Part 2

When everything feels like the movies

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The first thing Blaine is aware of when he comes to is the sound of a lot of people yelling in panicked voices. The next thing is that wow, he's uncomfortable, lying awkwardly on an uneven surface. His entire body is aching, and a sharp pain shoots from his ankle and up his leg, when he tries to shift. Realizing that his eyes are closed, he tries to open them, but finds his vision blurred. Suddenly he feels a sharp tug under his arms, as someone tries to move him, and he groans, because ow, his head hurts.

'Oh thank god,' a voice gasps near him. It might belong to the someone who is pulling at him, and there is something familiar about it, but Blaine can't quite place it. His head is throbbing and he has no idea where he is.

'You're- you'll be alright, honey,' that same voice breathes shakily, and at the endearment Blaine is sure his heart stops for a second, because only one person has ever called him that.

'Kurt?' Blaine says and in his mind he is shouting it, but it comes out closer to a whisper. 'What're you- I don't understand.'

'Shh, it's alright. You crashed your car, but you're okay. You're just in shock, I think.'

They are on the street now, Blaine realizes, as he feels hard asphalt beneath him. He still can't see properly out of both eyes. He lifts his hand to his eye and feels something warm and sticky. Blood, he guesses.

'Oh,' he says dumbly.

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Kurt is cradling Blaine in his arms, finally able to think again. He's alright, he's alright. Blaine has what looks like a split eyebrow and there is blood pouring into his eye, and he might have a few bruises here and there, but Kurt feared so much worse when he saw the overturned car.

'I'm so sorry,' he tells Blaine once his breathing has slowed down enough. 'It was a stupid argument. I'm sorry I yelled.'

He is aware that a small crowd of people has gathered around them, but Kurt only has eyes for the boy in his arms. The boy whose brow furrows in confusion at Kurt's apology.

Wait. Not boy. Man.

Kurt's mouth drops open at the realization. He didn't notice it before, because he was so busy making sure that his boyfriend was alright, but the Blaine in his arms is not the same Blaine who stormed out of the house not ten minutes ago. He's wearing the exact same clothes, but they sit differently on him; the jacket, that used to fit him comfortably, now stretches a lot more tightly across his chest and shoulders; and Kurt thinks Blaine's legs might be slightly longer as well, though he can't be sure because Blaine's pants are always too short anyway. Kurt's gaze turns to Blaine's hair, and he wonders how he didn't notice the change right away with how different it is; it's still well groomed, but the gel is gone and Kurt marvels for a second at his boyfriend's natural curls. Blaine's face is what really betrays the change though; light stubble is noticeable across his face, and he looks, well not old, but older, by at least ten years.

Kurt feels his throat constrict and his eyes burn with tears begging to be shed. This is all too much. First the fight, then the crash and now this. What is happening? Kurt thinks he might be going crazy, because this cannot be real. Blaine is whimpering slightly in his arms, his vision still partially obscured by the blood. Kurt's mind is racing, wondering what all this feels like from Blaine's perspective. Then he hears his name called from the crowd, and he looks up to see Finn rushing over.

'Dude, what happened? I was just coming home and I saw all these people. Is he alri-' Finn falters and at least Kurt knows he isn't going crazy. 'Whoah! What the hell?'

Kurt, not sure he can speak, just shakes his head, still holding on tightly to the man in his arms.

'Kurt, what the hell?' Finn presses.

'I don't know Finn!' Kurt is crying in earnest now. 'He was like this when I pulled him out.'

Kurt's head is swimming with everything that's happening, and the buzz of his curious neighbors around him is making it impossible for him to think straight. Finn isn't particularly helpful, opting to just stare open-mouthed at Blaine.

'Help me get him inside,' Kurt says, scrambling to get to his feet. They can't stay out here; that much he knows.

'But the ambulance? Shouldn't he go to the hospital?'

'No. Are you insane?' Kurt hisses. He doesn't know what would happen if he brought Blaine in like this, when he is supposed to be seventeen, and he would rather not find out. 'Besides he's not seriously hurt. We can take care of him.'

Finn still looks doubtful, but, apparently recognizing that Kurt isn't to be argued with, he acquiesces and helps Kurt get Blaine to his feet and together they start towards the house. Kurt sees some of his neighbors about to protest, but he silences them with a glare. Finn and Kurt support Blaine as well as they can, but Kurt notices Blaine wince every time he puts weight on his left foot.

'Hang on, we're nearly there,' Kurt assures him.

'Where's 'there'?' Blaine asks, still sounding a bit dazed. 'Kurt, I'm really confused.'

'My place,' Kurt says, not even attempting to relieve Blaine's confusion, feeling just as confused himself. He's just glad that his dad and Carole are in Columbus for the week, because that is a complication he does not need right now.

They walk a few moments in silence, before Finn speaks for all of them when he says, 'This is really weird.'

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A little while later Blaine has been led to a couch in someone's living room. From what he can see, he thinks it might be Burt and Carole's old house, but that doesn't really make sense, because as far as he knows they don't even live in Lima anymore. He sighs and leans back into the couch. Nothing is making sense right now. He hears Kurt talking to Finn in a low voice somewhere in the next room. Then the front door opens and closes and the house goes quiet, and Blaine wonders if he has been left alone. Or if maybe he dreamed it all, and when he opens his eyes, he'll find himself back in New York, waking from an elaborate booze dream.

'Hey.' Kurt is there again his hands placed gently on Blaine's knees – real then. 'Lean forward for me. I need to clean your face.'

Blaine does as he is told and lets Kurt clean him up, the cool washcloth a welcome relief to his throbbing head. Kurt works in silence, but every now and then Blaine thinks he hears him take a sharp breath like he's about to say something.

'There. All better,' Kurt says as he finishes putting a band-aid on Blaine's split eyebrow. He's clearly going for chipper, but Blaine doesn't miss the tension in his voice. 'You can open your eyes if you want.'

Blaine does.

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Blaine blinks a few times, getting used to having his full vision back, but soon he's looking around the room, a light frown on his face. Then he seems to notice that Kurt is standing in front of him and he looks up, meeting Kurt's gaze. Blaine's eyes grow wide and his mouth forms a perfect 'o'. Kurt probably would have found the expression amusing if the situation weren't so... bizarre.

'I'm dreaming,' Blaine declares after a few moments pass in which neither does anything but stare at the other. 'Or I'm tripping or dead or something, because this absolutely cannot be real.'

Blaine is white as a sheet and clearly freaking out. Kurt is kind of freaking out, too, but he has already had his 'initial shock' reaction, and now he's feeling surprisingly mellow about the situation.

'I'm pretty sure it's real, Blaine,' he says quietly.

'No, no, no,' Blaine is repeating over and over, looking anywhere but at Kurt now, and for a moment Kurt forgets this Blaine's age, because he looks so lost. 'This is- I can't be here.'

Suddenly Blaine shoots to his feet and heads for the door. However, he barely makes it three steps before he nearly topples over, face grimacing in pain. In a second Kurt is by his side, catching him and helping him back down on the couch.

'I forgot about your ankle,' Kurt says apologetically. 'Let me take care of it. I'll be right back.'

Kurt heads to the bathroom, and from the hall he hears a long exhausted exhale from Blaine. In the bathroom Kurt is quick to find what he needs, but before heading back downstairs he takes a moment and allows himself to breathe and gather his thoughts for the first time since the shouting had begun. He looks at his watch. Nine thirty. Three hours ago he and Blaine were in the kitchen, goofing around and attempting to stay serious long enough to finish cooking dinner. Then the stupid argument happened, and at this point Kurt barely even remembers what started it. And now he's here with a suddenly much older Blaine, who is at once so familiar and yet a complete stranger. And where is his Blaine? What is he thinking? Or is he just... gone? Kurt barely manages to suppress a sob at the thought. It won't do to fall apart right now.

Back downstairs Kurt is relieved to find Blaine sitting calmly, if somewhat stiffly, where Kurt left him, his immediate panic apparently abandoned. Kurt sits down next to Blaine, and motions for him to rest his foot in Kurt's lap. Blaine does so, twisting his body gingerly and wincing a little. Kurt removes Blaine's shoes and his left foot's sock as carefully as he can, but he senses Blaine bite back a groan all the same.

'Sorry,' Kurt murmurs before he begins examining the foot in an effort to determine whether the ankle is broken or just sprained. Back when he was still being thrown in dumpsters, regular injuries to wrists and ankles created a need to be able to tell a break from a sprain, so Kurt is fairly confident in his own judgment. He checks for swelling and bruising, before twisting the ankle this way and that, gauging the pain level from Blaine's reaction. Blaine winces at that but otherwise stays quiet the entire time. Finally Kurt asks him to check if he can move the foot without assistance. Blaine looks like he would rather not, but he moves it, biting his lip as he does.

'Well, it looks like it's just sprained,' Kurt says. 'Which hurts like hell, but you won't need to see a doctor for it. Let me just bandage it up for you.'

Kurt wants to be more tender than he is. He hates seeing Blaine in pain and it makes him want to press his lips to Blaine's hurting ankle, while they both pretend he can just kiss it better. But he doubts that would be appropriate right now, so he's holding back. Instead he sets to work bandaging up Blaine's foot like he would Finn's or Rachel's. He's halfway done, when Blaine finally breaks the silence.

'Where's Finn? I remember him being here.' Blaine speaks quietly, and there's a certain politeness to his tone that Kurt hasn't heard since they first met. He tries to ignore the way it makes him feel.

'He went to take care of things,' Kurt says simply. 'The car and all that.'

'Oh,' Blaine says and Kurt can tell that he's wrestling with a thought. 'Is that, uh...wise?'

Kurt snorts despite himself, because he can see what Blaine means.

'He'll be fine. Speak of the devil,' he says when he hears the front door open and close. 'Everything okay?' he calls.

'Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think so.' Kurt can practically hear the frown in his voice. Finn steps into the living room and gestures to Blaine who has his back to him. 'So, is he still- I mean-' Kurt merely raises an eyebrow. 'I thought maybe he would be better by now.'

'This isn't a case of the hiccoughs, Finn,' Kurt says with a roll of his eyes, as Finn sits down in an armchair. Although he has to admit that the idea that Blaine would magically be back to normal by now is no more ridiculous than the fact that this is happening in the first place. 'Alright. You're done,' he says as he finishes his work on Blaine, patting Blaine's leg gently.

'Thanks,' Blaine says, not meeting Kurt's eye. He snatches his feet away and places them gingerly back on the floor. Kurt's lap feels oddly light without the pressure there. 'So guys,' Blaine says after a moment's silence. 'Could we, uh, maybe talk about this? I mean, what's happening.'

Before Kurt can form a thought, let alone respond, Finn is speaking.

'Time travel,' he says, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. Like he just told them that the sky is blue.

'Come again?' Kurt snorts.

'Time travel,' Finn repeats.

'Right. Of course.' Kurt's voice is dripping with sarcasm. 'Blaine just hopped in his DeLorean and hitched a ride back in time.'

'Dude, I'm serious,' Finn says earnestly. 'I don't know how or why, but it's the only thing that makes sense, isn't it? Do you have a better idea?'

'It's just-' Kurt doesn't know how to reply, because he realizes that Finn is probably right, and he isn't even really sure why he's fighting it. 'This is just so insane. When did time travel become an acceptable answer to anything?' he asks, exasperated.

'Right about the time your boyfriend turned up looking suddenly fifteen years older,' Blaine supplies, then, 'What year is this? 2011?'

'2012,' Kurt corrects quietly.

'Time travel it is, then,' Blaine says simply. 'It was 2027 when I woke up this morning.'

'But...it can't be,' Kurt breathes as he sinks back into the couch. Of course, if he's honest, he has known it since he noticed that his Blaine was gone, and how confused this other Blaine was, but it doesn't make hearing it said out loud sound any less ridiculous.

'Finn's right. It's the only logical answer.'

Finn's face lights up with an obvious self-satisfied smile, and the corners of Kurt's mouth twitch a little, he can't help it.

'I guess.' Kurt sighs. Time travel. Logical. Now, those are words he never thought he would hear in the same sentence, unless they were separated by a not. God, his head hurts. But suddenly a thought occurs to him and he looks at Blaine excitedly. 'What are we like?'

'What?' Blaine clearly doesn't follow.

'You and me. What are we like? What are we doing? Are we married yet? We must be. God, I wanna know everything.' Kurt is talking fast and high-pitched, unable to hide his excitement. No one else has ever had the chance to get a sneak peek at their future like this.

Blaine is still for a moment, his face unreadable.

'Kurt, you know I can't tell you that,' he says evenly.

'What? Why?' Kurt all but whines, not bothering to hide his disappointment.

'Because of the... Space. Time. Thing. And paradoxes.' Blaine makes a noise of frustration in his throat. 'Look I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure, in the movies, telling someone their future never ends well.'

'But-' Kurt is about to protest but Finn interjects.

'Come on, Kurt. You know he's right. You don't want to go there.'

'Alright, alright,' Kurt throws his hand up in defeat. 'You can't blame a guy for being curious.' He pauses and then adds, 'So what's next? What do we wanna do?'

Blaine pinches the bridge of his nose, eyes half-closed. 'I think,' he says slowly. 'I think maybe we should all get some rest before tackling that question, 'cause I honestly have no idea, and I'm tired as hell right now.'

Kurt blinks. Blaine doesn't swear, ever. For him, saying 'hell' in a non-religious context is akin to dropping the f-bomb.

'Probably time lag,' Finn says with a goofy grin, and two heads turn to look at him questioningly. 'Like jet lag, except from time travel.'

Kurt's instinct is to roll his eyes at his brother, but Blaine smiles indulgently at him. Kurt has the sudden thought that Blaine would be great with kids, and he's burning to ask if in the future he and Blaine have kids, or are at least thinking about it.

'I'll make up the couch for you,' is what he says instead, before excusing himself to go upstairs to find linen. He hears Finn mumble something to Blaine before he follows Kurt upstairs.

'Are you okay?' Finn asks Kurt, as they stand in front of the open linen closet, worry in his voice.

'Yes, Finn, I'm fine,' Kurt replies dismissively, as he eyes the contents of the closet. 'I'm not the one with a sprained ankle and time lag.' He bites his lip, because he knows that isn't what Finn meant. His voice is softer when he continues. 'Sorry. It's just so...' he searches for the word. 'Much. In every way. It's amazing. Having him here like this. So grown. And so Blaine, and yet-'

'Not,' Finn supplies.

Yes. Why does this make him so sad?

'We'll get him back.' Finn puts a hand on Kurt's shoulder, squeezing gently. 'Our Blaine. We'll get him back. Somehow. I promise.'

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A little while later Kurt is lying awake in his bed, tossing and turning. He can't stop thinking about his Blaine, stuck somewhere (somewhen?) unfamiliar, maybe scared and confused. Kurt's stomach twists and his heart aches. He knows that Blaine can't have died or anything, or else surely Blaine couldn't be here right now some thirty years old (or could he? I'm working off my knowledge of time travel in fictional stories, what is my life?), but apart from that anything could have happened, and Kurt is worried, and he misses Blaine. He thought he learned what missing his boyfriend felt like last month when Blaine was out of school because of his eye injury. He had no idea. This. Kurt has never felt farther away from Blaine. Literally. What he wouldn't give to be able to reach out and hold his Blaine now. In the end Kurt tells himself that everything will look better in the morning, they will figure this out, and he falls asleep to the comforting thought that wherever Blaine is, Kurt's own older self will be there to take care of him.

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Quote this time is from 'Iris' by the Goo Goo Dolls.