It’s been a week.

A week since Kurt woke up fifteen years in the future and he’s back at the hospital. Apparently, Blaine and the doctor had made this decision a week ago: if, after 7 days, the memories have not come back, then there might be something wrong.

When Kurt asks the doctor why he wasn’t made aware of this, she sighs sadly.

“We did not want to burden you,” she says and Blaine hums in agreement, “Losing fifteen years of memories isn’t easy to process. There were no signs of immediate danger and your medical history has nothing alarming, so it wasn’t an acute emergency and we decided to let time do its thing.”

“I’m sorry,” Blaine says and he sounds genuinely upset, “I didn’t want to keep this a secret from you, but I just- I tried to do what’s best for you.”

Kurt understands. Ever since Kurt woke up on the kitchen floor, Blaine’s been nothing but kind and accommodating. Besides, Kurt would’ve done the same. Blaine said so himself: there are no helpful guides for this situation they’re in. Blaine’s just trying his best.

So Kurt takes Blaine’s hand and he gives it a reassuring squeeze.

Then he turns back to the doctor and says: “So, what now?”

The doctor looks apologetic. “You must forgive me for the semi-unprofessionalism. These things are relatively unknown to us as well. The best we can think of is an MRI to check your brain for possible damage. We have no reason to believe that you have a case of brain damage, but as I mentioned, we’re also reaching into the dark. Yet, neuroscience has advanced a lot in the past fifteen years, so we just want to be sure.”

Kurt squeezes Blaine’s hand again, but this time because he’s nervous. Blaine gives him a small encouraging squeeze in return.

“We won’t do anything without your consent,” the doctor reassures him.

But does Kurt really have a choice? He wants to know what is going on.

Blaine tells him that he’s going out.

“I have to do some work related things, but I’ve asked some people to come over,” Blaine says, “Rachel and Jesse are coming over.”

Kurt just sighed in response. Blaine didn’t notice.

To be honest, Kurt’s kind of tired from being cut off from the rest of the world. He’s been inside for most of the past week and Kurt still has no TV or Wi-Fi, so he doesn’t have the same access to the world as Blaine.

(“How can you be online the entire time?”

“I have unlimited data, Kurt.”

“Oh, so the whole 3G really takes off.”

“8G, Kurt.”)

Kurt hears the front door open and Rachel’s shrill voice fills the room. Kurt tunes out and he just waits for Blaine to leave. He understands that Blaine is worried and confused, but it’s been a little over a week, and Kurt feels like Blaine’s been treating him as a kid. He’s nineteen. He can look after himself.

Actually, you’re thirty-four, he thinks to himself and he sighs again.

The front door closes and Rachel and Jesse step into the living room. The three of them stare at each other for a long time.

Rachel and Jesse look older. Fifteen years older, to be more precise. Jesse’s hair is a lot shorter and he has shaved sides. He even seems taller, but that sounds idiotic. Kurt gives Jesse a quick do-over. He probably cares more about Jesse now, but to Kurt, he’s still that annoying guy from Vocal Adrenaline. Kurt hasn’t seen him since Nationals, where the New Directions beat Vocal Adrenaline. They didn’t stand a chance, even with the amazing Unique Adams on lead.

He pays more attention to Rachel. Apparently, Kurt’s make-over still holds up, since she’s not decked out in reindeer sweaters. Then again, the clothes that she’s wearing seem kind of odd to Kurt, but fashion has changed a lot in fifteen years. She also has cut her hair short to a stylish bob. Rachel wears a lot of make-up, but Kurt can still see new laughter lines and there’s a poorly hidden scar near her mouth.

Jesse breaks the semi-awkward silence with a cough. To Kurt’s utter surprise and amusement, Jesse holds out his hand. “Kurt, hey, nice to see meet again. I hope you remember me. It’s Jesse St. James.”

Still somewhat amused, Kurt shakes his hand. “Kurt Hummel, but you know that. And yes, I do remember you. We recently kicked your ass at Nationals.”

Jesse’s smile falters for a moment. It’s as if he’s now realising that Kurt truly misses fifteen years of memories. To Jesse, Nationals is long ago. To Kurt, it’s recent.

So Jesse nods awkwardly and says: “That is true.”

“Don’t mind him, Kurt, he’s still hurt by that,” Rachel rolls her eyes dramatically. Rachel doesn’t seem to care about the formalities. Instead, she falls down on the couch and starts talking to him about a rude woman on the subway and how Rachel reacted.

Rachel treats him as a friend, not as the amnesia patient. Knowing Rachel, she might not do it to make Kurt feel better, but because she just wants to talk about herself, but it makes Kurt feel happy. Kurt talks back and he occasionally sighs and rolls his eyes at Rachel’s actions and it feels so familiar. Even fifteen years later, Rachel is still Rachel.

Jesse joins in and the three of them just… talk. They talk easily. Jesse starts talking about how he tried to make dinner and how he ruined it and Rachel laughs loudly, and Kurt feels great.

Even when Rachel brings up the amnesia, Kurt’s already at ease.

“How did you guys meet each other again?”

Rachel takes Jesse’s hand and Jesse smiles at her.

“Broadway,” Rachel answers.

“Broadway?” Kurt exclaims, “You’re on Broadway?”

“Yes, we got cast as the two leads in an upcoming Broadway show, but I, uhm, turned it down.”

Kurt looks at Rachel in shock. Rachel Berry turning down a Broadway show? Maybe Rachel isn’t Rachel after all, but then again, a lot has probably changed in the past fifteen years.

“Look, a lot happened, but I finished my degree at NYADA and by that time, Jesse started directing instead of acting,” Rachel says proudly.

Jesse makes a small bow and Rachel laughs before leaning in to kiss him.

“I auditioned for a show that he co-directed, got the role, and we reconnected.”

Jesse kisses their joint hands and Kurt feels a pang of sadness. To him, Finn has just died, but it’s clear that Rachel has moved on. Kurt quickly pushes the sadness aside, though. It’s clear that she is very happy and that is what Finn would’ve wanted.

“Ah, yes, being famous is amazing,” Jesse says mockingly.

“Sure, because I only married you for the fame!”

At the word ‘famous’, something in the back of Kurt’s mind resurfaces. The day after Kurt found out about Finn’s death, two strangers called him famous. Back then, Kurt was too wracked by grief to care about anything else than Finn’s death, but now he’s curious.

“Rachel, am I famous?”

“Definitely, Kurt,” Rachel says happily, “Blaine wanted to tell you, but he told me that it’s fine if I were the one to break the news. After all, he didn’t trust me to keep my mouth shut.”

Jesse laughs at that. “Yup, he’s right.”

“Kurt, where to start? You’ve done so much.”

“Obie award?” Jesse starts, “His own online accessory line called Hummel Brag?”

“Your Broadway debut was in 2021 after a great Off-Broadway career,” Rachel takes out her huge phone to show Kurt pictures of him on stage. He doesn’t recognise the show, but seeing him on stage makes his heart swell with pride. The photos are also of amazing quality. Can phones do that?

“I did that?” Kurt takes Rachel’s phone in awe.

Jesse gets up and he leaves the room. He later returns holding a small statue. Kurt recognises it immediately.

“Blaine gave me permission to get this out of the office. Yes, I know your office. It might be weird for you, but we’re friends.”

But Kurt isn’t focused on Jesse. Oh no, he’s focused on the Tony awards in Jesse’s hands.

“No!” Kurt yells out in shock.

Rachel’s trying hard to supress her laughter, but she’s failing miserably. Jesse also can’t help but smile widely when he sees the awe on Kurt’s face.

“The Tony Award for Actor in a Leading Role 2024 goes to Kurt Hummel,” he mimics whoever the host was.

Rachel claps and whistles when Kurt takes the statue. Jesse also cheers and hoots. It’s not the lavish ceremony he always imagined, but to him, it feels like the perfect way to win his first Tony.

“We made it?” Kurt is still a bit in shock and awe. He turns the statue around and he takes it all in. A part of him is bitter that he can’t remember it, but with Rachel and Jesse’s happy cheering, it all feels alright. Maybe the bitterness will come back later, but for now, Kurt is proud of himself.

“We all did,” Rachel affirms.

“Maybe now it’s a good time to mention that you’re dating a two-times Grammy nominated musician,” Jesse says casually and Kurt almost drops his Tony in response.

“Jesse, you can’t just casually mention that!” Rachel exclaims, as if she’s reading Kurt’s mind, but Jesse winks at Kurt.

It’s weird. Up until an hour ago, Kurt didn’t even like the guy, but now Jesse’s acting around him with such familiarity and Kurt doesn’t mind at all.

“Blaine is… what?”

“Blaine Anderson is one of the hottest upcoming artists of the late 20s,” Rachel explains enthusiastically, “He self-released his first album in 2025 and it- well, it was phenomenal. He already had a small following after he released two EPs, but this album blew up. His first Grammy nomination happened the same year. It’s almost unheard of. He didn’t win, but he only released his second album earlier this year and got nominated again.”

“Just like you got your second Tony nomination this year!” Jesse adds.

“Not now, Jesse, one thing at the time,” Rachel scoffs.

The two of them bicker for a bit, but it’s more as a joke. Kurt waves to get their attention.

“Wait, I’m on Broadway now?” Kurt asks frantically. If he’s on Broadway, then why the hell is he sitting at home every day?

“Yes. Why the hell would you have a stubble anyway? Your character doesn’t shave as much, but do not worry, Kurt, it is all taken care of,” Rachel puts a reassuring hand on Kurt’s shoulder.

Jesse nods in agreement. “After all, it is my show. But even then, people understand that this is an exceptional case.”

“To the public, you’re out due to unexpected personal reasons, which I guess is correct,” Rachel tells Kurt, “All is well, Kurt. We’re in New York, we’re living our dreams. Trust us.”

Kurt relaxes a little bit. He trusts Rachel and he even trusts Jesse. It’s just a lot to take in. He’s made it to Broadway and so did Rachel.

“What happened to the others? Mercedes, Artie, Tina and the others?”

Rachel smiles widely. She takes her phone again and she shows him a picture of the New Directions. On front, Artie and Mike are holding a banner that says: NEW DIRECTIONS REUNION OF 2020.

As expected, everyone looks older. Puck even has hair. There are also some lesser known faces, which confuses Kurt. He knows that there are new members, but Kurt doesn’t really know them.

“We still see each other regularly. This photo is quite old,” Rachel sounds nostalgic. Then she starts to list everyone’s successes. Artie is a film director, Tina stars in his movies, Mercedes is a Grammy-winning musician, Quinn has an amazing teaching job at Yale, Brittany and Santana have dance and acting careers, Puck’s joined the army after Finn’s death, Mike is a choreographer, Sam is a past model and now teaches… the list goes on.

“Wow,” is all that Kurt can say. He takes the phone from Rachel and he zooms in on everyone’s happy faces. They did it. They all truly did it.

If only Kurt could remember it.

They remainder of the afternoon is filled with talking about the others. To Kurt’s utter surprise, Rachel tells him that Kitty Wilde lives in New York with her boyfriend, and that Kurt and Kitty are close friends.

“Wait, that Quinn wannabe?”

Rachel nods and Jesse tries not to laugh at the ‘Quinn wannabe’.

“We know that from your perspective, you’ve barely seen each other and the impression that she’s given you is not the best. That’s why we decided to not take Kitty and Roderick with us for now. Let it sink in and if you wanna know more, you can call her.”

Kurt makes a face. “I can’t call her. I don’t have a phone. Blaine deemed me unfit.”

“Well, honestly, I can see why. Your Firmspring has been blowing up,” Jesse says and when he sees the puzzled look on Kurt’s face, he adds: “That’s social media. Firmspring is a social media platform that mostly hosts videos.”

“Like YouTube?”

“Ouch Kurt, the loss of YouTube is still fresh,” Rachel jokes, although Kurt obviously misses the punchline. Is YouTube gone?

Jesse rubs his temples in frustration. “Gosh, lemme think. What were big social media platforms in 2012? Is SnapChat a thing already?”

Kurt shakes his head. Maybe it is, but Kurt hasn’t heard of it.

Jesse groans and Rachel rolls her eyes. “Do not mind him. Thinking hurts his brain, since he’s not used to using it.”

Kurt and Rachel laugh while Jesse mutters something in protest.

“Let’s just say that many social media platforms from the 2010s have disappeared, but features have re-emerged in Firmspring. It has aspects of Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and SnapChat and Instagram. After all, the platforms started copying each other’s features anyway, so Firmspring demolished them all by being the most ambitious. Why have multiple social media accounts when you can have one Firmspring?”

The ever growing monopolies kind of worries Kurt, with Springo taking over a lot and apparently, social media is also merged into one platform, but that’s just 2012 speaking.

“Wait. Firmspring sounds a lot like a Springo?”

“Springo Co. owns Firmspring, Kurt.”

Obviously.

“Is there seriously only one social media platform? To me, it feels like social media are just getting started and now they’re all gone? I still have to get used to the many platforms being there.”

“Oh, no, no, Kurt! Facebook and Instagram still exist, but people don’t use it as much, since people have Firmspring. And Tumblr and TikTok are still a thing. They already existed in the 2010s, right?” Rachel asks Jesse, who nods, but looks unsure.

“I think TikTok was late 2010s, though. Or was it early 2020s? Ugh, at one point, there was too much.”

“Google services like YouTube are just gone. Google got wrapped up in 2025, only recently. Uhm, Springo Co. has acquired Twitter and Blytz and immersed it in Firmspring. There are loads of smaller platforms and also local platforms. As Broadway starts, we’re big on Sha-Bash, which is New York based.”

Rachel and Jesse list of more social media platforms, but apart from Pinterest, Kurt doesn’t recognise them. Kurt doesn’t even recognise some discontinued platforms like Caddrop, Pring and Blytz. Kurt is really happy that Rachel and Jesse are telling him so much, since Blaine’s been awfully shy about talking about the past fifteen years, but it’s a lot to take in.

After a while, Blaine returns home and Rachel and Jesse bid their farewells. At least Blaine is there. Kurt can’t fully describe it, but even though Kurt barely knows him, Blaine’s presence makes him feel at ease.

Blaine is fine.