasy, you little slut. Suck it down nice and hard. Maybe if you do a good enough job, I'll come in your mouth and let you swallow."

Oh god, he was right, Kurt had wanted to do this so badly and now that he had it, he couldn't keep himself from pulling one hand away from Dave and wrapping it around his own cock. He jerked away desperately, nearly ready to come, wishing he'd just dropped to his knees for Dave on that first day-

Dave chuckled above him, then wrenched Kurt's hair so that the boy would look at him. "Gonna fuck you next," he growled as he kept thrusting forward. "Gonna fuck your ass and make a woman out of you."

Kurt's fear and arousal spiked instantly. He sped up the hand on his cock and closed his eyes, but the thought of Dave taking him like that—how could he face anyone, knowing that he was the deviant they'd all said he was—overloaded his already strung-out mind and he came, hard, whimpering and sobbing around the cock in his mouth. Instead of letting him go to catch his breath, Dave shoved Kurt's head down as far as he could get it and came into his mouth, sending a spray of hot ejaculate down his throat.

Kurt pulled off like lightning, choking and gagging as he coughed up a few drops of the fluid. The sight of Kurt recovering, still covered in his own come, kept Dave's cock from softening. The effects of the serum were still strong, and instead of feeling sated he felt unstoppable.

He dragged Kurt back onto the bed and pushed him onto the quilt, face-down. Kurt cried out at the rough treatment but did nothing to stop him. When Dave pressed his face into the quilt, settling behind him, Kurt spread his legs obediently.

With his arousal gone, Kurt became consumed by fear. What Dave was about to do to him was unnatural…he was no biologist but he knew that at the very least. He'd been told such since he was young, when people who knew what he was tried to warn him away from the path…and he'd listened, he'd tried…

He clamped his legs back together as soon as Dave's tongue touched his ass. He even tried to push him away when Dave came back to do it again, but Dave was so much stronger and in less than a minute, Dave had Kurt's legs bent wide open as he licked away at the little hole. Kurt sobbed again, crying, asking him to stop, pushing himself back and eventually reaching back to hold his ass open for Dave as he kept licking. His cock was hard again, leaking pitifully against the quilt, and Kurt realized that he would have begged for another chance to come.

"Thought about this too, huh?" Dave asked. His voice was rough and sent shivers down to Kurt's fingers and toes and the base of his spine. He nodded weakly, spreading his legs further for Dave.

"Just…don't hurt me again," Kurt pleaded. In response, Dave smacked the side of his ass and laughed when Kurt gasped. His cock throbbed and he whimpered pathetically.

His reaction did not go unnoticed by Dave. As he slid one finger into Kurt's ass, he slapped Kurt again, and again, and again, making him writhe on the bed as he slicked up Kurt with his saliva. The pain and humiliation subdued Kurt, who took the entire treatment without another request or plea. When Dave stroked past something inside him, Kurt nearly jumped, trying to escape as Dave hit that point again without mercy, laughing again when Kurt stopped trying to get away and pushed his hips back to fuck himself on the stronger man's fingers.

"I'm gonna be really nice," Dave growled at him, "and let you suck on my cock one more time. The wetter you get it," he said, sticking one finger from his free hand into Kurt's mouth, "the easier this is going to be for you."

Kurt was beyond words. He sucked on the finger greedily before coming back to his sense. He scampered off the bed and wrapped his lips around Dave's cock again, slicking it up as he whimpered to himself. He couldn't bear to look at Dave, so he kept his eyes clamped shut.

Dave leaned back and watched him lazily. Kurt's face was gorgeous, pink and white and wet with sweat. The boy was a treat, one he planned to enjoy at least once a day. Why had he never done this in school? Taken Kurt to an empty room? Hadn't he wanted to know?

He hefted Kurt back up onto the bed. Kurt followed his guidance obediently, burying his face in a pillow and raising his ass in the air. Dave took a moment to admire his wet, pulsing little hole before climbing on top of him and pushing in.

His preparation had been worth it. Kurt was tight but slick, slick enough for him to sink all the way in. Kurt cried softly underneath him, but Dave wasn't about to let him ruin this. He grabbed Kurt's dick and pumped it, earning a small gasp, and then a few pleasured moans from the boy.

"Pet your pretty little cock for me," Dave growled in his ear. "I wanna see how fast you can come with my dick in your ass, fucking you and ripping you apart like you always wanted."

His order set Kurt off again. The boy gulped down air as he touched himself, letting Dave take his hand back so he could grab Kurt's hips and pull out a little. He pushed back in, hard and fast, and Kurt let out a tiny scream. He repeated the motion, going longer, harder, faster each time, until he was ramming into Kurt with abandon.

Kurt didn't feel like he was being ripped apart—instead, he was on fire, burning where Dave held him still like a little rag doll, where he stroked his cock desperately, where tears fell down his face, and most of all where his body met Dave's. He could never face anyone again—they had all been right, he was depraved, less than human, just a fuck toy for a real man…he felt bitter.

What could he do after this? Dave saw no value in him…that was certain. And yet…he didn't want it to stop.

Kurt screamed and sobbed when he came again. Moments later, Dave wrapped his arms around his body and came inside of him, emptying into his body, using him the way he was meant to be used. Kurt collapsed onto the bed, all of his tears spent. Now that Dave was done with him, he was used-up, finished. An empty shell of an object trying to be a person.

Dave pulled out and flipped him over. Kurt instantly clung to him, pressing his face against his broad chest.

"Don't get rid of me," he pleaded. His voice had all but disappeared. He was left with the whisper of a dying man. "Just keep me here. Please. I don't want to be alone again. Don't get rid of me, don't get rid of…"

And if an answer was given, Kurt never heard it. His vision darkened, then filled with stars, and he passed out.

Kurt was still asleep.

Dave sat on the floor with his back to the wall. He'd pulled his robe over himself, but it did nothing to protect him from what he'd done to the beautiful, broken boy.

He didn't have the heart to wake him. Instead, he watched Kurt's chest rise and fall. Despite what had happened…what Dave had done to him, in his delirium…he looked perfect.

That was the real tragedy. He couldn't see the pain he'd caused, could even pretend he hadn't done anything. He'd lost control of his mind, he knew that, but he'd been aware the entire time. He wanted to crawl onto the bed and bed Kurt for forgiveness, to confess everything to him, that maybe the monster had been inside him the entire time…that he'd been so careful, so scared of exploring his curiosity with Kurt…

But what would Kurt think? What would he do? Would Kurt beg him again—to not get rid of him?

Through his indecision, Dave lost his chance to choose. Because while he stared at the bed sheets, trying to predict how each scenario would play out, Kurt had woken up.

Their eyes met in silence. Dave fought to keep his gaze even with Kurt's. If Kurt would judge him, then he would judge him. He would go to the courthouse and confess his crime. He would hang for it, and if the court would not take him, he would carry out the sentence himself.

It was Kurt who broke the quiet din.

"Please," he said, his voice cracking under the strain of his power—the power he wasn't aware he held over Dave, the power he'd always held, god, if he'd just chosen to used it!

"Please, David. Come back to bed."

The serum was a failure. They worked quietly in the lab the next morning, removing all traces from it, destroying Dave's records. Dr. Beiste would not be pleased.

But science was a cruel master. That much, Dave had learned.