AN: Okay, maybe a brief comment: this is what it seems many people would like to see out of Season Three. Most of my fellow Karofsky fans are told over and over again that because he was a bad person for part of Season Two, he should be dismissed as a bad person entirely.

This fic is not meant to be reality. This is my version of what it would be like if the characters in Glee behave the way the Karofsky-haters seem to think that they should.

Finn Hudson is more than aware that sometimes he's the only guy in the room who doesn't understand what's going on.

He doesn't mind it, really. He's not an idiot, he just doesn't catch on to some things as quick as most of his friends do. He goes wrong by taking people at face value – takes him a while to clue in to sarcasm, and when people say things with a straight face he tends to take them seriously.

People around him laugh a lot more often than he does.

But whatever. Being smart and sarcastic and, like, dry-witted or whatever...that's not the most important thing in the world. Finn is a happy guy. He's a senior, a quarterback, featured soloist for New Directions. He's On Again with Rachel, his mom pretty much walks around beaming nonstop these days.

Other people might think being dumb's the worst thing in the world, but Finn is smart enough to see that he's a lot happier than most of the people he knows.

Still, when something's happening around him that he doesn't quite understand, he's learned to just keep his mouth shut and watch for a while, see if it clears up on its own.

He's slow, but he catches up eventually.

When Dave Karofsky suddenly starts showing up at his place, he figures something's up. He doesn't ask, he waits, and Kurt tells Finn and their folks the night after Karofksy's first visit all about this club they're starting, like this gay rights thing or whatever. Finn doesn't get why Karofsky would be helping with that but he doesn't ask Kurt about it until after dinner, when he's thought about it but it still doesn't make sense.

Kurt gets that cagey look in his eyes, like he's not saying everything. "I asked him to help me," he says.

Finn frowns, because since when does Kurt ask Karofsky for anything?

"I made him promise," Kurt goes on in the face of Finn's confused look. "Last year, when he was trying to talk me into coming back to school."

Finn keeps frowning. "Okay, but why did he say yes? He really wanted you to come back that bad?"

Kurt hedges and moves around Finn towards the bathroom. "He wanted to be prom king, I guess. Does it matter?"

Finn doesn't answer in time and the bathroom door shuts.

Finn moves to his bedroom and thinks about it. Does it matter? Kinda feels like it should. If Karofsky asked Kurt to come back so he'd get elected, what does starting this club thing have to do with it? He was already prom king, right?

Kurt doesn't seem all that nervous about it, but he did that walk-away thing he does when he doesn't want to make eye contact, so Finn figures he'd probably better keep an eye on the two of them and wait for something in his head to click and make sense of it all.

He doesn't have any concrete worries – Karofsky still being a bully and somehow hurting Kurt is the worst thing he can suspect, but Kurt's not really a pushover like people think he is, and...from what Finn can tell...

Well. They don't act like that's what's going on.

Karofsky hangs around Kurt a lot, at school and everything, but it's like he's still on bullywhip duty. He walks Kurt to class a lot, but hangs back behind him and doesn't talk to him or anything. He keeps his eyes open, and the one time Finn sees Strando come towards Kurt with a slushy in his hand Dave darts out fast and comes at Strando, muttering angry words until Kurt's passed and Strando laughs at him and walks off.

Most of the time Kurt's hanging out with Blaine between classes, but Karofsky's usually around.

Finn wonders if it's some kind of, like, guilt thing. If Karofsky really did just magically change last year, he'd probably be feeling some guilt about the stuff he did when he was still a dick. And since he focused on Kurt back then it makes sense that he'd try to make it up to Kurt more than anyone else. It almost makes sense when Finn thinks about it that way.

But then Dave starts coming to rehearsals, or spending more time with Kurt at their house, and Finn has more to notice. And it stops making sense again.

This time it's Kurt that confuses Finn. Kurt...he really is a good guy. He's sweet or something, like girls are sweet. He smiles a lot and he's kind of a bitch? Maybe? But usually not in a bad way.

He's different with Karofsky.

Karofsky's watching out for him at school, anyone could see that. Finn even can see that. But Kurt either ignores him completely or gets kinda mad at him.

"God, you oaf!" he snaps once, when Karofsky pushes in too close trying to keep up with Kurt and Blaine through a crowded hall and ends up tromping on Kurt's shoe. "Can you watch where you're going?"

Karofsky steps back and doesn't say anything, and he kind of glares at Kurt's back when Kurt turns and grabs Blaine and strides away, but he follows Kurt all the same. Watching where he's going.

"Leave him alone!" Kurt barks out once when he and Finn come out of English and there's Karofsky talking to one of the new juniors, the little Irish kid. And the Irish kid looks surprised, and Finn is surprised because they're just standing there talking.

But Dave steps back like he got caught doing something wrong, and glances over at Kurt.

"Watch out for guys like him," Kurt says to the Irish kid. "They're like stray dogs. They'll turn on you fast."

The kid stares at him like he's crazy, but Dave hikes his backpack up on his shoulder and follows Kurt without a word when Kurt heads towards the choir room.

It's worse in glee rehearsal.

Nobody there likes Karofsky, and Karofsky knows it. Rachel even gets mad at Finn when he doesn't glare at Karofsky as hard as she wants him to.

"He's a monster," she says when Finn mentions something to her after one rehearsal. "He's a homophobe and a bully! There is simply no excuse for that." And her eyes narrow when he doesn't instantly agree. "Finn. We don't tolerate homophobia. Right?"

Finn nods at that, easy, because of course they don't. Finn's got an awesome gay stepbrother. And Rachel's dads are pretty cool – they even make sure not to kiss or get too weird when Finn's around, because he does kind of get uncomfortable. But only the same way he would if Quinn's folks were making out or something.

Finn isn't homophobic. He learned his lesson. He wasn't homophobic back when he used words like queer or fag, those were just the words everyone used. He didn't know better, but once he learned, he remembered.

Of course they don't tolerate homophobia. But Finn's been paying attention lately, and he doesn't really see homophobia or bullying. He just sees Karofsky sitting in the corner waiting for Kurt to get done so he can trail him to the parking lot. Doesn't seem like something that requires a lot of glaring.

But he doesn't know Karofsky all that well.

"You don't understand," Kurt says with a sigh when Finn asks him about it. (Apparently Karofsky wasn't looking the right way when some guy elbow-checked Kurt into a trophy case, and Dave didn't catch the guy in time, so Kurt spent like five minutes bitching at Karofsky about how useless he is and what's the point of his even being there, and on and on. And Finn walked in on that, so...he had to ask.)

"You don't know him," Kurt says, tugging Blaine's arm to pull him closer and looking over at him with that big-eyed look that says he's going for sympathy. "He's capable of worse things than you realize, Finn. Seriously."

Blaine nods with his brow wrinkled up in concern as he looks at Kurt.

Finn sighs and shrugs and lets it go, but when he passes Karofsky on his way into chemistry he finds himself watching the guy moving down the hall, wondering just what Karofsky's capable of.

Last year he would've gone to Mr. Schue, but by this time Finn's got something a little closer to an actual dad. So he stops by the garage one Saturday when he knows Kurt's got a whole mall-manicure-girly-whatever planned, and he nods at Burt and hangs back and watches him work for a while.

Burt's got a car up on the lift, and he waves Finn over after a while and shows him a couple of things about tread wear and what to look for on his car to make sure he's not due for a realignment.

And while Finn's standing there staring at the jagged pattern of the tire rubber, Burt smiles over and grabs a rag to wipe the worst of the grease off his hands.

"So? What's on your mind?"

Finn grins, wondering how he could tell, if it's a dad thing. He hesitates, trying to figure out how to ask whatever it is he's puzzling over.

"You think somebody who's, like, bad...you think people can change?"

Burt shrugs and nods him back towards the small office he does all the admin stuff out of. "Sure people can change. Usually not as much as you might hope, but yeah. Especially at your age." He drops on the chair behind the desk and squints out at Finn, waiting.

Finn shoves his hands in his pockets and thinks. "What if..." He frowns. He isn't sure what he wants to know, even. "Like, homophobic people."

Burt frowns, but his expression clears after a moment. "Finn, are you talking about...Kurt? That whole thing down in his room at the old house?"

"No, not...not me. Just someone."

"Because I've got no worries anymore about you, kid. You know that, right?"

Finn wants to steer the talk back to the hypothetical 'someone', but something in his chest kind of warms and he grins awkwardly at Burt. "Really?"

"You're a kid, Finn. I know you hate to hear that at your age, but you really are. You're still learning who you are and how you feel about things. Was I pissed last year, hearing you talk like those jerks down at your school talk? Yeah, absolutely. But you're past that now. I know. I got no problems with you, Finn. I trust Kurt with you more than almost anyone."

Finn smiles, pleased.

Burt stands up after a minute, slapping Finn on the arm as he passes. "Come on, it's Saturday, you shouldn't spend it hanging out here."

"So...just because someone acts like a jerk, that doesn't mean they're a jerk forever, right?"

Burt chuckles. "Right. And you're not a jerk. You weren't back then. Hell, even when I was standing there yelling at you I could tell you really didn't have a clue how bad those words you said were. People make mistakes, Finn. Everybody. You gotta give them a chance to learn from them and get better. That's what growing up's all about."

Finn nods, because it makes sense. Pretty much everything Burt ever says makes sense, and not like something Finn has to think about and piece together. Like something that instantly sounds right. That's one reason Finn's glad he ended up with Burt as a stepdad.

"So..." He hesitates before following Burt out the side door into the sunshine. "What about Dave Karofsky?"

Burt's grin vanishes and his eyes get cold. "No."

"No?"

"We're not talking about Karofsky. You aren't anything like that kid." Burt shakes his head, grim. "He can put on a guilty face and say what he thinks the adults around him want to hear, but that doesn't make him different. People can change, but that kid's a monster."

"-sorry, Kurt! I told you that! I tell you that all the fucking time!"

"And you think that makes it better?"

Finn stops outside the kitchen door when he hears the raised voices. He hesitates.

"You really think saying you're sorry makes everything you did just go away? Well, wouldn't that just be lucky for you? But I don't have that option, do I? I can't just apologize and have the nightmares stop. I can't erase the damage you did to me, so why should you be able to get past it when I never will?"

There's silence, and Finn listens hard. He's ready if Karofsky snaps and goes nuts or whatever. Kurt sounds mad, like really serious, and there must really be some major stuff that Finn doesn't know about what happened last year. He didn't know anything about nightmares, or damage.

"You said you didn't hate me," Karofsky says after a pause, and Finn relaxes a little because he doesn't sound like he's gonna snap.

He sounds pretty miserable.

"I don't hate you," Kurt answers, using the bitch voice Finn knows pretty well by now. "I'm not like you, Dave. I don't hate people just because they're different. I feel sorry for you. But that doesn't mean I forgive you for what you did."

"Then what the hell am I even doing here?" Dave asks.

"It's penance," Kurt answers, sharp. "And you need it. So sit down and stop giving me those pathetic faces. I'm not the bully here."

He's serious. He's really mad. Finn backs away from the door and turns, thinking.

Something happened bad last year, and Kurt didn't tell anybody. He didn't tell Finn, at least. Karofsky did something to him, bad enough that Kurt actually left the school. That's serious. Finn doesn't have to know what it was, does he? He doesn't have to understand it. He's supposed to have Kurt's back, no matter what, just like he promised.

But when he looks up from playing Dead Space and sees Dave leaving, he pauses the game. "Hey."

Dave looks over at him, wary.

Finn hesitates, and nods at the TV. "Want to play?"

Dave glances towards the kitchen, and he's shaking his head just like that. "Later, Hudson," he grumbles, moving out the door and shutting it hard behind him.

Finn unpauses the game, but his dude dies pretty fast. His mind's somewhere else.

The bullywhips thing last year pissed off a bunch of guys on the team. Z and Strando and Strando's little flunky JV pals are the only ones who still seem to be pissed, but not a lot of the other guys have much to say to Dave anymore.

They don't get it, his thing with Kurt. His walking him around like a bodyguard and interfering with their fun. They tell Dave that a lot, and it leads to a lot of shoving matches. Bieste has to step in all the time, and maybe she knows what's going on or maybe not, but she knows it's always Dave on one end of the shoving matches.

Dave gets busted down to reserve when he can't stop getting into fights, and since everyone knows that's death for a senior player Dave ends up quitting the team after a couple weeks sitting on the bench.

Finn feels bad for him. He doesn't know what happened or whatever, but he can't stop himself from frowning every time he sees Dave, feeling bad when he shows up without his letterman, or when Finn and Puck and Mike pass him in the hall and he watches them like he wishes he was any one of them more than himself.

He's got Kurt's back, yeah, but he feels bad.

In the end, though, things come together the way they always do. Finn is slow, yeah, he knows that. He's slow, but he gets there eventually.

And here's what he figures: Kurt is kind of a bitch sometimes, but he's a good guy. A really good guy. He went through some bad stuff last year, and whatever it was made him hate Karofsky. Or, not hate, he told Dave it wasn't hate, but he sure doesn't like the guy.

Rachel says there's no place for Dave around her. There's no tolerance for a homophobe and a bully.

Burt says he's a monster. He says people can change, but Karofsky won't.

Blaine tells Kurt all the time that he doesn't want Dave anywhere near him, and Mercedes tells Finn when he asks that the only reason they're not trying to get Karofsky kicked out for good is that Kurt thinks he can make him better somehow.

He hurt Kurt, and he got cut from the team for fighting, and just because Finn can't see anything evil or wrong on his face and it seems like he's been nicer and trying to make up for things, that doesn't mean there's not something more going on that Finn doesn't see.

Everyone says Karofsky is a monster, and all of them – Rachel and Kurt and Burt especially – are all a heck of a lot smarter about things than Finn is. But Finn puts it all together and figures it out eventually. He's pretty proud of himself for that.

A couple weeks later when Dave leaves Kurt in the kitchen and comes up to the couch and quietly asks Finn what he's playing, Finn tells him to fuck off without looking away from the TV.

And it feels good, glancing over to watch Karofsky head for the door all upset or offended or whatever. It feels right. Finn's watching out for his bro, he's being smart, he's listening to all those other people and putting things together on his own, and he's ignoring that dumb part of his brain that keeps pointing out that Karofsky looks more and more miserable every day.

Whatever. Why should he even care? He wouldn't want any person to be miserable, but this isn't a person, is it?

This is a monster.