Kurt and Blaine are out on a small stroll through Bryant Park. Blaine decides to get some hot cacao from a vending stand, so Kurt gives him a small kiss before sitting down on a park bench near the fountain.

“Kurt, is that you?” he hears.

A man is looking at him. He has dark hair, some piercings, and he has a short beard. He has a very excited look on his face, and Kurt’s almost worried that he’s a fan. Every so often, Kurt and Blaine get recognised, which is very weird since Kurt doesn’t even remember becoming famous.

But then the man says: “Oh man, I haven’t heard from you in ages! Then again, can’t fully put the blame on you. I like your hair! It’s old school, dude.”

He sits next to Kurt and unless this is a very obsessed fan, this man is far too calm and casual. Most of the time, fans ask how he’s doing (“Still ill, unfortunately.”) and then they ask for a selfie.

“How are you?” Kurt asks. If they are supposed to know each other, then it’s best to act that way. Does this man know about the memory loss?

“Oh, life is crazy. Touring is so fulfilling, but it is also so tiring. Blaine can probably vouch for that,” the man answers. Okay, so he knows Blaine as well. “But it is great to see fans all around the country. Like, we know we’re just a small group – we’re nothing compared to you and your soon-to-be-husband – but it is so great.”

Okay, this man definitely knows Kurt and Blaine well, since he knows about the wedding.

“But hey, Dani told you that you’ve gotten sick, that’s why you’re on a leave?” the man sounds a bit worried, “If the amazing Kurt Hummel is on a leave from Broadway, you know something’s up. I read the statement on your Firmspring. Unexpected problems in your personal life, or something? That sounds rough, sorry to hear that.”

Every so often, Kurt wishes he could remember something. He doesn’t have a say in what he can remember and what he has forgotten, but he often just wants some control. This is one of those moments. Kurt studies the man. He looks very open and kind. From what he’s said, he obviously knows Kurt and Blaine well enough to be invited to their wedding, but not well enough to know about the memory loss. He’s probably a musician, since he’s touring and he’s comparing it to Blaine’s touring.

“I’m sorry, but I-”

“Hey Elliott!”

Both Kurt and the man (Elliott?) turns to see Blaine standing there. He’s holding two Styrofoam cups of hot cacao.

“Blaine, man, how’ve you been?”

“Been better,” Blaine admits easily, “I thought you’d still be on the road by now. Didn’t you and Dani plan on a small vacation at the end of the tour? After all, you two and the band One Three Hill have a busy schedule.”

Kurt and Blaine’s eyes meet and judging by the look in Blaine’s eyes, Blaine knows that Kurt can’t remember him, and that this man doesn’t know about the memory loss.

Kurt nods shortly and he lets Blaine fully take over the conversation. Sometimes, Kurt chimes in with generic responses like “That sounds great!” or “Glad to hear it” or “Wow, that is awkward”, while Blaine does most of the substantial talking. Kurt notices that Blaine puts a lot of emphasis on random facts, so that Kurt can follow along without Elliott noticing that there’s something off.

“Oh yeah, remember Marry The Night, Kurt?” Elliott asks.

“I wish I were there,” Blaine immediately cuts in, “Kurt’s told me a lot about your initial audition for the band that later would become One Three Hill. I’ve heard it was great!”

Even if Elliott thinks it’s weird that Blaine is stating obvious facts, he doesn’t let it show.

“Marry The Night was indeed great,” Kurt lies easily. Is it a lie? Kurt just can’t remember it being the truth.

“The fans love to hear me cover it,” Elliott sounds proud, “Remember when Gaga herself retweeted me? Oh, Twitter, rest in peace. We’re still working on a new band name, so maybe we should name ourselves after Twitter as an homage.”

“Since you guys are no longer One Three Hill, now that Kurt’s left the band,” Blaine clarifies.

“Exactly! One Two Hill sounds dodgy, in my eyes.”

“Well, so does a band named after Twitter,” Kurt points out. He shoots a thankful look towards Blaine when Elliott isn’t looking.

“It’s a work in progress, Kurt,” Elliott says and he reaches for his phone, “Ah crap, gotta head home. Luke’s making an early dinner and I lost track of the time.”

“Go home to your husband,” Blaine says so that Kurt can follow along. Okay, so Elliott is married.

“It was nice to catch up, guys. I know communication has been kind of awry lately, with me and Dani being on the road, and Kurt apparently getting sick, but if we have time, we could hang out and grab some coffee.”

“Definitely,” Kurt says and he means it. He really likes Elliott. Blaine hums in agreement.

The moment Elliott is out of sight, Kurt turns to Blaine. “Okay, what the hell was that?”

“Uh, that was us catching up with a friend?” Blaine sounds a bit confused.

“If he’s a friend, why doesn’t he know about the memory loss? Apparently, he’s invited to our wedding, Blaine. We only invited friends to our wedding.”

Blaine looks stricken. “Look, I have completely forgotten to tell him, or Dani, or Luke, or Clara, or Macy, or Joey, or Ross, or Monica, or Phoebe or- Oh god, I’ve also forgotten Isabelle. Should I have told Isabelle?”

“What?” Kurt exclaims loudly, which causes some people to look at them, “Did you just list the characters from Friends?”

“We just happen to know people who share their names with the characters of Friends,” Blaine says, and he also looks around, “You definitely know the Rachel.”

When Kurt sees that one person is filming them, he turns away. Blaine notices as well. Ah, that is the downside of fame and advancements in technology. People can see, hear, film, and track you everywhere outside the comfort of your own home. Even when you go rogue, like Kurt, others can capture you on photo of video and post it on Firmspring.

Luckily, even the most advanced phone camera’s cannot pick up sound from such a distance, so Blaine waves at the fan and then whispers to Kurt. “Let’s go home.”

On their way home, Blaine starts to talk, but he keeps his face cheery, just in case someone films them. Kurt and Blaine do not want to end up in the celebrity gossip tags of Firmspring or Sha-Bash. Kurt still hasn’t looked on his social media, but sometimes he hears Blaine sigh sadly while he’s scrolling through his timelines and feeds.

“Kurt, you know a lot of people,” Blaine says, “I just- Do you really think that we managed to personally let them all know what happened? You have work friends, college friends, people you bonded with on the train and became friends with… I didn’t mean to forget, but when you woke up without fifteen years of memories, my first thoughts weren’t ‘Oh boy, I have to remember to tell all those people!’. When I saw you talking to Elliott, I almost dropped the hot cacao when I realised that I had completely forgotten him.”

“From what I’ve gotten, Elliott and I are great friends who go way back to our college times,” Kurt points out.

Blaine nods. “But he’s also been out of the city for months and we haven’t heard from him, so he slipped under my radar. Does that bother you?”

Kurt takes Blaine’s hand to show that he’s not mad. “I understand. If it weren’t for Rachel or Kitty, I don’t think my glee club would’ve even known. It just makes me feel uneasy, knowing that there are people like Elliott, who I’m supposed to know, but I don’t.”

“Yeah.”

“Back there, you were so helpful, though. You helped me so much by leading the conversation and by filling in the blanks for me,” Kurt tells Blaine, and to his relief, tensions leaves Blaine’s body. By now, Kurt has learned that Blaine needs reassurance, instead of distance, so Kurt tries to be more open and less judgemental as well. “Thank you, truly. But you’re not always going to be there, so I guess I’ll have to figure out what to do if I meet someone when I’m on my own.”

“If only there was a way to tell all the people you care about at the same time,” Blaine grumbles.

Kurt looks up to look at the wires stretched all throughout the city. He can think of a way to do that, but Blaine is not going to like it.

“I don’t like this.”

“Well, I’m not looking for your approval.”

“I know, but are you sure about this? Not just people who know you personally will know. Everyone will know. Everyone, Kurt. Not just our friends who share the same names as the ones from Friends.”

“Blaine, I know that I’m from a time where social media are only at a starting point when it comes to how far it reaches people, but I know that this means everyone with an internet connection. I’m doing it. I contacted Rachel and Jesse to avoid risky PR stuff. I wrote this. I can do this.”

“Alright. But let me read it one last time.”

DECEMBER 10 2027, 5:36PM

kehummel posted a text post

Hello everyone, it is me, Kurt Hummel.

Apparently, that is how I start all my text posts on Firmspring and it sounds ridiculous. It sounds a bit self-centred, don’t you think?

I am writing this post as an update. As many may know, I have gotten sick and that has prevented me from being on Broadway. Unfortunately, this isn’t an announcement of my return. It’s an explanation. We kept the details of my illness vague, since we all expected it end soon, but after five months, we have to face the music: I might not get better anytime soon.

Long story short: I have an extreme case of memory loss. I don’t remember being on Broadway. I don’t remember meeting my fiancé (guys, I am engaged!?). I have lost fifteen years of my life.

Yes, that is a lot to take in. That’s also why I’ve gone radio silent. I am from the time of Twitter and YouTube. Vine isn’t even a thing yet. So, Firmspring is one big pile of confusing mess for me. It’s weird to think that I have such a big internet presence at all. These whole e-celeb things have just started going big.

Oh, Blaine just reminded me that e-celebrities are called influencers. When did that happen?

I can assume that you have a lot of questions, but I don’t have a lot of answers. I am barely grasping it myself, but I have reached the maximum amount of patience. I cannot wait any longer. This amnesia thing is obviously putting my life on hold, but the longer I wait, the longer everything is stuck in time.

There isn’t much to say. I can’t tell you what the future holds for me. I’ve debated whether or not I should post this, but after talking to people (including Blaine, Rachel and Jesse), I’ve decided to post about it so that I can explain my absence.

Since I don’t know what is going on in my life, I don’t think I’m coming back to the social media world anytime soon. I know that I’ve gotten quite an online following, but I don’t even know how to use most of the features on my phone, so I’m letting Blaine do the cross-posting to Sha-Bash.

Really, I don’t have anything else to say. Thank you for your patience and support. I cannot believe that I have fans. I even have a Tony Award! Blaine has shown me the video of my win and I looked fabulous.

That’s all for now.

- K.H.