He gets a call from Mercedes the next afternoon while he's studying the material he's brought from work. Excitement takes his mind over the prospect of chatting to his best friend again.
"Cedes!"
"Hello there, stranger. Are you still mad at me?"
"Mad at you? Should I be?"
"Come on, don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. And, for the record, I haven't changed my mind about it and I won't ever. What you're doing is wrong and you know it."
"I… What exactly am I doing?"
"Yeah, right, nice try. The cheating, Kurt! It's wrong and you know it! And I still think you should tell Blaine right away and just move out of there already!"
He goes pale with the confirmation of his adultery. His palms are sweaty and he nearly drops the phone.
"You've been saying you're going to divorce him for months, just do it already!" Mercedes' voice goes on in his ear. "I'm pretty sure he won't be nearly as devastated as you think he'll be. And despite what you keep telling yourself, you don't own him anything. I know he's helped you in the beginning of your career, but you got where you are by your own merits, Kurt. It's not fair that you feel obligated to stay with him because of that. Not fair for you or for him, or for David either. I've told you this before and you keep saying you'll move out, but you never do. So, unless your call yesterday was to tell me you've finally taken some action, I'll be pretty pissed."
His breathing is shallow and quick and he struggles to take a deep breath and try to calm his racing heart. He'd always thought of adultery as a terribly mean situation and was always quick to judge those who cheated. He never thought he would be the one doing it. He used to think he was better than those people, above those kind of situations, that he was morally incapable of cheating. Oh, how wrong he'd been! When had he changed so much? And why? Was it simply a part of growing up and not seeing things so black and white anymore? Or had he been convinced otherwise by money and fame and comfort?
Who am I?
"Kurt? Are you still there?"
He licks his dried lips, sighing. "Yes. I am. I... Did nobody tell you about the accident?"
"What?" Mercedes immediately sounds alarmed. "What accident? What happened?"
"It's all right now, but… I was in a car accident. And… I don't remember anything. Well, nearly anything."
There is silence on the other side of the line. "Kurt… Come on, it's not funny."
"I'm not joking. I have amnesia. The last thing I remember is being in high school."
"High school?" She screeches. "Are you fucking serious? You don't remember anything?"
"No. I mean… I did get one memory yesterday, so I think it's starting to come back, but other than that no, I don't remember anything. I've been informed of a few things. My dad was here when I woke up and we talked a bit. Blaine's helped me also. And… Well… I talked to Karofsky too. I thought he was lying. But now you've just confirmed everything and, to be honest, I may be even more confused."
"Oh, honey. I'm sorry. I mean, how could I even begin to imagine that? It's surreal!"
"It feels like that to me as well."
"Can I help?"
"You already have. I wanted confirmation and you've just given me it; even if it wasn't what I was expecting. I need to talk to Karofsky and sort this out. But… We can talk later, right?"
"Sure. Hey, do you even remember where Dave lives?"
Oh, shit!
"Erm… Do you?" Mercedes laughs, a sonorous sound that makes him smile and giggle and, sure enough, soon he's laughing as well, unable and unwilling to stop. It feels stupid and childish to be laughing so hard over something that wasn't even that funny, but it's also invigorating.
I guess I needed that.
