fic: Remember Me (4/5)
Title: Remember Me (4/5)
Rating: PG-13
Words: ~2,000 (8,600 total)
Ship: Kurt/Sam, mentions of Kurt/Blaine and Sam/Mercedes
Summary: Rory doesn't believe that someone can change the past, even though in his day and age, time travel is widely accepted as a means of getting around. His grumpy teacher is out to prove him wrong, and Rory finds himself faced with the challenge of going back to 2011 and getting his parents back together.
Inspired by the numerous time travel gif sets on Tumblr, including this one in particular. This part also references this gif set.
( part one ) ( part two ) ( part three )
“Kurt, wait up!”
Rory froze at his locker and tried not to stare too much from the corner of his eyes as Blaine rushed after Kurt in the hallway. It was December and the school was decked out in more tinsel than Rory had ever imagined was possible, and he watched as Blaine held out a small box to Kurt. Rory strained to hear the conversation.
“What’s this?” Kurt asked, looking up at Blaine curiously.
The box was the perfect size for a ring, and that made Kurt’s stomach instantly turn to knots. “Open it,” Blaine insisted with a big, dopey smile on his face.
Blaine looked so proud of himself that Kurt nodded and slowly flipped the top of the box open. Inside was a simple silver band. “It’s as close to Dior gray as I could get,” Blaine explained. “Do you like it?”
Kurt just stared at the ring for a moment before he looked up at Blaine, his expression unreadable. “What does it mean?” Kurt asked softly, his voice trembling a bit.
Blaine’s smile faltered and he glanced down at the box before looking up at Kurt. “It’s…it’s a promise ring,” Blaine said as though it were the easiest thing to figure out in the world. “It’s for you, because we’re in love.”
Rory felt a wave of nausea hit him, but he only stumbled a bit. He needed to hear the rest of the conversation. “Blaine, it’s…” Kurt began. He looked like he wanted to turn it away, to give the ring back to Blaine and say it was too soon, but he didn’t. Kurt’s gaze met Blaine’s and he offered Blaine a fake smile before he said, “It’s great. Thank you.”
Blaine’s over-enthusiastic smile was plastered on his face yet again, and he said, “I’m glad you like it.”
Kurt let the box snap shut and he turned to walk into the choir room, Blaine firmly planted at his side. As soon as Kurt and Blaine were out of sight, Rory burst into a fit of coughing that he couldn’t control, and he nearly collapsed because of it all. “Woah, dude, are you okay?” Finn asked, rushing to Rory’s aid.
Rory nodded, but his coughing didn’t subside. When he finally managed to take a big enough gulp from the water fountain, Rory stood up straight and Finn looked concerned. “You’re really pale, are you sure you’re fine?” Finn repeated.
With a nod, Rory quietly walked into the choir room and sulked in the corner the rest of rehearsal. Things were definitely not going as planned.
Rory felt just as ill with the coming days, and as the days on the December calendar in the Hummel-Hudson residence ticked down to Christmas, Rory found himself looking worse for wear with each passing day. “You know Kurt’s kind of freaked out about the ring thing, right?” Finn asked Rory one night while they were playing video games.
Kurt was away on a girl’s night with Rachel and Mercedes, so they had no risk of being overheard. “He accepted the ring, Finn,” Rory pointed out. “I’m doomed. The next,” Rory glanced at the advent calendar on Finn’s desk, “twelve days may just be my last.”
“Don’t say that,” Finn insisted. He paused their video game and turned to Rory. “Maybe you’re just sick because you’re worried or the time travel is getting to you or something. We still have time to get them together.”
Rory shook his head and fell into another fit of coughs, and Finn just patted his back and did his best to help Rory drink some water before they went back to their game. Rachel called after only thirty more minutes of game play, and Rory excused himself from Finn’s room quietly as Finn was pulled into what would most likely be a very lengthy conversation. He wandered downstairs to refill his glass of water when he ran into Sam making himself some toast in the kitchen. “Hey,” Sam said with a sigh.
Rory let out a cough before he adorned the Irish accent again and said, “Hey.”
“You want a piece?” Sam offered as he loaded some bread into the toaster.
“Please,” Rory nodded between coughs.
Sam put in a slice of bread for Rory right next to the slice of bread he’d put in for himself and pressed them down. Rory sipped at his water and Sam asked, “You okay?”
Rory nodded and said, “Just a cold.”
“You’ve been sick for a while,” Sam observed.
He watched Rory closely and noted how pale he was. Rory just shrugged; he wasn’t sure how to respond to Sam in that moment. Hell, Rory didn’t even know why he was sick in the first place. Sam reached up into the cupboard for a glass and poured Rory some orange juice. “It’s not the best medicine, but vitamin C always helps you get better,” Sam explained as he held the glass out to Rory.
Rory smiled and thanked Sam as he took the glass from him. His whole life growing up, Rory was always given a glass of orange juice from Sam when he was sick, which was a nice, calm alternative to Kurt’s myriad of medications he’d practically shove down Rory’s throat. It was nice, being taken care of by Sam, and it made Rory wish he’d never messed things up in his time. Now he might not ever get any moments besides these last few back in the year 2011. It was a depressing thought, to say the least. “I put cinnamon and sugar on my toast,” Sam explained. “What do you want on yours?”
“Same,” Rory said instantly.
Sam was usually the one to make breakfast in the Evans household that Rory grew up in - even Kurt couldn’t deny that Sam’s cinnamon sugar toast was one of the best breakfasts known to man. They sat at the table and ate their toast together, and Sam asked, “Do they have this kind of toast in Ireland?”
Rory nodded and swallowed his food before he said, “My dad makes toast like this all the time.”
Sam looked at Rory sadly and asked, “Do you miss him?”
It was weird for Rory to look into Sam’s eyes and just nod, “Yeah, I miss him.”
“I miss my dad, too,” Sam nodded, his voice soft and solemn. “My whole family, actually.”
“I know how you feel,” Rory agreed. “It’s tough being away from them. I dunno if my family will ever be together again.”
Sam looked up at Rory quickly and asked, “What do you mean?”
Rory knew he had to tread carefully, because one slip up could mess everything up. He spoke slowly and said, “Let’s just say that when I go back home, my parents might not be together anymore, which would be really bad for me.”
Instantly Sam’s mind flew to the first logical solution he could think of, and he nodded, “Divorce is hard. I’m sorry to hear that, dude.”
Rory just drank the rest of his juice and politely thanked Sam before he bid Sam goodnight and made his way back to Brittany’s house. Sam watched as Rory left and walked down the street, and he felt a strange tugging in his chest - like there was something he should know or should have done. Sam shrugged it off as him being too tired to think correctly, and he went into the guest bedroom and fell asleep almost instantly.
The next day at school, Rory looked a bit more sickly than he did the day before, and on their way into the choir room, Sam just smiled sympathetically at Rory and suggested that he keep drinking orange juice. Rory promised he would, and he tried to ignore Santana’s loud mention of the ring on Kurt’s finger. It may have been on his right hand instead of his left, but everyone knew the minute Santana pointed it out that the ring was from Blaine, and that it was a promise.
Rory felt sick to his stomach.
When glee club rehearsal ended, Santana walked up to Rory and said, “I’ve got your back, Irish. Never forget that.”
Those were the only words she spoke to him before wandering out of the room hand in hand with Brittany. Later that afternoon Rory spotted Santana approaching Sam at his locker, and as much as he wanted to listen, he couldn’t. He felt like he’d tip over, and he could have sworn that he just lookedthrough one of his fingers to see which textbook he was picking up. He stuffed his things in his bag and got out of school as quickly as he could.
Santana didn’t beat around the bush - she called things how she saw them, and things were down to the line. She had to hold up her end of the bargain or Rory would be far more screwed over than she could even fathom. She stepped right up next to Sam and pushed his locker shut. “Santana, I…” he began, but she cut him off.
“Listen, I know we’ve hardly talked since I came back, besides when I read you my well thought out book of insults in case you ever did come back, but I needs to be serious with you,” she said. Santana looked up at Sam pointedly and told him simply, “I saw the way you were looking at Kurt today in the choir room.”
Sam felt a slight heat cross his cheeks, and he asked, “What are you talking about?”
“Oh come on, Trouty Mouth,” Santana rolled her eyes. “You may fool all those other idiots in glee club, but you can’t fool me. You’re still in love with Kurt.”
Sam furrowed his brow and stammered, “How do you…? I mean…what?” When she didn’t seem to want to hedge on what she’d said, he shook his head and insisted, “No, I’m not.”
Santana sighed and crossed her arms as she leaned against the locker bay. “Look, I know I’m not always the nicest person, especially to you, but I’ve got to admit, I care about you. You were there for me last year when Britt was with Artie, and I want to try to help you in return,” Santana explained.
It was a losing battle, denying things any more, and Sam knew this. He sighed and shook his head, “Thanks, but it doesn’t matter. Kurt’s with Blaine and he seems happy and pretty serious about it, so…”
“Oh please,” Santana shot as she reached out to stop Sam from walking away. “Again, everyone else in the glee club may be stupid enough to think that Kurt’s actually happy with Blaine, but I’m not an idiot. He’s settling for Blaine - it’s obvious.”
“No, he’s not settling,” Sam insisted. “They’re happy. They’re…engaged to be engaged or whatever.”
“Kurt’s settling for Blaine because he doesn’t know how you feel,” Santana told him. “He wants to fit in just like everyone else. To have a boyfriend, like everyone else.”
Santana looked into Sam’s eyes seriously, hoping to get her point across, but Sam just shook his head. “Forget it, okay? It’s nice, what you’re trying to do, but it’s too late. I’ve accepted that,” Sam shrugged.
He turned to walk away, and as he left the school, Santana shouted after him, “It’s never too late, Sammy!”
Sam blushed furiously and ducked his head as he walked out of the school, hoping to avoid starting any sort of scene. On his way out of the school, Sam didn’t even notice when he walked right past Rory, though that might have been because his arm passed right through Rory’s instead of bumping it like he should have.
Rory stared after Sam as he walked out the door and pointedly avoided turning back to look at Santana. From the looks of things, that hadn’t gone nearly as well as he’d hoped. Rory sighed and cursed himself for being so stupid and wishing this upon himself before continuing his slow trek back to Brittany’s house.