It’s July 20th, which means Cooper Anderson knows his wife won’t judge him for being a bit of a mess.

Correction: She never had before. Apparently this year is the exception to the rule. This year Savannah walks by and snatches Cooper’s third glass of wine out of his hand on its way to his lips. “Hey,” he protests, though weakly.

“Sharing is caring,” she says sweetly, taking a sip of the wine. One year old Brandon, balanced on one of Savannah’s curvy hips, makes a gurgling noise and tries to grab for the glass before she sets it carefully out of range. The baby settles for tugging on her long dreadlocked hair instead. “Cooper Anderson, you have work in the morning, you don’t need a hangover.”

“I’m an adult, I can make my own decisions,” he says, sing-song. He’s not actually upset that she took the drink away; she’s right, after all. He’d just wanted something to make him stop thinking for a second. It’s July 20th. All he wants is to be able to wish his little brother a happy birthday. And it’s his own damn fault that he can’t.

“Sure you can, babe.” She sets their son down on his lap and sits down next to him on the couch. “Wanna talk about it?”

Cooper bounces Brandon up and down on his knee, making him giggle with the pure joy that only a baby can have. “About what?” He asks, avoiding Savannah’s knowing gaze. She does know him, better than anyone else, and he can’t hide from her.

“About what day it is. About your need to get drunk on this day. About the fact that it’s been six years and no matter how miserable and guilty you are, you still haven’t done anything about it.”

He huffs. They’ve never spoken about this before; he doesn’t know why it has to happen now. “What do you want me to say? There’s really nothing to talk about. It happened. It sucks. What do you want?”

“I want you to talk to him, Cooper.”

He laughs at that, can’t help it, even though Savannah’s expression is dead serious. “Yeah, okay. What would I say to him, exactly? For that matter how would I find him?”

“Fuck off, I’m not figuring everything out for you.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He slumps back against the couch. Brandon starts climbing up his shoulders like a jungle gym, kneeing Cooper in the nose on his way up, until Savannah tugs him back down. “He won’t want to see me.”

“Are you scared of what he’ll say, or what your parents will say?”

He doesn’t even know how to answer that. Even when he’s done everything his parents didn’t want him to do with no real consequences – the stupid starving artist thing, moving in with the weird hippie chick he’d only been dating a few weeks, marrying her, which you might think would make them happier, marrying a woman, but apparently not – he’s still scared of what they’ll think. What they’ll do. It’s stupid, he knows that. They don’t have any sort of hold over him, not anymore, not one that he hasn’t put there himself. But he’s still scared.

The one time he should have gone against their wishes and done the right thing, he had run away.

“Kurt might try to beat me up.” He says, though that’s the least of his worries.

“Good, you deserve it. He might knock a little sense into that thick skull of yours.”

“I love you too, sweetheart. I’m so glad I chose such a kind, caring partner to share my life with.”

“Oh please, like you had any choice.” She plants a kiss right on his lips, which he returns greedily. For whatever reason, it makes Brandon laugh hysterically; their kids have the weirdest sense of humor. “Anyway, I think you’d look mighty handsome all roughed up.”

“Oh really?” He might have to keep that in mind. He leans in to kiss her again – forget drinking, making out with his fucking gorgeous wife is the best distraction of all – but she puts a hand on his chest and stops him before he can.

“You’ve got a long weekend next week. Fly out to New York or wherever Blaine is.”

He flinches at the abrupt change in subject. “Savannah.”

“No arguments. I’ll reserve the tickets for you if I have to.”

“I can’t,” he says, throat going dry. “I can’t, you know I can’t, the things I said to him – “

“Exactly. You have to fix this, Coop, or it’s going to keep eating at you forever.” She brushes a loose lock of hair from his face, and Cooper lets his eyes drift shut for just a moment, leaning into the touch. “I hate seeing you this way, baby. At least try. What do you have to lose?”

“…you’re still so much smarter than me, you know that?” He murmurs, twisting one of her dreadlocks around his finger. The beads she’s woven into it clink together, and she smiles gently. She makes Cooper’s heart melt every time he looks at her. He still has to pinch himself to believe this isn’t a dream, sometimes, that no one will take her away from him.

She really deserves better.

“I know I am,” Savannah says smugly, leaning in for another kiss. “That’s why you married me.”

---

Kurt can’t exactly say he misses Blaine’s family.

Of course, he wishes that they were still in the picture – he knows how much Blaine misses them, even now, and seeing Blaine sad for any reason? His first instinct is to fix it. But the sheer number of ways they hurt Blaine is enough to send Kurt into a rage even now. If they did have to spend time with them, even just during the holidays, Kurt thinks it would take every ounce of effort in him not to get in a fistfight with Blaine’s father.

Cooper was always the exception. The most irritating man Kurt had ever met once he got over that brief crush, yes, but you had to love him anyway. He was like another brother to Kurt, until it actually mattered and then he had ended up as bad as the rest. Kurt still remembers the wedding and the look on Blaine’s face as he looked out at the guests and not a single chair on his family’s side of the room was filled. If even one person had come, if Cooper had stood beside Blaine like he should have, maybe it wouldn’t have been so awful. But Cooper had turned out just as cowardly as Blaine’s parents, and any affection Kurt had ever felt toward his brother-in-law disappeared when he saw the look of complete devastation on Blaine’s face.

Six years later and no contact from any of them, Kurt doesn’t really think about Cooper or the other Andersons anymore. There’s no point. So he can’t really be blamed when the text sends him into shock.

555-6234: Hi, is this Kurt Hummel’s number?

Kurt: Yes… who is this?

He answers the text and then forgets about it, assuming that it’s a client trying to get in touch about one of his designs. A few minutes later his phone buzzes again.

555-6234: This is Cooper. Cooper Anderson.

He gasps out loud, nearly dropping the phone, and Blaine looks up from his piano in the corner of the room, where he was trying to each Amelia a simple song. Mostly she bangs at it with her fists instead of trying to learn the notes, but Blaine praises her anyway. He raises his eyebrows. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah!” Kurt squeaks, eyes glued to the screen, heart pounding. Blaine shrugs and goes back to his lesson.

It’s not possible. It can’t actually be Cooper – Cooper who hasn’t contacted them in years, hasn’t even tried. Before he can reply the phone lights up with another text.

Cooper: I’m sorry, I know this is weird. I found your number on facebook but I couldn’t find Blaine’s. Is he there? Could I talk to him?

Cooper: Kurt?

Kurt: He’s not here at the moment.

He doesn’t know why he lies, but it’s too much. He can hardly believe this is happening himself, and Blaine looks so happy right now, with Amelia on his lap, and he can’t ruin it, can’t.

Cooper: Ok could you give him my number or something?

Kurt: I don’t know.

Kurt: ...what the FUCK, Cooper.

Cooper: I know.

Kurt: No seriously. What the fuck do you think you’re doing?

Cooper: I just want to talk to my brother.

Kurt: It’s been years. You haven’t even tried to contact him once!

Cooper: I’m trying now.

Cooper: I want to make things right.

Cooper: Please let me talk to my brother

Kurt: No!

Cooper: Kurt

Kurt: NO. You don’t get to do this to him, and you do not get to call him your brother when you haven’t even tried to get in touch for six fucking years.

He’s a little shocked at how angry he is, stabbing at the screen his phone with his fingertips as he types out his reply. It’s not unreasonable, after the things Cooper said all those years ago, the way Blaine had cried after his brother slammed the door in his face. He tries to calm himself down while he waits for another text, though he wouldn’t be surprised if one never came. Kurt glances at Blaine, biting his lip as he considers showing Blaine the texts.

Cooper: I’m sorry, ok?

Kurt: I don’t care.

Cooper: I’m trying to make this right! I’m sure if I just explain things it’ll be ok

Kurt: I don’t CARE.

Cooper: What if I said I had plane tickets to New York?

Kurt: …what?

Cooper: You’re still there, right? I want to see him. I really want to try to fix this. You have to believe me.

Cooper: If I come, will you let me see Blaine?

Kurt: You’re serious.

Cooper: I give you full permission to punch me in the face when I get there.

Kurt: Don’t think I won’t.

Cooper: So is that a yes?

Kurt: I don’t think I could stop you.

Cooper: You won’t regret it.

Kurt: If you leave him again, if you hurt him, I will kill you.

Cooper: I know you well enough not to take that lightly.

Cooper: See you soon, Kurt

Kurt: Do you want me to tell him?

Cooper: No!! If you do he won’t let me come.

Kurt: This is a bad idea, Cooper.

Cooper: Never stopped me before!

Kurt: Asshole.

Cooper: :D

He doesn’t send a reply, doesn’t have anything to say, but he keeps going back to that smiley-face, staring at it like it might help him solve some mystery. It doesn’t. He’s just as confused as ever.

Later as they’re getting ready for bed, Kurt can’t hold it in anymore. To hell with what Cooper wants, he’s not going to keep something like this from his fianc�. Cooper probably just wants to make some dramatic entrance, anyway.

“Blaine?” His voice trembles slightly, less confidant than he had hoped it would sound. Blaine finishes pulling on his pajamas and slips into bed, tugging Kurt close. Kurt closes his eyes for a moment, letting himself snuggle into the warmth of Blaine’s arms, before he speaks again. “Cooper texted me today.”

He doesn’t look at Blaine’s face, but he doesn’t have to. He feels Blaine tense, tremble, and force himself to relax again. When Blaine doesn’t reply Kurt goes on. “He wants to visit you.”

“So?”

“That’s it?” Kurt sits up to look at Blaine’s expressionless face. “Blaine…”

“He won’t come.”

“But Blaine –“

“He won’t. I know him.” Blaine shuts his eyes tight. “I know that’s he’s a coward. And maybe he really does want to see me, but he won’t do it.”

Kurt bites his lip, watching Blaine’s face. “But what if he does?”

Blaine shakes his head, turning so that his face is tucked into Kurt’s neck. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I don’t need him. I don’t need any of them. I’m okay with that.”

He doesn’t say that he knows Blaine is lying. They both know that. Part of him feels awful for opening up these old wounds – and they’re barely healed even now – but letting Cooper show up completely unannounced could only be a bad idea. “You don’t have to be okay,” Kurt whispers, pressing a kiss to the top of Blaine’s bushy hair. “Not around me.”

Last week Blaine’s birthday had come and gone, and like every year there was no contact from any member of Blaine’s family. It wasn’t even that they had expected differently. But still, they had hoped.

“I know.” Blaine nuzzles closer, huffing out a warm breath against Kurt’s neck. “I just don’t want to talk about Cooper.”

“I love you,” Kurt says, just because sometimes there’s nothing more he can do. Nothing he can offer but love. Blaine takes Kurt’s hand from where it was curled around Blaine’s shoulder, lifting it to his lips and kissing the ring on his finger.

“I love you,” Blaine echoes. And that’s all they need.

---

Three days later Kurt gets a text asking for directions to the apartment. He gives them, because he doesn’t know what else to do. Cooper Anderson shows up at his door with an overnight bag in his hand, a smile planted on his infuriatingly handsome face.

“Kurtie!” He says, always too loud, and spreads his arms out wide. If it’s an invitation for a hug, Kurt doesn’t take it. “My favorite brother-in-law! Also my only brother-in-law. But still my favorite! How’s it going, bro?”

Kurt doesn’t punch him. He does take one look at that shit-eating grin and steps in close as if to accept the hug, only to knee Cooper in the balls. He doesn’t believe in violence, but god damn it’s satisfying to watch Cooper double over in pain.

“Okay, yeah, I definitely deserved that,” Cooper gasps out, voice an octave higher than usual. “Ow. ”

“Come in and sit down,” Kurt says. He’s already exhausted and the ordeal hasn’t even begun.

He stands up straight, with some effort. “Really? You won’t regret it, I swear-”

“Shut up. I’m not doing this for you; I’m doing it for Blaine. He’s, at work, should be back with Amelia soon.”

“Amelia?” Cooper sits down slowly, wincing in pain, legs crossed like he expects Kurt to attack again.

“Our daughter.” He gestures to the pictures lining the wall. “She’s turning six soon.”

Something in Cooper’s expression goes soft when he looks at the photos. “Aw, wow. She looks just like Blaine! Can’t believe my little bro is a dad.”

“Whether or not Blaine is your bro remains to be seen,” Kurt says coldly. Cooper’s face falls, and he nods. “Can I get you anything? Coffee?” He glances down at Cooper’s crossed legs, and still doesn’t feel bad at all. “Ice pack?”

Cooper laughs sharply. “Coffee would be nice. Black, please.”

Kurt nods and goes to the kitchen, watching the man who should have been his brother-in-law the entire time, as he stares around the tiny living room.

He looks... older, there’s no nice way to put it. Not bad, he doesn’t think it’s possible for Cooper to look bad even if he tried, but definitely older. He can see the beginnings of a couple gray spots at the roots of his wavy hair. And he’s nervous, being here, Kurt can see that written all over his face.

God. Cooper Anderson is sitting in his living room, looking at his family photos, trying to catch a glimpse of everything he missed in the past six years. It’s so surreal that Kurt can barely believe it’s happening.

“Blaine didn’t think you’d come,” Kurt says softly.

Cooper glances up, a smile twitching at the corner of his mouth. “I almost didn’t. Savannah practically forced me onto the plane.”

“Glad to know that you’re so willing to see us.”

“I didn’t mean…” Cooper bites his lip. “I was scared. That’s all. I don’t know what to expect from this.”

That makes two of us. Kurt finishes stirring the cream into his coffee and hands Cooper his own steaming mug before he sits down in the armchair across from the couch. “You’re still with Savannah?” It’s small talk, but everything important Cooper has to say is Blaine’s business, not Kurt’s.

Cooper laughs, long fingers curling around the mug of coffee. He breathes in the steam but doesn’t drink yet. “Married her, actually.” He lifts his hand and wiggles his fingers, the gold ring on his finger glinting in the light from the window.

Kurt raises his eyebrows. “Well, congratulations.” Even though he’s supposed to be angry at Cooper he can’t help but smile at that. He doesn’t know Savannah well, but he’d always liked her. Probably for

the same reasons that Cooper originally had: because she was everything Mrs. Anderson despised. With her long dreadlocks and bohemian lifestyle and blatant refusal to wear a bra, not to mention the extensive feminist rants she tended to go on, she had driven Blaine and Cooper’s mother insane. It was something Kurt could certainly relate to. “She’s seemed like a nice girl.”

“She’s amazing.” A dreamy look crosses Cooper’s face before he shakes his head, discomfiture returning as he clears his throat. “How’s… um, how has Blaine been?”

How much can he say? How much would Blaine want him to say? He doesn’t want Cooper to say anything that could upset Blaine and ruin this, ruin another chance at a bit of happiness for Blaine. Kurt hesitates. “It’s been… hard. Really hard. We’re working our way through it, though. One step at a time. I guess there are a few things you ought to know before he gets here.”

“Okay.”

“Because I can’t let you hurt him. He’s fragile, he doesn’t like to admit it to anyone but me but he is still so breakable and…” He closes his eyes, taking a deep breath.

“Kurt,” Cooper says, so gentle that it makes Kurt blink his eyes open again. He so wants to trust the earnest look in Cooper’s eyes, but he can’t, not yet, not when he could still damage Blaine so badly. He can’t let that happen. Blaine is his and he will protect him, after everything they’ve gone through there’s nothing he won’t do. Cooper looks straight into Kurt’s eyes when he speaks. “I’m not here to screw his life up again, okay? I won’t even stick around if he doesn’t want me, I just – I have to try. You know? Just… please, let me try.”

Kurt bites his bottom lip until it hurts, and nods. “We broke up for a while.”

“Seriously? Why? You were always so solid.”

“Until everything with your family happened.” He doesn’t hold back the venom in his tone. “He drank a lot. There were so many reasons, really. I always told myself that if – if he ever hurt me, I would end it. And, well.” Kurt feels his face heat up in a blush, ashamed even though he knows it wasn’t his fault.

Cooper stares at him. “He hit you.”

“Only once. Just a slap. It was nothing, honestly.”

“And you took him back? Kurt –“

“It’s different now!” It sounds like a weak excuse but it’s true, everything is different, but he doesn’t know how to explain why it’s different to anyone else. Not a day goes by that he doesn’t worry about other people judging him for taking back someone who abused him. His family doesn’t, thank god, they trust his judgment. But Rachel… she supports them, but he can tell she doesn’t really understand. But it is different. It is, because he really did manage to save Blaine, make him better. He has to keep telling himself that. “I know how screwed up it is, but so was he. I’ve forgiven him. He’d never do it sober, and he is sober now. Don’t you dare judge me, you have no idea –“

“Hey, whoa, I’m not judging you!” Cooper raises his hands in surrender. “I just never want to see you get hurt, Kurt. I still care about you guys, you know? I still worry. But I guess it’s not my business.”

“You’re right, it’s not.” Kurt shakes his head. He really hadn’t wanted to get into all of that, hopes Blaine won’t be upset. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks about them, in the end. “Anyway. I left him, I got Amelia, and he… tried to kill himself.” He it says, softly, as if that will lessen the shock. God, but he still hates to say it, hates that it happened.

Cooper’s eyes widen, breath catching. His hands tremble as he sets down his barely touched mug of coffee on the table in front of him. With his hands free he runs one of them through his hair. “Jesus.” He whispers.

“He’s been seeing a therapist for a while now, and he’s on medication. He’s better than he was. But it’s been hard.”

“If I had known –“

“What could you have done?” Kurt shakes his head. “The drinking got bad too, like I said, but that’s over. He can’t even drink with the meds he’s taking now, so that helps. Just don’t offer him a beer.”

“Got it.” Cooper’s shoulders slump back. “Jesus,” he repeats, “I had no idea.”

“That’s no one’s fault but your own.”

“I know that, but if I had been here… I’m so sorry. For that, and the things I said to you guys. I didn’t mean it, you know, what I said.”

“Yes you did.”

“…okay. But I don’t anymore.”

“Do you think that actually helps? Or changes anything?” Kurt snaps.

“No. Still have to say it.”

The sound of footsteps and voices outside interrupts them, Amelia’s high pitched laugh and Blaine’s deeper timbre. Kurt watches Cooper tense as the voices grow closer, eyes wide, terrified. Kurt realizes he can’t completely hate this man.

“I’m not the one you need to apologize to,” he says quietly. Blaine and Amelia are singing together at the top of their lungs –““There was a farmer who had a dog and Bingo was his name-o, B-I-N-G-O – “ and he can hear the smile in Blaine’s voice. He hopes it lasts.

The door opens, and Kurt turns around to see his family stepping into the kitchen. Blaine is laughing while Amelia keeps on singing. “Honey, I’m home,” he sings, and then looks into the living room. His face falls, eyes wide, mouth open in shock as he stares at the brother he hasn’t spoken to in six years.

“B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O and Bingo was his naaame-ooo… Papa, sing with me!” She tugs on his arm, but goes silent when he sees the look on his face.

Cooper stands up slowly, smiling as best as he can. He’s clearly terrified, shifting from foot to food and wringing his hands together, eyes wide, and unable to say a word. Blaine might as well be a statue. Amelia grows more worried, and Kurt stands up and goes to her, prying her off of Blaine. “Daddy, who’s that?” She asks, too loudly.

“That’s Papa’s brother.”

“Papa has a brother? Like you have Uncle Finn?”

“Sort of. Let’s leave them alone now, okay, sweetheart?” He takes her hand and leads her away. Blaine’s eyes meet his as he passes.

He’s so scared. Kurt pauses, searching Blaine’s face, but it’s not a panic attack. He knows what they look like well enough by now. He takes Blaine’s hand and squeezes it. It’s not much, but he can’t offer anything else.

“Kurt,” he whispers.

“Talk to him. You’ll be okay.” He kisses Blaine gently on the lips, and as if she can tell how serious this is Amelia, for once, doesn’t yell “Ew!” and run away when they kiss.

Please, let him be okay, Kurt thinks, not sure who he’s praying to.

---

For at least a minute Blaine just focuses on remembering how to breathe. Seeing Cooper standing in his living room made him forget. He’s still just standing there, smile tentative and scared, older than the version of him in Blaine’s head.

“Hey, Blainey,” he says like he has a thousand times before. But it’s different, this time. It’s more like a question, like he’s asking permission for something.

Blaine’s throat feels like he swallowed sandpaper. He wets his lips. “Hi, Cooper,” he whispers after too long a pause.

What does he say? What the fuck can he possibly say? He wants to scream and maybe cry a little and punch his brother and hug him and run away and hide, and he can’t do a fucking thing but stand there frozen. He wishes Kurt had stayed, but he’d taken Amelia back to her room. He keeps unconsciously reaching for Kurt’s hand but it’s not there, and he doesn’t know what to do without it.

Which, when he thinks about it, is probably unhealthy, but he doesn’t care. Kurt is the only thing that holds him together sometimes.

Cooper doesn’t say anything, looks as dazed as Blaine feels. Slowly, he gathers up the courage to speak above a rasping whisper. “W-what are you doing here?”

“God, I’m not even sure I know.” Cooper laughs under his breath. “I just. I miss you, Blainey.”

Don’t call me that, don’t, I’m not your Blainey, I’m not your brother, you all but said that – “You miss me.” He repeats, voice flat because if he doesn’t keep it flat Cooper will hear how bad it’s shaking.

“I – yeah. I do. I wanted to see you.” Cooper shifts from one foot to the other, nervous.

“Why?”

Cooper blinks at him, and he looks like a confused puppy. “I – because –“

“Seriously, why? Why the fuck would you bother? Why now?” His voice rises with each word. “How can you just show up like this like nothing ever happened and expect me to just welcome you –“

“It’s not like that, Blainey –“

“Don’t fucking call me that!” Blaine shouts, fear and confusion dissipating and leaving behind only anger, and he really just wants to punch Cooper in the face but he can’t make himself move.

Cooper falters, his eyes wide as he stares at Blaine. “I - I’m sorry, ” he says, voice breaking. “I’m so sorry, I was an idiot and I was scared, but I’m trying to make it right now, if you’ll please just give me a chance…” He stops, waiting for Blaine to reply. When he doesn’t, Cooper closes his eyes and looks down at the floor, taking a deep breath. “Okay,” he says shakily, and starts toward the door.

“Coop.”

He turns around immediately, before Blaine is even aware of speaking, so full of hope that Blaine can’t do anything else even though he knows what a terrible idea this is. He flexes his hands, makes himself breathe deep. “Don’t go,” Blaine whispers.

Cooper smiles, or tries to. “Thank you,” he says, a little breathless and sounding so grateful. And quiet. That, somehow, makes Blaine sure that he means it. If Cooper were faking it Blaine knows he would be shouting to make up for the lie. Cooper sinks back down onto the couch cushions, and after a moment of hesitation Blaine sits next to him. His whole body feels tense, torn between fight or flight – every instinct is screaming for flight, god he wishes Kurt was holding his hand right now – but he forces himself to sit there, next to his brother.

“Just give me a chance to explain, okay?” Cooper tries to meet Blaine’s eyes. “And if you want me to go I’ll never bother you again. But if I don’t at least try to fix this I think I’ll go insane.”

Blaine stares down at his hands and doesn’t reply. He catches himself scratching and picking at the crescent shaped scars on his palms before he clenches his fists and forces himself to stop. “Okay,” he says quietly. “Go ahead. Explain to me why the one time I really needed you on my side, you abandoned me. Why you care about what our asshole parents think more than you care about your own brother.”

“I was an idiot,” Cooper repeats. “Okay? I fully admit that. I… I tried to talk sense into them, you know? And maybe Mom would have listened but not with Dad being the way he was, you know how scared she is of him. I tried to tell them how stupid they were being. It just pissed dad off even more.

“I… I’ve never really done anything on my own.” Blaine looks up at that, confused, wondering where this is headed. Cooper keeps looking straight ahead as he speaks, like he might lose his nerve if he looks at Blaine. “I wanted to be an actor and do that whole Hollywood thing, but I was only able to do it because mom and dad had enough money to pay for everything.” He laughs bitterly. “Me and Savannah were really getting serious, I wanted to be able to do the right thing, be able to support her. Make her happy. I loved her so much, you know? Well, I still love her.”

“I don’t understand,” Blaine says quietly.

“I tried to tell dad what an idiot he was being, that you should be able to marry whoever the hell you want – and I still believe that, Blaine, I do – and he – he got so mad and he basically said if I was going to support you he’d cut me off. I wasn’t getting any parts, no one would hire me, I didn’t have anything but what they handed me on a silver platter. I didn’t know what else to do!”

“Cooper –“

“I never wanted things to turn out the way they did, Blaine, you have to believe me, but – I just thought if I could convince you not to marry Kurt so soon, maybe the whole mess would be over. Maybe we could forget it all and be a family again. And, I don’t know, maybe it could buy me some time to get my shit together before they abandoned me, too. The fact that they could do that to you scared me so much.”

Blaine slumps back, heart pounding, ears ringing. After all these years he finally knows what had led to Cooper saying such awful and unprecedented things, to the screaming match that ended in Cooper slamming the door in Blaine’s face without so much as a goodbye. To Blaine crying in Kurt’s arms harder than he ever had after being disowned, and Kurt crying along with him. His parents had always been distant; Cooper was the closest family he had, until that moment.

Understanding it doesn’t make Blaine feel any less sick. He curls in on himself in the corner of the couch, making himself smaller, though he doesn’t know what that’s supposed to accomplish. Being small makes him feel safer, he supposes. “Jesus, Cooper,” he whispers.

“I know, okay, I know how wrong it was.” Cooper finally turns to him, eyes glistening. He’d never been able to stage cry no matter how much he practiced. They’re real tears and they feel like a punch to Blaine’s gut. “By the time I got up the nerve to stand up to them, to make things right with you… well…” He runs a hand through his hair, shaking his head. “I kinda… knocked Savannah up.”

Blaine blinks. “You what?”

“It sounds awful, doesn’t it? I mean, we weren’t unhappy about it, just not really ready, you know? So I had to marry her, didn’t I? Not that I didn’t want to, but, you know, not ready. I needed to take care of her and the baby. I needed all I could get from mom and dad, and if they actually cut me off – I don’t know if they would have but I couldn’t risk it, I couldn’t. So. That’s why I never came back and fixed things with you. Too fucking scared, even now.” Cooper slumps back, sighing heavily as he looks at Blaine. “But that’s still not a good excuse. Anyway, I did use what they gave me in the end. I went back to school. I’m a nurse now.”

“Seriously? You didn’t keep acting?” He’ll never admit that he used to keep an eye out for Cooper on TV sometimes. He thought he caught a glimpse of him as a dead body on C.S.I. once, but the victim’s face was disfigured by stab wounds so he couldn’t really tell.

“Yeah – I don’t know if you noticed this, but I wasn’t a very good actor,” Cooper says, a trace of regret in his voice.

“I never noticed,” Blaine lies.

“It’s great because I make enough money to take care of the kids and still get to piss Dad off because he thinks it’s a woman’s job.” Cooper shakes his head. “My point being that you can’t blame it all on Mom and Dad. After a while it was just me being a moron. Luckily Savannah is smarter than me.”

He’s still focused on the Cooper has a kid thing, but he shoves that aside for now. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to say to this.”

“Nothing. I’m not asking you to forgive me. I just needed to explain, and apologize. Because I am sorry, Blainey, I – I wish I had been there for you.”

Something clicks into place in Blaine’s mind, and he sighs. “How much did Kurt tell you?”

“Blaine…”

“How much?”

“Why you broke up. That you…tried.”

“Great.” It wasn’t exactly information he threw around. He absently fiddles with the cuff of his button-up shirt, tight around his wrists. He always keeps the sleeves down and buttoned tight, never rolled up, to hide the scars crisscrossing his skin. He doesn’t know how Cooper would react to seeing them, and he doesn’t want to find out.

“He didn’t mean anything by it, Blainey. He just didn’t want me to accidentally say anything to upset you, I think.”

Right, because I’m so fragile I still need him to protect me. Mostly he hates that it’s true, but he can’t be mad at Kurt for that. “He took care of me, you know?” Blaine stares down at the couch cushions, picking at a loose thread. He can’t really blame Kurt for telling Cooper, knows that Kurt’s heart was in the right place. That doesn’t stop it being uncomfortable. “He didn’t have to; by all rights he should have left me to die, after everything I put him through. But he was the only one there to take care of me. So he did.” His throat and eyes burn and he squeezes his eyes shut against the threatening tears.

Cooper remains silent, and Blaine takes a deep breath and goes on, not sure why he’s even talking, why he hasn’t kicked Cooper out yet. It’s what he deserves. “I don’t regret it at all, these past months with him. Even when I didn’t want him to, he saved me, and we’re stronger than ever this time around. So it was good that he was there.” He finally opens his eyes, but he can’t look at Cooper, can’t. “But that doesn’t change the fact that you should have been there, Cooper. You should have been the first one the hospital called, not my ex-husband.”

“I know, I know.”

“I needed you. I needed my brother. ” His voice cracks and he closes his eyes, sucking in a deep breath. “I thought I would die without ever seeing you again.”

“And if I had known I would have been there in a heartbeat, I swear.” Cooper scoots closer, and there’s nowhere for Blaine to hide. He starts to put a hand on Blaine’s shoulder, but Blaine flinches back and he pulls away. “I had no idea you were so…” He trails off.

“Fucked up?” Blaine supplies.

“Well, not in so many words, but...”

He doesn’t tell Cooper about how worthless he had felt, how the whole mess had make him believe he really deserved to be tossed aside. From the look in Cooper’s eyes, too sincere to be an act because Cooper was always awful at dramatic scenes anyway, Blaine can tell he already knows.

“I’m still stuck on you being a dad, ” he says after a moment. He’s an uncle and he never even knew. How fucked up is that?

A smile spreads slowly across Cooper’s face, and he throws his head back and laughs. It’s probably out of relief more than anything else. “I know, right? I still can’t believe it! Here, look.” He digs his wallet out of his pocket and pulls a couple folded slips of paper out, passing them to Blaine. The first a family photo, Cooper with his arm around Savannah – and the fact that she actually married him boggles Blaine’s mind – and two little boys, the oldest on Cooper’s lap, the baby on Savannah’s. He’s an uncle twice and he never knew.

“That’s Everett, and that’s Brandon,” Cooper says, pointing to each boy in the picture. Everett, probably a little older than Amelia, is grinning from ear to ear, one of his front teeth missing, while Cooper points at him enthusiastically. Brandon, though he can’t be more than a year old, stares at his brother with a judgmental look that could rival Kurt’s. Savannah looks wonderful; a little curvier around the waist than Blaine remembers, and tired – who wouldn’t be with two of Cooper’s children to keep track of – but she’s obviously happy, practically glowing. That’s good. He always liked her, though he can’t really imagine her married to Cooper.

The second is just Cooper and Everett, both pointing their fingers at the camera and posing dramatically. Blaine covers his mouth to hide a laugh as he passes the photos back to Cooper. “Wow,” he says, not sure what more he can say. “Congratulations, Coop.”

“You too, little bro. That’s one adorable girl you’ve got there. Amelia, right? After Grandma?”

Blaine nods. Their grandmother on their mother’s side was one of the only members of their extended family Blaine had ever been close to, before she passed away when he was thirteen. “Amelia Elizabeth Hummel. After Kurt’s mom.”

“That’s awesome. And nice to see you’re passing on the Anderson genes.”

“Not sure being an Anderson is something to be so proud of.” He hadn’t mentioned it to Kurt yet – he’s been in a wedding-planning frenzy since Blaine proposed and Blaine doesn’t want to distract him with something so trivial – but he plans to drop the –Anderson in his last name when they re-tie the knot. There’s no point in claiming to be an Anderson when he’s not – and he’s been part of the Hummel family since he first realized he loved Kurt.

Cooper bites his lip. “I can see why you’d think so.”

The silence turns awkward, but there’s nothing to say. Cooper, who Blaine has never known to let a moment go without talking, just looks down at his lap, brow furrowed, shoulders hunched. Blaine can’t decide if he feels bad about Cooper’s discomfort or just vindictive, but if it’s the latter then it only lasts a moment before he feels ashamed.

“Is this a mistake, Blainey?” Cooper asks after a while, finally looking back up at Blaine. Wide-eyed and honest, and afraid. Blaine wants to be angry at that – if anyone deserves to be scared it’s him – but he can’t. He can’t tell what he’s feeling at all, really, other than overwhelmed. He wishes Coop would stop calling him Blainey.

“I don’t know,” he says, mouth dry.

“Because if it is, I’ll go. If you don’t want to see me again, I’ll leave you alone. But I’d like to try to be a part of your life again, if it’s not too late. Give me a chance to be the brother I should have been.”

Blaine doesn’t answer, doesn’t remember how to form words; it’s all just too much. He’d never thought he’d see his big brother again and now he’s here. Here in his living room, back in the middle of his messily patched together life – different, older and quieter and a whole new person in a lot of ways, but in others the same obnoxious man Blaine used to know. The same big brother who had criticized his every move and pushed him to be bigger and better. Who had stolen his toys. Who had sat by his bed in the hospital when their parents couldn’t be bothered, and held his hand while he cried; the only kindness in a world that didn’t seem worth living in if there were people out there who would beat a fourteen year old boy half to death.

The brother who had sided with parents who didn’t want to be his parents anymore, told him not to marry the love of his life, and left without saying goodbye. The brother who’s trying to make it right but doesn’t know how.

His silence must be enough of an answer for Coop, because he smiles, tight and forced, before standing up. “It’s getting late,” he says flatly, not meeting Blaine’s eyes.

“No it isn’t.”

“I should probably go find a hotel.”

Blaine swallows. “You don’t have to find a hotel.” Cooper’s eyes flick up to meet Blaine’s, wary but hopeful. “We have a guest room – well, Kurt’s office really, but there’s a bed. It’s not much, but. If you want it.”

“Yeah?”

He should say no. He should tell Cooper to get out. He should have more self-respect than this, but god, his family has been taken away from him so many times. How can he let Cooper walk away again if they have a chance to fix things?

“I don’t think I can ever forget what happened,” Blaine says carefully. Cooper nods, expression guarded. “I don’t think I should. But… getting a second chance with Kurt kind of made me realize that maybe you can forgive without forgetting. Maybe that’s how it should be, actually.”

“That’s so much more than I hoped for,” Cooper says. Blaine laughs, can’t help it (god he loves the times when he can’t help but be happy, he’ll never take them for granted), it comes out quick and sudden and it makes Coop laugh too. “Come here, little bro.” He holds out his arms.

Blaine goes to him without a second’s hesitation, arms flung around each other, swaying a little, one of those bear hugs that only Cooper can give. He still feels ridiculously short compared to Cooper, a little squashed by his stronger arms, and not for the first time he wonders if it’s normal to hold onto your brother for quite this long, but he doesn’t care. He never thought he’d get to hug his brother again. “Are you remembering this emotion to use in a scene one day?” Blaine mumbles into the fabric of Cooper’s t-shirt. Cooper laughs shakily and steps back, one hand still on Blaine’s shoulder, and Blaine pointedly pretends that he doesn’t see him wipe away a tear.

“Well, you never know, right?” Cooper squeezes Blaine’s shoulder once before letting his hand drop back to his side. “I’m not gonna let you down this time, Blainey. I’ve missed so much. Not again. Okay?”

“Okay,” Blaine says, voice wavering, overwhelmed. “I missed you too, Cooper.”

“Daddy, I wanna meet Uncle Cooper!”

The brothers startle, turning toward the hallway where Kurt is peeking around the corner with a blush on his cheeks, holding Amelia back as she tries to escape to the living room. “Still eavesdropping?” Blaine asks teasingly. He takes one last shaky breath to make sure he’s not still in danger of crying.

“It’s a hard habit to beat.” Kurt winks and lets go of the back of Amelia’s t-shirt. She goes to Blaine, reaching for his hand as she stares up at Cooper, suddenly shy. “She hasn’t stopped asking about you since she walked in the door,” he explains to Cooper.

Cooper kneels down to eye-level in front of her, an easy grin on his face. “Hey, squirt,” he says, and Blaine rolls his eyes. “You must be Amelia.”

“Uh-huh. I’m five-and-a-half,” she says proudly.

“Wow. My son is six. He’s your cousin.”

“I have a cousin?”

“Two cousins! But the other one is still a little baby.”

“Can I play with them?”

“Well, we live pretty far away, but maybe we’ll come up for a visit.”

“Just move here! It’s better!”

Blaine tunes out of the conversation a little when Kurt walks up, hugging Blaine tight from behind. He turns a little and buries his face into Kurt’s neck, breath shuddering out of him. Kurt’s hands come up to stroke down his spine. “Hey, hey,” he whispers in Blaine’s ear.

“Sorry,” Blaine mumbles, not even sure what he’s apologizing for.

“Don’t be. Are you okay? Did I do the right thing? If I didn’t –“

“Yeah. Yes.” He twists his neck to look back at Cooper. He’s laughing genuinely at something Amelia says, and she’s obviously in love with him already. Blaine smiles because he can’t help it. He has his brother back. Amelia finally gets to meet someone from her family – something Blaine thought would never happen, and therefore he never told her about them. Somehow, after everything he’s gone through in the past seven years, things are finally getting pieced back together. It’s not perfect. It probably never will be.

But it’s getting there.

“Thank you,” Blaine whispers, closing his eyes. Kurt relaxes and kisses the top of Blaine’s head, squeezing him tight.

The quiet doesn’t last long. “Group hug!” Cooper shouts without warning, making Blaine jump as his long arms wrap around the two of them, squishing them together so that Blaine’s nose is kind of smushed into Kurt’s collarbone. Amelia jumps in, too, hugging around Blaine’s legs. They grumble, but neither of them resists it. And Cooper really does give the best hugs.

Not for the first time recently and not for the last, his life has gotten turned upside down. Blaine wouldn’t have it any other way.