The Laws of Thermodynamics - Chapter Four
Jun. 29th, 2012 12:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sunmontueRating: G (will be NC17)
Word count: ~1,500 words
Warnings: None.
Summary: AU Glee. Dave is a nerd, and Kurt is a Cheerio. Kurt needs a tutor to pull his GPA up. Cliche but fun.
Author's note: Just a reminder that this is solely from Dave’s POV.
CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE
He has an awesome weekend. He manages to convince Sam and Blaine to throw a Frisbee around the front lawn of Blaine’s house. Lucy and Mercedes watch, yelling at them to put their shirts back on because of the blindingly white skin they’re all sporting. They ignore them, although Sam looks a bit self-conscious. He just starts aiming Frisbees at them on purpose to get them annoyed enough to retaliate. Az turns up after his training session and they end up lazing about for a few hours before Lucy insists they study. He’s the only one that doesn’t let out a moan of complaint. He likes studying, figuring out the answers to things and the satisfying feeling of doing his schoolwork well. On Sunday he does the yard work for his parents, not something he enjoys, but it keeps his parents off his back long enough so he can play World of Warcraft for a good solid chunk of the afternoon without them harping on about getting outside and enjoying the fine weather.
Monday at school is a repeat of Friday, Blaine and Sam both go untouched, which has the opposite effect. Instead of calming Blaine down it’s made him jittery and nervous, expecting an attack from around every corner and he’s half tempted to empty a slushy on his head just to calm him down. He passes Hummel in the hallway a couple of times, and he’s met with either a cold stare or a slightly annoyed frown. Overall feigned indifference, which is more than fine with him. When he pulls up outside Hummel’s house for the Monday session he lets out a sigh and psyches himself up. He doesn’t know if Hummel’s going to be verbally combative again, but he hopes not, because it makes the whole experience so much more exhausting than it needs to be. It’s not his fault Hummel needs his help.
He knocks on the door and when Hummel opens it he does a little double-take. He figured the guy must own clothes other than his Cheerios uniform, but seeing him in skinny jeans and a t-shirt tight enough to be painted on reminds him again that Hummel is hot. Now, if he had a personality to match he knows he’d be a goner, but fortunately Hummel opens his mouth and brings him plummeting back to reality.
“Let another torture session begin…”
He holds back a sigh and smiles tightly, stepping inside when Hummel begrudgingly steps to the side. He heads for the dining room table, the same place they studied last time and there are no books out and he frowns.
“Are we studying or not?”
“I thought we could study in my room.”
“Uh, I’d rather not,” he replies, wondering what Burt Hummel would think of that.
“I’m not going to attack you or anything.”
“What?” Dave asks, confused, because while Hummel might be almost as tall as him, and all lean muscle, Dave is still taller and bigger. Plus he’s used to wrestling with Az so the idea of Hummel trying anything is laughable.
“Nothing,” Hummel snaps, looking angry like he’s somehow committed an unforgivable sin and he snaps back.
“Look, it’s not my fault you need a tutor. If you could drop the attitude I’m pretty sure it would actually help with you learning something. Anything.”
He can see the muscles in Hummel’s jaw clench, then his shoulders sag and he lets out a long breath, almost a sigh.
“You’re right. Sorry. I’ll just go and get my books.”
He settles himself down at the table and wonders how long this subdued act will last. He was serious though, the attitude he has isn’t doing him any favors, and he’s never tried tutoring someone who seems not only unwilling, but annoyed that they need help. Years ago, when he first started helping Lucy, she was like a sponge, asking questions he didn’t know the answer to, and it’s a study method they’ve used successfully for years. They feed of each other, and he gets why people always mistake them for a couple.
Hummel comes back, satchel bag slung over his shoulder and he pulls his books out, sorting them into subject areas like a small wall between them. Last Friday they’d sat side by side, which is really the only way when you’re reading from a book, or writing something that the other person needs to read. He rolls his eyes and moves to the other side of the table, scooting his chair closer so he can reach the books and his own bag.
“I’m not going to attack you either,” Dave states, pulling Hummel’s homework toward him. Hummel mutters something under his breath, which sounds like ‘I wish’ but he knows he can’t have heard all of it. More like he’s wishing Dave didn’t have to be there at all. He scans over the homework, and it’s nearly all wrong, which is what he’d expect considering they need to start from the basics. He’s brought his old text books with him, the ones from previous years, and he hopes they can prove useful.
He starts of really small, hoping he’s not insulting Hummel’s intelligence, but when he asks for clarification on a point he knows he’s got the level exactly right. He goes slow, gets him to work on a couple of equations after working through a couple of examples and grins as he watches, because it’s instant gratification, seeing him pick it up so quickly. He suspects Hummel simply doesn’t pay enough attention in class, or has neglected his homework so long, and fallen so far behind he had no way of getting out of the hole he found himself in.
The time passes surprisingly quickly, and he knows math and physics are going to have to be a part of every session, simply because of how far behind he is. He’s discovered Hummel seems to have an aptitude for biology, but a couple of areas have tripped him up. Same with chemistry. He notices that if the assignment involves doing something Hummel passes with no problems, and it seems that if Hummel can apply the information he’s learning then he also seems to grasp it really quickly. It’s the theoretical stuff which is proving problematic, but now that he’s narrowed it down he’s pretty sure he can come up with some scenarios which will help him apply the theory so that Hummel can get it.
“So I guess I’ll see you back here on Wednesday.”
Wednesday. He freezes in the midst of packing his bag and pulls a face. Game night. When he usually spends the afternoon setting up the table and game room, organizing character sheets and planning out some encounters. Ones they generally seem to avoid anyway, but he still spends a good chunk of time reading through the campaign. The others turn up at half-past five, after their respective after-school activities, they eat dinner and then play until nine thirty. Later if they can get away with it. It’s not like they’re out raising hell, so their parents are all pretty forgiving.
“What? Can you suddenly not make Wednesdays?”
“Uh… I didn’t even think about it. It’s fine. I’ll be here. Actually, just this week do you mind maybe coming to my place instead?”
Hummel looks surprised but shrugs.
“Sure. You’ll need to text me your address.”
“Yeah, of course. Thanks. I just need to move some furniture around and stuff. My friends come around every Wednesday, but not until after we’ll be done.”
“Okay. Well, I’ll see you on Wednesday then.”
Dave nods, slinging his bag over his shoulder, and he notes that Hummel seems to be prepared to completely ignore the fact that they’ll actually see each other in school tomorrow, but he’s more than happy with being ignored if it means they can have a sort of uneasy truce.
“Cool. See you Wednesday.”
CHAPTER FIVE
