Hospitals are terrible, especially when people don’t communicate.

Blaine handed Kurt some clothes and he ushered him out of the door. Then, Blaine hailed a cab to the hospital with his phone. The doctors don’t seem to know what is happening.

The nurses ask him simple questions, like his name, his age and his address. They also ask him questions about the current president of the United States, Lady Gaga’s latest hits and something called a tik tok.

The questions are fairly simple, but Kurt’s answers only worry them. Although, Kurt is very worried to hear that Sue Sylvester is the current president. He does not want to know how that happened.

After a few hours, the doctor tells him what is going on. Blaine is standing in the room, watching him. He’s been silent the entire time and he doesn’t want to meet Kurt’s eyes.

“Amnesia?” Kurt asks in shock.

“Amnesia,” the doctor confirms.

“So, it isn’t 2012?” Kurt asks, but he already knows the answer. He hates to admit it, but it makes sense. Everything around him is different. It explains the flatter phones, the different fashion sense, the unfamiliar ‘hit’ songs on the taxi radio, and the fact that he no longer lives with Rachel and Santana.

Wow, he wasn’t blackout drunk from a couple of beers. He has a huge case of amnesia.

It sounds unreal, though. Amnesia sounds like something from a Hallmark Christmas movie. Kurt’s always known that amnesia was real, but amnesia wasn’t supposed to happen to people like Kurt.

“No, it isn’t 2012,” the doctor says sadly.

Kurt looks towards Blaine, who’s still looking away. “Then, what year is it?”

The doctor seems to hesitate for a second, but then she says: “2027.”

2027 doesn’t sound like a real number. Kurt’s from 2012. He’s still processing the beginning of the 2010s, and now he is nearing towards the 2030s.

Yikes, the 2030s. The 2020s already seem so far away. Kurt has allegedly lost 15 years of his life.

Oh God, Kurt is in his thirties.

The nurse hands Blaine some papers and he signs it. Despite everything, they’re letting Kurt leave. They’ve been here all day and there’s nothing they can do. Kurt wants to remind everyone that he’s an adult, so that he is fairly capable of signing the papers himself and going home on his own, but he doesn’t even know where home is.

So Kurt just sits in a plastic hospital chair and he listens to Blaine and the nurse.

“It’s best to bring him to a familiar environment,” the nurse tells Blaine.

“He thinks it’s 2012, for Christ’s sake,” Blaine mutters as he hands the papers back to the nurse, “Nothing is familiar for him. He probably never experienced the rise and fall of Vine. I’m cutting off the Wi-Fi.”

Blaine is probably right, since Kurt has no idea how plants could rise and fall. Kurt just keeps his mouth shut and he watches how Blaine and the nurse cover all the formalities. After a short moment, Blaine turns to face Kurt.

It’s the first time he’s looked at Kurt since they left the apartment. His eyes are sad, but when Kurt smiles at him, Blaine smiles back. Kurt is incredibly confused, but he happily follows Blaine home.

Blaine takes out his incredibly flat phone and he taps an app. At least Kurt knows about smartphones and apps. Social media and new technology soared in the past few years and it seems like they will keep soaring. Probably everyone has a smartphone in 2027.

Wow, 2027.

A few minutes later, a taxi appears in front of the hospital and the two of them get in. Blaine gives the driver the address. They start driving, and yet another unfamiliar song starts playing.

Blaine is sitting next to Kurt, and he’s humming along. Even the taxi driver seems to bop along with the music. Kurt is just sitting there, silently, since he can’t know this song. It’s just a simple song, but Kurt is so tired of not knowing what is going on.

After a while, he looks around. New York is as lively as always. The familiar billboards advertise unfamiliar products and brands, but New York pretty much looks the same as he knows it. At least, New York still feels like home.

He looks back at Blaine, who’s still humming softly and absently.

After a while, Blaine notices Kurt’s staring and he raises an eyebrow.

“Tell me about yourself,” Kurt says.

Blaine looks a little bit startled, but then he smiles and holds out his hand. “My name is Blaine.”

“Kurt,” Kurt says and he shakes Blaine’s hand, “So, what is going on here?”

“Well, you lost your memories, but you know that by now. But uhm, yes, my name is Blaine. I like music. I am originally from Columbus, just like my dad. My mom is from the Philippines. I came to New York around ten years ago. We’re, uhm, friends.”

“Just friends?” Kurt asks incredulously. Kurt has seen the way Blaine looks at him. Kurt knows why he woke up in the same apartment as Blaine. Blaine signed his papers. Blaine apparently knows his dad and his friends.

Blaine laughs when Kurt waggles his eyebrows. “Okay, boyfriends.”

“How long?” Kurt asks.

“Eight years,” Blaine answers, “We’ve known each other for ten. We met on my first day in New York, and I pretty much fell in love with you, but you were dating someone else.”

Eight years? Wow. Kurt really has spent eight of the past fifteen years with Blaine. He’s kind of in shock, but also in awe. In his eyes, he’s never had a boyfriend before, and now the first hot guy that he sees tells him that they’ve been together for eight years.

Kurt half expects to see a ring on his finger, but it isn’t there.

“Does that bother you?” Blaine asks when Kurt remains silent.

Kurt shakes his head. It’s kind of scary, that’s true, but how can it bother Kurt? “I told you, you’re hot.”

Blaine laughs again.

Kurt slowly reaches out for Blaine’s hand, but Blaine pulls away.

“You don’t have to,” Blaine tells Kurt.

“I know,” Kurt says, “But I want to.”

Blaine looks a little bit sceptical, but Kurt means it. Blaine carefully takes Kurt’s hand and it’s as if these hands are meant to hold each other.

“Fearlessly and forever,” Blaine says silently.

Kurt doesn’t know what Blaine is referring to, but it sounds very nice. The remainder of the trip, they hold each other’s hand.

The apartment seems bigger, now that Kurt knows it belongs to him. It’s also quite big for a New York apartment. And this place has actual walls, so it is a definite upgrade from the loft that he’s currently sharing with Rachel and Santana.

Well… currently.

The furnishing is tasteful, but there are some weird colour schemes and choices. Kurt assumes that it’s Blaine’s doing. After all, they apparently have been together for eight years.

“Is this really where we live?”

Blaine chuckles as he walks past Kurt. “Yes, love.”

Kurt freezes at the word ‘love’, but Blaine doesn’t seem to notice, so Kurt lets it slide. This guy, Blaine, loves him. It makes Kurt feel weird. Not bad weird, but not good weird either. He wasn’t lying to Blaine when he told him that Blaine’s love doesn’t bother him and that he’s willing to try, but it’s a lot to take in.

“How long have we been living here?”

“Five years,” Blaine yells from the kitchen, “We were thinking about moving next year around springtime, but we still enjoy living here.”

Blaine returns from the kitchen and he’s holding some… photos? Blaine’s holding them upside down, so Kurt can’t see it properly. He’s glad to hear that people still use photos fifteen years into the future.

“What are you doing?” Kurt asks him.

“I don’t want to overwhelm you,” Blaine says, “I hope you don’t mind that I am going to take some things down. Hopefully, you’ll regain your memories soon, so in the meantime, I don’t want you to feel too overwhelmed. Do you want me to stop?”

Kurt shakes his head. He understand what Blaine’s talking about. Just being in this apartment is already overwhelming. Kurt has already seen tech that he doesn’t recognise.

Blaine goes upstairs and Kurt decides to look for a mirror. Blaine can keep a lot of things hidden for him, but not Kurt’s face. Since it’s getting dark outside, Kurt tries to catch his reflection in the large windows, but the lights inside make it difficult for him.

He goes back to the hallway and as expected, one door leads to a small bathroom. Kurt turns on the lights and he properly sees himself.

He’s thirty-four.

Kurt should be freaked out by the laughter lines that he doesn’t recognise, or the weird parting of his hair, but he focuses on the layer of stubble. He reaches out to his face to touch it.

It looks hideous. Kurt’s always cleanly shaved and he can’t imagine that in the future, he’d change that. It feels weird.

He hears a laugh and he catches Blaine’s reflection in the mirror.

“You hate it,” Blaine says, “Glad to see that you still hate it.”

“Why?” is all Kurt can say while he’s rubbing his stubble.

“If it makes you feel any better, you look great with it.”

“Why?” Kurt says again.

“Let’s just say that it’s a job requirement.”

“I have a job?” Kurt blurts out. In the reflection, Blaine nods.

“You’re thirty-four,” Blaine deadpans, “No worries, Rachel is taking care of it, so you don’t have to worry about going to your adult job without any preparations.”

“Do you have a job?” Kurt asks him. Jobs, apartments, long lasting relationships… All these adult things shouldn’t be on Kurt’s mind, but they’re here.

“I am my own boss,” Blaine says, but he doesn’t explain more, “Do you… I mean, do you want to watch a movie?”

“Is this your pick up line, or what?”

Blaine grimaces. “Look, I don’t really know what to say to my amnestic boyfriend who doesn’t even know me. We can also delve deep into our personal lives, or we can watch some Netflix.”

“Netflix?” Kurt asks. He’s heard that name somewhere, but right now, he can’t place it.

Blaine furrows his brow. “You know Netflix, right? I think Netflix became a thing around 2011, but I’m not sure. That was ages ago.”

Not for me, Kurt wants to say, but instead he says: “It sounds familiar, but I don’t know what it is.”

He follows Blaine back to the living room. There’s a huge television and it has apps. Wow, even televisions have apps in the future. It is probably connected to the internet as well. Kurt knows that smart devices are upcoming, so it’s nice to see that some things last.

Blaine starts Netflix and Kurt suddenly realises it’s that new platform for watching television shows on demand. “Oh, this!”

“Netflix is victorious. It beat the others in the streaming war,” Blaine says. He sits down and he waits for Kurt to join him on the couch.

“Would it be ironic to watch a movie about amnesia?” Kurt asks and to his delight, Blaine barks a laugh.

“Too soon, Kurt.”

“I’m going to sleep in our office,” Blaine says. Kurt appreciates that.

Blaine gives Kurt a small tour of the remainder of the apartment, but he skips the office. Apparently, Blaine has stored all the photographs and other overwhelming things in the office, so that place is off-limits for the time being.

They end up in the bedroom. Their bedroom.

“Left side is yours, but honestly, we don’t care,” Blaine says when he opens the door.

Kurt almost laughs when he sees the bedroom. It’s so apparent that Kurt and Blaine have different styles. The living room already felt like a mix between two personalities, but the bedroom really shows the contrast.

Kurt steps inside the room and he looks around some more.

He likes it. It truly shows two people co-existing in one space. After all, Kurt apparently shares this home with this man. It’s only fair that he can also express himself. Kurt would never use such a colourful palette.

He turns around and he feels his stomach drop. His mother’s dresser is located against the wall. Relief washes over Kurt. In the midst of all this confusion and unfamiliarity, his mother’s dresser is something he knows. Seeing it makes Kurt instantly feel more at ease.

“You know where to find the bathroom and which toothbrush is yours,” Blaine says. He’s leaning against the doorframe. “Do you, uhm, like it?”

There’s a hint of hope in his voice. Blaine’s wondering if the bedroom is triggering any memories. Kurt has to disappoint him. “I do. Are those bowtie patterns yours?”

“Yes,” Blaine sounds a little bit disappointed, but Kurt pretends that he doesn’t hear it. The two of them stare at each other awkwardly, until Blaine coughs. “Well. Goodnight, Kurt.”

“Goodnight, Blaine.”

Blaine leaves without saying another word. Kurt waits till he’s gone before rushing towards his mother’s dresser. He knows that Blaine loves him, so he probably won’t judge him, but Kurt doesn’t like feeling vulnerable in front of others.

Kurt opens some of the drawers and he tries not to cry when the familiar scent hits him. It’s faint, but it’s still there.

“Mom,” he cries out and he starts to sob quietly. At least his mother is still with him.