AN: This chapter is getting longer and longer so I split it up again. There will be a third part with the rest of the boys' California adventures.

Chapter 23: California Dreaming – Part 2

Blaine

Blaine was glad he had only had two beers the night before, because he was tired enough even without a hangover to deal with when their alarm went off. He gratefully accepted a cup of coffee, before he and Kurt took turns in Cooper's bathroom.

This morning he put a bit more effort into styling his hair and put on his nicest shorts and a new t-shirt he had bought at the Grove. He was going to a real Hollywood studio after all, where he could run into his idol. Enough reason to look his absolute best.

Kurt looked amazing as well, but that was nothing new since Kurt had discovered eBay and the mall, and Blaine wished they could stay in California longer, because Kurt barely wore any layers down here.

Cooper looked like a zombie as well, but assured them it didn't matter because he was playing a corpse anyway. Blaine grabbed another coffee before they left, and before he knew it they were heading for the front gate of the Fox Studios.

Like Cooper had promised, asking the girl watching the gate out on a date was all it took for her to turn a blind eye to Kurt and Blaine in the backseat and soon they were parked in front of a quaint looking building.

"There's a little café around the corner. Just wait there for me – I shouldn't be long," Cooper instructed them before walking inside. Blaine took Kurt's hand and together they walked in the direction Cooper had pointed.

Blaine couldn't get enough of the sights. There was a row of bungalows where Cooper had dropped them off, but beyond he could see huge sound stages and big trailers spread over the lot. Shouting was coming from one of the streets close by and Blaine couldn't wait to explore a bit.

Luckily, Cooper really didn't take long, and soon they were off, after Cooper stuck some visitor badges on them that looked more than a little fake if you looked too closely.

Cooper tried to get them into a few soundstages but filming was going on on most of them so they had to stay outdoors and ended up wandering through a replica of New York streets that caused Kurt to squeal in delight.

Suddenly, he spotted a familiar looking building and he grabbed Kurt's hand and pulled him along. "That's Maclaren's," he told his boyfriend excitedly, when Kurt raised an eyebrow in question. Kurt as it turned out was more into reality TV than scripted series, but Blaine was dead set on converting Kurt into a 'How I met your mother' fan one day soon.

"They are filming a Maclaren scene on the soundstage right now," Cooper told them when he came back from talking to some guy. "You wanna see if we can sneak in? We could pose as background actors," he added before removing their visitor's badges.

Before he knew it, they were inside the 'pub' standing on the sidelines with a group of other people. A guy with a radio on his belt came over and looked them up and down. "You background?" he asked with a frown and Blaine quickly followed Cooper's lead and nodded.

"Alright, sit in the both over there," the man instructed and Blaine slid into a booth next to Kurt. They guy went over some rules, but Blaine was barely listening and his breath caught in his throat when his idol walked in followed by the rest of the cast.

"Oh my god," he mumbled, barely containing his squeal, but apparently he wasn't quiet enough because suddenly a woman with a headset looked straight at him.

"Who hired them?" she asked, pointing at him and Kurt. "They are clearly underage." Blaine could feel Kurt tense next to him and from the corner of his eye he saw him shooting daggers at Cooper, who looked a bit nervous himself.

Before he knew what was happening, Cooper jumped up and grabbed Kurt's hand, yanking Blaine with him. "Run," Cooper yelled and they stumbled through a group of confused looking people back outside into the sunlight.

They didn't stop running until they reached Cooper's car, and Kurt's brother quickly drove them off the lot. "Don't want to be banned," he explained. "I think I've worked with that first AD before."

Kurt was still glaring at Cooper for nearly getting them into trouble, but Blaine was still hyped up from seeing the cast.

Lunch was tense as Kurt refused to talk to Cooper and Blaine excused himself to the bathroom to give the brothers some privacy. When he returned, Kurt and Cooper were arguing, and though he knew he shouldn't eavesdrop he couldn't help himself.

"How could you do that Cooper? I told you I couldn't get into trouble." Kurt hissed and Cooper at least looked contrite. "I'm sorry. I didn't think it would be a problem and I just wanted you to have a good time. I've never had a brother before, but I thought that's what I should do," Cooper apologized.

"Well, you don't have to impress me. All I want is to spend some time with you and get to know you better," Kurt shot back, clearly upset and Cooper's shoulders slumped.

"I just thought you wouldn't be interested in hanging out if you knew what a loser I am. I've been here for nearly ten years and I still haven't managed to get a break."

Okay, now he felt really bad for listening to their conversation because he didn't think Cooper often admitted that he wasn't as successful as he liked to pretend.

"You are the only family that doesn't hate me, so please don't pretend for my sake. Just knowing that I have you in my life now is enough," Kurt assured his brother and after the brothers shared a hug, Blaine took it as his cue to return to the table.

"So, what's on the agenda for this afternoon?" he asked cheerfully, not wanting to let on that he had listened to their conversation.

"How about I drive us up to Griffith Park. You have a great view over L.A and we can swing by the Hollywood sign as well," Cooper suggested, not letting on that he and Kurt had just had an argument.

Blaine looked at Kurt, who nodded but was avoiding Cooper's gaze. "Great," he replied before calling over a waiter to get the bill.

Thankfully, the afternoon was rather uneventful. Cooper took hundreds of pictures of them during their afternoon excursion, before they returned to Cooper's apartment where Kurt showed off his superior cooking skills.

They went to bed early that night, still exhausted from their road trip and the little sleep they had gotten after the beach party. Kurt snuggled up close to him, letting Blaine wrap his arms around his boyfriend, before he whispered into his ear.

"I'm glad you came with me. I'm not sure how Cooper and I would have fared on our own." Blaine tightened his hold on Kurt before he replied. "Give it time. After all, you've only just met. You both probably still need to get used to the idea of suddenly having a brother in your life."

"I hope so," Kurt mumbled, before his breathing evened out and Blaine closed his eyes as well.

Kurt

Cooper was busy the next day, filming his murder victim scenes, and so Kurt coaxed Blaine into joining him for a shopping day. After seeing the kinds of shops on Rodeo Drive it quickly turned into window-shopping, but Kurt was still in awe, just watching the beautiful garments through the windows.

In the afternoon, he let Blaine convince him to get on one of those 'The houses of the stars' tours, during which he hid his face behind huge sunglasses while making snarky comments about the other crazies on the bus with them.

He didn't really get the appeal of driving by houses hidden behind large hedges or fences, but Blaine seemed happy, so Kurt settled with his head on Blaine's shoulder and let his boyfriend have his fun.

Cooper wasn't back at the apartment when they returned after their tourist tour, and so Kurt decided to take advantages of the empty apartment and do something nice for his boyfriend.

As much as he wanted to take Blaine out for a nice dinner at some celebrity hotspot, he knew it wasn't in his budget, so he told Blaine to go for a walk to get him out of the house.

By the time his boyfriend returned, he had managed to find a few candles in Cooper's apartment and had set the table for a romantic dinner for two. Dinner was cooking on the stove, and he leaned back into his Blaine's embrace when his boyfriend's arms wrapped around his waist from behind.

"You didn't have to," Blaine whispered, but Kurt shook his head. "You've done so much for me in the past, so I thought it was my turn to take care of you. I can't give you fancy presents, but this is something I can do," he replied before turning in Blaine's arms and pressing their lips together.

"Being here is enough," Blaine assured him after they separated, "but thank you."

Kurt just smiled at him before shooing him out of the kitchen so he could finish dinner. He had already gotten dressed before starting dinner, and so by the time he was finished and was placing the plates on the table, Blaine had emerged from the bathroom as well, freshly showered and wearing a nice outfit as well.

They held hands during most of the dinner, though it made eating difficult from time to time, starring in each other's eyes like the lovesick fools that they were.

"What are our plans for tomorrow?" Kurt asked after they had finished drying the dishes, ready to collapse on the couch and just watch a movie. Blaine told him to wait for a moment because he had a surprise for them, and Kurt waited anxiously for his return, because in the past, surprises had never been a good thing.

"It's a gift from my dad and I my case, him making good on a promise he made years ago," Blaine explained before he pulled two tickets out of an envelope. Kurt's eyes widened, because after Blaine had introduced him to the movies as a child he had been as fascinated with the place as every other child had.

"Your dad got us tickets for Disneyland?" he asked incredulously and Blaine nodded. "I did want to go anyway but I know the entrance fee is rather expensive. My dad saw me researching the park online, and bought them for us. Oh, and he told me to tell you that you are not allowed to argue. You can see it as an early birthday present."

Kurt didn't know what to say, so he just wrapped his arms around Blaine and pressed his head against his shoulder.

"Remind me to get your dad a really nice present before we leave," he finally said, ideas already running through his mind.

Just then his phone pinged and Kurt picked it up from the coffee table. "It's from Cooper," he told Blaine. "Got a date 2nite. Don't expect me home. Don't do anything I wouldn't do," he read out loud, causing Blaine to chuckle. "So basically we could to something totally crazy and we would still be less crazy than your brother." "Basically."

"So what kind of movie did you want to watch?" Blaine asked once they were seated on Cooper's couch. Kurt took a deep breath reminding him that if he wanted to move forward in his relationship with Blaine he had to work on overcoming his issues.

"Actually, I thought we could not watch a movie for a while," he whispered before he pushed Blaine down onto the couch and laid down next to him, pressing their chests together. He could feel Blaine's heartbeat speed up through the thin t-shirts that were separating them and took that as a good sign.

Taking another deep breath, he grabbed Blaine's hands and put them just above his hips, hoping Blaine would get the message that it was okay. Pushing all negative thoughts to the back of his mind, he lost himself in Blaine's kisses and tried not to flinch away when Blaine's hands started moving up and down his back.

He kept sucking his stomach in though, acutely aware that it was pressed right against the hard lines of Blaine's. Once Blaine started kissing down his neck however, he forgot all about it and relaxed for the first time while he was making out with Blaine like that. Blaine loved him and Blaine had assured him he wouldn't leave him for something like looks, and he had to trust that Blaine meant it if he ever wanted to get better and get over his body issues.

"Tell me if I get too heavy," he had to tell his boyfriend though, because he didn't want to crush him, but Blaine just chuckled, assuring him that he wasn't even close to being heavy.

He lost track of time at some point, kissing Blaine until their lips were red and swollen and he had left a dark mark right above Blaine's collarbone, which he hoped would be covered by Blaine's shirt, because he really didn't need Burt to see that.

He assumed he didn't look much better, his pale skin bruising easily, after Blaine had devoted quite some time to his own neck.

They were both breathing hard when Kurt finally pulled back, because as much as he was enjoying what they were doing, he knew he would be in trouble if they continued and the last thing he wanted was break Burt's trust.

Blaine didn't seem too fare much better and Kurt quickly looked away when his boyfriend tried to cover his lap discreetly with his t-shirt.

"Wow," Blaine breathed out once they had both calmed down a bit and Kurt smiled at him bashfully. "Where did that come from?"

Kurt looked away and played with the hem of his own shirt. "I'm not saying Cooper isn't crazy, but his approach to life isn't completely stupid. I guess sometimes you just have to take a risk…" he trailed off, hoping Blaine would somehow get what he was saying even though he wasn't certain what it was that he really wanted to say.

"Well, I'm not complaining, but promise me to never do stuff you aren't ready for just because you think it's something I want," Blaine added more seriously and Kurt nodded.

"I promise. And just so you know – I wasn't doing it for you, I was doing it for me. I need to stop listening to the voices in my head, telling me wanting this is wrong or that no one is ever going to love me or find me attractive if I truly want to put the past behind me," Kurt explained as best as he could.

"Well, I do love you, and trust me I find you plenty attractive," Blaine replied, smiling bashfully as well, and Kurt took it at face value. Blaine wouldn't lie to him, so if Blaine said he found him attractive it had to be true. It definitely sounded better than hormones when he thought about Blaine's 'predicament'.

The did settle on a movie in the end, because Kurt wasn't sure he could keep his hands off Blaine with his new found confidence if he didn't refocus his attention. Cooper never showed up, so Kurt assumed his date was going well, and he and Blaine decided to call it a night around midnight because they wanted to leave for Anaheim early the next morning.

For a moment he thought that sharing a bed would be different with Blaine that night, after he had allowed their relationship to progress a bit, but Blaine just cuddled up to him, like he had the nights before, and wrapped his arms around him.

He fell asleep with a smile on his face, dreaming of a future where they weren't just playing house but actually shared their own home.

Part 3: Disneyland, another Cooper surprise and the trip back to Ohio during which the boys discuss some upcoming events...