character :: Kurt Philipp
Kurt was going to be okay. He had to be: it was in his contract. His job was to take care of all of Bentley Hale’s arrangements from the age of 13 up; for a teen raking in enough money to keep his struggling family in the green, however, it would be just fine. He could do it.
So, when middle school came and went, high school brought all kinds of new disturbances for Kurt. Bentley was becoming unstable; almost every night Kurt did his homework for him, he refused to eat on-set, and when Kurt was dog tired and ready to sleep: Bentley was animated and livid about some new injustice. Kurt watched a bright-eyed young boy turn into a dead-eyed adult far before his time, and frankly Kurt was worried. He brought up the concerns to Bentley’s aunt and uncle, both of whom brushed his behavior off as a teen acting out. Kurt wonders if they felt that way after Bentley’s first suicide attempt?
than my darkness
Kurt fell apart when he walked in to discover Bentley, overdosed on some prescription or another. It was he who called the ambulance, he who begged doctors to keep him under their watchful eye, and he who was punished and almost fired for making a big deal about the emotional outburst. Kurt watched Bentley self-destruct as the assistant-turned-keeper begged for legal help from his guardians. All Kurt got in return was a newly written contact making him swear secrecy on any and all self-harm or suicidal behaviors he witnessed. It was clear they cared about Bentley’s money more than his life, and this devastated Kurt. So, he took his job to a new level; he ostracized himself from his former friends, from family and from any possible partners as he poured every moment into Bentley. God knows someone needed to.
What Kurt discovered as a teen when he walked in on Bentley almost dead that night was a deep love for the boy he had been assigned to keep an eye on. What at first seemed like a great part-time job for a poor family who needed some extra money became a passion that kept Kurt going, even when the person he loved the most stood on the edge of the hotel threatening to fall.
When Alex Grüber swept Bentley off his feet in one particularly breathtaking photoshoot, it was bittersweet for Kurt. Bentley was laughing for the first time in so long, relieved for the first time since childhood…but it wasn’t with him. But, Kurt swore to do the right thing by Bentley, no matter what that meant – so, when Bentley went to Germany to be with Alex after two years of sobering up and settling down, Kurt said goodbye to his beloved.
The money that Bentley left behind in Kurt’s name did very little to soothe his aching heart – the longer Bentley stayed away, the harder it got. Therapists didn’t help him. Accepting another job as an assistant to some other boy toy didn’t help. Dates, hookups, even the drugs or the liquor couldn’t help him. Kurt called Bentley one night, slurring a confession: I need help. I need you.
The next morning, Kurt woke up with a hangover and a knock on the door – imagine Kurt’s shock when a disheveled Bentley stood out of breath on the other side of the door. The world stopped spinning and the tables turned when the caretaker became the patient, and Kurt found himself locked inside the arms of the one he loved so dearly. Suddenly, the world of paparazzi and media glamour that had been so far away came crashing back down on them both – back in the good ol’ USA.
There’s no telling where this story will go, and how it will end. Kurt, a broken man with a dark case of depression is now at the care of the boy that had once been so desperate he saw no other way out. Secretly, Kurt knows that Bentley will come to resent him for his problems…but for now, just the right now at least – Kurt is on the mend.
