Author's Note: I was able to get this up sooner than I anticipated. It's not the most exciting chapter in the world, but it's an important one. Thanks for reading, as always.

I don't own Glee or Dead Like Me

Chapter 10

Kurt didn't remember falling asleep on the couch, but when he opened his eyes and glanced at the clock on the opposite wall, it read 4:30, so he must have been out for a couple of hours. When he sat up, he felt a little dizzy, but after a few seconds, he was able to get up and head to the bathroom. He jumped at his own reflection again, still not used to looking like a completely different person. He turned on the cold water faucet and splashed his face a few times before groping around for a hand towel to dry it off. The skin care regimen of his past was completely out the window at this point, and if Kurt was being honest with himself, he didn't miss that aspect of life at all. As Kurt studied his face in the mirror, he could hear snoring coming from the bedroom. I must have worn him out, too, Kurt thought to himself. He felt bad for how he had spoken to Declan when they got back to the apartment. He didn't mean to take it out on him, but Declan had the misfortune of being the only one there when Kurt had his meltdown. Most people probably wouldn't call it that, but anyone who knew Kurt, knew that when he got quiet and shaky that the best thing to do was to leave him alone to sort things out. Worked like a charm last time, he thought bitterly about his last moments among the living.

Kurt took his hands away from his face to pour some water from the sink into a paper cup. His hand went instinctively to his throat as he attempted to swallow for the first time since waking up and it felt like it was on fire. He knew he had been crying pretty hard, but this was ridiculous.

"This is your life now," He told the strange reflection in the mirror. "You better get used to it." He crumpled up the cup, threw it into the bin by the toilet and went back out to the living room. Looking around the strange apartment almost sent him into a fresh wave of tears. Kurt was homesick, and seeing his first reaping today only drove home the point that not only was he dead, he was also doomed to walk the earth for God knows how long helping other people to die and move on, all while having to perform said duties in the same town in which he lived, unable to make any contact with his past life. It was so unfair, Kurt wanted to scream. He had had his whole life ahead of him. NYADA, Blaine, a whole bunch of things left on his stupid bucket list, and it was all ripped away from him. And what about his dad? Kurt couldn't stand to think about his father, having to bury his wife and then his son a decade later. All he wanted to do was go home, knock on his own front door and launch himself into his Dad's arms. The one thing stopping him from doing it was that damn reflection. If only he still looked the same, he kept telling himself.

"I've got to get out of here," Kurt muttered, sitting down on the couch to lace up his boots. In the back of his mind, he knew that he and Declan were supposed to report to Maggie's at six that night, but he wasn't too concerned about Sue at that moment. If he didn't get out of that apartment right that second, he was going to lose his mind and that was more important to him than keeping a dinner date. He briefly considered leaving a note for Declan, but decided escaping with most of his sanity intact was more important. He opened the door and closed it softly after him as he set off on his destination.

By the time she rolled into Bridgemill Park, Sue had already received text messages from Declan, Annabel and Laura reporting from their respective locations that Kurt wasn't there. She sighed in relief after receiving Laura's text in particular. Sue had been worried that Kurt would go back to his house and try to weasel his way in somehow. The kid wasn't stupid, but he was stubborn and already in the past week, Sue had seen his penchant for impulsive, emotional decisions. It had been awhile since a new reaper had been put under her charge. Declan had been the last in the mid-80's. He hadn't been difficult in this way, though. Unlike Kurt, Declan had been throwing his life away for years, so when he actually did die, it wasn't too much of a shock, and Declan took to the life of a reaper fairly easily, considering the job description. Kurt, on the other hand, had a lot of things going for him and was completely blameless in his death. It was no wonder that he was having a hard time coping with it.

Sue was scanning the walking path as she drove through the upper parking lot. There were several people using it, but none of them Kurt. There were games going on at several of the diamonds, but compared to the night almost a week ago, the park was eerily quiet. As she maneuvered her car down to the lower lot, Sue saw what she had been hoping and expecting to see. Kurt was sitting against a tree trunk near the diamond, the same tree she had drug him to after he died. She smiled to herself as she parked the car and tried to think of the best way to approach the boy. She wasn't ready to give up on her tough love approach, but she sensed he needed something a little deeper, some emotion to match his own. She took a deep breath and turned the car off, pocketing the keys before heading over to where he sat.

Kurt looked up at Sue as she ambled over to him. He was surprised to see her, but he didn't say anything. She didn't look mad like he would have expected. He had, after all, violated her rule about being late to a report meeting and took it a step further by blatantly not showing up.

"Tough day at the office, Porcelain?" Sue asked as she sat down beside him, leaning her back against the tree trunk. Kurt didn't respond. "Listen, I know that all this is hard—"

"It's not fair," Kurt said angrily, cutting her off. "I don't want to do this, it's just …it's not fair." Kurt was at a loss for words. There was just no other way to describe it.

"Yeah, it's not fair, I'll give you that," Sue nodded in agreement. "But you know what? It's still happening. It's still reality. You may be here for a very long time and the sooner you can get over this issue of fairness, the quicker that time is going to go by."

"Really?" Kurt could feel the color rush to his face. He was starting to get angry. "And how do you know that? After all, how long have you been doing this? Since you're in charge, I imagine you've had the most experience, even more than that Sawyer guy and yet you're still here. So tell me, how do you know that time goes by quicker when there's absolutely no end in sight?"

It was Sue's turn to be at a loss. He was right, and for probably the first time in her life and afterlife combined, she had no witty comeback for him. The two sat in silence for several minutes as Sue tried to wrap her mind around what Kurt said.

"You're right," She finally spoke. "I have been doing this for a very long time and I have no idea when my time is up. But I guess the difference between you and me is that I have hope, and I believe that my day will come. Do I expect it tomorrow, or the next day or next year? No, but knowing that it's out there somewhere is enough. Without that hope, I would have gone crazy a long time ago, and sanity or no, whether I like it or not, I have a job to do. A job that's a lot easier to do when you're not psychologically torturing yourself."

Kurt didn't respond. He had no idea how he was supposed to move past what he was feeling. It was too much to absorb, too much to muck through and he was much too exhausted to even know where to start.

"I'll make you a promise, Kurt," Sue spoke again, seeing the battle that was waging war in his mind etched on his face. "I promise to help you get through these first few weeks with your sanity intact, after which, I guarantee things will get better, but you have to promise me something as well."

Kurt turned to look at Sue as she continued. "You have to promise me that you'll trust me. I'll give you all that I've learned from my personal experiences and from helping train other reapers, but it won't amount to anything if you don't trust me and take what I say to heart. Can we agree on that?"

Kurt thought about it for a few seconds. In a way, he didn't really have a choice but to comply, but he liked that Sue was allowing him to verbalize a decision either way. "I'll do my best," He said, giving a slight smile.

"Alright then," Sue stood up and held out a hand to help Kurt up as well. "I want you to make a note of this day and refer back to it as often as needed. Today was the first, only and last day that you are ever going to be let off the hook for missing an evening report meeting. I'm dead serious when I say that if it ever happens again, there will be severe consequences."

"You're dead serious?" Kurt asked with a smirk, which quickly vanished when he saw the look on Sue's face.

"When I drop you off tonight, go ahead and ask Declan what happened when he missed a meeting once," She replied as they reached her car. "Don't be surprised if you have to clean up an accident afterward." Kurt gulped as he slid into the passenger seat. Sue tapped out a message to the group, letting them know she had Kurt and was bringing him back to Declan's and that they were to report at Maggie's at eight the next morning, before starting the car and heading toward Declan's apartment.

Declan let out a sigh of relief when he got the text message from Sue, saying that she had Kurt and was bringing him back. Now that his worry had dissipated, he could feel anger bubbling inside of him. He almost didn't recognize the feeling—he so rarely became angry, especially in the afterlife. Declan had always been pretty even keel with his emotions, but something about Kurt made him feel spikes in emotions that he hadn't felt in a long time. Was it because Kurt was so emotionally charged that he was causing Declan to respond accordingly or was it something else? Declan wasn't sure. Even though it had only been a little more than a day since meeting him, Declan felt a connection with Kurt, something beyond friendship. Thinking about it scared him a little. After all, it had only been a little more than twenty four hours, but in all of his time on Earth, both living and undead, he'd never felt the spark of electricity he felt the few times he had touched Kurt with anyone else.

Declan jumped a bit when he heard the front door open and he stood up to see Kurt walking through the door. He had a bashful look on his face, and Declan knew he was going to have to fight pretty hard to hang on to his anger.

"Where the hell have you been?" Declan said, not quite convincing himself, but by the look on Kurt's face, it did the trick.

"I, uh, went out for a while to clear my head. I'm sorry I didn't tell you." Kurt tucked his chin and looked up at Declan, looking like a scolded puppy. Declan was afraid he might melt into a gooey puddle on the floor if he didn't avert his gaze from the younger boy.

"Yeah, well, next time, leave a note…or something," Declan trailed off, all the steam deflating from him.

"Okay," Kurt responded. "Sorry again."

"Okay, so anyway," Declan fumbled. "I'm glad you're back, but I'm going to head to bed." Declan had to get out of that room. Something about his feelings for Kurt changed the minute he walked back in the apartment and he needed to be alone to try to sort them out.

"Well, goodnight then," Kurt called after him. I guess I'll have to wait to ask him about missing a meeting with Sue, he thought as he slumped down on the couch. The clock showed that it was just about eight o'clock, way too early to be tired, but Kurt found himself snuggling up with his blanked and pillow anyway. It wasn't long before his eyelids drooped and he drifted off to sleep.