Fired.

Kurt had become frustratingly familiar with the term. And every time he heard it, it stung more and more. He was only 24 and he felt that he'd had his share of the word.

Fired.

So maybe he had a bit of a temper. Not even a temper, just a tendency to get a bit snappish. But his temper had managed to follow him wherever he went. Jobs in an office, and even some acting gigs he had managed to get.

And it had all led to this. Leaving handfuls of brochures at the nearby coffee shop, handing out business cards to all of his friends, and posting listings in the newspaper. The heading read,

"BABYSITTER! Available anytime, any day! For all your child-rearing needs!"

There is something very demeaning about using babysitting as your main source of income at age 24, and Kurt felt it. He wandered the streets of Lima with sunglasses on, keeping his head low as he distributed the flyers. The same sunglasses he had imagined he'd be wearing at the stage door of Gershwin in New York. And yet he was still stuck in Lima, the place he'd vowed to get out of as soon as he could.

Kurt returned to his apartment and made a beeline for the freezer. He extracted a pint of his favorite Häagen Dazs Strawberry Ice Cream and curled up on his couch. He could do nothing but wait for a phone call. So he waited, and waited. And soon the ice cream was gone. He turned on the TV, scanning for something good, but nothing struck his fancy. At around 10, the phone ran. Kurt huffed, reluctant to move from his perch on the couch.

He grabbed the phone and answered, "Hello?" He asked pointedly. "Uh, I mean, hello?" He repeated, remembering that the call might be from a potential client.

"Hey there, um… Are you okay?" It was his boyfriend. Kurt lowered the phone for a second to compose himself. He was really not in the mood to talk with anyone.

"Hey, Aaron. Yeah, I'm fine." He lied, and he almost got away with it. But he couldn't keep his voice steady. Sighing, he continued. "Well, no. I'm not fine. I-I got fired again." Kurt immediately regretted telling Aaron anything.

"Kurt." Aaron addressed him in that condescending tone that he knew Kurt hated. "I thought you said you were going to try harder."

"I know, Aaron! Okay?" Kurt burst out. "I did try! So don't even try that on me."

"Look, I'm just trying to help you here!" Aaron retorted. "Because it's obvious that something isn't working for you. Or else you wouldn't have been fired from your past 5 jobs!"

And that last line broke Kurt. When he answered Aaron, he spoke in a soft voice, controlled, and level. "I think… that maybe there's something that's not working out for us."

"Oh, okay. Is that what you think? You just want to end things now?" Aaron's voice was so leering and sarcastic that Kurt moved the phone further away from his ear.

"Aaron- babe." Kurt tried to put in a word between Aaron's ranting. "I just think that something needs to-" He gave up; Aaron wasn't going to let him say anything.

"You want to break up with me, Kurt? Well you can't! Because I'm already gone!"

"NO!" Kurt yelled into the phone.

"No what?" Aaron replied, his voice much calmer.

"No, don't break up with me." Kurt softened as well, ready to talk. "Let's fix this. Don't do this, Aaron." The line on the other side was silent. "Aaron?"

Kurt asked, "Are you still there?"

"…What if you're right? There is something that's not working out for us." Aaron said finally.

"Well, then we fix it." Kurt repeated. "Look, hon. I've had a long day, and I'm sure you have too. Let's talk tomorrow?"

Kurt could hear Aaron sigh from the other side. "Yeah, okay. Um… is there anything that I can help you with? Job applications or…"

Kurt couldn't help but smile, he knew this happened every time he lost his job, but it felt nice to know that Aaron would help him if he needed it.

"No… I think I've got it covered." Kurt replied. He wasn't quite ready to tell Aaron about his babysitting idea. Mostly because he wasn't done being embarrassed about it. Plus, Aaron had a habit of shooting down Kurt's ideas before he could even finish saying them. "Thanks though, babe."

"No problem."

"Okay, talk to you tomorrow, then." Kurt almost said, 'I love you', but somehow he couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Yeah. Okay." Aaron replied.

The line went dead.

Kurt knew they had a lot to work out, but at least he wasn't completely alone.

He flung the phone onto the couch and picked up his spoon to eat some more ice cream. He looked down and remembered he'd already finished it. Just his luck.

Kurt woke to the sound of his home phone ringing. He'd fallen asleep on his couch after watching re-runs of America's Next Top Model for half the night. The phone continued ringing and Kurt groaned groggily. It was ringing somewhere near his ear. "…Hello?" he answered, his voice cracking slightly from sleep.

"Yes, hello. Is um, Mr. Kurt Hummel?" a lady's voice replied.

Kurt frowned, "Yes, it is. M-may I ask who's speaking?"

"This is Mrs. Anderson, I saw your flyer at Lima Primary?" her voice was sharp, and it seemed as if she was in a hurry.

Kurt's eyes widened in realization, a client! "Oh, yes! Of course. Hi there, Mrs. Anderson. How can I help you?" He sat up and straightened himself out.

"My husband and I have a… meeting to go to." The lady paused for a minute. A meeting? Kurt wondered what the lady meant, but he wasn't in a position to ask questions.

"We need someone to watch our son this afternoon. Are you available?"

"This afternoon?" Kurt asked hesitantly. "Uh, yeah! Sure! I can do it!" He blurted before the Mrs. Anderson got the wrong idea.

"I assure you I can pay you more because of the short notice. It'd be great if you could come as soon as possible though. I'm in a bit of a hurry."

"As soon as possible, okay!" Kurt responded quickly, "-wait. What time is it?" His eyes darted to his clock. It was already past noon. How long had he slept.

"About 12:45… Are you sure this is going to work?" Mrs. Anderson sounded skeptical. Not good.

"Oh no, Mrs. Anderson. I'm ready to go right now! I can be there as soon as you need me!" Kurt got the address of her house and hung up. Things were looking up.