Kurt Hummel was tired.

It was his birthday, for goodness’ sake. Wasn’t he allowed one day off? It wasn’t everyday a person turned eighteen, after all. But there he was, holed up in the dance studio with his choreographer and dancers, running the opening for the tour with no rehearsal end time in sight. They’d been at it since ten that morning, with only a couple of water breaks to keep within union rules. Kurt himself had been awake since 5, working through a Pilates routine with Holly, going back over the tracks for the new album with Dustin and his people, and hashing out the lyrics to another song while making the crosstown trip to the studio, where he’s been switching his hips and getting hoisted into the air for what feels like an eternity.

And the worst part was that he STILL wasn't finished. Terri wanted to have him read over some scripts and show pitches at seven, and then Emma and he had to go over what was and wasn't appropriate etiquette for the awards season (even though the first show was in August. AUGUST.) Then Roz would finally have time to explain his agenda for the next couple of days; after the weekend and its rehearsals, there were Talk show sessions to film, appearances to make, and gatherings to attend before Kurt had a few hours to himself--unless something ELSE came up.

Everybody seemed to want a piece of Kurt's time since he signed with Dustin and his record company. It was nice, being wanted all the time; much better than his days growing up in Lima. Being an outcast wasn't an option, especially once Terri had managed to get Kurt into the right hands at exactly the right time. Executives from companies Kurt had never dared dream of meeting wanted him to fly to LA and talk movie deals. His favorite designers were sending their lackeys through the gauntlet that was Kurt's personal style team in the hopes that Kurt would wear their designs whenever he stepped out of his apartment. This company wants permission to use Kurt's song in an advertisement; they know it would be just perfect for whatever it is they are selling; that nonprofit would simply LOVE to have Kurt as a celebrity spokesperson, and would Kurt kindly think about doing this for them?

Of course, not everything went through Kurt. He had his lawyers, the agency's people, and his manager filtering through the worst of it. Emma was there for when Kurt had to say things to interviewers, and Roz helped him keep his schedule straight and reminded him to call his father a couple of times a week. Kurt's life was very well handled, considering how much he was doing. There was just one thing The Powers That Be seemed to be forgetting about:

Kurt Hummel had no time to start relationships. As of that very morning, his only romantic feelings had been for celebrities, and those feelings disappeared very quickly after meeting them all in person. There was a big difference between famous people when they were on and off camera, as Kurt had learned during his climb to the top. He had figured as much after Terri decided he needed a publicist and had hired Emma to help police his interactions, but still.

Kurt was a teenage boy. And he had certain...urges. They weren't BAD, exactly. He just didn't have time to sample the field, and not for trying on Kurt's part. He would flirt with the interns when Terri and Emma weren't paying attention or goof around with his dancers, but other than that Kurt didn't have any social interests, and Emma was always quick to talk Kurt out of thinking about relationships.

“Think of your reputation.” She always tells him. “You don’t want to wind up on the cover of some tabloid hugged up on some hooker, do you? What would that do to your fan base?”

Kurt personally thought a scandal would grow his fame exponentially, but he knew that’s not what Emma means, so he doesn’t say anything and keeps his hands to himself. He could be the good boy with golden pipes for a little while longer.

Anyway.

Kurt was busy. There wasn't time to get involved. There hadn't really been time for him to breathe, let alone really look at people. Terri was a powerhouse of a manager, and she knew how to keep her clients occupied; since Kurt was her biggest name, he got the most jobs.

Which is why Kurt was spending his eighteenth birthday with the genius choreographer Sue Sylvester and twelve featured dancers, grabbing water breaks every couple of hours. It wasn't horrible, just not ideal.

At least, it was until Terri opened the studio door and ground rehearsal to a halt.

"Emma and I need Kurt for a minute."

"Well you're going to have to wait Blondie, because if he and these miserable excuses for dancers hit this set with less grace than a paraplegic on a tightrope they're doing it again."

One of the dancers (Brittany, Kurt thinks her name is) lets out a moan and settles onto her haunches to stretch her legs, standing quickly when Sue shoots her a look that could freeze hell.

"And if I have to wait any longer than I already have, we may miss prime advertising opportunities. If we miss those, the tour could flop. And so help me if that tour flops I will see to it you never work in this town again." Terri shot back.

"Then I'll move." Sue turned to face Terri, crossing her arms menacingly. "You think I got anywhere by listening when people threaten me? I don't think so. Now, I'm here trying to make Porcelain a hit, and I can't do that when your teased out mane is causing a glare in the fluorescent lighting. Now you can either get the hell out of my studio, or I can tell Hugo there--"here she threw a thumb at Anton, one of the beefier dancers, "--to haul you out by your perky little--"

"Okay, Sue! While I hate to interrupt what was sure to be a very informational tirade on the wonders of the female anatomy, we only need to see Kurt for a couple of minutes."

Emma entered the studio quickly, cutting between Terri and Sue and brandishing a portfolio like a shield. Roz followed behind her, heels clacking loudly on the wooden floor and stopping beside Kurt, leaving Emma alone as the buffer between two of the major forces in Kurt's life: manager-cum-guardian ad litem Terri Del Monico, and choreographer extraordinaire Sue Sylvester. Sue sized up the slightly trembling woman before scoffing and rearing back for another scathing remark.

"Plus you've had them for five hours, which is longer than anyone had planned for anyway." Roz continued for the now cowed Emma, double checking a notebook she was clinging to. She glanced quickly at Kurt. "If I hadn't had to climb in through the fire escape after the security code was changed again, I would have been here at two like I planned. Why didn't you send somebody to look for a woman, boy?"

Kurt shrugged and took another swig from his water bottle. It didn't matter to him, really. He just wanted a free day. He wasn't allowed to plan anything exciting for the night, so he figured he was allowed to inconvenience a couple people today of all days.

Terri swore under her breath, putting together pieces of Kurt's schedule in her head. "Jesus, you've had them since ten? When did you expect them to eat?"

"Food is for the weak." Sue responded, turning her back on the crowd of suited women to face the dancers. "Anybody here disagree?"

"Actually, I do." Kurt said, crossing his arms. "There's too much going today for me not to get a lunch break." Maybe if Kurt dropped enough hints, they would figure out that he didn't actually want to do anything work related today. But they probably wouldn't take the hint. His team was nothing if not determined to see him succeed.

Sue shot Kurt a glare he couldn't interpret before rounding on the dancers. "I guess we're finished for now, then. Everybody's free to go. I want the second and third tier dancers back in this studio by five to run the ballad and everyone here at six thirty for a full run-down."

They all moved for their things, heaving sighs of relief for the break. Kurt went to grab his stuff as well, accepting grateful pats on the back from the guys and quiet calls of "Happy birthday!" from the girls.

Jeremiah sat down next to him as he changed his shoes. Kurt smiled at him, doing his best to keep it light. He was never sure what Jeremiah wanted, though he had proven to be a good flirt.

"I don't know how you do it, man." Jeremiah said as he toweled himself off.

"Do what?"

"Handle everything you've got going on with those four constantly at you. We have a hard enough time with Sue, and you've got her, Roz, Emma, and the Del Monster everywhere you go."

Kurt rolled his eyes and sighed. "It is more than I asked for, yeah. But they mean well."

"Sure. Listen, a bunch of us are planning on going out tonight, if Sue doesn't kill us at rehearsal. If they don't have you doing anything, maybe you can find a way out there?" Jeremiah looked out of the corner of his eyes as he put on his street shoes; and was that a small smile Kurt could see?

“Well, if everybody’s going, I’ll have to see what I can do, won’t I?” Kurt replied, smirking as he picked up his dance bag. “For the sake of professionalism and all.”

“Professionalism. Of course.” Jeremiah was genuinely smiling, eyes sparkling. Kurt gave him an appraising look. He was rather good looking. And if Kurt could manage to get some time off tonight, maybe they would get a chance to talk; Jeremiah was one of the nicer dancers in Kurt’s little troupe, after all…

Suddenly, Jeremiah’s face fell. His eyes darkened and he backed away from Kurt so quickly Kurt wondered for half a second if he had suddenly broken out in hives or something. But then he heard the not so quiet throat clearing behind him. Terri.

How much had she seen? Probably a bit, since the studio was pretty much cleared out. Maybe she wouldn’t think anything of it; Emma had told him to play nice with the dancers. But it didn’t matter. Terri would make of it what she wished; more likely than not she would ignore it in favor of whatever project she had in mind.

“See you around, Kurt.” Jeremiah muttered. He gathered his things and hustled out of the studio, Kurt looking on in mild disappointment.

“Well, that was awfully nice of him.” Terri said airily. “But we’ve got things to take care of.”

“Somewhere else, Honey Badger.” Sue called from the door. “My studio’s not for your little schemes.”

Terri huffed and beckoned for Kurt to follow her out the door as she pulled something up on her phone. Kurt followed slowly, fiddling with his own phone as he went.

Terri rounded on him once they were in the hallway.

“We got the movie posters today.”

Kurt slumped against the wall and cheered sarcastically. What did it matter? He hadn’t wanted to film that movie from the very beginning. If there was one thing Kurt hated, it was being dirty. And of course the one role Terri made him take required a lot of dirt. And running around after a baseball. If Terri was expecting him to get excited over the poster, she was sadly mistaken.

“…and now we need you to leak one of them.”

“Excuse me?” Kurt came back to the conversation. “You get me in a movie, don’t let anything about it get out, and now you want me to spread around photos?”

“Exactly,” Emma said, pulling a poster from her portfolio and putting it in Kurt’s face. There he was, filthy and brandishing a baseball bat, Quarter Past sitting squat across the bottom. Kurt grimaced and looked away, not wanting to be reminded of the two months spent in the middle of nowhere without a single device to keep in touch with the outside world. “We’re thinking that having you release pictures out of the blue will cause more of an interest than constant advertising.” She finished.

“So what, you all want me to snap a picture and start up the Facebook group?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. There’re already people on designing the webpages.” Terri answered.

“All we want you to do is tweet the poster.”  Emma clarified, waving it around so the laminate caught Kurt’s eye.

“So this is the special surprise you’ve been making me mention all month.” Kurt finally managed to put the pieces together. What better way to make sure people were paying attention to an announcement than by holding a secret just out of their reach?

Emma nodded, red hair bouncing almost comically. “Just keep the tweet happy and mention the surprise, and tweet a photo of it. Ok?”

Kurt pulled out his phone and snapped a couple of pictures of the poster. After checking with Emma to get the one she and Terri liked the best, he ran through his twitter feed as they turned to exit the building. At least people on twitter (and his dance crew) remembered today was his birthday. There were mentions everywhere; lyric re-tweets and a trending topic (Happy Bday KHummel). That made him smile happily as he typed out his tweet: Wow! Thanks so much for all the wishes, you guys! It’s been great so far. (Well, it hadn’t really been, but they didn’t need to know that. What else was he supposed to do? Oh right, the poster.) And now, for the BDay SURPRISE I promised :)

He uploaded the photo, linked it to the tweet, and pressed SEND. As they got into the car, he decided to drop a couple hints for the producers he knew followed him; he didn’t want them thinking this was the only type of movie he was interested in. Maybe if enough of them sent in scripts without gritty, athletics-and-dirt heavy plotlines, Terri would let him do one of those…

Now in the car, Kurt tapped out another tweet: It’s a little different than what I imagined for my first time out… but maybe there’s something else in the works? ;)

Let Emma, Terri, and his fans make of that what they would.