Kurt swore as a loud knock on his apartment door woke him up from his nap. He groaned and quickly jumped out of bed, wishing he had time to actually look at himself before opening the door. Who knocks before calling anyway? He didn’t have anything being delivered so it made no sense why someone was knocking. He walked out of his bedroom and rushed into the living room, swinging open the door. Then he blinked.

There was a girl standing in front of him. A very, very short girl with red hair flowing down to her waistline looking up at him with a panic stricken look. “You must be Kurt,” she breathed, hastily pushing past him into the apartment. Kurt’s mouth parted as he stared at this girl, who couldn’t be more than 19, that just very rudely forced herself into his apartment. “Where’s Rachel? I need to talk to her.”

Kurt cleared his throat, then schooled his features into a bitch face. “Would you mind explaining who you are and why you just barged into my apartment before I call the police?”

“Cady,” she answered, as if that name would ring a bell. She looked anxious and full of energy and decided that her name was enough and started peeking around the apartment, looking for something that’s not going to be there.

“What are you doing?” Kurt snapped, but it didn’t do anything to make her stop walking straight to Rachel’s room and opening the door. He decided that that was definitely not okay and he grabbed walked right towards her and grabbed her by the arm. “You can’t do that.”

“Where is Rachel?” She asked again. Then, didn’t wait for an answer before picking up her phone and dialing a number. She tapped her foot as she waited for the other person to pick up. She gave a groan of frustration when no one did, but she waited for the voice mail to go on. “Blaine, I’m really worried about you and no one at work knows what’s going on. You just disappeared. I have none of your friend’s numbers so it would be really nice if you answered and explained yourself.”

“Blaine?” Kurt practically squeaked. How did this 19 year old girl know Blaine?

“Why do you think I’m here?” she rolled her eyes at him. Then, Cady took it upon herself to plop down on his couch and sighed dramatically enough to win a Tony. “When he didn’t show up for my vocal lesson last night I knew something was up but then he didn’t show up for work today. I asked if any of them knew what was going on and they said he hadn’t been showing up. They are going to fire him.”

Kurt was listening to all of this, obviously, but it still didn’t explain how or why she was in his apartment. “How do you know where I live?”

“Rachel is pretty much Blaine’s only friend in the city, other than me, and I’ve walked her here once or twice because my apartment’s a few streets down,” Cady explained. “I thought maybe she would know where he is. Any chance you do? I know you haven’t talked to him in years-”

“How do you know that?” Kurt asked, feeling suddenly defensive. A girl he’s never met before should not know anything about his life.

She looked taken aback for a second. “I am so sorry,” she apologized, a look of realization dawned her face. “I get super rambly when I’m nervous or worried and-”

Kurt closed his eyes in attempt to keep his cool. “How do you know that?”

“Blaine’s my friend,” she replied calmly. Then, “he talks about you sometimes.”

“Oh,” Kurt swallowed the lump that had grown in his throat. “I’ve been completely avoiding your questions. I’m sorry. Rachel is at rehearsals. Opening night is in 3 days. But I do know what happened to Blaine.”

She sat up a little straighter, clutching her phone in her lap. “Really? What? It’s not bad is it? Is he okay?” At that, her face fell. Her eyes flickered with something and Kurt immediately recognized that look. That fear that only comes when you’ve lost someone close to you.

“He got in a car accident,” he told her. Then, regretted starting with that. Cady looked sick as soon as he said that. “But he’s okay!” A sigh of relief. “By okay, I mean alive. He’s physically pretty good as well, managed to get away with a broken arm. But his head- he lost 7 years worth of memories.”

The look of relief went away, and she deflated. “He doesn’t remember me,” she choked out. “My only real friend in this goddamn city doesn’t remember me.” Kurt didn’t know what to say to her. He had not thought about this. He didn’t think how all the new people Blaine had met since moving here would be affected by this. Blaine probably didn’t think about it either. He didn’t remember them to let them know. “Kurt, he’s like a brother to me. I have to see him.”

“Cady, he’s not in New York,” he tried to keep his voice steady but it was hard. This wasn’t an easy topic for him either. “He went back to Ohio to be with his mom and regain some familiarity.”

“God, and no one told him to call work? Did the hospital not have his contact list?” She crossed her legs on the couch and put her head in her hands. Kurt tried to let the fact that she just put her feet on his couch with her shoes still on not bother him, but did the girl know no manners? “Wait. They probably contacted the other place he works at. Dammit.”

“Do you work at the restaurant or the theatre?” Kurt asked. He remembered her mentioning getting singing lessons, so he didn’t understand how she could work at either if she couldn’t already sing.

“The theatre,” she told him. “I do most of the weekend performances since I’m a college student. But during the summer I do full time there.”

“That’s how you met Blaine?”

“That’s how I met Blaine,” she nodded her confirmation. “I moved to New York right after I graduated high school. The theatre was new and was looking to hire a dramaturg so I gave it a try because I needed money. It’s not cheap to live here, especially by yourself at 18 years old.”

“Why not just live in the dorms? Where do you go to school?” Kurt looked at her quizzically, knowing he wasn’t getting the full story.

“Pace,” she answered. “But I could only stay in the dorms for the school year. I had to get my own apartment if I wanted to live here all year round.”

“Oh,” Kurt decided not to press. Everyone’s got their reason for getting out of their small town and nobody ever wants to tell that story, especially to an almost complete stranger. “Well, um, I can call Blaine for you. He will probably answer me.”

“You guys are talking again?” Cady asked, tilting her head.

“That’s one way to put it,” Kurt sighed. “Give me a minute.” He walked to his room where he had left his phone and picked it up before walking back out to the living room.

As soon as he called him, Blaine picked up. “Hey, Kurt,” Blaine said as he answered.

“Hey,” Kurt responded and then glanced down at Cady, who looked mildly offended. Most likely because Blaine answered for him and not for her. “So, the hospital never told the theatre company you work with that you would be out. A very angry 19 year old came to my doorstep demanding to see you.”

“I don’t think I know any 19 year olds,” Blaine’s voice grew concerned. “Which is because I don’t remember anyone new that I’ve met in the past 7 years. God, I’m an idiot. And an asshole.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because I’ve gotten phone calls from multiple random people that I didn’t recognize the name of and I didn’t answer. No one left a voicemail until like...5 minutes ago. I hadn’t checked it yet. Don’t people just text these days?”

“The voicemail was left by the teenager in question,” Kurt explained. “Also, you’re not an asshole. You’re going through a hard time right now. You don’t have to answer to everyone.”

“I still owe people an explanation,” Kurt heard Blaine sigh through the phone. “So...who exactly is this 19 year old again?”

“She works with you in the theatre and is apparently really good friends with you,” he told him, once again glancing down at Cady, who was rubbing her hand up and down her legging-clad thigh nervously and looking up at him expectantly. “Would you mind talking to her...just to reassure her?”

“I guess that would be fine,” Blaine didn’t sound completely sure and Kurt couldn’t blame him. What were you supposed to say to some girl you don’t remember who thinks you are her best friend? Kurt handed his phone over to Cady, who eagerly put it up to her ear.

“Blaine?” her tone suggested that she didn’t completely trust that it was him, but only a few seconds later, her face flooded with relief. Kurt could not hear what Blaine was saying on the other line but it wasn’t hard to guess because the relief on Cady’s face vanished into something sadder. “I understand. Kurt told me what happened and I-I know this must be really hard for you. I’ll um, stop calling if that’s what you want.” A pause. Then, her face lit up. “Really? When will you be back?” She waited for his answer and Kurt wished he could hear what Blaine was saying. “Okay, well, I can’t wait to see you again! And I hope you feel better and all that. Want me to put Kurt back on?” She nodded her head at whatever Blaine said in response and then she handed Kurt the phone.

“Hello?” Kurt said once the phone was back to his ear.

“That was weird,” Blaine replied and Kurt could practically see Blaine scrunching his nose. “I told her I would like to get to know her again once I came back to New York. But I don’t even know when that’s going to be and now I feel bad about all the other friendships that I left there.”

“It’s not your fault,” Kurt assured him. “And according to her, you only have like 2 friends here anyway.”

“I said pretty much!” Cady shouted so Blaine could hear. “You have more than that!”

Blaine laughed and shouted back, “thanks!” and Kurt had to move the phone away from his ear so the shout didn’t burst his eardrum. Cady grinned at Kurt.

“Maybe you can call me later?” Kurt suggested even though he was actually dreading talking to Blaine because it always wound up turning into a serious conversation he didn’t want to have. “I still have to deal with this teenager situation.”

“I’ll be twenty soon enough,” Cady interrupted again. Kurt just rolled his eyes at her.

“Okay,” Blaine agreed. “I’m helping Sam out with glee until like 6. I’ll call you sometime after.” Blaine hung up, once again leaving Kurt to deal with this mysterious new friend of Blaine’s. Except she wasn’t exactly a new friend of Blaine’s if they’ve been friends for over a year.

“Do you want me to walk you to your apartment?” Kurt asked, ready to get this girl out so he can have some peace and quiet once again.

“I can walk myself home,” she stood up from her spot on the couch. Kurt finally had the chance to really look at her, she had to be shorter than Rachel but he couldn’t exactly tell because Rachel wore a lot of heels these days. She wore black boots that reached right below her knees and wore leggings that were three years out of style. She was in a t-shirt that said “I solemnly swear I am up to no good” which was a very clear Harry Potter reference and a grey zip up hoodie. Kurt could always tell a lot about a person by their choices in fashion and he could tell that she did not dress to impress. “Would it be too much if I asked for your number? I’d like to be updated on Blaine.”

“No, you can have my number,” he agreed and put his hand out so she could give him her phone. She tapped at her screen for a few seconds before handing it over to him and he quickly put in his contact information before handing it back to her.

“Um, thanks,” she smiled at him. “And uh, sorry for barging into your apartment like that. I was just worried.”

“Huh. I would have thought that was something you did frequently,” he cracked a smile. She didn’t seem like a terrible person. He probably would have done the same thing if he was in her situation.

“Nope, I’m actually a much more logical thinker but when it comes to someone I love, that seems to get tossed out the window.”

“I get it,” Kurt said, and he really did. He wasn’t an impulsive person, he liked to analyze the situation ahead of him but sometimes there are situations in life where you just don’t have the time or the heart to be able to do that. “You know what? Why don’t you stay for dinner? I have no one to eat with tonight and it wouldn’t be fun to get chinese takeout by myself.”

“I don’t have any money on me,” she looked dejected. Kurt understood what being a college student was like, especially being a college student living in a New York apartment. It wasn’t cheap.

“It’s on me,” he promised her. He honestly really didn’t feel like eating alone tonight. He had friends in New York, of course, but they were all very busy friends with very busy lives. And he couldn’t exactly call up his high school friends to come have dinner with him, they were all over the place now.

“Alright, I guess I’ll stay. I do love me some chinese food,” Cady sat back down on the couch and Kurt sat in the chair that was next to it, pulling up the app that lets him order online. He knew he was treading in dangerous territory with having Cady here, he could learn so much more about Blaine’s life through her that he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know. He made Rachel swear off all things Blaine a long time ago and she always respected that but Cady never promised anything. He couldn’t help but at least be a little interested now that Blaine is temporarily back in his life until he gets his memory back. He knows how to handle this Blaine, this is a Blaine he knew. But what will happen when Blaine gets his memories back? What better way to learn how to handle the person Blaine is now by talking to Blaine’s newest best friend?

Blaine was nervous about talking to Kurt again. Kurt finally seemed a little more open with talking to him and that felt really good, but what did it mean? He spent hours the night before feeling sick to his stomach with the dawning realization that Kurt doesn’t love him anymore and they might never get back together. That probably still is true but now Kurt wanted to talk to him again and maybe be friends with him again.

Friends was good. Friends was a step towards the right direction. But Blaine didn’t think he could handle being just friends with Kurt, not with how he felt. He could barely be in the same room with Kurt without feeling like he was going to burst because he couldn’t touch him. And now...now his stress was through the roof with the added fact that he still has a life in New York that he pushed aside so he could be in Lima. A life that he can’t just throw away because there are people that care about him there. He apparently had a best friend that he didn’t even know the name of. What kind of person was he if he just threw that away so he could be more comfortable in Lima?

He pushed his thoughts away and focused back to watching the glee kids perform on stage, Sam was doing such a good job with them and he was deeply impressed. After moping around yesterday, he called Sam and said that he would try to come watch again and this time he actually made it into the choir room without panicking. They were performing a song that Blaine had never heard before, which he found was common now since he can’t remember any song since 2012. It was a show tune which wasn’t odd for New Directions, one of the girls was being featured while the rest of the members danced and hummed around her. Blaine was impressed by the power and emotion in her voice and it reminded him of Rachel.

He closed his eyes as the final verse in the song played out.

“She is messy but she’s kind

She is lonely most of the time

She is all of this mixed up and baked in a beautiful pie

She is gone but she used to be mine.”

Blaine usually doesn’t get emotional while watching other people perform, but he couldn’t help the tear that trickled down his face. The performance was so well done and the song was so beautiful and he was so proud of Sam for putting all of this together.

He opened his eyes and saw Sam beaming at his group of students. “That was beautiful guys! I am so proud of all of you. Stacey, you were amazing. You’re all dismissed. If you want, meet me at Breadstix in 20 minutes because I’m treating you all to dinner because that was one of the best performances I’ve seen from you guys.” The students all whooped and cheered and hugged each other and Blaine wished he could have that again. Have that sense of community with his fellow students and he thought he did, until he woke up with 7 years of his memory missing.

Sam walked up to Blaine, grabbed his hand and pulled him out of his seat. “How was it?” Sam asked him.

“That was beautiful, Sam. You are really doing amazing things with those kids. That performance belonged on broadway,” Blaine clapped his best friend on the shoulder, but then decided to pull him in for a hug. “I’m so proud that you pulled all that together.”

“Thanks, man, that means a lot to me,” Sam pulled away from Blaine. “And it was on broadway.”

“I know the song was,” Blaine laughed. “What is it from, by the way? I’m going to have to look into this musical. The song is beautiful.”

“Waitress,” Sam informed him. “It’s called ‘She Used to Be Mine.’ It was actually written by Sara Bareilles. Rachel saw it a few years ago...with you, actually. You two didn’t stop talking about it for like two weeks straight.”

“I wish I could remember,” Blaine shrugged his shoulders. This was just another thing he had to deal with.

Sam looked at him sympathetically. “It’s okay, it’s just a musical.” Rachel would have probably punched Sam for saying that but Blaine knew he was just trying to make him feel better.

“Thank you for letting me watch,” Blaine smiled at him. “But um, I actually have a phone call to make. So, I’m gonna run.”

“A phone call to who?” Sam asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Kurt,” Blaine admitted.

Sam nodded his understanding. “Just...be careful,” Sam said. “I know you love him but I don’t want you hurting anymore than you already are.”

“I’ll be fine,” Blaine assured him. “Thanks, Sam.”

“No problem, I’ll text you later,” Sam promised him. Then, Blaine walked out of the auditorium and out of the school. He had driven his mom’s car to McKinley since he didn’t have one here anymore and he didn’t want to bother Sam to pick him up. He drove back to his house and said a quick hello to his mom before going upstairs to call Kurt.

“Blaine! Hi!” Kurt said upon answering, he seemed to be in a better mood than he was earlier. “How are you?”

“I’m okay,” Blaine told him. “Actually, I just got back from watching the New Directions perform. They are so amazing, Kurt. You wouldn’t believe how incredible it was to watch them on stage. They made me cry.”

“I go to Nationals every year, I know,” Kurt chuckled. “Sam is a magic worker.”

“He really is,” Blaine agreed. “I mean, the New Directions were always amazing, especially when you were in it, but now they are all so...professional.” Kurt didn’t respond right away and then Blaine realized what he said. He totally just flirted with Kurt without meaning to. He couldn’t help it, he still loved Kurt and when you love someone, you tend to praise them.

“I miss it,” Kurt finally said. Blaine almost sighed in relief that Kurt didn’t call him out. He didn’t want to ruin their conversation before it even started. He really needed to start watching what he was saying. “New Directions, I mean. I don’t miss the drama, of course. But we were all so close back then and I haven’t seen so many of them in years. God, the last time I saw Quinn was four years ago. Puck I only see because he visits my dad sometimes-”

“Where’s Finn?” Blaine asked. He knew Finn had left for the military but now that was so long ago, he didn’t see why he wouldn’t continue to stay in contact with his brother. He thought it was strange no one had mentioned him since he woke up. Blaine heard a choking sound come from the opposite line. “Kurt?”

“Nobody told you?” Kurt gasped into the phone. “You were in Mckinley, you didn’t see the plaque?”

“The plaque?” Blaine shook his head, confused. What was Kurt talking about?

“Blaine,” Kurt’s voice cracked. “Finn passed away six years ago.”

Blaine didn’t remember it happening, but somehow in the shock of hearing that, he had dropped his phone. He could hear a muffled voice coming from it but all the sudden he felt very sick and he rushed to the bathroom, hurling up all that he had eaten from that day. He heard someone open his door but he didn’t pay attention because now he had a searing pain in his head as memories flashed in his mind.

There was a phone call, the same disbelief he was feeling right now. A funeral. Holding Kurt as he sobbed in his arms. The memorial at McKinley. Clutching onto Kurt’s hand as they watched alumni of New Directions sing songs in memorial of Finn.

Blaine wasn’t as close to Finn as the rest of his friends, but he was still important to him. And he was Kurt’s brother. Kurt already lost his mom, how could the universe tear his sibling from him too?

He snapped out of the flood of memories rushing in him and became aware of his mom’s arms around him, rocking him softly. She was on the phone, he realized, talking to Kurt. Kurt must have called her after Blaine dropped his phone. “I’m okay,” Blaine sniffled, wiggling away from his mom.

“Hear that, Kurt?” Pam said into the phone. “Okay, I’ll put him on.” She handed the phone to Blaine.

“Sorry,” Blaine mumbled when he put the phone to his ear. “I just- hearing that triggered some memories.”

“I should have told you that in person,” Kurt sounded like he had been crying. Blaine wished he could hold him again, it would make this hurt less. “Or at least someone should have told you well before now so you wouldn’t accidentally find out yourself by seeing the plaque at McKinley.”

“It’s okay, nobody probably even thought to tell me about it,” Blaine wasn’t offended nobody told him, especially if it was that long ago. He was just upset that Finn got taken away from this world way too young.

“That doesn’t make it okay. I’m sorry you had to find out like this.”

“I’m sorry this happened to you.”

“Blaine, it happened to all of us,” Kurt said. “And it was a long time ago.”

“I’m going to go,” Blaine told him. Blaine just wanted to cry right now and he didn’t know how much Kurt would appreciate him doing that over the phone. “Thank you for talking to me and telling me. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” Kurt replied and hung up the phone. Blaine looked up at his mom and handed her phone back to her. She just put it on the floor so she could wrap her arms around him again and he instantly started crying again.

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” she whispered in his ear and started rubbing at his back. “You shouldn’t have to go through this again.”

He didn’t reply and just let his mom comfort him for what seemed like hours until his crying finally came to a stop. “I miss him,” he said after letting go of his mom.

“Kurt?” she asked. He nodded. “I know, honey. But you can’t keep coming back and forth. I love you but if you want to go back to New York, you have to stay there.”

“I don’t know if that’s what I want.” He didn’t care about the city, he just wanted Kurt.

“Think about it, okay?” She waited for his nod before she stood up and reached her hand out to help him stand up. He grabbed it and pushed himself off of the floor. “I’m going to go make you some dinner. I’ll bring it up here for you. I love you.” She kissed his cheek and walked out of his bathroom and out of the bedroom.

He walked back into his bedroom and picked up his phone from the floor and put in on his nightstand. He crawled back under his covers where he seemed to be spending most of his time lately. He still felt devastated from finding out the news about Finn but some of his memories were back now and even though they were sad memories, getting them back was good news. His memories were slowly coming back. He was going to remember his life again. But he didn’t know how much he wanted to remember a life where Kurt wasn’t in it.