"I've found somewhere," Kurt announced after letting himself into Blaine's bedroom without bothering to knock.

Blaine's head shot up from the textbook he'd been frowning down at, startled by Kurt's sudden appearance. "Found somewhere?" he repeated blankly.

"For you to play piano for tips," Kurt elaborated. He threw himself down onto the bed next to Blaine, making the textbook and papers scattered on top of the bedding bounce slightly. "The guy who normally plays was promoted at his other job and doesn't have the time anymore, so they're looking for someone to replace him." He bounced up and down on the bed a little, excited. He hadn't expected an opportunity to appear this soon.

Blaine wasn't so quick to share his sentiment. "Where is this place? And are you sure they want someone to replace this guy?" he asked sceptically.

"It's a restaurant in the town centre," Kurt explained. "It's not the biggest of places, but they've apparently had someone play the piano there for years. Mercedes' older sister is a waitress there - that's how I heard about it."

Blaine picked at the bedding. "Would they want someone like me, though? I'm still in school and can't do it every night."

Kurt just shrugged and smiled. "You won't know until you ask them, and if they hear you play they'd be crazy not to give you the job." He reached over and patted his boyfriend's knee. "We can go over after school tomorrow and see what they say."

Nodding, Blaine gave him a grateful smile. "Sorry for the pessimism."

Kurt rubbed Blaine's knee again. "It's fine; it's just one of those things."

At school the next day, he was able to walk down the halls without getting shoved into a locker; he could round a corner without a slushie being tossed in his face; he could pass a dumpster without getting thrown into it. It was weird. He'd become so used to the harassment that his day just felt strange without any of it. Even though nothing happened since Blaine had stood up to Karofsky, he was still a little jumpy. He didn't trust Karofsky one bit.

On the rare occasion that he did see Karofsky or any of his friends, they ignored him completely, looking deliberately in the opposite direction when they passed in the halls and keeping their eyes down while in class or the cafeteria. Either Blaine's words had struck a nerve, or else they'd been thrown off by someone finally fighting back against them. Kurt and Blaine were both relieved and suspicious. It seemed too good to be true. Even Finn noticed the change, confused by why Karofsky was now so subdued in class.

Kurt and Blaine discussed Karofsky on the way to the restaurant after school, asking the same questions and making the same expressions of disbelief as they had every day since Blaine had confronted the bully, but still nowhere closer to wrapping their heads around the situation or believing it.

Karofsky was driven from Kurt's mind as he waited in the car while Blaine went inside to inquire about playing the piano there. Instead he prayed to what or whoever might be listening that Blaine got this job, his leg bouncing with anxiety. When Blaine appeared over twenty minutes later, Kurt froze and squinted through the windshield, trying to see from Blaine's expression if he'd been successful. Blaine kept his face deliberately impassive until he was seated in the car next to Kurt again, and then he turned to face his boyfriend with a delighted smile.

"I got it! I play Thursday and Friday nights and Saturday afternoons."

Kurt laughed in his happiness and lunged forward to grab Blaine in a hug, holding him as close as he possibly could with the centre console in the way. "I told you!"

"You're always right, apparently," Blaine chuckled, his voice slightly muffled by Kurt's neck.

Kurt kissed the top of his head. "I am."

It seemed as though their luck had finally turned around. Everything was going smoothly for once. Blaine's therapy sessions decreased to once a fortnight, school continued to be harassment-free, and Blaine had his first night playing piano at the restaurant, returning home in shock at the praise he had received and the amount of money he'd earned. Once everyone had congratulated him, Blaine told Burt and Carole that he wanted to use the money he earned to pay them back for all of the therapy sessions. They were both touched and Kurt knew they would have protested had it not been for the stubborn look in Blaine's eyes and knowing how happy it would make him.

Kurt should have known this period of ease, of Blaine laughing and smiling and placing soft kisses to the upturned corners of Kurt's mouth, would reach a stumbling block at some point. Life could never be that perfect forever.

"Kurt?"

Kurt inhaled sharply and rolled over in his bed, burying his face deeper into his pillow and trying to keep a hold of sleep as something tried to tug him into wakefulness.

"Kurt?"

He jerked awake and sat up so quickly it almost made his head spin. "Blaine?" He squinted across his dark bedroom at Blaine's outline over by the door. "Is everything alright?"

Blaine hesitantly shuffled further into the room. "Sorry," he apologised quietly. The tremble in his voice made Kurt's chest tighten with worry. "I know your dad said I wasn't supposed to come in here at night, but I had a nightmare and now I can't get back to sleep. I tried to, but I needed you and I-"

"Blaine..." Kurt gently cut off his boyfriend's rambling. "It's ok." Blaine was close enough now that Kurt could see the tear tracks on his cheeks. He looked so small and vulnerable with his ruffled hair and slightly too-big pyjama pants pooling around his feet; it made Kurt's heart ache. He flipped the bed covers back on the empty side of the bed and held out his arms towards Blaine.

He didn't give a shit about his dad's rules right now, not when Blaine was distressed and needed him.

"Come here," he added when Blaine just stared at him, sniffling quietly.

Blaine stumbled over to the bed and into Kurt's arms, where he buried his face into the crook of Kurt's neck and wrapped his arms tightly around his waist. Kurt held him close, rubbing his back soothingly and pressing sporadic kisses to any part of him that he could reach. A fierce protectiveness filled him and he rested his head on top of Blaine's, hoping that his boyfriend felt safe and comforted in his arms.

He didn't know how long they sat there like that, Kurt occasionally rocking Blaine, who was practically curled up in his lap. Once or twice, Kurt thought Blaine had fallen asleep, but then the other boy would shift his grip on him or nuzzle his face against Kurt's neck. Eventually, Blaine lifted his head and looked up at him with red eyes. Kurt gave him a small smile and smoothed his cheek with his thumb.

"You ok?" he asked in a soft murmur.

Blaine nodded. "I'm better now." He shifted slightly against Kurt. "Sorry about this, you must be tired."

Kurt brushed off his apology. "Hey, no. You can come to me anytime you need to, doesn't matter what time it is or what I'm doing."

Blaine sniffed quietly and let his head rest against Kurt's shoulder.

"Do you want to talk about your nightmare?" Kurt asked.

Shrugging, Blaine began tracing random patterns with his index finger onto the soft skin just above Kurt's hipbone. "It was one I've had before - being beaten up and tormented while my parents watch and then something slams into my ribs and I hear a crack and then I start to fall..." His finger stilled against Kurt's side and his eyes became distant. "I always wake up when I'm falling. The fall is the worst part..."

Kurt gave Blaine a comforting squeeze and kissed his temple. "I'm sorry, baby. I wish there was a way to make them stop."

"Can I- Can I sleep here tonight?" Blaine asked tentatively.

"Of course you can." Kurt reached for the edge of the duvet and tugged it over the two of them.

Blaine snuggled into his chest. "Thank you," he murmured, his eyes already closed and his face softening as he relaxed into his boyfriend's embrace.

Smiling fondly, Kurt kissed his forehead. "Love you."

Blaine hummed drowsily in response, his right leg slipping into the space between Kurt's as sleep slowly pulled him under. Kurt watched his boyfriend's face as he fell asleep, watched the features soften and become younger and more vulnerable, felt his breathing slow into a deep, steady rhythm. He gently stroked the curls back from Blaine's forehead and silently thanked whatever power made Blaine choose this house to hide out in, made his father buy it, made him and Blaine meet and develop the relationship they had today. He shuddered to think what position Blaine would be in if he wasn't here with him.

He sleepily rubbed Blaine's back once more before drifting off to sleep.

A loud thudding noise woke Kurt the next morning and he groaned as he curled closer into Blaine's side, nuzzling into the warm body next to him. A few seconds passed and then the feeling of another presence in the room made him open his eyes. He frowned as he lifted himself up onto his elbows - was this the new way to wake him up or something? Blinking blearily, he looked around. And froze.

His dad was standing in the doorway, arms folded across his chest and an unimpressed expression on his face. He raised an eyebrow.

"Oh," Kurt said lamely.

"Oh, indeed," Burt agreed. There was a pause as he stared at Kurt, who was nervously fidgeting with the bed covers. "Care to explain?" Burt asked, nodding his head at where Blaine was tucked against Kurt's side, his head sharing Kurt's pillow, and his arm slung around Kurt's waist.

Kurt bit back the immediate response that rose to the tip of his tongue - ‘it's not what it looks like' - and just went straight to the facts.

"He had a nightmare," he explained, glancing down at his boyfriend, peaceful and untroubled in sleep. "And he couldn't get back to sleep afterwards and he needed to see me so he came in." He dragged his eyes away from his boyfriend to look back at his dad. "I had to let him sleep here. He needed me," he repeated for emphasis.

His dad didn't say anything, but Kurt thought he saw his eyes soften.

"It was a really bad nightmare, dad; he was crying and really shaken up by it," Kurt added pleadingly, willing him to see things from his perspective.

Burt's eyes flickered to Blaine. "Is he alright now?"

Following his gaze, Kurt nodded. "I think so." He brushed a few stray curls back from Blaine's face. "I'll have to talk to him about it when he wakes up, but he slept, so..." He trailed off with a small shrug.

Burt seemed to understand. He nodded slowly. "Just don't make a habit of this. It's ok every now and then if he has a nightmare or whatever, but not just because you two want to share a bed, ok?"

Kurt nodded and smiled gratefully. "Thanks, dad."

"Come down for breakfast when he wakes up," Burt added with a small smile. He left the room and Kurt breathed out a sigh of relief, lying back down next to Blaine again and smiling softly at the way his boyfriend's eyelashes were fluttering in sleep.

He imagined opening his eyes each morning to see this - Blaine with his rumpled curls sharing his pillow, his lashes like strokes of ink brushing against his cheekbone, his features soft, the warmth of his body seeping into his own, their breathing almost in perfect synch. A surge of happiness and desire filled him and he had to bite his lip to stop the smile on his face from becoming too wide. He had never wanted anything so badly in his life.

Fighting with the urge to caress Blaine's face or kiss his parted lips, he let his hand rest on Blaine's hip, rubbing his thumb in slow sweeps over his hipbone. He listened to the distant sounds of his family having breakfast and just breathed in his boyfriend's scent until he could stand it no longer and reached up to smooth his thumb over the length of Blaine's cheekbone, feeling the gentle tickle of the ends of his eyelashes against the tip of his thumb.

Just as he removed his hand, Blaine shifted, inhaling deeply and cracking his eyes open. Upon seeing Kurt he smiled sleepily. "Morning," he murmured with a yawn.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," Kurt apologised. He felt bad; Blaine had had a rough night and needed the rest.

Blaine stifled another yawn. "I don't mind, not when I'm waking up like this."

"How are you?" Kurt asked, giving Blaine a meaningful look.

Blaine knew what he was inquiring about. "I'm fine," he assured him. "It's just one of those things. I'll just...have to get used to it. At least they aren't on a nightly basis like they used to be."

"You used to have them every night?" Kurt asked with a frown. "When?"

"Back when I was living in the attic," Blaine replied hesitantly, looking like he regretted telling Kurt about it. "It wasn't so bad after I met you." Kurt opened his mouth to speak, but Blaine cut him off before he could get a word out. "And I know you've had your fair share of nightmares in the past, too, so you can't start beating yourself up for not knowing about mine."

"How did-"

"Finn told me."

With all of his retorts lost, Kurt decided to drop the matter. "Let's just call it even and be glad we have each other to go to now."

Blaine leaned in and kissed the corner of his mouth. "Sounds good to me."

School on Monday came with a surprise: halfway through French Kurt was called to see Principal Figgins. He left the class while his classmates gaped at him and headed for the principal's office, puzzling over what he could have done that required him to be taken out of class. It was only when he reached the end of the hall that he realised this might not have anything to do with him, but might be about Blaine instead.

He broke into a jog, clutching at the strap of his satchel as fears filled his head, most of them involving Karofsky in some way - Karofsky cornering Blaine in the back stairwell, Karofsky attacking Blaine in a deserted corridor somewhere, Karofsky dragging Blaine out the back of the school and beating him up...

With his heart in his throat, Kurt skidded to a halt outside the principal's office and yanked the door open, not even remembering to knock.

The first person his eyes landed on was Karofsky and rage flared up inside him, panic at what Karofsky had done to Blaine making his hands and legs shake. He stormed up to his tormentor, who had an oddly subdued expression on his face.

"You-" he began angrily, but stopped when he noticed someone else out the corner of his eye.

Blaine was sitting in the seat opposite and there wasn't a mark on him - he didn't look frightened either, just warily curious.

Kurt frowned. "What-?"

"Is everything alright, Mr. Hummel?" Figgins asked.

"I-" Kurt looked between his boyfriend and Karofsky, confusion replacing his surge of anger. "Yes."

Thrown, Kurt crossed the room a little shakily and sat down next to Blaine. Blaine gave him a small smile and a little shrug in response to his questioning look, before turning to face the principal.

Figgins rested his hands on his desk, lacing his fingers together as he surveyed the three boys in the room. "Mr. Karofsky asked me to call this meeting today so he could say something to you boys," he announced with a nod at Kurt and Blaine.

Kurt was utterly baffled. The only reason Kurt could think of for Karofsky to ask for this meeting was to get Figgins off his back and make him believe that he was going to leave Kurt and Blaine alone. If that was what was happening here then Kurt wasn't going to believe a word of it; he didn't trust Karofsky one little bit.

Karofsky cleared his throat, looking uncharacteristically nervous. "I- I wanted to apologise," he said quietly.

Kurt raised his eyebrows coolly and heard Blaine shift in his chair.

"Formally," Karofsky added in a louder voice. He glanced briefly at Figgins before looking back to Kurt and Blaine, his gaze steady. "I thought it would carry more weight if I apologised here in front of the principal instead of if I just said it in the hallway or whatever."

"Or you thought that saying sorry in front of the principal would let you continue to harass us without fear of repercussions," Kurt shot back. He scowled across the small room at Karofsky.

"Mr. Hummel, you wanted your bullying to stop and now the one you said was giving you the hardest time is here trying to apologise and move on," Principal Figgins chastised. "Let Mr. Karofsky say his piece."

Leaning back in his chair, Kurt crossed his arms over his chest. "Karofsky has bullied me relentlessly for years, so I'm sorry if I'm suspicious. His sudden change of heart is a little unbelievable."

"Mr. Hummel-"

"Fine," Kurt sighed in exasperation. He stared coldly at Karofsky, waiting expectantly for him to sprout his pre-planned speech of lies.

Figgins nodded encouragingly at Karofsky to continue and the jock cleared his throat again.

"I didn't think you would believe me - you have every reason not to - but I have changed. Because of Blaine." Karofsky indicated a startled Blaine with a nod of his head.

Kurt glanced at Blaine briefly, exchanging a puzzled frown with his boyfriend.

"Are- Are you talking about what I said to you the other week?" Blaine asked.

Nodding, Karofsky leaned forwards slightly in his seat. "You gave me a lot to think about that day. You're right, I shouldn't be spending my senior year tormenting people I probably won't ever see again. You-"

Kurt couldn't help himself; he scoffed. When everyone turned to look at him, he said, "So the only reason you're stopping is because you won't be able to do it anymore once we graduate?"

Karofsky shook his head in protest, his eyes wide in an attempt to convey his innocence. "No! No, that's not it at all. Blaine just made me realise that the world is so much bigger than high school, and I was behaving really ignorantly."

Biting back a sarcastic remark, Kurt waited impatiently for Karofsky to get to the point. He wasn't going to believe anything about how he'd changed, how he was sorry for everything he'd done over the years. He just wanted the jock to say his piece so he could go back to class.

"I never really thought about what I was doing when I taunted you and pushed you around," Karofsky continued, his gaze meeting Kurt's. "I never thought about the big picture, how it might have affected your life outside of school. It was just something I did at school and then never thought about until I saw you again the next day, but for you it must have been different. I could have been affecting your family, your grades, your college applications - I don't know, I could be affecting your future." Karofsky shook his head regretfully. "I never meant for that to happen and I'm really sorry if it has. I mean it." He held Kurt's gaze as he waited for a response.

Kurt narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously. He sounded sincere enough, but how good of an actor was he? He had managed to play innocent for long enough and fool the teachers, after all. He couldn't really think of what to say; there didn't seem to be much point in arguing, not when Figgins clearly believed Karofsky. "Right," he said eventually.

Karofsky's eyes flickered between Kurt and Blaine for a moment. "I'm truly sorry for everything I've done to you over the years, Kurt - and for how I treated you the other week, Blaine," he added. "I never meant for it to get this far. It was just a bit of a laugh to start with..." He faltered under the glare Kurt was sending him, fumbling around for his words. "I- But, I um- I don't want the fact that I could have ruined someone's future to be hanging over me for the rest of my life."

So now they had reached the real reason for this apology - Karofsky felt guilty. Blaine had gotten him to think about how his behaviour was affecting people's lives and now he felt guilty. Of course this was all about him. Kurt should have known.

"So you only-" Blaine began angrily.

Kurt laid a hand on Blaine's thigh to stop him. He was tired of dealing with this; he just wanted it to be over.

"I understand," Kurt said to Karofsky wearily. "I'm glad you've seen how your actions affect others, but I'm sure you can understand why I'll never be able to forgive you for what you've done." He could feel Blaine staring at him, but didn't look over.

Karofsky nodded, his expression sober as he watched Kurt and Blaine guiltily. "I understand," he said quietly.

Kurt gave a brisk nod just as the bell sounded, signalling the end of the current period.

"Well, I think you can all go to your next class if nobody has anything else to say?" Figgins suggested, speaking for the first time since the start of the conversation. Once everyone shook their heads he dismissed them, and Kurt and Blaine left the office immediately, marching quickly through the corridors until they were almost at their classroom. Blaine turned to face Kurt.

"Why did you let him off with that?"

Sighing, Kurt stopped and slumped against a nearby wall. "I'm just tired. I'm tired of dealing with it and I'm tired of trying to change Karofsky's views and make him realise how wrong he is about it all. I just want to put it all behind me and move on."

Blaine stared at him for a moment, his eyebrows drawn together into a sympathetic frown. "Yeah, I suppose I would feel the same way if I was in your shoes. But don't you worry-?"

"That he'll just go on to torment others once he's left school?" Kurt finished for him. "Yes, but I can't see him changing anytime soon." He sighed again, letting his eyes close. "I'm sick of looking over my shoulder all the time and going home with bruises and ruined clothes. Right now I only really care that Karofsky is going to leave us alone, although I'll only believe it when I see it."

"Hopefully he was being honest."

Kurt opened his eyes and exchanged a small smile with his boyfriend just as another student ran passed them, reminding them to get to class.

They hurried down the hall and into their Math classroom. Once they'd gotten to their desks and the teacher had started the lecture, Blaine pulled a notebook from his bag, tore out a page, scribbled something on it, and then slid it over to Kurt. He read the message curiously.

‘I want to try and find Cooper again tonight. I have another idea of where to search.'

Expecting the note to have been about Karofsky, Kurt was surprised. Neither of them had given up hope of finding Cooper, of course, but he thought they'd already tried everything. He picked up his pen and wrote out a reply.

‘Great! I didn't think it would be this hard to find someone.'

After checking that the teacher wasn't looking in their direction, Kurt passed the note to Blaine. He watched as Blaine read what he'd written and then nibbled at his bottom lip.

Kurt leaned over and added another short message to the top corner of the sheet of paper.

‘Don't worry, we'll find him.'

Blaine's idea turned out to be something that had occurred to him while listening to one of Rachel's long rants about Broadway, solo performances, and her vocal range. She had mentioned a website she'd been using all year to track performances and blog posts published online by fellow NYADA and musical theatre studies applicants. Blaine thought it was worth a shot to search for Cooper on it.

They fired up Kurt's laptop as soon as they got home from school, and once they found the right website - Blaine couldn't remember exactly what Rachel had said it was called - Blaine typed Cooper's name into the search bar with trembling fingers.

Text posts and photos popped up. Blaine scanned them quickly before scrolling further down the page, searching for anything that might be about his brother. Kurt anxiously looked on. He'd seen Cooper's Facebook profile picture, so he had a vague idea of what he looked like, but he could only really fidget with the bed covers and hope Blaine would find something.

Blaine scrolled further, narrowing his eyes at a text post. Kurt's gaze was drawn to a video that had appeared towards the bottom of the screen. He frowned at the still frame that was displayed, cocking his head slightly to one side as he took in the frozen image of a handsome, dark-haired man standing at the front of a small group of people. The man looked like Cooper did in his Facebook profile picture - straight, dark brown hair; bright blue eyes; strong jawline; tall, slim build - and the name ‘Cooper Anderson' was listed underneath the video...

"Blaine?" Kurt said quietly.

Blaine hummed to show he was listening, not looking away from the computer.

Kurt hesitated for a second. He didn't want to get Blaine's hopes up, so he chose his next words carefully.

"Have you seen this video yet?"

Blaine glanced down at the video and froze. "That's-" He hit the play button on the video and some commercial for a credit rating website started to play, featuring the dark-haired man Kurt had been looking at. It wasn't long, but as soon as it ended Blaine hit the replay button, ending up watching it five times before sitting back and exhaling audibly.

Kurt glanced between the laptop and his boyfriend. "Blaine?"

"That's him," Blaine said roughly. "That's my brother." He played the video again and Kurt stared at the recording of the man who had essentially abandoned Blaine over five years ago.

"That's-?" Kurt began.

Blaine nodded. "Yeah." The video ended and he pulled the laptop towards him and clicked through to the source page, scanning the contents quickly, sighing at its lack of usefulness, and then clicking onto another website.

Blaine searched through every possible website he and Kurt could think of, finding nothing. It was apparent that Cooper hadn't done any more advertisements or any other acting - Blaine said Cooper had gone to college with the intention of studying Law, so unless he'd had a drastic change of heart, he couldn't see Cooper doing any more acting work. Their further searching proved fruitless, and they had once again hit a roadblock. Kurt was beginning to think that both of the Anderson brothers had managed to silently disappear into the background of the world.

Blaine sighed in contentment as he sank down into the chair opposite Kurt and took a sip of his coffee. It was Wednesday afternoon and they were treating themselves to a mid-week caffeine fix at the Lima Bean. The coffee shop wasn't that busy, the conversations of other patrons merely a low hum in the background, no disapproving glares today.

Kurt slumped elegantly in his chair and gazed contemplatively across the room. "Sometimes I really do think there are people without any mirrors in their houses. Why else would you go out in public wearing that?" He nodded at a woman across the coffee shop from them.

Smiling, Blaine cast a brief glance over his shoulder at the woman and shook his head slightly before turning back to face Kurt. He swallowed another mouthful of his drink, glad that he'd chosen to get a cappuccino this time - he needed something stronger than a latte. He watched Kurt raise his coffee to his lips. For the first time since they'd started dating, he'd been able to pay for their drinks. Burt and Carole had insisted that he not use all of the money he earned to pay for his therapy, so he now had a small fund that he could use to take Kurt on dates, although most of it was being set aside to save up for when he went to college.

"What are you thinking about?" Kurt asked lightly.

Blaine snapped out of his thoughts to find Kurt watching him with a fond smile on his face. "The future," he replied. Not wanting Kurt to get the wrong idea, he quickly added, "New York, college, you..."

Kurt glanced briefly over at a couple of people sitting down at a table nearby before reaching to place his hand over Blaine's where it lay on the table by his coffee cup.

"It's going to happen, Blaine; all of it," he said softly. He gave Blaine's hand a light squeeze. "I know it."

Blaine smiled in response, flipping his hand over to return the pressure of Kurt's hand on his. "Moving to New York will be so much harder for you - you've got family here you'll miss whereas I don't." Behind him, a chair scraped heavily against the floor.

"It will be hard," Kurt agreed, staring down at their joined hands. "But there are phone calls, and I'll teach my dad how to use Skype, and we'll see each other on holidays. It's just something I'm going to have to get used to. I can't stay in Lima forever." He met Blaine's eyes again. "And I'll have you there to help me through the hard times."

Blaine opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by someone clearing his throat pointedly. He looked up with a guarded expression, but the sudden recognition that hit him made the colour drain from his face, and he almost fell out of his chair in shock.

It was his parents.

As he stared at them in speechless horror, Kurt shot them a brief frown. "Can we help you?" He turned back to Blaine, no doubt about to roll his eyes at him or something, but then he did a double-take, stricken horror appearing on his face as he realised who it was standing by their table.

For a moment it seemed like none of them could speak. They all just stared at each other in stunned silence. But then Mr. Anderson spoke.

"Blaine, can we-?"

"How did you find me?" Blaine blurted out.

"Let's go somewhere priv-"

"No," Blaine interrupted firmly. "We're not going anywhere to talk; I'm staying here." He wasn't a child anymore, he wasn't going to do everything his parents wanted him to do. If they thought they could come here and he'd just obediently follow them home, they were wrong. Those days were over.

His father frowned darkly. "Blaine-"

"Whatever you have to say can be said here, but first you can answer my question: how did you find me?"

His parents exchanged a look. They were just as Blaine remembered - his father with hard eyes and permanent frown lines, his mother perfectly put together and with disapproval in her eyes.

"A friend of mine saw you in this coffee shop last week while she was in Lima doing some shopping," his mother replied. "You've changed a bit since she last saw you, but she still recognised you, and she heard someone say your name. We've been coming here around this time almost every day trying to find you."

Blaine remembered the woman that kept glancing in his and Kurt's direction last week. He'd thought at the time that it was strange and that she was looking at them. Apparently he'd been right.

He shifted in his seat and realised he was still holding Kurt's hand - something that kept drawing his mother's attention. He gave Kurt's hand a light squeeze, letting him know that he was ok and could handle this.

"So what do you want?" he asked, trying to keep his voice as level as possible.

The frown lines on his father's face deepened. "We haven't seen you since you ran out of the house almost a year ago. What do you think we want?"

"If you want me to go back to your house and live with you, you can forget it."

"You're still our child and you'll do as we tell you," his father told him in the commanding voice that, a year ago, Blaine would have never dared argue back to. But Blaine wasn't that kid anymore.

He shook his head, jaw set with determination, letting them know he wasn't going to back down on this. "I left almost a year ago; you can't just show up now and demand I go back with you. I won't do it. I have another home now, a real one." He glanced at Kurt, who was pale and tense. The Hudson-Hummel house was his home now, Kurt was his home now, and he wasn't going to give that up.

His mother's face tightened as his father's eyes flickered to Kurt and stayed there - sharp, unwavering, disapproving, hard, like chips of ice. Kurt stared unflinchingly back and a muscle in Mr. Anderson's face jumped.

"I see," Mr. Anderson said after a pause. He looked back at Blaine. "So, you ran away from home to shack up with this..." He glanced back at Kurt, his insolent glare taking him in, a nasty smirk twisting his mouth. Blaine gritted his teeth. "...boy here and now that you're living the filthy little fantasies you used to have, you don't want to leave."

"That's not how it is! Kurt's family took me in when I had nowhere to stay, and Kurt and I, we're in love," he informed his parents with relish, smiling at their appalled expressions. He deliberately rubbed Kurt's forearm, drawing his parents' attention.

His father regained the ability to speak first, not that his mother was saying much to begin with.

"Love," he scoffed. "What do you people know about love? This isn't love." He waved a hand at where Blaine was rubbing his thumb across the soft, delicate skin on the inside of Kurt's arm.

"And what you and mom have is?" Blaine shot back angrily. "Her just doing everything you say and standing back while you do all the talking?"

"How dare you speak to-" his father began in a low, dangerous voice.

"Blaine," his mother interrupted, "just come home, come home and we can sort things out. We'll get you back into a good school so you can go to college and get a proper degree - maybe Law, like your brother."

Blaine shook his head stubbornly, and Kurt finally spoke up.

"He said he isn't going with you. He's been living with my family for months now and you never bothered to try and find him. You were the reason he left in the first place, so why should he come with you?" There were angry spots of colour on his cheekbones and he grabbed Blaine's hand again, clutching it tightly to emphasize his point - he wasn't letting Blaine go.

"We've been looking for him all this time," Mrs. Anderson protested.

Blaine huffed out an exasperated breath. "No, you haven't, you would have found me if you had; I've been here in Lima since the night I left, it's not that far." He narrowed his eyes at them. The muscle was jumping in his father's cheek again. "Why do you even want me to come back? You either ignored me or treated me like shit when I lived with you and you hate who I am." When his mother looked over her shoulder to make sure the other customers in the coffee shop were still minding their own business, realisation hit him.

"Are people asking too many questions? Are the nosy, stuck-up people you call friends and neighbours asking where I am? Are my homophobic relatives wondering where I've disappeared to? Is that what it is? After all, you can only pretend that I'm away at boarding school or whatever for so long." From the way his parents had stiffened he knew he'd hit the nail on the head. He nodded and leaned back in his chair. "I thought so. Well, I'm not coming back just to uphold your reputations and perfect family image."

His father's jaw worked for a moment, then, "Right. If that's the way you feel, then fine. If you want to live like this, to destroy your life by keeping up this unnatural nonsense, then fine, but when you finally come to your senses and snap out of this ridiculous phase you're going through don't come crawling to us for money or support. You want to stay away, then stay away. You'll be eighteen soon and no longer of any legal tie to us anyway."

Heart hammering, Blaine looked to his mother; she gave a small sniff of approval - saying nothing but going with her husband's ideas, as always.

Blaine couldn't pretend that this didn't hurt, that this final rejection from his parents didn't stab him in the heart again. This time, however, the pain was dulled, the knives of their words blunt from his own strength and the knowledge that he didn't need them anymore, nor did he want them in his life when they disapproved and hated everything about who he was. He had a new family now and he had Kurt. He didn't need these people who stood in front of him, glaring down their noses at him and his boyfriend.

His father straightened his tie. "That's that then. Have a nice life, Blaine."

They turned to walk away, his mother nodding in agreement with her husband's words once again, when a sudden thought jumped to the forefront of Blaine's racing mind.

"Cooper!" he blurted out.

His parents turned back to face him, both frowning in confusion.

Blaine shifted slightly in his chair so he could look at them directly. "Do you have any means of contacting him at all? A- A phone number or an address?"

"If you think you're-" his father began angrily, but his mother cut him off.

"Here," she said brusquely, approaching Blaine again and rummaging in her purse. She pulled out her cell phone and a pen, grabbed one of the napkins on the table and scrolled through her phone. Ignoring her husband's soft noise of disapproval, she scribbled a phone number down and pushed it towards Blaine. He picked it up with trembling fingers and stared down at the scrawled numbers.

"He asks about you, you know," his mother told him as she stuffed her phone and pen back in her purse.

Blaine's gaze shot up from the napkin. "Wh-"

But she had already scurried back to her husband's side and they were marching out of the coffee shop.

Kurt's hand squeezed his comfortingly as Blaine dropped his gaze back down to the napkin clutched in his hand. "It'll be ok without them, I promise," Kurt murmured.

"Oh, I know." Blaine met his boyfriend's concerned and saddened eyes. "I just- I have a way to get in touch with Cooper now, and what if-"

Kurt reached across the table to place his hand over Blaine's mouth, shaking his head. "Don't stress yourself worrying when you have no idea what Cooper will be like. He might be different, after all, he knew what kind of people your parents were - that's why he left and cut them off, wasn't it?" He withdrew his hand from Blaine's mouth.

Blaine nodded and gave Kurt a small smile. "Yeah, you're right, and if what my mother said is true..."

Kurt patted his hand and went to get them more coffee. Blaine watched him go, his thumb absently tracing over the phone number on the napkin he was still holding. Later today he would be talking to his brother, someone he hadn't spoken to in five years. The thought made his stomach twist with nerves, but he couldn't help but feel hopeful as well. Cooper couldn't be as bad as their parents.