Re: Hummel Tire & Lube

[Finn_Hudson]

"Breadstix is awesome!" Finn cheered. "I'm totally up for it." He wanted to meet this Blaine kid anyway. Since Kurt was his brother now, Finn took it as his job to make sure Kurt's new friends were treating him right. Plus, he never said no when food was involved. He hadn't been to Breadstix in a while, and they had awesome food! While Kurt texted Blaine in the back Finn pulled out of the parking lot and headed twoards the restraunt. "To Breadstix!"


aaaand we shall continue this there. :]

[Karofsky]

Dave Karofsky was pretty certain that he'd been stood up.

He cursed as he checked his watch one more time. It was after midnight. Hummel wasn't showing up. And it was Pissing. Dave. Off.

He should have known that Hummel would back out of their deal. The little diva probably figured that he could not show up and Dave would just forget about it. He probably figured he could go back and hide at that school of his and never face the consequences.

Dave let out a bellow of frustration as he punched the wall. Stupid Hummel.

Dave got into his car and headed for the interstate. He was almost there when he realized that more than likely Hummel wasn't going to be at that school that night. He was probably staying in town at least for the night, if not for the weekend. Besides, he needed time to plan. If he went up there while he was angry he'd only tip his hand far too soon and probably get thrown off campus before he even got close to Hummel.

He pulled his car over and parked for a few minutes. He slammed his hands against the steering wheel, hard enough that for a few moments he was afraid he'd broken it.

It wasn't broken, but it did give him an idea.

He drove back to Hummel Tire and Lube and parked in front of the garage door. Making sure that he was unobserved, he got out and he quickly let the air out of his front tire. Grabbing one of the overnight forms he filled it out, placed it and his car key into an envelope and sent it through the slot. He headed home on foot, gloating over his new plan.

Sure enough, he got a call in the morning from one of the garage guys. It wasn't Hummel or his dad, but some guy who worked for them. Dave grabbed his camera and headed to the garage to pick up his car and do a little recon.

Hummel was going to pay for breaking his silence, and breaking the deal. Hummel knew the price, and Dave was going to make sure he paid it.

[Burt Hummel]

Burt grit his teeth as he looked at the name on the job list: David Karofsky, the kid who had terrified Kurt into leaving McKinley only to continue harassing him there. He looked over at the car. The tire in question had already been fixed. It was probably a good thing someone else had done that job--Burt wasn't so sure that he wouldn't have accidentally done something while working under the Karofsky kid's car.

He looked at the job ticket again and frowned as he noticed Jason's notes. There hadn't been any tire damage; it seemed as though someone had just let the air out of the tire. That was odd. He couldn't help but wonder if maybe Kurt had something to do with that. He couldn't imagine Kurt going so far as to be destructive, but he wouldn't put annoying hassles like this one out of Kurt's realm. He probably should ask Kurt, just to be safe. He knew Kurt wouldn't purposely harm someone, but even a little prank like letting air out of a tire could lead to some pretty bad things.

Not, Burt figured, that Karofsky wouldn't deserve some pretty bad things happening to him.

After a few moments considering, Burt decided that he wanted a talk with Karofsky while Kurt wasn't there to stop him. He went over to the counter to drop off the work ticket and pick up Karofsky's keys. "Carl," he addressed the man at the counter. "When David Karofsky comes to pick up his car, have him come pick up his keys in my office. I want to have a talk with him about something."

[Karofsky]

Dave felt giddy as he made his way into Hummel's garage. It was like entering the lion's den. He smirked as he activated the video feature on his phone. It would only record a few minutes, but that was okay. He wasn't expecting anything major to happen here, he just wanted to get enough footage to show Hummel just how much breaking his word could cost.

Dave did his best to remain inconspicuous as he let his camera scan the layout of the garage. He made sure to catch a little bit of footage of the oil drums situated not all that far away from the garage's bay doors. He also couldn't resist aiming the camera at the locker area where he and Hummel had their little tryst. He could almost picture Hummel there now, looking as he had that night as he'd slid those tight pants down those pale smooth legs. Dave swallowed a moan as he remembered what it had felt like to have that lithe body pinned and wriggling beneath his--and thought about how soon he planned to continue where they'd left off.

Dave headed up to the counter, letting the camera continue to record even as he slipped the phone into his pocket. While there would be no image, he figured there would probably be sound.

When he gave his name to the guy at the counter, the man had pointed him toward Old Man Hummel's office. Dave quirked an eyebrow as he looked toward the office, his stomach knotting slightly. He didn't know why he was suddenly nervous. It wasn't like Hummel's dad would really do anything to him...would he? He'd seen the guy mad; hell, he'd been attacked by the man. He hadn't actually needed Hudson and Hummel to pull the guy off him. But what would it look like if he went off and punched some sick old guy? He hesitated before stepping into the office, putting his hands in his pockets as he looked at the man sitting behind the desk.

"They said you had my keys," he mumbled, his eyes not meeting Mr. Hummel's.

[Burt Hummel]

Burt looked up as Karofsky spoke.

He got up from behind the desk and moved around to pull the office door closed. He could tell the kid was a bit nervous and decided to encourage that by pulling the blinds. "Yeah, I do," he acknowledged Karofsky's mumbled words. "Have a seat." He motioned toward the row of empty chairs on the customer side of his desk.

[Karofsky]

Dave swallowed apprehensively as he dropped heavily into the indicated chair, slouching a bit. He shifted nervously in his seat as he waited for Mr. Hummel to tell him why he was being detained. "My car okay?" he finally asked, knowing full well that his car wasn't what Hummel wanted to talk to him about.

[Burt Hummel]

"Your car is just fine," Burt assured, clapping his hand down onto Karofsky's shoulder a lot harder than necessary. "Just fine," he repeated as he released the shoulder and moved around to face Dave, not sitting but leaning against the desk so that he could 'casually' tower over the young man. He stared down at the slouching kid, a little surprised by how truly young the boy actually was. Young, but still old enough to know better than to torment and harass a kid much smaller than himself. "I want to talk to you about something else," he stated the obvious. "I want to know what is going on between you and Kurt." He glared pointedly for a few moments. "And I want the truth."

[Karofsky]

Dave tensed as Hummel's hand came down on his shoulder. His eyes widened and for a moment he honestly thought that Burt was going to yank him up out of the chair and start wailing on him. But then the man moved away a little bit and Dave settled, though he was still anxious about where this was going. He almost smiled when he remembered the camera in his pocket that was hopefully still recording.

His attention snapped back to Burt when the man asked what was going on between him and Kurt. "Nothing," he answered quickly. Too quickly. His eyes shifted away from Burt. "Why?" he asked trying to sound casual even though his heart was racing a little bit. "What did he tell you?"

[Burt Hummel]

Burt wasn't fooled for a moment by Karofsky's denial. He wasn't sure why the boy even bothered to try covering it up since Burt had been there at Breadstix when Karofsky had clearly been harassing Kurt. He'd been there when Kurt admitted that Karofsky was still bothering him, even making prank calls up to the school. He was positive that Kurt hadn't told him everything. He was ashamed to admit that he hadn't actually sat down to finish that talk with Kurt yet like he'd intended. But Karofsky couldn't know that. He'd been there when Kurt said that he'd talk later.

"He told me everything," Burt informed Dave, his gaze turning harder. He didn't have to fake the anger that was boiling in his blood. In fact he had to try and cool it down. Maybe he'd get somewhere if Dave didn't feel quite so defensive. "Now I want to hear it from you just so I'm sure I'm not...misunderstanding nothing." He took off his hat long enough to scratch his head, then put it back on, faking a long-suffering sigh. "Kurt can be a little...melodramatic and overreactive sometimes," he admitted, trying to bait Karofsky. While it was true, he also knew that Kurt only acted like that about less important things. His boy would clam up tight at anything that was actually serious. "So you better not leave anything out because I want to get the real story."

[Karofsky]

Dave's mind began racing when Burt said that Kurt had blabbed everything. The anger in Burt's eyes was unmistakable, and Dave began trying to figure out how to get out of the office before Burt could kill him. But then Burt's tone had changed and he almost smiled as he heard the man talking about misunderstandings. Yes. That was exactly what he'd say. It was all a misunderstanding. He nodded his agreement as Burt gave him an even bigger out. "I admit I got carried away," he started out. "I should have just let things drop, but..." He swallowed nervously. He looked down, still trying to come up with a way to make Burt see things from his perspective. Or what he wanted Burt to believe his perspective was. "He hit on me," he said the words quietly. "And he was always...looking at me. In the shower and stuff after gym and football practice. So I had to make him stop. Especially after..." He shut his mouth, looking as though he'd said too much.

[Burt Hummel]

Burt felt his anger rising again as he listened to Karofsky. He wondered how making prank phone calls up to Dalton could possibly be justified as a way to make Kurt stop "hitting on" Karofsky. He didn't believe it for a moment. It made him sick as he nodded, as though in agreement. Maybe possibly it had started that way. From what he'd gathered from the whole Finn fiasco, Kurt didn't always realize how strong he came on sometimes. But even if that were the case, the need to get his point across would have ended when Kurt left McKinley. His eyes narrowed as Karofsky suddenly stopped talking. He forced himself to remain outwardly neutral. "After...?" he prompted. He tried to sound encouraging, even as he added, "Remember, I've heard Kurt's side of it already. I just want the truth now." Even though he knew he was lying, he felt like the worst father in the world selling out his son.

[Karofsky]

Dave couldn't look up at Mr. Hummel as he started talking.

"He...he tried to..." Dave fumbled for words, but he couldn't come up with a way that would make this sound believable, especially to Hummel's dad. "He threw himself at me. I didn't want it," he blurted out. He winced at how dumb that sounded. "I mean...nothing happened. I...I pushed him away. I might've pushed too hard and he fell. That's probably how he got the bruises. I didn't mean to hurt him. But I didn't want him touching me...like that. But he wouldn't stop, so I pushed him again...and I might've kind of hit him a few times. And I wasn't trying to choke him, I was just trying to hold him off, you know. I didn't realize at first that that's where my hand was, I was just trying to hold him off. It's not my fault that he wouldn't listen. I'm just not into fa...frea...guys. I just wanted to make him stop. I wanted to...scare him a little, so he'd leave me alone."

Yeah. That'd do it.

[Burt Hummel]

Burt felt as though he'd been socked in the gut when Karofsky started talking about Kurt throwing himself at him. He still didn't believe it for a moment. He knew Kurt, and when he liked someone, he could be quite open about it, sure, but...he was open about it. He didn't--and probably couldn't, the way he wore his heart on his sleeve--pretend not to like him around others. That wasn't like Kurt at all. But that Karofsky was talking like this, Burt had a horrible feeling in his gut. The feeling got worse as Karofsky started talking about hitting and choking. And touching "like that". Burt was quite sure he was about to be sick.

He stared at Karofsky, still sitting in the chair. He couldn't think. He wanted to kill this kid. But before that, all he really wanted to do was get to Kurt. He wanted to make sure his baby was okay. That this was the misunderstanding. It had to be wrong. Kurt would've told him if...

No. Kurt would never have told him. Or anyone else. He had far too much pride and hated being seen as weak or as a victim. And Kurt was always trying to make sure that nothing that would make Burt upset ever reached his ears. So he would have kept such an assault to himself.

Burt started at Karofsky, unable to contain his rage. "You had better hope that 'nothing happened'. Because if I find out that 'something' happened, I swear I will end you. Let's get something straight. Kurt does not like you. He changed schools to get away from you. He left home--left me--because you scare the hell out of him. That right there is reason enough for me to want to kill you. If not for me not wanting Kurt to be alone, with his old man in jail, I would." He did not falter on the words. He meant every one of them. "So this...thing. It's over. You will not call Kurt. You will not email him. Or...twit him. Or try to contact him in any other way. You see him coming, you better turn around and run because I swear if he tells me that he's seen you or heard you, I will come for you. And if I find out you have hurt him in any way I will kill you." He could actually feel the vein in his forehead throbbing and knew his blood pressure was way too high. How was he supposed to calm down about this sort of thing?

"Now get out. Before I change my mind and end you right now."

[Karofsky]

Dave stared at Burt, not quite believing that the man was actually threatening him. He should have known that Hummel's dad wouldn't believe him. Okay, so he was lying, but still! The man had pretended to take his side. He should have seen that coming a mile away. Stupid stupid stupid. And clearly Dave had just told him things that Kurt had not; it was obvious now that Burt had played him.

He rose to his feet, ready to bolt, but then remembered a couple things. The camera in his pocket was still recording.

"I knew you wouldn't believe me," he said quietly, trying not to smile as he played his part. "Not even my own dad believed me. Why should you? He's...like tiny. And I'm..." He sank down into the chair again. "I didn't want to hurt him. I just wanted him to stop," he repeated his story. "And then when he ripped his shirt and started saying that he was going to tell everyone that I..." He hung his head as though in shame. "Nobody would ever believe me if I told that story, now would they? Of course they'd believe him. It's not my fault that he's so much smaller than me and that he's got that pale skin that bruises easily. It's not my fault that he wouldn't take no for an answer. Why should you believe me when even my old man wouldn't?"

[Burt Hummel]

Burt gaped at Karofsky, not sure what to make of the whole thing. He still didn't believe for a moment that Kurt would...that Kurt could...but then with what Carole said about what Finn told her...No. Absolutely not.

He stared at Karofsky for a few moments, not believing him, but...knowing he was completely biased. The story just didn't make sense. But that was what made Burt actually falter a little bit. It was just so far out there that...no. Kurt was terrified of this boy. Not only that but he was far more into fairy tale romance than what this boy was suggesting. There was no way there was truth to this. But Burt knew he had to play his cards carefully now. If this boy decided to try this story on someone who wasn't Kurt's dad, it could do his son a lot of damage.

Burt ran his hand over his mouth before taking a deep breath. "Okay," he breathed out, forcing himself to sound calm again. He needed time to think, so he could figure out what to do to keep Karofsky from making more trouble for Kurt. "But it's all over now. I'll have a talk with Kurt and make sure he'll leave you alone, so it's time for you to leave him alone." Again he felt sick, feeling like he was selling his son out, but he knew it wasn't true. He just needed to be careful about this. He pulled Karofsky's keys from his pocket and handed them over. "No charge," he said, handing over the receipt that indicated that all they'd needed to do was fill it with air. He pushed the door open and stepped back, leaving the way out wide open to Karofsky.

[Karofsky]

Dave had to work not to smirk as he took the keys from Burt. He turned, keeping his head down as he walked away. Pausing for just a moment to wipe at his eyes as if he were wiping away tears. He wasn't sure Burt actually bought any of his story or not, but he'd certainly changed his attitude fast. Maybe he'd believed it. Or maybe he was just afraid that others would believe it. Karofsky didn't really care. Either way, he'd gotten the man under his thumb. He couldn't believe his luck. This recording was going to make Hummel regret standing him up. Hell, it was going to get Hummel exactly where Karofsky wanted him. Soon.

Dave slipped his hand into his pocket and turned off the camera as soon as he was in his car.

He didn't crack a smile until he was well away from the Hummel Garage.

[Burt Hummel]

Burt sank into his chair, feeling suddenly much older than he should. He scrubbed his hand over his mouth again, holding his breath as he tried to think.

He needed to talk to Kurt. Right away. If that...boy had hurt Kurt the way his story implied...Burt's chest hurt. Maybe Kurt had been right keeping this from him.

No. He was the parent here. It was his job to keep Kurt safe. And apparently he'd failed in his job. He needed to find out just how badly he'd failed, and start figuring out what he was going to do to make sure that nothing like this ever happened again.

"I'm taking off for a bit. Can you watch the shop?" he asked Carl on his way out.

"Everything okay?"

No. It really wasn't. But he nodded anyway. "Yeah. I just need to take care of some things at home."

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