Kurt Hummel's parents knew he was different from the day he was born. His eyes sparkled in a way that no other babies had, and he smiled so brightly the first time his mom held him. It wasn't until he was seven that they figured out how he was different. Elizabeth Hummel had set up a tea party for her and her son and when he was serving her tea, their hands brushed. Kurt instantly dropped the tea pot and burst into tears. When Elizabeth finally calmed him down enough to tell her what was wrong, Kurt raised his head and looked into her eyes.
"You're gonna die momma," Kurt's exceptionally high voice cracked on the word die.
"Aw sweetie, everyone dies eventually, but that's not going to happen for a long long time," Elizabeth reassured him.
"It's going to happen next year. I saw it… when we touch, I see things and I saw you dying from cancer… what is cancer mommy?" Kurt's voice was very sure and calm. At first Elizabeth thought this was nonsense, but for the next two months, every time they touched Kurt would pull away crying. She took him to a psychologist, who said Kurt might be one of The Special Ones.
The Special Ones were people who could see their future with someone anytime they had a small amount of physical contact. Over time, they could learn how to control it so it only happened the first time they met someone, but since Kurt was so young it would keep happening with every touch. The psychologist they saw had studied The Special Ones for years, and he taught Elizabeth and Burt Hummel all he could about them, including the fact that every prediction came true. After the initial shock wore off, Elizabeth went to the doctor to get tested for cancer; she was diagnosed with brain cancer two days later. She vowed to help Kurt learn everything they could about The Special Ones before she died, and she helped him get in contact with a girl his age, Mercedes Jones, who was also one of The Special Ones.
After Elizabeth died, Kurt and Burt spend a lot of time talking to the Jones family, who had Special Ones in their family tree for ages. They figured out that Kurt's power, since it wasn't passed on from ancestors, was exceptionally unique and quite powerful. They learned how he could train it. By the time he was 10, the power only appeared when he first met someone. By the time he was 12, he could stop it from happening at all if he wanted too. The most important thing they learned was that Kurt could change the future between himself and the person he was touching if he chose too. He could not change the individual's future, but he could change any interaction between himself and the person he was touching.
"Could that have stopped my mother from dying?" Kurt asked quietly. Mercedes' grandparents looked at one another, smiling sadly, for 10 minutes before either of them spoke.
"Since her death impacted you greatly, you could have. We don't know how much you could have changed, you may only have been able to give her another year, or you may have been able to give her 50 more years. Any type of future that affects you and your relationship with the person, can be changed," Mercedes' grandmother said. "But Kurt, this is a very dangerous power to have. Changing the future can do a lot of things; it can help someone or hurt someone. But most importantly, it can hurt you. If you use the power too many times, or use it for greedy reasons, you could die instantly."
"This is a very rare and incredible power Kurt. We don't know much about it yet; you're the first person we've actually met who can do this. You have to be responsible about it," Mercedes' grandfather said sternly. "Never be greedy with it. Don't use it for love or money. Don't use it ever if you don't have to. The only time it's acceptable is if it will save someone's life, or at least elongate it."
Kurt nodded. At 12 years old, he had more responsibility than many adults. Burt took the power very lightly and told Kurt he was just like a super hero, but Kurt knew better. Kurt didn't want this power; he thought it was a curse. Where was the surprise? Would he know when he met the love of his life? When he met his best friend? His worst enemy? Would he be able to figure anything out for himself, or would the power tell him everything? He knew he didn't have to use it when he met someone, but he was a very curious person, too curious not to use the power.
"Kurt, wait!" Mercedes called after him as he and his dad were leaving. "Promise me that we'll be friends forever okay? And we'll tell each other what happens when we meet new people. Promise?"
"But 'Cedes, don't you see that when you touch me? Can't you see our future together?" Kurt asked curiously. She gave him a weird look.
"My power doesn't work on other people who have it," Mercedes said. Kurt was confused. When they hugged he could see their whole future together, how they would live together in college with one other girl he didn't know yet. How she would name her first son Kurt and how his first daughter's name would be Elizabeth Rachel-Mercedes. Couldn't she see that? From the corner of his eye, he saw Mercedes' grandfather laughing. Kurt's power was a lot stronger than Mercedes', they already knew that.
Glee!
"Kurt, stop frowning. We're in high school! This is exciting!" Mercedes exclaimed on their first day of freshman year.
"Every time a jock brushes up against me, I can see how much they're going to torture me. Especially that David Karofsky guy, who is a gay homophobe…Mercedes he's going to kiss me at some point. I haven't even come out yet!" Kurt said. His first day of high school was brutal, and he had learned over time that when he was stressed or anxious he couldn't control his power at all.
"I haven't used it in years Kurt. Surprises are fun, stop using yours," Mercedes whispered. No one knew The Special Ones existed, and it would be a lot easier and safer for Kurt and Mercedes if it stayed that way.
"If I could I would," Kurt said, turning away from his locker rather quickly. He bumped into the girl at the locker next to him and suddenly knew who his second roommate was. Rachel Berry. He saw them crying together, hating each other, loving each other, and singing duo after duo. That's when he met the girl who Elizabeth's other middle name would come from.
"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry. I'm kind of spacey sometimes. It's just that the sign for Glee Club auditions went up today and I'm worried that I'll be the only talented one in the group!" Rachel's mouth moved a mile a minute. Kurt and Mercedes exchanged looks and burst out laughing, which Rachel immediately noticed. "Well, how rude!"
"Sorry princess, you just talk so fast!" Kurt laughed. "What's this about Glee club? Isn't that like… Show choir? That's kind of tacky isn't it?"
"There is nothing tacky about being talented. And I would prefer if you didn't make fun of me. And if you must, kindly do it behind my back like all the other pricks in this school," Rachel curtly said and then walked towards the Spanish room.
"Crap, I have class with her," Mercedes sighed. She looked at Kurt and knew what he was thinking about even without her power. "Oh just go sign us both up Kurt. I know you probably already saw it in that chick's future."
"Well, don't you want to get to know our future roommate better?" Kurt winked and walked away, leaving Mercedes shocked and confused in the middle of the hallway. When he saw the Glee signup sheet he couldn't help but laugh at the gold star next to Rachel's name. He wondered who would be the biggest diva of the three of them, and how they would possibly live together in the future.
Glee!
"Ugh! I can't stand her! Kurt, she's going to beat me out for every single solo! All of them!" Mercedes shouted into Kurt's pillow. They had known Rachel for a year, and Mercedes had finally given into her curiosity and used her power on Rachel. She had seen multiple occasions where she felt jealous and Rachel was on stage singing a solo.
"Mercedes you don't know if that happens for every single solo, you can't see everything in a 30 second hug. And you know you can't be mean to her because of this, she can't know about the power," Kurt reminded Mercedes. Mercedes let out a huge sigh and got off of Kurt's bed. She had come over looking for someone to share in her anti-Rachel attitude, but deep down she knew Kurt was right. She hugged Kurt goodbye and left.
Kurt and Rachel didn't get along well. In fact, no one got along well with Rachel, except Kurt's soon to be step-brother, Finn Hudson. Burt and Carole Hudson had just started dating, but Kurt knew they'd get married from the first time he met Finn. Kurt saw him and Finn fighting over breakfast and spending lazy summer afternoons watching super hero movies and football with some curly haired boy. Finn and Rachel were clearly destined to be together, Kurt could see Finn in the background of all this visions of Rachel. Currently, Finn was dating a pregnant cheerleader. Quinn Fabray's baby wasn't Finn's, but no one wanted to break the news to Finn. If he thought he could impregnate a girl from pre-ejaculation in a hot tub then fine, they'd let him be oblivious.
It was Finn that caused many of the fights between Kurt and Rachel. Kurt knew he wasn't destined to be with Finn forever, in fact he couldn't see anything romantic when they touched, but that didn't stop him from having a crush. Rachel and Finn has kissed once, and Rachel had been in love with Finn ever since. Since bother Kurt and Rachel were divas, and they both wanted the same boy, they couldn't spend more than a few hours together without it resulting in a fight.
Kurt had come out at the beginning of his sophomore year, telling his dad first even though his dad had already figured it out. Mercedes had learned it from her grandfather, who was one of the few that could see Kurt's future when they made contact. When she had developed a crush on him in 6th grade, her grandfather told her and she asked Kurt immediately. He told her he was too young to know, but he thought so, and that was that. When Kurt first came out at McKinley, the bullying had gotten bad, just like he had expected it too. Karofsky hadn't kissed him yet, but every time the burly football player shoved him into a locker he knew it was coming.
To Kurt's surprise, most of the bullying didn't come from being gay. It came from being part of New Directions, the Glee club. He welcomed a cold slushy to the face almost every day, which since that involved no physical contact, he could never predict. He learned to keep a pair of extra clothes in his locker at all times.
Slushies weren't the worst part of Glee however. At about the third rehearsal of sophomore year, Kurt learned something new about his power. When he sang a duet with someone, it caused such an emotional connection that he saw more their future in more detail than he ever had before. His first duet with Rachel he saw himself as a bridesmaid at her wedding, which would occur very soon after graduation much to Kurt's surprise. The second duet together, he saw himself bargaining with a counselor at New York Academy of Dramatic Arts to get Rachel a second audition after she choked on her first one. It was the third duet that hurt the most.
"Kurt and I are going to sing Happy Days Are Here Again in a mash-up with Get Happy. Kurt may not realize it yet, but we're best friends and I wanted to sing with him to show you all that," Rachel laughed at one of the last rehearsals for the year. Little did she know that he knew more about how close they were than she would know for years.
Half-way through the duet Kurt's power kicked in and he saw himself at Rachel's funeral. He saw himself screaming and crying, lunging at her grave at the burial only to be held back by the curly haired boy who frequently appeared in his visions, he assumed the boy was a close friend of Finn's, who was crying and shaking on the ground next to him in this funeral vision. At the beginning of the vision, they couldn't have been older than 19, but slowly everyone aged. Soon enough, the vision was of Finn and Kurt mourning Rachel's death at age 80. Kurt felt an overwhelming pain in his chest knew he had just changed Rachel's future, and he hoped the chest pain was the only downside. When the duet was finished both Kurt and Rachel were crying. Kurt noticed Rachel had been holding his hand the whole time, which had created a much deeper connection, which was why he could change when she would die without even trying. He hugged her, hoping it would cause a happier vision. It did. He saw them singing a song from Wicked on a stage in New York two years from then.
Glee!
Over the summer, Kurt's power became much stronger. He had trained himself to use it only when he first met someone even if he was stressed or anxious. He had also worked it out so he could see everything about the next two years with the person from just a ten second handshake. He didn't realize how much that would affect him until he met Blaine Anderson.
Junior year was the year many of Kurt's predictions came true. It all started one afternoon when New Directions were talking about sectionals. After learning about The Dalton Academy Warblers, New Directions biggest competitors, Kurt decided to go spy. Rachel and Mercedes helped him dress as closely to the Warbler's uniform as he could and he set off to find the prestigious school. Upon arrival, he was mesmerized by the architecture. He was lost in the school, walking down a stair case that was exceptionally crowded, when he saw a familiar head of curly hair. Though it was slicked back with gel, Kurt recognized the hair from somewhere in his visions.
"Excuse me, could I ask you a question? I'm new at this school," Kurt said, stopping the boy. The boy looked at him with a cheesy smile and Kurt knew he had been caught spying.
"My name's Blaine," the boy said, reaching his hand out for a shake. Tentatively Kurt took Blaine's hand, instantly seeing so many interactions. He saw himself in the Dalton uniform, watching Blaine sing solo after solo. He saw Blaine kissing him passionately in the sitting room of Dalton. He saw Blaine crying and hugging him in McKinley's common area. He saw Blaine, out of uniform, smiling like a dork in McKinley's halls. He saw their hands intertwined over a coffee table. He saw kisses in his room and the auditorium, he saw duets in the choir room, he saw cheesy stuffed animal presents. He saw fights, and make-ups, he saw hand holding through the hallway and giant bear hugs. He saw them lying together after their first time having sex. He saw himself falling more and more in love with this boy every day.
"Kurt," Kurt said after a few seconds. "What exactly is going on here?"
"The Warblers. Every now and then they have an impromptu performance in the dining hall. It pretty much shuts down the whole school for a little bit," Blaine informed him.
"Wait, so the Glee club here's sort of cool?" Kurt asked, shocked.
"Are you kidding? The Warblers are like rock stars. Come on, I know a shortcut." Blaine excitedly grabbed Kurt's hand, pulling him through corridor after corridor until they finally arrived in a room full of excited students.
"I stick out like a sore thumb," Kurt worried aloud. He was the only person in the room not in a Dalton uniform.
"Well wear your jacket next time, new kid. You'll fit right in. Now, if you'll excuse me," Blaine trailed off. He began singing, joining the other choir members. Although Kurt wasn't surprised to see Blaine was the leader of the Warblers, it was still amazing to watch. After the boys finished Teenage Dream, Blaine invited Kurt for coffee.
Over coffee Blaine told Kurt he was a terrible spy, and unable to resist his curiosity, Kurt asked him if everyone at Dalton was gay. Blaine said he was, but not everyone at Dalton was. Blaine then asked Kurt the real reason he came, because anyone who was coming just to spy would have been much more discreet. Kurt told Blaine about Karofsky and Blaine told Kurt to stand up for himself. Before Kurt left, Blaine gave him his number. The following morning, Kurt received a text from Blaine that said only one word: courage.
Later that afternoon, another of Kurt's visions came true. After suffering all day from Karofsky's abuse, Kurt followed him into the locker room. After a heated fight and the slinging of many insults, Kurt informed Karofsky that he was "nothing but a scared little boy who can't handle how extraordinarily ordinary he is."
Suddenly, Karofsky kissed Kurt. After he pulled away, Karofsky leaned in for another Kiss but Kurt moved away, shocked that his first kiss was stolen by a jock. Karofsky left near tears, and Kurt called Blaine, who showed up to confront Karofsky the next day.
Kurt later received a death threat from Karofsky, and transferred to Dalton, which he had known he would do after his first handshake with Blaine. Every day Kurt spent at Dalton he fell more and more in love with Blaine. Kurt introduced Blaine to his friends from McKinley, which led to Rachel and Mercedes asking him nonstop questions about the boy with slicked back, curly hair. At Christmas, Kurt and Blaine sang the first duet from Kurt's visions, although not in a romantic way like Kurt had imagined.
Much to Kurt's dismay, the romance stayed one sided. Finally, right before Valentine's Day, Blaine came to Kurt seeking advice. Blaine informed Kurt that he had a crush on a guy he hadn't known for long, and asked if he should go for him. Kurt knew this had to be the beginning of their romance. He let his power work when Blaine clapped him on the shoulder, and Kurt saw all the same visions from before.
Blaine called and emergency Warbler's meeting and informed everyone that he thought he was in love with Jeremiah, the manager at the gap. Kurt was shocked; he had thought this would be the beginning of the great romance from his visions.
"If he and I get married, the Gap will give me a 10% discount," Blaine said dreamily. Kurt could have sworn that everyone in the room heard his heart breaking. Unenthusiastically, Kurt agreed to Blaine's flash mob idea and two days later he was standing in the Gap encouraging the man he was in love with to serenade someone else.
As Blaine danced around the store in his uniform and a pair of pink sunglasses, Kurt couldn't help the way his heart fluttered. The song, When I Get You Alone, would have made anyone swoon. Jealously, Kurt watched as all the girls in the store almost fainted, and Jeremiah tried to avoid making eye contact. After the song, Jeremiah ran outside, trailed by Kurt and Blaine. Kurt tried, but failed, to conceal the smile on his face when Jeremiah told Blaine that no one knew he was gay, and he wanted to keep it that way. Bitter and heartbroken, Blaine let Kurt drive him to The Lima Bean, where Kurt bought them both coffees.
While in line, Kurt admitted he thought Blaine was going to serenade him. Surprised, Blaine told Kurt how much he cared for him and how he was horrible at romance. He told Kurt how he would hate for anything to ruin their friendship. Kurt smiled, knowing that there was something more between them even if Blaine didn't realize it yet.
"It's just like When Harry Met Sally," Kurt said nonchalantly. Blaine looked at him quizzically as the girl in front of them paid for her coffee.
"Don't they get together in the end?" Blaine asked. Kurt smiled, thinking 'yeah, and so do we.' Kurt ordered them coffee without saying another word, surprising Blaine by knowing his coffee order.
Glee!
Kurt began to doubt his powers. His friendship with Blaine wasn't turning into anything; in fact there were a few days where Blaine thought he was straight after drunkenly kissing Rachel at a party. Kurt just smiled through it, letting his powers show him their romance every time they touched. Even if it never came true, Kurt could at least let himself imagine it.
As the new member of the Warblers, Kurt had been taking care of Pavarotti, the Warbler's mascot, for quite some time. From the first time Kurt held the bird, he knew it would die in his care, but when it happened it still caught him off guard. Nervously, Kurt asked if he could sing in honor of Pavarotti during a Warbler's council meeting. After encouragement from Blaine, the council agreed and Kurt sang Blackbird.
During the song, Kurt squeezed his eyes shut to stop himself from crying. Surprisingly, he saw visions of him and Blaine's romance and opened his eyes to see Blaine staring at him awestruck. After Kurt finished singing, Blaine proposed the idea of a duet for Regional's. After a long debate, the council agreed. Kurt asked to be put on the list for auditions but Blaine interrupted him. Blaine informed them that he didn't want auditions to be held; he wanted to sing the duet with Kurt. Every Warbler whole heartedly agreed.
Confused and still upset over Pavarotti, Kurt retreated to the Dalton sitting room to decorate a casket for the bird. Not much later, Blaine approached him asking if he'd like to practice for their duet. Blaine told Kurt he wanted to sing Candles by Hey Monday.
"Why did you pick me to sing that song with?" Kurt asked. Blaine looked at him at a loss for words before finally explaining.
"Kurt, there is a moment when you say to yourself: 'Oh, there you are. I've been looking for you forever," Blaine began. He reached for Kurt's hand and instantly Kurt saw the kiss in the sitting room from his first vision of Blaine. "Watching you do Blackbird this week... that was the moment for me - about you. You move me, Kurt... and this duet would be just an excuse to spend more time with you."
Blaine began to lean forward, and Kurt froze. Finally, his visions of Blaine were coming true. Blaine kissed him and Kurt kissed back, seeing wedding bells and crying toddlers. A moment later, Blaine pulled away.
"Um we should – we should practice," Blaine laughed.
"I thought we were," Kurt laughed too, and soon Blaine was kissing him again, much more passionate than before.
At Regional's, Kurt and Blaine's performance of Candles received a standing ovation. Together, Kurt and Blaine watched New Directions perform, and then win much to their dismay. Later that week, Blaine accompanied Kurt to Pavarotti's grave where Kurt admitted that he really wanted to win.
"You did win, so did I. We got each other out of all this, that beats a lousy trophy, don't you think?" Blaine smiled and took Kurt's hand.
Glee!
As the years went on, Kurt watched every vision with Blaine come true. They both ended up at McKinley, much to Rachel's excitement. Their struggles were as bad as Kurt had predicted, but their make-ups were just as sweet as Kurt could have ever dreamed. They faced a hard time when Kurt graduated a year before Blaine, and moved to New York with Rachel and Mercedes, but Blaine followed a year later.
It wasn't until their wedding day that Kurt told Blaine about his powers. Blaine was in his dressing room with Rachel, who was saying how it reminded her so much of her two wedding days with Finn, when Kurt knocked on the door.
"Rach, I'm sure everyone wants to hear how you almost married Finn forever ago, and then actually married him four months later, but I need to speak with Blaine alone," Kurt said, entering the room.
"I guess since neither of you are bride's in a wedding dress, that's okay," Rachel joked, hurrying out of the room. She winked at Kurt on her way out. Blaine looked worried.
"Blaine, there's something I need to tell you," Kurt started hesitantly. "This is going to sound crazy, but I've known we would get married from the moment I met you."
"Kurt, you're such a romantic," Blaine teased. He straightened his bowtie in the mirror and then saw the distress on Kurt's face. "That's not really what you meant, is it?"
"There are these people, called The Special Ones, who can see their future with someone every time they touch. I'm one of them, and when you shook my hand on the day we met, I saw it all. I saw every kiss, and every fight. I can tell you more about the powers some other time, but I needed you to know before you married me. I hope it doesn't change anything," Kurt said nervously.
"Well, if you can see the future you should know it doesn't change a thing," Blaine whispered, pulling Kurt in for a kiss. They both pulled away grinning. "Now come on, let's go get married."
On their honeymoon, Kurt spent the days teaching Blaine about The Special Ones and telling Blaine how Kurt first learned about his powers. He told him about Mercedes and her family. He told him about their future kids, and about how when Blaine first showed up in all his visions he assumed Blaine was a friend of Finn's, since Finn was Kurt's step-brother and Rachel's husband. He told Blaine the only time he had visions of them now was when they were having sex, so every morning Blaine would ask what Kurt saw the previous night. Kurt also explained how for most people, the powers were genetic. He didn't know how he got his, but if they used his sperm for their kids, the kids may have the power.
When they were ready for kids, they spent years looking for the perfect surrogate, and when they found her they each gave their sperm so they wouldn't know who the kid was technically from. Miraculously, they had twins. The doctor explained how since they were fraternal twins, they could have the DNA of only one or both their fathers. Their son, Tanner William Anderson-Hummel, was clearly Blaine's kid. He was born with a surprising amount of curly black hair and very familiar triangular eyebrows. Their daughter, Elizabeth Rachel Mercedes Anderson-Hummel, was clearly Kurt's. As the kid's grew, Kurt and Blaine anxiously watched for signs that Elizabeth had the power. Years and years passed, and Elizabeth didn't react to touch any differently than anyone else would.
Tanner and Elizabeth had just celebrated their sixteenth birthday when Elizabeth came to Blaine and Kurt worried. She asked if she could talk to them alone, without Tanner, and anxiously they agreed. They had given up any thought that Elizabeth had the powers.
"Sometimes, when I touch people, I see things. It doesn't happen all the time, only when I first meet someone, but it's been happening as long as I can remember. You know that face that Daddy gets when he shakes the hand of someone new?" Elizabeth asked. Daddy meant Kurt, Papa meant Blaine. Kurt and Blaine nodded, hopefully. "Well that happens to me sometimes too. I'll shake someone's hand or give them a hug and it's kind of like I see my future with them… Am I going crazy?"
Kurt and Blaine smiled at her, then at each other, silently deciding it would be best for Kurt to explain. Blaine left to make hot chocolate and Elizabeth looked very worried. Her Papa only made hot chocolate when something really bad or something really good was going to happen.
"No sweetie, you're not crazy. You're just one of The Special Ones."