"I missed you, buddy," Cooper said as they pulled apart.

Blaine grinned up at him, "I missed you too."

"How are you?" He asked as they walked through the airport to grab his luggage.

"I'm good," Blaine answered cheerfully, "I'm so excited that you're here. You haven't even seen my apartment."

"I know," Cooper exclaimed, excited, "Is Trent going to be there?"

Blaine shook his head, "Nah, he went home for thanksgiving. It's just me and you."

"Good, I don't want anyone to take away from my time with my little brother," He replied, mussing his hair. Cooper found his luggage pretty easily, and by the time they got back to the apartment, it was dinner time. Blaine had just planned on cooking something, but Cooper insisted that they go out to dinner together, so they ended up at some nice restaurant that Blaine had never been to.

"How's the music thing going?" Cooper asked before taking a bite of salad.

"Good," Blaine replied, "Actually, I have a gig this weekend and I really wanted you to come."

"Only if I get to do a song with you," He said half-jokingly, smiling in Blaine's direction.

He rolled his eyes, "You've only been here for a few hours and you're already trying to steal my spotlight?"

"Oh, you'd love the song I have in mind," Cooper retorted, taking another bite of his food.

"I'm sure I will," Blaine mumbled.

"So…" Cooper started a few minutes later, after they had finished their salads and gotten their food, "Who's this Kurt guy that Trent mentioned?" He was half teasing Blaine, and half in protective older brother mode. Though he was usually a really laid back person, he was different around his brother. He felt as though he needed to keep Blaine safe. He knew that his little brother was too forgiving and too easy to push around, and he tried to be there as much as he could to make sure that he wasn't getting hurt.

Blaine sighed, "I don't wanna talk about it. Not now at least."

Cooper raised an eyebrow in curiosity, "Okay, but now you have to tell me when we get home."

Blaine nodded, "When we get home."

The rest of their dinner was nice. The two of them talked more than they ate and by the fourth time their waitress came to their table to ask if they were done, they decided to leave. Cooper convinced Blaine not to take a taxi home because he wanted to see the city, so they walked the forty-five minutes back to the apartment.

To Blaine's surprise, though, the walk went by fast. Time always seemed to go by quickly when he was with his older brother, and the walk reminded him how much he really had missed Cooper. He was his best friend growing up, and when Cooper moved out during Blaine's freshman year, it was definitely hard.

The two of them kicked off their shoes and sat down on the couch together once they got home and Blaine turned on a movie that Cooper had picked out on their way back. Before the opening credits were even over, though, Cooper spoke up.

"Okay seriously, it's going to bug the shit out of me until you tell me," He blurted, breaking the silence.

"Tell you what?" Blaine asked, tearing his eyes from the screen.

"About this guy that Trent mentioned. What's going on between you two? Do I get to meet him? Do I need to kick his ass?" Even though he was half joking, Cooper was in protective big brother mode again. It wasn't even a year after Cooper moved out that Blaine had his accident, and he never seemed to forgive himself for not being there to protect him or help him. Ever since that night Blaine got jumped after the dance, Cooper was the most protective older brother anyone could ask for.

Blaine laughed, "Coop, it's nothing."

He shook his head, "Nuh uh, you're not getting rid of me that easy. The way Trent mentioned it, it is definitely not nothing. What's going on?"

"Of course Trent would tell you," Blaine groaned, rolling his eyes. When Cooper was still just watching him, he glanced at the TV, "We're missing the beginning of the movie."

Cooper quickly grabbed the remote and paused it, "Now we're not. Now talk."

Blaine threw his arms up in frustration, "Fine. Kurt is this guy that I met. He always came into my work in the morning and we really hit it off."

"And…" Cooper pushed, grinning mischievously.

By that point, Blaine finally accepted that his obnoxious brother wasn't going to shut up until he told him everything. He took a deep breath. "Well, I liked him and it seemed like the feeling was mutual, and then he told me that he had a boyfriend…"

"Ouch," Cooper interjected, causing Blaine to roll his eyes.

"Then one night he asked me to out to the bar with him and some friends. And that night as I was leaving, he kissed me…" He waited for another smartass comment from Cooper, and when he didn't get one, he continued, "So then he told his boyfriend what happened, and his boyfriend told him that he wasn't allowed to see me anymore, which is understandable, I guess."

Blaine decided to speed things up because he really didn't want to tell his brother about all of the ups and downs of the past few months, "Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, he caught his boyfriend cheating on him-"

"Ironic," Cooper cut in, "So let me guess, he came running to you?"

"Yeah," Blaine replied, "And he kissed me again, but I told him that I can't be a rebound. I let him sleep on my couch, and the next morning he was gone."

"And when was the last time you heard from him?"

"That night," Blaine sighed, "So about two weeks ago." Blaine had tried calling Kurt that day, but he never answered and never called back. The only reason he knew that something bad hadn't happened was because Rachel had sent him a text letting him know that Kurt was home. He wasn't sure if Kurt had decided that they shouldn't be friends or what his reason was, but he still hadn't been in to get coffee in the morning and Blaine never heard back from him. As disappointed as Blaine was, he couldn't say that he didn't see it coming, and he was attempting to get over it. He had decided that maybe he and Kurt weren't meant to be, afterall.

Cooper shook his head, "I'm sorry, Blaine. That sucks."

"Gee, thanks for the wonderful insight," Blaine joked back.

Cooper laughed, "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. It does suck though. I don't like hearing about people treating my little brother like that. He obviously doesn't know what he wants."

"Obviously," Blaine repeated, looking down.

"Well, don't think about him, okay?" Cooper said, trying to cheer him up. He started the movie again, "I'm here now, and if we see him, I'll kick his ass for you!"

Blaine laughed, "Thank you, Coop."

Thanksgiving was nothing big or fancy. Since it was just Blaine and Cooper, they decided to make a turkey and some mashed potatoes together and watched movies and ate all night. They were definitely both happy to be together for the holiday, though.

The Sunday after thanksgiving, Blaine had a gig that the local venue that he always played at. Cooper had managed to convince him to do a duet for one of his songs and they quickly learned the song that he chose. Though it was an older song and it took a lot of begging from Cooper, the two brothers did sound really good singing it together, and Blaine couldn't wait for his friends to hear them. Blaine also couldn't help but think that it was a perfect song to describe his "relationship" with Kurt, but he decided not to mention that to his brother.

When they got to the venue, there were quite a few people there. Melissa and some of her friends and people that she and Blaine worked with were sitting by the bar and greeted the two of them when they walked in. There were a few other people that Blaine recognized from his other shows there and quite a few new faces, too. He was the second act, so while they waited, he and Cooper had a beer together at the bar.

"Nervous?" Cooper asked, grinning at his little brother.

Blaine smiled, "Nope. I think those years with The Warblers basically killed any nerves I could ever have."

"Unless you were about to play at Madison Square Garden," Cooper offered.

Blaine laughed, "That's the exception."

The band before Blaine went on was good and their set seemed to fly by. Around eight, Blaine was getting ready to go on stage. He played three of his own songs before calling his brother on stage. "This is my brother, Cooper," Blaine explained into the microphone, "He was in town, and I figured we could do a song together for you guys tonight, sound good?" His question was met by a few cheers and whistles from the crowd, to which Cooper grinned at. As if his ego didn't need a bigger boost.

The two of them began to play their cover and as they did, Blaine's eyes met a pair watching him from the other end of the room. Of course, they were none other than Kurt's. Blaine could feel his heart involuntarily speed up a bit at the thought of Kurt watching him sing again and he had to look down at his guitar to stop himself from messing up. Thankfully, it was Cooper's verse of the song when he noticed Kurt, and he had enough time to gather himself before he joined.

"You need him. I could be him...
I could be an accident but I'm still trying.
That's more than I can say for him."

As he sang the lines he watched Kurt's face, and was almost glad that he walked in at that very second. Maybe if he took the lyrics to heart, he'd figure things out.

"Where is your boy tonight? I hope he is a gentleman.
Maybe he won't find out what I know.
You were the last good thing about this part of town"

Blaine was glad that his brother was singing the chorus with him because the words made his voice crack. It was as if the song was made for him to sing to Kurt. It seemed to go on forever, mostly because of that pair of eyes watching him from across the room, and Blaine was relieved when the audience cheered when it was done.

At least you didn't mess it up in front of him.

Blaine finished his set with two more original songs and was off the stage before he knew it. His brother seemed to notice that something was off as they walked back toward their spot at the bar by Melissa, and he put his arm around him. "Is everything okay?"

"Kurt is here," Blaine breathed, just loud enough for Cooper to hear.

"No way?" He asked, obviously looking around, "Which one is he?"

"He's standing by the door," Blaine said, "Try not to make it obvious."

"Holy shit, the tall skinny kid who's dressed all nice?" Cooper asked, obviously staring.

Blaine elbowed him, "I said don't make it obvious. And yes, that's him."

"God, did you have to stand on a chair to kiss him?" Cooper joked.

"And there's the short joke," Blaine said, laughing, "I was surprised you hadn't said one already."

"Was waiting for the perfect moment," Cooper mumbled, turning back to his brother, "But he's not bad."

"Coming from my straight and over-protective brother, I'll take that as a good thing," Blaine joked back.

"Are you going to say hi?" Cooper asked, testing Blaine.

He knew that if he said yes, his brother would give him shit for it. Besides, he sort of wanted to prove to himself that he wasn't going to get pushed around anymore, "Nah, I'll let him come over here."

While Blaine ordered them two more beers, Cooper glanced around again, and when he did, he noticed that Kurt was practically staring him down. When he saw that Cooper had noticed, he immediately turned around and pushed the door open, disappearing into the night. "I think your friend just left," Cooper said, turning back around.

"What? Why?" Blaine asked, glancing to where Kurt was standing to find that he was in fact gone.

"No idea," Cooper answered, "But he didn't really look like he liked me very much…"

Kurt wasn't necessarily bothered by the fact that Blaine was doing a duet with another guy on stage (even if the song they did was very, very fitting), but he definitely was bothered the he was buying drinks for himself and that guy after his set was done.

It took two weeks, but Kurt had finally figured out what he had wanted all along. He should have seen the signs – the little hints that it was Blaine he was supposed to be with. That morning when he left Blaine's without telling him, he went home and cried to Rachel. He wasn't crying because he was upset about Hayden, though, he was crying because he was scared. He was scared that he had messed up his chance with Blaine and he was scared of even trying to pursue a relationship with him.

From the beginning, Kurt had unknowingly made things more complicated than they needed to be. He could have easily been upfront with Blaine and told him that he had a boyfriend, but he didn't. Instead, he let himself believe that they could be just friends, even though he had felt a spark from the very first time that they had talked. He could have let Blaine go after he told him about Hayden, but instead, he tried yet again to be friends with him, and they ended up kissing more than once. He even ended up cheating on his own boyfriend because he was sure that he could control himself around Blaine, and he obviously couldn't. Then, when Kurt tried to cut Blaine out of his life completely, Blaine was still there for him, trying to warn him about Hayden.

The problem was, the entire time that they had known eachother, Kurt had been trying so hard to be just friends with Blaine, when they were meant to be something more. That morning, when Kurt awoke on Blaine's couch, fully clothed and covered in his friend's blanket, he knew he needed to leave. He was terrified that he was going to ruin things even more by trying to just be friends with Blaine again. The talk that they had the night before left them just as friends, and Kurt knew that as much as he tried, they couldn't just be that.

He spent two weeks trying to figure it out.

Finally on Thanksgiving night, when he was alone in his apartment, he called Rachel, who had gone back to Ohio for the holiday.

"Kurt, I've been trying not to say anything this entire time," She told him, "I wanted you to figure it out on your own, but you obviously need my help here. You and Blaine can't be friends. It's that simple. You were supposed to be with him, not Hayden, from the very beginning. Just imagine, if you would have gone to Dalton our junior year when you were getting bullied, you would have met him, and chances are, you probably would have dated him. And I can guarantee that you probably still would have been with him. You need to be with him. You can't just be friends."

It took a couple of days after he talked to Rachel, but Kurt finally gathered the courage to talk to Blaine. He knew he was going to have to spill his heart out, and he was prepared to do so. He thought about going to Blaine's house, but he wasn't sure if he had gone home for Thanksgiving. He knew it wasn't something he could do over the phone, so he asked around and found out that Blaine was indeed in town, and that he was playing a show Sunday night.

When Kurt walked in the doors that night, Blaine was just starting a cover of "Grand Theft Autumn" by Fall Out Boy, joined by another boy on stage. Kurt couldn't deny the fact that the other boy was definitely good looking, and for a moment he felt a little surge of jealousy when he watched the two of them sing together because they definitely seemed to have good chemistry. He wanted to be the one on stage with Blaine.

He wanted to go talk to Blaine after his set. He really did. But even when he got off stage, he was still with that guy. And when Blaine bought them both drinks, that was it. Kurt watched the two of them for a few minutes, and when the other guy turned around to look at him for the third time, he gave up. Blaine had obviously mentioned something about him, and by the looks of it, he was already moving on.

Kurt turned and walked out the door without looking back. As he walked back home, he had to stop the tears from falling from his eyes. He had been too late. He wanted to tell Blaine how he really felt, and he had been too late. He was going to have a lot to tell Rachel about when she got home.