The Laws of Thermodynamics - Chapter Eight

[sunmontue]

Title: The Laws of Thermodynamics

Pairing: Kurt Hummel/David Karofsky
Rating: G (will be NC17)
Word count: ~1,300 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: By this stage you should have read the first two chapters of “Spankies and Pompoms” – reading on my LJ is probably easiest because it has all the follow-on links in order they should be read.

Warning: This ends on what you might call a cliff hanger. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

CHAPTER ONE   CHAPTER TWO   CHAPTER THREE   CHAPTER FOUR    CHAPTER FIVE    CHAPTER SIX  
CHAPTER SEVEN  

SPANKIES AND POMPOMS:

PART ONE   PART TWO  

PART EIGHT

They fall into an easy routine, the repetition of the sessions, seeing each other on a regular basis, both in Hummel’s house, in his own, and at school, it all becomes familiar. He’ll always remember the first time he smiled back at Hummel, because Hummel’s smile in return had been so wide it had almost split his face. Lucy had jabbed him so sharply in the ribs he’d fully expected to see bruising the next day. So they’re friendly now, and he feels like a bit of an ass for being so difficult in the beginning, but then he reminds himself that Hummel didn’t really deserve for him to go easy on him.

Of course he kind of wants to tell Hummel he can call him Dave if he wants, because calling each other Karofsky and Hummel is getting ridiculous at this point. He has no idea how to broach it now, so he just avoids it, mainly because the one and only time he tried to say something the words stuck in his throat and he couldn’t say anything. So saying nothing and just trundling along with the status quo is what he seems to be stuck with, at least for now.

It’s been seven weeks, and Hummel has had a few small tests, all of which he’s passed easily, and he’s not held back on the praise. He’s pretty sure that they could drop down to two sessions a week, but Hummel seems reluctant to do that. He feels a bit bad about the unnecessary money that Mr Hummel is paying him when he’s pretty sure Kurt could survive now on less. Regardless he knows Kurt’s grades have improved, and Mr Hummel has taken him aside and thanked him for that, along with asking how the bullying situation is.

He knows Mr Hummel had said something, and he informs him that it’s much improved and gets a slow smile and wink, along with a strong pat to the back like he’s done a good job. He likes the feeling and . He starts thinking of him as Kurt in his head, and when Kurt asks, tentatively and with clear curiosity a week or so later if he can sit in on the game the following week he knows his long stretch of silence is taken as a negative, can see him start to stiffen up at what he thinks is rejection. He finds it quietly amusing that he’s starting to be able to read him so well.

“Are you sure? You really want to watch a game?”

“I admit to being curious. I’m a very curious person. I want to see how it works. Um. Is that okay?”

“Uh. Yeah. I don’t think you’ll find it very interesting but sure, you can hang out.”

The game of course turns into a bit of a cluster-fuck of epic proportions. Lucy and Mercedes keep wiggling their eyebrows at him suggestively, Blaine barely speaks up enough to voice his character’s actions, and Sam and Az try and explain to Kurt, in far too much detail, exactly how everything works. He can see it going over his head and the glazed expression on his face indicating he is fast losing interest.

“Come sit here, ignore those two clowns. They’re over complicating everything.”

He ignores the low snickers from the two girls and Blaine’s wide worshipful eyes as Kurt pulls his chair around to sit beside him. It’s almost like one of their tutoring sessions and he explains as simply as possible the sheer basics before making the group of characters make some skill checks. He explains the tasks of the different types of characters, special abilities and so on. He has to hold up his hand to stop Sam from interrupting numerous times, and he’s muttering under his breath at the end of it, which everyone else finds amusing except for Sam.

“A simplification. But adequate,” Sam mutters, eyeing the paint job on his miniature and Dave rolls his eyes in Kurt’s direction and shrugs slightly, as if to say ‘what can I do?’ and Kurt’s delighted grin makes him feel warm and squirmy and when Lucy giggles he has no qualms about kicking her under the table.

The game finishes and he’s amazed the Kurt has stayed for the entire thing, quietly watching and only asking the occasional question. He’s picked up and played with his numerous multi-sided dice, seemingly fascinated by the twenty-sided and four-sided, stacking them in little lines and towers along the edge of the table. His mom isn’t horrifically embarrassing, just bringing in hot chocolate and brownie for them, both of which Kurt had politely declined although had immediately looked like he regretted it when everyone else started eating.

He’d broken a piece of off his own and placed it on the table, inclining his head toward it so Kurt could take it, the action hidden behind the DM screens, but of course when Kurt had raised it to his lips to eat it Mercedes eyebrows had shot up, and she’s too far away for him to kick. He knows tomorrow he’ll be getting the third degree, and probably the forth and fifth if the girls have anything to say about it. He just hopes they can keep quiet until at least Kurt leaves tonight, but he wouldn’t put any money on it.

TLOT

Seeing Kurt unnerved is kind of endearing, although he imagines if he ever voiced that opinion out loud he’d end up with a verbal lashing. He never thought he would end up in the boy’s bathroom giving Kurt Hummel a pep talk before a major end-of-term test.

“Oh god, I think I am going to be sick.”

Well, at least they’re in the right place if he does throw up, but he decides to go for comforting rather than pragmatic.

“You’ll be fine. Look, just remember everything we’ve gone over…”

“Really? I thought you passed tests by forgetting everything! Sorry! I know that’s what I need to do, but what if I can’t. Oh god.”

“Look, just relax. It’s like that mini mock test I gave you last week. Doing three questions well is better than doing four questions half-assed. Have a quick read through. Focus on the things you know you can do well on, then some of the other stuff might come to you, when you’re not so wound up and stressed out.”

“Easy for you to say, you could ace this with your eyes closed.”

“Uh…”

“You get my point!”

“Look, you’ll be fine. I know you know this stuff.”

“Right. Okay. I can do this.”

He watches in quiet amusement as Kurt squares his shoulders and takes in deep bracing breaths, and he wonders if he is like this before big performances. Kurt takes a couple of steps toward the door and he calls out.

“Kurt!” Kurt turns, eyes wide with shock and he grins. “Good luck!”

His grin falters as Kurt turns completely and walks back toward him and then he’s being kissed, his face cupped in super-soft hands. Shock has him completely unresponsive, but he notices the soft warmth of lips, the rasp of slightly-stubbled skin against his chin, the smell of warm skin and whatever cologne Kurt wears fills his nose. He’s just about to kiss back when Kurt pulls away sharply, eyes wide and apologetic.

“Fuck. I’m sorry. So so sorry.”

He blinks, unable to say anything and the door to the bathroom swings shut as Kurt runs away. 

SPANKIES AND POMPOMS - PART 3