Klaine Advent 2018 Day 23: Wire

Dimension twenty-one: Parallel worlds

Kurt has a strange feeling of déjà vu when he wakes up in what looks like his childhood bedroom. It’s the house his dad bought after he and Carole got married and it is clearly his room, but there are some kind of differences.

Just small ones.

He looks out of the window and he sees Lima, Ohio, and he immediately feels depressed at the thought of him waking up in this place. He has to be visiting his dad- he can’t live in Lima. He’s spent so hard getting out of Lima.

He goes to the bathroom to get ready and he catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He immediately looks back at his reflection. He’s older.

Time has always been weird in these dimensions. Sometimes it feels like they’re in a near-future, sometimes it feels like they’re in a different season. Sometimes it feels like nothing has changed time-wise.

But now he’s definitely older. And he’s in Lima.

His worst fears are confirmed when he goes downstairs. There were only slight differences to his bedroom, but downstairs, everything is different. The furniture is his taste, the decorations are his taste, the placement of everything is his taste.

There’s no denying it.

He lives here.

No, he thinks and he sinks to the ground, There can’t be a place where I didn’t get out of here.

After calming down, he decides to get back to business. He has to figure out why he’s here and where to find Blaine. The book said the words ‘parallel worlds’, but that doesn’t make sense. What parallel?

Kurt forces himself to make breakfast. Just because he’s stuck in this situation doesn’t mean that he has to give up. He’ll find Blaine. He’ll find that book. He’ll go home, back to New York.

There’s a laptop lying on the breakfast table and Kurt uses it to learn everything he can. He didn’t get into NYADA, but he also didn’t go to New York to try again. He finds photos of himself at Lima University with Finn and, to his surprise, Rachel.

He now works at a clothing store. He doesn’t even own it.

There are some e-mails from others. Rachel now lives with Jesse in Chicago and she’s a somewhat successful journalist. Santana and Dani are also in Lima, but Kurt can’t find out why. After all, they met Dani in New York.

Brittany? No clue. Absolutely no clue.

There’s an e-mail from Mercedes about Puck. Puck’s been in jail and he recently got out. That’s all he can find on his friends. Mercedes signs her e-mail with Mercedes Jones-Evans, so at least they got together.

There’s also an e-mail from Mr. Schue.

Great. There’s a glee club reunion later today and everyone’s lives are in shambles.

This dimension looks like a dimension where dreams don’t come true.

Kurt isn’t scared to go back to McKinley. After all, he’s done it several times. In the midst of that hell was one small spot of light, namely the glee club. All of McKinley can burn down, except for the choir room and the auditorium.

So he’s not too sad about the reunion.

He just doesn’t want to face the fact that there’s a dimension where they’ve all lost.

Kurt’s about to head out when the doorbell rings. Confused, he goes to open the door, but when he does, it feels like he’s been slapped in the face.

“Ready to go? I can’t wait to see our friends again. Dude, it’s been way too long.”

Finn is standing in front of him, alive and well.

Kurt doesn’t think clearly. Instantly, he slams the door shut. It hits Finn in the face and Kurt can hear Finn yelp in pain. Kurt slides down the door and he starts crying.

This has to be some kind of joke, right?

This is a dream, right?

Kurt has seen over twenty different dimensions and Finn was dead in every one of them, but in this one, he’s alive and well and he’s banging on the door.

“Kurt, open up! What the hell, man!”

Kurt’s spent over a year grieving and moving on. He’s finally at a place where he feels like he can go on with his life. He will always miss Finn, but he’s healed. He’s accepted that Finn is dead and that he is never coming back, and it took him so long to do that, and it hurt so much.

And now he’s banging on his door.

“Kurt, are you- you’re crying! I’m breaking in if necessary.”

Very alive and very well.

He looked older. Kurt only got a small glimpse of him before he shut the door, but Kurt noticed that he got a bit older.

Finn gets to grow older in this dimension.

“I know where you keep your spare key!”

Kurt’s still crying against the front door, but Finn has always been the physically strongest of the two of them. Kurt can hear Finn unlocking the door and the next thing he knows, Finn is pushing the door open, shoving Kurt aside.

“Bro,” he says and he crouches next to Kurt. Finn doesn’t ask questions. He just wraps his arms around Kurt and he lets him cry.

Kurt looks awful. It’s clear that he’s been crying, but he doesn’t care. Finn is driving them and he nervously looks over every now and then. Finn hasn’t asked what is wrong. He just assumes that Kurt will tell him.

But Kurt can’t tell him.

Finn talks a lot during the drive to fill up the silence. He doesn’t expect Kurt to reply, which is a good thing, since Kurt has no idea what he is talking about.

“So Jess kept reassuring me that she really wanted to come with me, you know? I think she’s going to visit mom so that she feels less guilty.”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t want her to feel guilty, so I lied to her and said that most of us probably won’t bring our partners with us anyway. But let’s be real, Kurt. We both know that Jesse will strut into that choir room like it’s his own. I don’t see what Rachel sees in that git. He probably does it cause he thinks it’ll hurt me. Man, I’m over Rachel and she’s not some price to obtain and show off, you know?”

“Uh-uhm.”

“Like, shit, yeah, I kinda had that mindset in high school as well, cause I played with Quinn and Rachel’s hearts as if they weren’t real people, but I learned from my mistakes. Bro, I was such a douche in high school. I can’t believe that some saw me as some kind of hero or leader, cause I sucked!”

Finn laughs a little bit.

“I am also excited to see Puck, fresh out of jail. Is that weird?”

“… uh.”

Finn nods to himself. “Yeah, that is weird. I hope that this time, he’ll really turn his life around. Life’s too short to waste it. It can be over any day.”

Kurt closes his eyes and he tries not to cry. Today is going to be awful.

Mercedes pulls him into a bone crushing hug.

“Oh Kurt, it is so good to see you.”

Kurt hugs her back, since it is always good to see her, no matter what dimension.

Sam does a mock salute and then he takes Mercedes’s hand.

It also becomes clear that Tina and Artie are married in this dimension. Kurt can hear them talk to Puck. They live in Lima and Tina is currently going back to school. Artie is working an office job. They seem extremely pleased, though.

As expected, Rachel and Jesse strut towards Kurt with a lot of confidence. Finn rolls his eyes when Jesse starts talking about the glamorous life in Chicago.

Kurt does a double take when Brittany introduces him to her husband. He has no idea who this dude is, but Brittany isn’t the only one with a spouse Kurt doesn’t know. Santana is happily married to Dani, but Kurt still can’t figure out why they are in Lima.

Mike and his girlfriend are living in Columbus and he’s studying medicine, which surprises Kurt. The biggest surprise is probably the fact that Matt arrives with his wife in tow.  

People keep dropping in and everyone is talking. Kurt listens and there’s one thing he notices: no one has achieved their dreams. Brittany never danced, but she’s a mathematical genius. Instead of following his passion, Mike is becoming a medic. Artie isn’t a well-known director, but he works in an office. Mercedes isn’t a popstar, and Sam was never half naked on a side of a bus, but they seem very content with their simple lives.

In fact, everyone seems very happy with their simple lives.

Kurt… Well, he can’t really wrap his head around it. He talks about his own life and everyone seems very happy for him. Kurt doesn’t have much to say, since he didn’t really look into the life of the Kurt of this dimension, but luckily, others seem to fill in the blanks for him.

Kurt studied design at UoL. Since he never had a back-up plan, he had no idea what to do after he got rejected from NYADA. So he applied for the first study he could think of. Rachel got rejected as well and she did the same. She applied for journalism. Finn is becoming a teacher. It’s not the grandiose dreams they wished of, but they did it.

Finn and Rachel are happy in their respective careers. They’re not successful, but they’re happy. The same can be said for Kurt. Judging by the other people’s reactions, the Kurt from this dimension is very happy.

Joe enters the choir room and people immediately ask him how he’s been.

“Happy,” he says with a big smile.

“Aren’t we all?” Tina says.

Kurt forces a smile.

Everyone in this dimension is happy, even though their dreams didn’t come true. Kurt included.

Kurt takes a deep breath and he tells himself to get over it. This is not his life, and if the Kurt from this dimension truly is happy, then Kurt shouldn’t try to meddle with it. He’s going to put on a smile and he’s going to survive this reunion. All will be fine.

Then, the choir room door opens again. Blaine arrives.

Kurt feels ecstatic. He’s found Blaine. He tries to talk to him, but others beat him to it.

Puck immediately flings an arm around Blaine. “And if it isn’t our Warbler!”

Kurt tries to make eye contact, but Blaine is almost buried in a group hug. Blaine says hi to everyone till his eyes eventually land on Kurt. Kurt smiles widely, but to Kurt’s confusion, Blaine seems a bit hesitant to greet him.

“Hey Kurt,” Blaine says. He says it nicely, but Kurt knows him. It’s a bit hesitant and gauged. Something is wrong.

Kurt doesn’t have time to play these games, so he immediately pulls Blaine into a hug. “I am so glad to see you!”

Blaine tenses in Kurt’s grip, so Kurt let’s go. Something is definitely wrong.

“Uhm, I am glad to see you too.”

“Blaine, is everything alright?”

Blaine tilts his head to the side. He looks like an adorable puppy. A concerned, anxious puppy. “Yes. Sorry, I just- we haven’t seen each other in so long.”

Kurt puts his hand on Blaine’s shoulder, and Blaine tenses again. “Blaine, talk to me? What is going on? I know this is weird, but we’ll soon find the book.”

Blaine swats Kurt’s hand away and Kurt feels hurt. “What book?”

Something is very, very wrong. Is this… is it possible that Kurt got separated from his Blaine? Is this someone Kurt doesn’t know?

When the choir room door opens again, Kurt’s worst fears are confirmed.

“You left your damn bag in the car, babe!”

Both Kurt and Blaine turn around.

That’s not the bag Blaine’s been carrying with him throughout all the dimensions.

“Oh!” Blaine looks a bit embarrassed, but he takes the bag from Sebastian and he leans in to kiss him.

Kurt… well, he feels frozen on the spot. He’s in a dimension where dreams don’t come true. He’s in a dimension where Blaine is dating Sebastian. To make it even worse…

“Let me see it, oh my God!” Rachel basically tackles Sebastian before grabbing his left hand. Sebastian is wearing a beautiful ring. “I still can’t believe you said yes!”

Sebastian holds up his left hand and he wiggles his fingers. “Girl, you better believe it,” Sebastian says and he’s beaming. Blaine looks equally happy.

“Dude, when’s the big day?” Sam yells out.

“Oh, you’ll hear soon enough!” Blaine says, and he’s so incredibly happy, it hurts to see how happy he is at the thought of being engaged to Sebastian.

Everyone is once again talking to Blaine. They’re congratulating him. They’re hugging him. They’re even happy to see Sebastian.

Kurt’s left behind, frozen on the spot. This can’t be happening. This isn’t his dimension, he knows that, but seeing this almost makes Kurt cry.

Mercedes turns around to look at Kurt. She frowns. “Are you okay?”

Kurt shakes his head. “I need some air.”

He leaves the choir room before Mercedes can say another word.

“The bleachers is a terrible place to cry, don’t you think?”

At the sudden voice, Kurt almost topples over. He looks up and he sees a stranger standing next to him. He’s an old, balding man. Maybe he’s a teacher here?

God, it must look pathetic to this teacher to see an alumnus cry while hiding underneath the bleachers.

To Kurt’s horror, the man doesn’t leave him alone. Instead, he sits down next to him and it looks like he’s going to talk.

“Are you okay?”

A part of Kurt wants to give the man a cold shoulder, but if there’s one thing Kurt has learned by now is that sometimes, it is okay to talk about stuff.

“My life is in shambles.”

It is not the full truth, but this is how Kurt feels.

“This is not what my life is supposed to look like. And everyone around me is acting as if our lives haven’t been derailed,” he says sadly, “But the worst thing is that I am without my fiancé. Everything is wrong with this life!”

The man awkwardly pats Kurt on the shoulder. “There, there, Kurt. You’ve just seen a lot of different dimensions, so you were bound to end up in one that’s less ideal.”

Kurt hates that that makes sense, but that doesn’t make it okay. He’s about to say so when he suddenly realises that this man is not supposed to know that Kurt has travelled through dimensions. In fact, he shouldn’t even know his name.

Kurt jumps up in shock and yells: “Who are you?”

The man gets up as well. He dusts off his pants and he holds out his hand.

“I suppose that I am the headmaster of McKinley in this dimension, but I think it’s time to just introduce myself as who I am.”

Kurt doesn’t want to shake it, but the man continues talking.

“The name is Harvey, but I think you know of me by my last name, which is Gilbert.”

Gilbert.

Holy shit, the man is right. There’s been a Gilbert in every dimension. Kurt and Blaine have been keeping track of all the times the name has appeared. They’ve never met, but Kurt definitely knows of him. Kurt slowly shakes Gilbert’s hand.

“You… How do you know about the dimension hopping?”

Gilbert laughs. “Dimension hopping? Is that what you’re calling it? That’s neat.” He then shakes his head while smiling. “I am the reason you are able to travel, or hop, between dimensions. I didn’t create these dimensions, since they all exist without my interference, but I gave you and your fiancé the bridge between them.”

“Are you God?”

Gilbert looks a bit funny. “Do you believe in God?”

Without hesitation, Kurt says that he does not.

Gilbert shrugs. “Then, I am not God.”

Maybe Gilbert is trying to be reassuring, but this entire thing keeps getting more and more complicated.

“What is this dimension?” Kurt asks, “And where is Blaine? My Blaine?”

“Blaine is doing fine, I promise,” Gilbert says, “In fact, I suspect he will be here soon. Otherwise I’ll fetch him myself.”

“Then what is this?”

“This is a parallel world, Kurt. Didn’t you read the book?”

“I did,” Kurt immediately says, “But why is this place so terrible?”

Gilbert looks around. “Is it? Sure, no one has bothered to clean the spots underneath the bleachers, but apart from that, it’s not too bad.”

Kurt groans in annoyance. This man is playing a joke right now. Gilbert surely must understand what Kurt is referring to.

“You know what I mean, old man,” Kurt snaps, “This place is garbage. My dreams don’t come true, I am stuck in Lima, and Blaine is engaged to Sebastian!”

“And your brother is here,” Gilbert says and Kurt can feel the annoyance leave his body.

Finn is alive.

“… why would you put me through this?” Kurt asks eventually. He’ll always miss Finn, but he hasn’t been confronted by Finn’s death in ages. Kurt is moving on.

Gilbert looks sympathetic. “Again, Kurt, I do not make these dimensions. The universe has a strange way of doing things. But isn’t it good to see him again?”

“Of course!”

“But?”

“But it hurts!” Kurt yells out, “It hurts to see a version of your brother living a life that your brother got robbed off!”

Gilbert hands Kurt a small handkerchief. Kurt hadn’t even noticed that he’d started crying, but now he can’t stop. Gilbert rubs his back while Kurt cries.

“You know, Kurt… the version of you is incredibly happy with his mediocre life,” Gilbert says.

Kurt blows his nose and says: “Good for him. This isn’t my life, though.”

“I just hope you realise that alternatives aren’t necessarily a bad thing. You’re driven, and that is admirable, but there’s much more in life that focusing on your career,” Gilbert continues, “You’re incredibly busy. It’s okay to take time off as well. If you want to, you can even stay here and see it for yourself.”

Kurt shakes his head without hesitation. “I understand what you’re saying, but I want to go home.”

“Very well-”

“But I want to say goodbye first.”

Kurt finds Finn in the hallway. Finn smiles when he sees Kurt approaching.

Without missing a second, Kurt pulls Finn into a tight hug.

“Dude, you’ve been weird all day,” Finn says.

“Just… emotional, I guess,” Kurt says and he holds Finn in his grip, “Today has been a day filled with emotion and nostalgia and thinking about what could’ve been.”

“Are you dying?” Finn asks.

“No.”

“Am I dying?”

He’s joking. Kurt can hear it in his voice, but Kurt uses all the strength he has left to stop himself from crying. Oh God, if only Finn knew. He tightens his grip.

“No,” Kurt says. It’s not a lie. Finn is not dead in this dimension. Finn has a future in this dimension. He has career opportunities and he’s dating. He’s alive. He’s living the life that got robbed from him in Kurt’s own dimension. “I just love you a lot, okay? Don’t ever forget that.”

“Love you too, little brother. Don’t you ever forget that.” This time, Finn is the one who tightens the grip. Finn obviously doesn’t know what is going on, but he loves Kurt.

With great reluctance, Kurt let’s go of his brother and he looks at him one last time. He walks away from him and he waits till he’s far enough before he starts to cry. At least this time, he got to say goodbye.

He walks back to the bleachers. Gilbert will be waiting for him there to take him back to his Blaine. His dimension. He knows he could stay here. He knows he can watch Blaine be happy with someone else while also finding his own happiness. After all, the Kurt from this dimension is happy, even though his dreams didn’t come true.

After all, Finn is alive here.

But Kurt wants to go home. He wants to go back to his own Blaine, who’s probably looking for him as well. He wants to go back to their own dimension.

A dimension without Finn.

It feels like an awful trade. Blaine for Finn. But he has the feeling that Finn would understand and if he were given the choice between Kurt and the love of his life, Kurt would’ve wanted Finn to pick the latter.

“Kurt?”

Kurt turns around. Blaine’s standing there, looking worried. It is not his Blaine. This Blaine doesn’t love him, but Kurt still pulls him in a hug.

Blaine’s a bit taken aback, but instead of tensing, he hugs back.

“Goodbye, Blaine,” Kurt whispers.

“We’ll see each other again, Kurt,” Blaine says, sounding a bit confused.

“Of course,” Kurt lies. He won’t see this Blaine again and he doesn’t want to. He pulls back. “Say hi to Sebastian for me.”

Blaine’s looking as if Kurt’s speaking another language, but he nods. “Will do.”

Kurt awkwardly pats Blaine’s shoulder. “I should get going.”

Blaine has a weird look on his face, as if he wants to say something. Kurt waits for Blaine to find his words, but just when it looks like Blaine’s about to say it, he nods.

“Bye,” Kurt says again.

“Bye.”

Kurt walks away and he continues his small trip towards Gilbert. He looks back one last time and he sees Blaine looking sad and Blaine slowly shakes his head. This is the dimension of failed dreams and what could’ve been. It looks like Blaine’s realising it as well, at a different extent.

Blaine is genuinely happy with Sebastian and he’s very excited about their upcoming wedding, but there’s always a ‘what if’.

They could’ve been together.

But they’re not.

“Get me home.”

Gilbert nods knowingly. He snaps his fingers and everything arounds them starts changing. The bleachers disappear. It’s white. There’s only white.

Kurt and Gilbert are standing in this white area and the book is floating in front of Kurt.

“You can still go back,” Gilbert slowly says, “You can still try to make sure that the Kurt and Blaine from this world become a couple. Again, the Kurt from this dimension is extremely happy here. I know you might not believe it, but he is.”

Kurt nods, but he doesn’t want to.

“Blaine, this Blaine, is happy,” Kurt says solemnly, “He’s happy without me. I know he’s not my Blaine, but that is all I want for him.”

Gilbert nods.

“Are you, though?”

Kurt sighs. “I will be, as soon as my Blaine appears.”

Gilbert smiles. “Your wish is my command.”

***

Katy Perry’s voice is blasting from his radio alarm. Blaine snoozes it. He loves himself some Katy Perry, but he’s tired.

He can’t stay in bed for any longer, because Katy Perry starts playing again. Blaine gives up and he rubs the sleep out of his eyes.

He’s not in the loft. He’s in a very spacious and luxurious bedroom and the furniture is just his taste. He gets up and he’s wearing the silkiest pajama’s he’s ever owned. When he wants to get dressed, he sees that his wardrobe is filled with very expensive clothing from big brands.

Blaine likes this dimension so far.

There’s only Kurt missing. God, Kurt would die for this wardrobe. More reason to find him as soon as possible.

As always, in order to start his search for Kurt, he has to figure out where he is. He draws the curtains and he sees New York. It’s quite a view. The apartment he owns in this dimension is so luxurious, he has the perfect view of New York. It’s a real glow up from the loft. He leaves the bedroom to explore the rest of the apartment and Blaine quickly concludes that it is the apartment of his dreams.

He eventually finds a second bedroom, but instead of a bed, the room is flooded with trophies. Blaine’s eyes widen when he sees the Grammy’s, the Emmy’s and the Tony’s on the highest shelf.

He is successful. Holy shit. Blaine goes back to his kitchen to have some breakfast. He gets some coffee and something small to eat. An iPad is lying on a kitchen counter and Blaine immediately starts Googling his own name.

His Wikipedia page is long and very detailed. He doesn’t have time to read it all, but he gets the gist of it. He studied at NYADA, but dropped out after he got offered a Broadway main role. He won a Tony for Best Actor in a Musical for it.

Apart from his musical career, he has an entire music career. He won his first Grammy at twenty-one. He’s also won an Emmy for writing original music for a TV show and he’s won an Emmy for his own acting.

It’s a lot.

All his dreams come true. The Blaine from this dimension has got it all.

Blaine looks around. The kitchen is huge, luxurious, but very empty. He’s got it all, except for someone to share it with. It’s very clear that Kurt does not live here and his ‘Personal Life’ section on Wikipedia confirms that he’s single.

Blaine picks up the iPad again. He has the idea to Google Kurt. Even if Kurt isn’t famous, he must have some social media. He chugs his coffee and he types in Kurt’s name in the search bar, and as expected, Kurt pops up in the results.

A satisfied smile appears on Blaine’s face when he sees that Kurt has some success of his own. Kurt is an equally successful Broadway star and he has his own acclaimed fashion line. Blaine wants to read more about Kurt’s success and his personal life, but then the doorbell rings and a voice speaks over the intercom.

“Blaine, I’m coming up!” Wes says, “It’s the big day!”

Not a few minutes later, Wes knocks on the door and Blaine lets him in.

Wes starts laughing when he sees that Blaine’s still dressed in his pyjamas and that his hair is a mess. “Is this how you plan on going to the red carpet?”

Red carpet?

Of course, Blaine can’t let Wes know that he has no idea what is going on, so Blaine laughs it away and says: “Look, I slept through my alarm. I am a huge mess.”

Wes nods and he falls down on one of Blaine’s expensive couches. “Well, as your manager, it is my job to make sure everything goes well today. It’s time for you to show off that you deserve another Tony nomination. Luckily, it’s not as high profile as the actual award shows, but the make-up people will arrive in an hour, so you better get dressed. Trent put a lot of effort in the outfit.”

An hour later, people are doing Blaine’s hair and make-up. According to Wes, this little Tony Awards thing isn’t even that big, but for Blaine, this is huge. He’s never been in a position where people are doing his hair and make-up.

Wes keeps talking about the entire event.

“You’ve done this several times, you know how these things go! Just smile and chat with the others. Please tell Lin to reschedule your meeting next week, though. It clashes with the schedule, now that we have that last minute performance on the Late Night show.”

Blaine almost drops his jaw at the thought of him having a meeting with Lin-Manuel Miranda, or cancelling it.

“Oh, and Neil and David asked you to come over to their little house party, but I am not sure if that’s gonna work out, since you are also meeting Oprah the day after, and you need to be awake to meet Oprah.”

Okay, that’s even more extraordinary. What’s next, the Obamas?

“And Idina is still talking about the movie pitch. You need to call her back so that she can put in a good word. I can’t believe they’re making another Frozen movie, but it might lead to the ETOG in a long run.”

Okay, not the Obamas, but Idina Menzel is also a big deal.

Wes snaps his fingers. “Oh, how could I forget!” he yells out, “Michelle still wants to know what song you’ll be singing at her book party. She explicitly told me to not ask Barack for a song suggestion, so in my eyes, it’s all up to you.”

Never mind.

Wes stops talking about the big names, which is a nice break, since Blaine needs some time to process all of this. Blaine can’t believe there’s a version of him with all this happiness. Sure, he’s always hoped for success, but actually experiencing it feels great. If only Kurt were here to share this with him.

The stylists finish the hair and make-up routine and Blaine quite likes his hair this way. Maybe he should switch it up when he goes back home. Blaine changes into his outfit. It’s not too formal, but it looks very good and proper.

When everything’s set, Wes asks to see Blaine in the bedroom.

“I am going to remind you of something you don’t like,” he says when Blaine closes the door, “You ready?”

“Uhm. Sure?”

Wes takes a deep breath.

“Kurt is going to be there, obviously, since he’s nominated as well.”

Blaine nods and he feels relieved. He now knows how to find Kurt. They only need the book and the objects, but they’ll discuss it at the event.

“Okay,” Blaine says.

Wes looks a bit confused. “You know… Kurt Hummel? Your ex-”

Wait. What?

“-who you’re still in love with, but you dumped him in order to focus on your career?”

Wait.

He did what?

“He’s gonna be there with Adam Crawford, the man he’s happily married to?”

WHAT?

“What?!” Blaine yells out.

Wes sighs sadly. “Yeah, I know. You knew he was going, but I guess I need to remind you just to be sure. You’ve been doing so well lately, and the last thing I want for you is some kind of relapse.”

Blaine wishes Wes would elaborate on Blaine dumping Kurt, but Wes just shakes his head and then the phone rings, telling them that the car is here. Wes ushers him downstairs, into the car, to the event.

The event is a lot to take in. According to Wes, it’s a relatively small thing, but for Blaine, this is a lot. He talks to the press. He poses for photo’s with his cast mates. He does fun trivia for Playbill and he gets to say “You’re watching the Broadway.com show!” for Broadwaycom’s YouTube channel.

It is very hard to improvise his answers, since he has no idea what show he’s in. Sure, he knows the title, but it’s a new Broadway show that he’s never heard of, so he keeps giving generic answers.

After all the formal red carpet stuff and some moving speeches, the guests can do whatever they want. Waiters and waitresses walk around with snacks and there’s a bar. Blaine sets out to find Kurt.

He eventually finds him with Adam. Blaine thinks it’s a bit weird that Kurt is casually talking to Adam, but maybe Kurt doesn’t want to give the Adam from this dimension the wrong impression.

Blaine taps Kurt on the shoulder, and when Kurt turns around, his face falls.

“Can we talk?” Blaine asks, eyeing Adam. This isn’t The Good Place, where they can get away with telling the truth.

But Kurt looks pissed and says: “No.”

Adam has a very protective look on his face and he takes Kurt’s hand. Kurt lets him.

“No, Kurt, this isn’t- it’s about the book, you know?” Blaine tries again.

Kurt looks confused and even more pissed. “Blaine, who the hell do you think you are? You are in absolutely no way entitled to my life, so don’t act like it. You dumped me, remember? And frankly, I’m glad you did, cause otherwise I wouldn’t have met the actual man of my dreams.”

Kurt holds up their joined hands and Blaine stares at them in shock. Then it hits him.

This isn’t his Kurt.

Blaine slowly backs away. “I… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I…”

He trails off and he turns around. He walks away in a quick pace and his mind is reeling. This is the Kurt from this dimension and not only that. This Kurt hates him! Or the Blaine from this dimension. Whatever happens, Kurt hates him.

And it’s Blaine’s own fault. He let him go. He was selfish.

Someone grabs him by the arm and turns him around. He hopes it’s Kurt, but it is Wes and he looks a bit livid.

“What the hell, Blaine?” he whispers angrily. They’re in the middle of a crowd filled with Broadway A-listers, but no one pays attention to them.

“What?” Blaine whispers back, sounding irritated.

“You talked to Kurt?” Wes asks incredulously.

“So what?” Blaine says. He doesn’t want to think about it.

“I’ll tell you ‘so what’, Blaine. I was there when all of this went down, remember?” Wes whispers, “I was there to help you move out of the loft. I was there when Kurt cried angry tears, because he felt so betrayed. I was there when your depression kicked in because you realised what you’d done. I was there when you tried to smile during your first Grammy win, but you couldn’t, cause the album was filled with desperate pleas towards Kurt to forgive you. I was there to stop you from swallowing all those pills!”

Blaine starts feeling really uneasy and he looks around, but everyone is still in their own conversations.

“Kurt has moved on, mate,” Wes says, but he sounds less angry. In fact, he sounds sad. “You were doing so well. You were slowly moving on too. I know you’re unhappy, but we are going to change that. Opening old wounds isn’t gonna help.”

He loosens his grip on Blaine’s arm.

Blaine forces himself to nod.

The Blaine from this dimension has everything, but he’s unhappy.

“I… I’m gonna need some time alone.”

Blaine breaks free out of Wes’s grip and he disappears into the crowd.

In a place filled with press, it’s difficult to find a quiet place, but Blaine manages to find an empty room and the moment he shuts the door behind him, he starts to cry.

He hasn’t felt this miserable in ages.

Not only is Kurt happy without him, but he also doesn’t want anything to do with him. Blaine can’t blame him, since Blaine was awful towards him. What kind of selfish person is he in this dimension? Why would he easily break off with Kurt because of his own career? Blaine wants all of this, but with Kurt at his side.

The door slowly opens and Blaine attempts to dry his tears.

“You okay?”

Blaine nods and he looks up and he-

Well, he almost falls over.

He knows this man. He recognises him immediately, even when this man is wearing sunglasses.

It’s the shop owner. It’s the man who gave Blaine the book.

“Who are you?” Blaine yells. It’s a bit impolite, but Blaine is shocked.

The shop owner smiles kindly. “I guess I am the bouncer, but let’s be honest, Blaine. Would you believe me? I am an old man!”

He chuckles and he closes the door behind him.

“Who are you?” Blaine asks again.

“Oh right. We haven’t formally introduced ourselves towards each other. My name is Harvey Gilbert, and I gave you the access to all these dimensions.”

The shop owner holds out his hand and Blaine shakes it. Then it dawns upon him.

“Hang on, you’re-”

Gilbert nods enthusiastically. “I know you kept track of the mentions of my name. You and Kurt are very clever. I knew you two were the right people to send on this little adventure. Speaking of Kurt, I am here to take you home.”

“You’re taking me back to Kurt? My Kurt?”

Gilbert nods. “Your Kurt. He’s waiting for you. Do you want to come with me, or do you want to stay?”

Blaine frowns. Why the hell would he want to stay here when he can go back to his Kurt, who does love him? Blaine’s sure of it. After hopping from dimension to dimension, Blaine knows for sure that Kurt loves him, since Kurt puts an equal amount of effort in finding Blaine as Blaine puts in finding Kurt.

Why would he go back to a world where Kurt doesn’t love him like that?

He desperately wants to leave, but there’s one thing he has to do.

“Let me apologise to someone first,” Blaine says and Gilbert nods in agreement.

He texts Wes to meet him in one of the hallways of this building, since Blaine doesn’t feel like going back to the crowd. Wes finds him quickly.

“I’m sorry!” Blaine blurts out before Wes can even say anything.

Wes takes one look at Blaine and he throws his arms around him. Blaine slowly starts to cry from exhaustion. It’s been one hell of a day.

“I know you said all of that because you’re worried about me,” Blaine says, “But I will be okay. I’ve got you, and I should listen to you. You’re my best friend, Wes.”

Wes doesn’t say anything back. He just hugs Blaine tighter.

“Thank you, Wes, for always looking out for me.”

“You’re welcome, mate.”

The two men stand in the hallway, just hugging, until Wes pulls back. He also has tears in his eyes, but he seems relieved.

Blaine dries his tears.

“Alright. Ready to go back in?” Wes asks cautiously.

“I’ll be back in a second,” Blaine lies. Or maybe it isn’t a lie, but the Blaine Wes will see again is the Blaine from this dimension.

Wes doesn’t seem convinced, but he lets it slide. Wes goes back to the actual event and Blaine turns around, so that he can make his way back to Gilbert.

He slowly starts walking away.

“Blaine?”

Blaine stops in his tracks.

Kurt is calling for him. Blaine doesn’t turn around. He doesn’t want Kurt to know that he’s been crying.

“I’m… Well, I can’t really say that I am sorry,” Kurt says slowly, “But maybe I shouldn’t- I mean- Yeah, you’re right. We should talk, but not now. But you’re right that we should at least give ourselves closure.”

Blaine nods. He knows Kurt can see that he’s nodding.

“So, uhm, yeah. I’ll contact you, if that is okay?”

Blaine nods again.

“Right. Okay.”

Blaine can hear some shuffling, but eventually, he can hear footsteps walking away.

“Wait!” he yells out, before Kurt’s gone.

“Yes?” Kurt sounds farther away.

“… are you happy, Kurt?” Blaine asks sincerely.

There’s a small moment of silence, until Kurt answers: “Yes, very.”

Kurt is happy without Blaine.

Blaine takes it for what it is.

Blaine enters the quiet room again, and Gilbert is cleaning his sunglasses. He looks up when he hears the door opening.

“You can go back and make Blaine, this Blaine, happy,” Gilbert says kindly, “And I am not saying that it will be an easy thing to do, because depression is, as the young kids say, a bitch and it will not yield easily, but it will get better. You can help him with that.”

But Blaine shakes his head. “I… don’t think I should interfere.”

Gilbert shoots him a puzzling look.

“The Blaine from this dimension has a great support group, and I believe wholeheartedly in him. Besides, what if I interfere and I make Kurt unhappy in the process?”

Gilbert looks even more confused. “What do you mean?”

“Kurt is happy here and why should I change that?”

“But you aren’t.”

“But he is,” Blaine says back.

Gilbert puts his hand on Blaine’s shoulder and he looks very serious. “Blaine, isn’t this the behaviour that you have to unlearn? Putting your own happiness on the line for his?”

Blaine can understand Gilbert’s concern, but it’s different now.

“Again, I fully believe the Blaine from this dimension can be happy without Kurt, like Kurt is happy without Blaine. I don’t want to jeopardize his happiness in any way. I’d rather go back to my own Kurt where we can continue being happy together. Right now, I just want to go home.”

The concern slowly leaves Gilbert’s face and suddenly, the scenery starts to change. The venue slowly fades away.

Everything goes white and Blaine closes his eyes. When he opens them, Kurt’s running towards him and he basically throws himself at Blaine.

Kurt. His Kurt.

“I am so happy to see you,” Kurt says and Blaine holds him tight.

Blaine looks at Gilbert and asks: “What was all this?”

His voice cracks. Why did Blaine have to see a world where all his dreams came true, but where he didn’t have Kurt? He hasn’t felt this miserable in ages.

“These parallel worlds showed you what could’ve happened,” Gilbert answers quietly, “They were wired in opposite directions. Kurt saw a world where dreams don’t come true, but how it doesn’t stop happiness. You, on the other hand, where thrown into a world where all your dreams came true, but you lost Kurt in the process.”

“I got that, yeah,” Blaine says bitterly, although he’s a bit surprised that Kurt was in a completely different place.

“And despite everything, despite the fact that you two could change things in these worlds, you decide to leave them as they are. Why is that?” Gilbert looks at the two of them.

“I am not happy, but Kurt is, and that’s what matters,” Blaine answers.

“Blaine is happy in this world and I wouldn’t change that,” Kurt says.

They speak at the same time. Kurt pulls back out of his embrace and the two of them stare at each other.

Gilbert smiles and says: “Very well.”

He plucks the floating book from the air and he hands it to Kurt and Blaine. Kurt opens the book. There are no new objects. This time, they don’t need them. He flips the page and both Kurt and Blaine looks at each other in shock.

“Is this real?” Blaine asks Gilbert.

“Very real.”

“We get to go home?” Kurt asks hopefully and Gilbert nods.

“Your journey is over, lads. It is time to wrap it up.”

As he says it, the words ‘The End’ start to grow. It is finally time to go home.