July 2026

Tonight though, Blaine chose to forget everything relating to the disease and Kurt as a handsome man in a suit bought him a drink.

cont.

“You look like you could use some cheering up.”

Blaine looked up from the counter where his fingers were tapping out the beat of the song that was playing on the jukebox in the corner of the bar. The man that stood before him looked out of place in the dingy bar. He raked a hand through his untamed curls and let out a long sigh.

“Yeah, I do actually.”

The man slid into the bar stool next to his, and Blaine tensed immediately at the closeness of their bodies.

“What’ll you have to drink? On me.”

Blaine ordered his usual, a Tonic and Gin, and put all his attention into the handsome gentleman to his right. He learned that his name was Michael. He was a stock broker, had been for the past 12 years. Recently divorced from his wife of 10 years, Rebecca, and had a son that went to school with Emma and was on her soccer team.

The last little tidbit of information made Blaine feel sick to his stomach with remorse. Although Michael was clearly straight, this still felt like cheating. Michael spotted a tall blonde from across the bar and excused himself. Once Blaine had finished off his drink, he contemplated his next move – go back to the apartment, or have another drink. He checked his watch, seeing that it was nearly 11PM and decided on the latter. He spent the rest of the night in the bar drinking his weight in alcohol and venting to the bartender, the drinks getting progressively stronger. The last thing Blaine remembers is downing his fourth, or was it his fifth, Jack and Coke.

He didn’t know where he was, just that he was comfortable. He rolled onto his side as he fought to stay asleep, a hangover hinting at his subconscious. As he slowly drifted awake, he immediately cringed at the harsh sunlight streaming into the room and shielded his eyes. The bed dipped next to him and a familiar fragrance filled his nostrils.

Kurt.

How the hell did he end up back home? He didn’t remember calling for a cab, or even walking back. The only thing he knew right now was that his head hurt and he needed some aspirin and coffee, bad.

“Here. Take these. It’ll help.”

Kurt pushed two aspirin into Blaine’s palm and handed him a glass of water.

“I just put a pot of coffee on. It should be ready in a few minutes. Why don’t you get up and take a shower. Then we can talk about what happened last night.”

Blaine groaned as he set the glass of water onto the bedside table and proceeded to pull the covers over his head. The last thing he wanted to talk about was last night. He didn’t want to argue anymore. That’s all they ever did lately. Most of it revolved around the fact that Blaine’s memory was getting progressively worse. Blaine’s train of thought was interrupted as the blankets were ripped from the bed and he was left cold and covering his face with his hands.

“Come on. Get up. I’ll start the water for you.”

And with that, Kurt got up and left the room. Blaine held his breath until he heard the water of the shower turn on. He let out a frustrated sigh and pulled himself up and out of bed. As he slowly trudged into the bathroom, his mind began to fog and he was suddenly in an unfamiliar home.

Kurt was flitting around the kitchen gathering the ingredients for his famous blueberry pancakes when he heard sock clad feet shuffle across the hardwood floor. He let out an exasperated sigh as he began to mix the pancake batter.

“I thought you were going to take a shower, Blaine.”

“Who are you?”

Kurt froze. No. This wasn’t happening. Not right now. Kurt fixed his face with a soft smile and turned around slowly.

“I’m Kurt. Remember me, honey?”

“’Honey’? Why’d you call me ‘honey’? I don’t know you. Where’s my dad? Where’s Cooper? Coop?! HELP!”

Kurt took a tentative step towards Blaine, who responded by backing away with his hands held up until his back hit the wall. He startled himself and took of down the hallway. Kurt pulled out his phone as he heard their bedroom door slam and called Cooper.

Incoming Call…

Kurt

Cooper’s insides flared as a wave of nervousness washed over him. He squeezed his eyes shut and answered with his most chipper voice.

“Hello?”

Even though Kurt tried to train his voice, it was no use. He couldn’t hide that he’d begun to cry.

“Cooper. He – he doesn’t remember me. I don’t know what happened. We had an argument last night and –“

“Woah. Slow down. What happened?”

“He forgot about my stupid opening night, which you did too, but I’ll yell at you later for that. It’s just – it was so ridiculous. I shouldn’t have gotten mad. I don’t know why I snapped. I think it was just how stressed out I was. I told him not to blame the disease, that he just didn’t care –“

“You know that’s not true.”

“I know but – it was so important to me. And then he stormed out of the apartment and five hours later, a cab came and dropped him off, saying the bartender had called when Blaine got mad for being cut off. He woke up with a pretty bad hangover this morning, so I started a shower for him while I made breakfast. He came out of the bathroom not 5 minutes later asking who I was. He – oh god. He keeps yelling for you and your dad and – Coop. Help. I don’t – I don’t know what to do.”

“It’ll be okay. I’m on my way.”

Kurt hung up the phone and cautiously walked down the hall towards their bedroom. He honestly had no idea what to do. It had never been this bad before. Blaine had never completely forgotten him. The disease had always reverberated back to the early days of their relationship, but never to a point before they’d at least first met. He stopped just outside of the closed door and considered knocking. He thought better of it, slowly opened the door and peaked in the room. The sight he was met with made his breath hitch.

Blaine was curled up on their bed, clutching a pillow to his chest. He was fast asleep with drying tracks of tears on his cheeks as he lightly snored. He looked so small, so fragile. It made Kurt’s heart ache. He closed the door as quietly as he could and made his way back into the living room to wait for Cooper.