Kurt takes advantage of the fact that he doesn’t have to go to work the next day. He sleeps in for the first time in what feels like years, does his laundry and goes grocery shopping, and then remembers his promise to visit Grandma. The whole situation still makes his stomach twist uncomfortably with guilt, so he stops by a florist’s and gets her the nicest bouquet he can afford, which isn’t much, but at least it’s pretty, and he thinks Grandma will like it.
There’s an awkward moment at the reception when he realises he doesn’t know Grandma’s last name and thus has no idea how he’s going to find her, but luckily, he’s spotted by one of Sugar’s friends, who remembers him, and directs him to the right ward.
Grandma seems a little tired, but she lights up when she spots him, and pulls him down in an awkward stoop so she can plant a smacking kiss on his cheek. The flowers are a hit, even though there are already bigger, more impressive bouquets taking up space on her nightstand. She clasps Kurt’s hand in her smaller, warmer ones, and beams at him. It makes him feel simultaneously better and worse, but not for long, because Grandma is quick to distract him with a veritable hail of questions.
He tells her about himself, how he’s always loved fashion, but Parsons really showed him that it was something he wanted to make a living of. He talks about working at the coffee shop and how it makes all his clothes smell like coffee, about Mercedes and their epic karaoke nights, and about his tiny flat with its gurgling pipes and the landlady’s excitable son, who once barbecued in the stairwell and almost burned the whole building down. She gives a delighted laugh.
“Well, at least you won’t have to worry about that when you’re married and living with Cooper. Are you going to share his flat or find something new? I mean, it’s not like he doesn’t have enough space, but it’s been just his for so long.”
Kurt gulps.
“I think,” he says, “that, for now, we’re just going to stay in the flat. Like you say, it’s big enough for the both of us. We can always find a new place later, if we need to.”
Grandma gives a thoughtful nod, and then smirks a little.
“You’ll definitely want to move once you start thinking about children. I mean, you’re young, but I hope that you’ll give me some great-grandchildren at some point, and children should grow up in a proper house. My late husband and I were still living in this little flat when we had Veronica, and you wouldn’t believe how many complaints we got because she woke up the neighbours. She had quite the set of lungs. Now, you two need to find a nice house, so you can have lots of children.”
Kurt chokes on air, and Grandma makes a noise that sounds suspiciously like a cackle.
“We er… we haven’t really talked much about kids yet.” He gets out.
Grandma pats him on the arm.
“Relax, kiddo,” she snorts. “I know you’re not there yet. The look on your face, though.” She chuckles and Kurt gives her his best grumpy face. It’s not very effective, because she just coos at him and tells him to go visit Cooper like he obviously wants to.
So he does.

Cooper’s still unconscious, but the doctors are hopeful he will make a full recovery. For now, he just needs rest so his body can repair itself, so Kurt tries to tell himself that the coma is really helping him, and that he is definitely going to wake up again, completely recovered, in a matter of days. It sort of works. Well, it works in the sense that it means he doesn’t have a nervous breakdown by Cooper’s bedside, at least, so that’s something.
He doesn’t stay long, though, because there’s nothing but the beeping of machines to distract him from thinking about the mess his life has somehow become.
As he’s leaving Cooper’s room, he’s accosted by Nurse Sugar, who hands him a box with Cooper’s personal effects, for safekeeping.
“I’d leave them with a next of kin, but a fianc� is fine, too. It’s just what was in his pockets when he was brought in. Keys and wallet and stuff.”
Then she flashes him a bright smile and leaves him clutching the cardboard box.

The train ride home passes in a sort of trance. Kurt’s not really tired, at least not physically, but his mind’s been running around in circles since yesterday, and for some reason he can’t stop thinking about how ridiculous it is that the hospital just handed over a box of their patient’s personal items to him, when he’s not family in any sense of the word. He’s not a significant other, or even a friend. Actually, calling him an acquaintance would probably be stretching it, too. If this ever gets out, Sugar could get in trouble. And not just her, but the whole hospital, because people won’t take that kind of thing lightly. The Andersons could probably sue just for that. Then he remembers that they actually own a law firm, “Anderson Advocates” – which Nigel is grooming Blaine to take over – and that tips him over the edge.
He starts giggling hysterically, and he doesn’t even care that the people next to him are shooting him weird looks.
When Kurt reaches his building, he’s regained his composure, but he still only has the energy for a weak hand-wave and a mumbled “some other day” when Chandler, the landlady’s son, finds him on the stairs and asks if he wants to go for a cup of coffee. He wants to curl up in a blanket like a burrito, or disappear into a really good hug, but Mercedes is still at work, and he’s not going to hug Chandler. Instead, he leaves him standing by his door – and he would feel bad about shutting the door in his face, but Chandler can’t seem to take a hint – and drops down on his old, faded couch. He dumps the cardboard box on the cushion next to him and sorts through it. It’s nothing much; a wallet, a handsome leather planner, a set of keys and a paper bag that turns out to contain a couple of cans of cat food. So, Cooper has a cat. Probably a pretty hungry one, too, if nobody’s been around to feed it since yesterday.
A quick look through the planner provides him with an address, and when he finds a matching taxi receipt in the wallet, he guesses that’s where Cooper lives. Kurt wavers a little, but eventually decides to go. After all, the poor cat needs to be fed and it’s not its fault that Nurse Sugar gave the keys – and thereby the task – to Kurt, who is maybe a little curious for another glimpse into his supposed fianc�’s life. He doesn’t want to snoop, but he really has no choice about going, so he googles the address, and leaves when he’s sure Chandler isn’t still outside his door.

It’s pretty easy to find, and the building is ridiculously fancy. It even has a doorman, who looks surprised when Kurt introduces himself as Cooper’s fianc�, but helps him find the right floor and flat nevertheless.
The flat is gorgeous. It’s the penthouse, and the large windows let in slanting rays of golden afternoon sun. There are thick, plush rugs, elegant little tables with framed pictures, a comfortable-looking sofa and several deep armchairs. The kitchen is all gleaming steel and dark green granite, complete with a breakfast nook in dark wood. Kurt has to restrain himself from running his fingers over every surface. He looks and looks, through the kitchen cupboards which hide an impressive stash of Oreos, to the old photo of a teenaged Cooper, in which a young Blaine’s having his cheek licked by a golden retriever, and looking absolutely delighted about it. The back of the photo has a date and the words “Cooper, Blaine and Max, Christmas, San Francisco” in curly writing.
The sound of a key in the lock shakes Kurt out of his reverie, and he turns around to find Blaine looking at him, perplexed.
“Kurt! Hi! Wow. I didn’t realise you’d be here.” And something about his voice sounds strange, off, but Kurt can’t put a finger on it, so he shrugs.
“Hey, Blaine!” he says.” Yeah, I uh… Just, watering the plants.” He looks around, and then cringes. There’s not a single plant in the flat. “And… feeding the cat!”
Blaine frowns.
“But Cooper doesn’t have a cat,” he says.
Kurt feels close to panicking, but then there’s a loud, plaintive meow from the kitchen. Kurt heaves a mental sigh in relief and rushes to the kitchen to find a gorgeous white cat sitting on the counter and wearing such a grumpy expression that Kurt finds himself on the verge of apologising to the creature. He fishes out a can of cat food, opens it and pours some in a dish, and, with the food in one hand, is most graciously permitted to scoop the cat up with the other. He puts the dish of cat food on the floor, but then his eyes catch on the cat’s tags. One side reads, plainly, “Becky”, but the other bears the legend “Sue Sylvester” and, underneath that, a phone number. So, not Cooper’s cat, then. Becky the cat gets tired of waiting and meows in displeasure, so he sets her down so she can eat.
When he looks back up, Blaine’s standing in the doorway to the kitchen, staring at the cat as if she might be an alien in disguise. He looks up at Kurt, bewilderment all over his face.
“Cooper got a cat?” He demands. “Why would he get a cat? He doesn’t even like them.”
“Oh, no, no, Becky isn’t his cat,” Kurt hurries to explain.
“Becky?” Blaine asks, frowning.
The cat looks up from her bowl, as if waiting for him to elaborate, but when Blaine merely looks at her in surprise, she goes back to her food.
“She belongs to Sue Sylvester,” Kurt says. “Cooper’s just looking after her for a while.”
He’s desperately hoping that Blaine will know who this Sue person is, because Kurt has no idea, and he’s not sure he can lie convincingly enough for Blaine to accept it and drop the issue. Luck is on his side, because Blaine’s eyebrows go up and he nods in understanding.
“Oh, right, she’s still on holiday. And she would make him cat-sit.” Blaine rolls his eyes. “Sometimes I seriously question why anyone would want her as their manager, but I have to admit she’s helped Cooper a great deal. As… eccentric as she is, she gets stuff done.” He chuckles, and Kurt pretends to be in on the joke, smiling and nodding, but he must not be very convincing, because Blaine stops short. He doesn’t look suspicious, though; instead his eyes widen in concern.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” he says. “You’re probably not her biggest fan, are you?”
Kurt opens his mouth to say… something, he doesn’t know what, but nothing comes out, and Blaine puts a hand on his shoulder and squeezes.
“Don’t worry, Kurt. She wanted Coop to stay in the closet for his career, it’s nothing personal. And, I mean, it won’t be for much longer, now, anyway, will it? Once Starling is out, he won’t have to worry about being typecast so much. I’m sure she’ll let him make it official then.”
It takes Kurt a moment to figure out, but then he remembers that Starling is the title of the Spielberg film that Cooper stars in, which, if all goes well, is going to propel Cooper into stardom and fame. It’ll probably be just in time for Kurt to ruin it all with a fake engagement scandal that will follow Cooper for the rest of his career.
Kurt must look as dejected as he feels, because Blaine pulls on his arm, and before he knows it, he’s wrapped up in a tight, warm hug. It’s just what Kurt’s been needing all day, and he melts in Blaine’s arms. They sway gently from side to side and Kurt loses track of time. It’s definitely different from hugging Grandma, and when they finally separate, Kurt’s stomach feels like it’s full of butterflies.
He is in so much trouble.