Two in the morning. The drunks had finally filed out of the room, but every once in a while an occasional booze-laden slob would stumble back to the front door in hopes of a more sexually enticing encore from the show's star. Sam locked the doors and windows, making sure they were firmly barricaded for the night.

For as busy as it was, the Sun Spot employed a relatively small staff. The bar was run between Sam and Mike, Mercedes and Tina were waitresses, along with a few stray characters who seemed to come and go as they wished, and all whom were gone by midnight. There was normally an unofficial half hour break before clean-up started, but tonight had been particularly rough and there was no time.

Kurt headed backstage for the last time tonight and kicked his heels off, plopping limp down into the wooden chair in front of his mirror. He always helped with the cleaning, but he needed to change into something more suitable for the tasks. His showtime attire certainly did not fit the bill.

He grabbed the soft cloth off the table in front of him and dipped it into a small bowl of water, bringing it up to dab at the glitter makeup lining his eyes.

"I'm getting out of here."

Kurt jerked into an about face to see who had said that. Lucy was standing a few feet away, leaning over an open suitcase as she stuffed it full with her outfits to be worn during tomorrow's performance. Kurt just watched her for a moment. Her words had been a little quieter than were probably meant for him to hear. She may not have been addressing him, so maybe he shouldn't react.

But by the time she'd shoved the third cocktail dress into the case, his curiosity took over. "Where are you going?" he asked vaguely, still watching as she packed but still removing his makeup, not looking in the mirror.

"I'm getting on the next train to anywhere." She didn't look at him, just stuffed another dress into the impossibly full suitcase. No way was such a slight woman going to be able to carry that out by herself.

Kurt knew he couldn't stop her. He didn't want to. He wanted to get out of this hellhole as much as, if not more than, she did, but he had more ties to this rotten burlesque house than she did.

"I know I'm not the only one who wants more in life than this," Lucy added as she snapped the case shut, pulling on the lid to make sure it was securely closed. She slipped on a pair of ratty flats and turned a har eye on the scantily ressed teenage boy.

That was where Kurt couldn't eny how uncomfortable he was. He didn't nee her to tell him where he'd gone wrong in life, but he hadn't been asked to be born into his family. Who was she to belittle his values like that, as if it were his fault. He didn't want to be up on that stage every night, showing his talent to people who were only there to stare at his ass.

He stood, sending her a quick but firm look to say 'you don't know the first thing about me,' and walked over to the other corner.

There was a small chest under the table with large casual shirts and looser shorts than were typical at the Sun Spot. Kurt retrieved a white shirt and beige pair of shorts to change into. They were still a bit small, despite Kurt's lithe frame, but not nearly as tight and revealing as his show outfit was. Kurt was rather small compared to other boys his age -it was his effeminate face and figure was the main attraction, after all- so he could fit into most of the girls' clothing. There was no change of clothes for males in that box.

Kurt perched himself up on a table, his bare feet swinging back and forth under the countertop. He glanced around the dining hall. Even past two in the morning, the Sun Spot staff was still hard at work. Mercedes and Tina were working in tandem to scrub beer-laced vomit off the floor, digging into the grooves between floorboards with the bristles of their brushes. Mike was going efficiently from table to table with a large bucket, collecting empty shot glasses, dumping any slim chance of leftover into a large mug. There was yet to be a night when the mug got to more than half full.

Rachel had gone home for the night a few hours ago. Nobody was supposed to leave any time before three –no exceptions- but Kurt wasn't about to turn her in. She'd had a really rough night. You see, the thing about Rachel Berry is that she is really talented, but in Nelson, Iowa you can't get by on that alone. Guys were always looking for the prettiest, and Rachel may have the voice of an angel, but her nose is a little too much for most men to look past. Kurt personally thought she was very pretty, but that opinion probably didn't mean much coming from a gay teenage boy. She knew she was a little too homely to be a cabaret singer, but she would sing nonetheless. But tonight she'd been heckled particularly badly. Men shouted through her whole performance about how she should "get off the stage and bring that sexy boy back on." She'd been driven from the platform halfway through her set, secretly crying.

Kurt wanted to comfort her. Really, he did. The two were close in age and on good terms with each other –Kurt would even go so far as to consider her a friend. Seeing her cry like that –all secret, silent tears she thought nobody could see- broke Kurt's heart a little bit. But once she came off, as the men had wanted, it was his turn on yet again, reluctantly going to rouse the hoard of drunken bastards that awaited him in the audience.

Kurt started looking for her as soon as he got backstage. Tina was back there, feeding little Daniel who was fussing in his seat, but Rachel was nowhere to be seen. Kurt took the risk of heading out to the bar to see if either Sam or Mike had seen her, but not before covering his half-naked body up with a ratty old coat they kept backstage just in case. Mike reported seeing her sneak out in her own worn trenchcoat. Lucy, sitting at the bar with a glass, wine slushing on the very bottom, overheard this. Lucy seemed to have some perpetual vendetta against the absent girl. She threatened to report her to the boss. "Why should she get to leave early when the rest of us slave through the night?" she whined, sipping down te last of her drink.

A warning glare from Sam shut her up. It was common knowledge that Lucy was in love with him.

Not that anybody could be blamed for taking a fancy to the broad-shouldered blonde. He was definitely a handsome young man, a breath of fresh air when the only men you see all day are intoxicated farmers. Sam knew he was likable, too, and that he'd been the young Nelson woman's fantasy and the envy of all the men ever since he moved here from Tennessee three years ago.

Kurt would be the first to bashfully admit, he'd been quite smitten by the young man himself. Kurt had only been thirteen years young when the well built blonde rode into eastern Iowa on search of work. Kurt's father, Travis Hummel, had been reluctant to hire him at first. It was obvious Kurt had taken a liking to him, and Travis didn't want anyone to distract his son from his work. But Sam had in time proven himself to be a loyal and hardworking employee.

It took Kurt a while for his feelings for the older man to wear off. He'd blush bright at mention of his name, and feel his heart thump hard in his chest at his approach. But it became increasingly obvious that Sam wasn't interested in him like that.

But it wasn't long before Sam proved to Kurt that though he wasn't interested in any type of romantic relationship - "I'm sorry, and I'm flattered, kid, but I'm straight."- he would be there for him, especially to protect the boy.
It was a little over two years ago that it happened. Kurt, still barely fourteen, was made to wear an even skimpier outfit than the patrons were accustomed to. Ultimately, some of them got a little handsy, but for a while Mercedes and Tina were able to keep them at bay. For a while, they just shoved their meaty little paws into their pockets and appreciated the boy with their eyes only.

Then closing time rolled around. Kurt took it upon himself to lock the front doors. But some of the night's rowdiest customers had stuck around.

They pulled Kurt into the alley next to the building and ripped his oh so revealing clothes right off his body. They caressed his young body, molesting him for a few minutes, and it was obvious just how far they planned on taking this. Salty tears pricked in Kurt's eyes.

Sam smashed a whiskey bottle against the outer wall of the building, and he threatened them with the jagged glass. It may have been for fear of getting cut, or maybe the intense burning anger in Sam's eyes, but either way, they took off running.

Said protector was meanwhile approaching. He smiled with those big lips at the porcelain boy sitting in the table, wiping down a nearby spill of whiskey. "Abrams all but passed out in this," he laughed. "I was so tempted to just nudge him over, but Puckerman wouldn't let me go." He laughed again and kept wiping for a few moments, then became wary of the other boy's silence. He looked up to him, brows furrowed. " You alright?"

Footsteps could be heard. Kurt turned to see Lucy slowly stepping across the room, high and confident as if she was walking on air. Kurt's nose crinkled at her haughty aura, but he couldn't bring himself to not watch.
She left without a word.

"I just couldn't humor her anymore," Sam commented unprovoked, not quite sounding sorry. "Too high maintenance, that one. Wants more in life than she's gonna get."

"I dunno," Kurt sighed, every now and then glancing to the door.

"She talks high, but really she doesn't have much going for her other than a pretty face," Sam shrugged, rubbing a rag through a mug.

"Yeah..." Kurt smiled sadly to himself. "But that's what it's all about, isn't it?"

Reviews make me continue faster :)