"Mrs. Jones?" Kurt asked before she started her lesson. "Where's Blaine?"

"Blaine won't be here today," Mrs. Jones told the class. "His dad called him in."

There was a collective groan throughout the class when they heard their friend wouldn't be there. Kurt automatically thought the worst. His daddy won't let him come to the tea party because it's too girly. Maybe I shouldn't like so many girly things, and then Blainers' daddy would let him come over and play with me.

For the remainder of the day, Kurt was quiet again and hardly participated in the tea party. When it was time for recess, he played in the sand with some of the other kids even though he was wearing nice clothes. At rest time, he left his stuffed Piglet on the floor under his little cot. At afternoon center time, he didn't play in the dramatic play area unless it was with the shark puppet, which honestly scared him a little.

Mrs. Jones had been watching him all day, and after seeing him not participate in two of his favorite things, the tea party and dramatic play center, she decided to talk with him when it was time for the rest of the class to go outside.

"Kurt," Mrs. Jones said as he was gathering up his backpack, "could you come and help me with something before you go outside?"

He loved to help, so he readily agreed and met her in the reading nook where she was straightening up some books. "Are you feeling better than you were yesterday?" she asked gently.

"A little," Kurt replied. "I was lots better dis mornin', and den, I started feelin' sad and scareded again when…" He wasn't quite sure how much to say, so he stopped.

"When Blaine didn't come to daycare today?" she guessed.

Kurt nodded his head.

"You know, I heard what his daddy said yesterday, and I want you to know that I stand by what I have said and what I teach my class. There are no boy or girl activities or toys, just things for all of us to enjoy, even adults. But sometimes, some people don't agree with that."

"But wha' if he's my soulmate, an' his daddy won't let him see me?" Kurt said, getting to the root of the problem he had been wrestling with in his mind.

"Kurt, is that what's been bothering you?" Mrs. Jones asked. She knew, deep down, that if Mr. Anderson had a problem with his son playing with "girly" things that a male soulmate would not go over well in his books. Maybe I can hold some sort of educational night where I can talk about this stuff with parents.

Again, Kurt nodded his head, feeling better, having finally told someone what was filling up his fear jar.

"How about this?" Mrs. Jones offered. "You keep being your wonderful self and not who you think other people want you to be, and everything will fall into place the way it's supposed to. That's how Fate works. You get your soulmark because you're meant to be with that one person, no matter what anyone else thinks or says. So, if your soulmate is Blaine, then everything will work out okay. If it's Brittany, everything will work out okay there, too. And, you've got a while before you really need to worry about any of that."

"So, wha' does I do wif my worries now?" Kurt asked. He liked what she was saying, but there were still worries in his head.

"Well, there are a couple of different kinds of worries. Did you know that?" Mrs. Jones asked.

"Nope," Kurt answered. He thought that there was only one kind of worry.

"Lots of people don't know that there are different kinds of worries," she answered. "Our body does a good job, most of the time, of warning us if something is dangerous. That's one kind of worry, the ones that keep us safe. The other kind of worry is about things we can't control. Everybody worries about things they can't control like the weather or what other people think about them. Those are the worries we can do something about."

"Dere's lots I can't con'rol," Kurt answered.

"You're right," Mrs. Jones answered. "Most of my worries are about things I can't control, too. I found something that helps me, and I think it might help you, too."

"Wha's dat?" Kurt asked.

"What if we made a worry monster, and whenever he started talking to you, you could tell him to 'go away!'" Mrs. Jones offered. "You can also sing a super cool song that talks about letting all the things go that are bothering you. I have it on my phone and can play it if you'd like."

"Yes, pwease," Kurt said. "C'n I draws my worry monster an' listen?" Kurt asked, thrilled at the idea of being able to tell his worries to get lost.

"You sure can!" Mrs. Jones said and made sure to let Miss Julie know that they would be inside a little longer in case Kurt's parents showed up before they were done. After Kurt got his paper and crayons, a song had started, and he knew exactly what it was. A huge smile spread across his face, and he began to sing.

"The snow glows white on the mountain tonight
Not a footprint to be seen
A kingdom of isolation
And it looks like I'm the queen

The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside
Couldn't keep it in, heaven knows I've tried
Don't let them in, don't let them see
Be the good girl you always have to be
Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know
Well, now they know

Let it go, let it go
Can't hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn away and slam the door
I don't care what they're going to say
Let the storm rage on
The cold never bothered me anyway"

Kurt spent the rest of the time that was left until his parents got there drawing his worry monster. He named him Joe. Joe was red and black striped. He had big black horns on top of his head and sharp teeth. Joe had claws on his hands and feet, too.

Elizabeth poked her head inside after Miss Julie told her that Kurt was inside with Mrs. Jones and saw Kurt sitting at the art table while Mrs. Jones was getting things ready for the next day and straightening up. "Hey, sweetie," she said. "What are you working on?"

Kurt looked up, excited to see his mom. "Mommy!" he said and ran over to her to give her a hug. "Come see Joe!" He grabbed her hand and led her to the table where he was working. "Dis is Joe. He's my worry monster. An' when he starts talkin' to me, I c'n tell him to go 'way and stop buggin' me."

"Wow," she said, wondering what all had happened that day to warrant her son drawing a worry monster. She looked up at Mrs. Jones, hoping the teacher could help fill in some blanks.

"Kurt," Mrs. Jones said. "Would you like to tell your mommy what all happened today, or would you like me to do it?"

"Umm…" Kurt thought aloud.

While her son was thinking, Elizabeth sent Burt a quick text to come in. She didn't know why, but she felt like both of them would need to hear this.

"I fink I wanna try," Kurt said. "But you help me if I need you?" he asked Mrs. Jones.

"Of course! I'll help if you need me to," Mrs. Jones answered as Burt walked in the room.

"Hey, buddy!" he said as he bent down to greet his son with a hug and a kiss to his forehead.

"Hi, Daddy!" Kurt said and hugged his dad back. "I's gonna tell Mommy 'bout why I has to makeded a worry monster. You wanna hear, too?"

"I'd love to, Kurt," he said and sat down beside his son.

"Blainers didn' come ta schoo' today," Kurt started. "I started finkin' dat it was acuz his daddy sayed da tea party was too 'girly,' and den, I gots to finkin' dat maybe his daddy would let him come pway wif me if'n I didn't like 'girly' fings. So, I didn't like da tea party, and den, I pwayeded in da sand wif da other boys." Kurt stopped to check-in with Mrs. Jones to see if he had missed anything yet. She nodded that he was doing well, and he continued. "An' den, I didn't sleep wif my Piglet acuz I didn't know if dat was 'girly,' too, since girls has stuffed aminals, too. An' den, I pwayed only wif da scawy puppet and not da kitchen stuff. I's supa quiet today and didn't talk wif anyone really. An' den, Mrs. Jones telded me 'bout da worry monster, an' here he is!"

"You remembered all of that amazingly, Kurt!" Mrs. Jones said. "Can I add one more thing that I think is super important?"

Kurt nodded, wondering what he forgot.

"I also talked with Kurt about being himself."

"Oh, yeah," Kurt interrupted. "C'n I tell dat part, too?" Mrs. Jones nodded, and Kurt continued. "She telded me dat Fate will take care of eve'yfing an' dat I just needa be me acuz I'm pretty awesome. An' if'n it's Blainers or Brittany dat's my soulmate, Fate has dat all figured out, an' when it's time to happenen, it will."

"Mrs. Jones is exactly right, Kurt," Elizabeth said. "I know you, and I know that we'll have to help you with your worries. But maybe Joe can help, too. You tell him to go away whenever he starts whispering worry thoughts into your ear, and if you need me and Daddy's help, you tell us. We'll do our best to help."

"Okay, Mommy," Kurt said. "I fink I'm ready to go home now if'n dat's okay."

"That's perfectly okay, buddy," Burt said. "Do you have all of your things?"

"Uh-huh, Daddy," Kurt answered.

For the remainder of the week, Kurt could be heard every once in a while saying "go away" or "get lost" to nobody in particular. Blaine hadn't come back all week, and Mrs. Jones wondered what Kurt's worry monster was whispering in his ear. Kurt never came to ask for her help with it, but he did go back to doing his usual activities.

The following week at daycare, Blaine was back, and Kurt couldn't have been happier. That is until he heard Blaine talking to Finn and Noah about where he was.

"Yeah," Blaine said, "I was supa' dupa' sick. When I telded my daddy vat I was sad 'bout missin' va tea party, he sayed vat it wasn't a big deal, and ven, he watcheded Mons'er Jam wif me. So, 'm not sad vat I misseded it anymore."

This made Kurt sad, and Joe started whispering in his ear. Kurt had stopped telling him to "go away" now and had instead started singing the song Mrs. Jones had played for him. After he heard this, he started to sing quietly in the book area.

"Let it go, let it go
Can't hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn away and slam the door
I don't care what they're going to say
Let the storm rage on
The cold never bothered me anyway"

Kurt didn't seek out Blaine's companionship anymore. He was too afraid of the rejection from his friend. Not being around Blaine gave him a sad feeling inside his heart that he didn't tell anyone about. If Blaine asked to play with Kurt, he would in a heartbeat. He tried to not be overwhelming so maybe his friend would want to play with him more often. Some days, it seemed like Blaine wanted to play with him more than others.

Mrs. Jones had noticed the difference in Kurt and decided that she would take her own advice. If the boys were meant to be together, they would be. Neither one was hurting the other so there was no reason for her to step in. She wasn't going to try and force it, even though she thought the boys complimented each other perfectly, as did Brittany and Santana.

The rest of Kurt's time at daycare and then preschool went by similarly. When Blaine wouldn't play with Kurt, Kurt chose to hang out with Brittany and Quinn. They both became his very best friends, and they had play dates all the time. Sometimes, Santana would join them, but it was rare due to her mom's work schedule.

Kurt never did ask or remind his mom about asking Blaine's parents for a play date.

"Let it go, let it go
Can't hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn away and slam the door
I don't care what they're going to say
Let the storm rage on
The cold never bothered me anyway

My power flurries through the air into the ground
My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around
And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast
I'm never going back, the past is in the past"

By the time it was time to start kindergarten, Kurt knew and understood more about what Mrs. Jones had been saying about if things were meant to be they would be. He loved hanging out with Blaine when the other boy asked him to. But it wasn't a necessity anymore like it had felt like when they'd first met. It still felt funny when they weren't around each other, something he definitely didn't feel in regards to Brittany.

"I gotta let it go, Quiget," Kurt said to his imaginary friend the night before kindergarten started. He didn't really see his imaginary friend anymore, but sometimes he still talked to him when he needed to get things out of his head.

Kurt had learned that Blaine wasn't going to be at the same school as him anymore. This made Kurt very sad, but he felt almost relieved at the knowledge. He wouldn't have to pretend and worry so much if Blaine was going to play with him that day or not. He was super happy, though, because Brittany would be at his school along with Mercedes, Jeff, Finn, and Rachel. Okay, so maybe he wasn't excited about Rachel, but he was happy that some of his friends would be at his school.

"Here I stand
In the light of day
Let the storm rage on
The cold never bothered me anyway!"

A/N: The song used is "Let It Go" from Frozen.