Things have been different ever since Blaine decided it was time to tell our parents that he was gay.  Deep down they both had known for a long time, and Blaine had been dropping hints for a few weeks trying to make the news a little less unsettling for them, but still, it was hard.  I had known for years.  Blaine had snuck into my room one night and woke me up to tell me.  He said that out of all the people in the world he only wanted me to know for now, because he and I had always been completely honest with each other.

                The first time I realized that Blaine and I had a relationship that was different than other brothers and sisters was when I was five.  We had walked to the park together as we always did, but Blaine didn't run to play with his friends right away; he saw that none of my park friends were out playing so he played with me instead. Even though he was seven and had ‘boy games' to play, he willingly stayed and played house with me in the sandbox.  That was the day I knew he would always be there for me.

We both knew the reason that Blaine had hid his sexuality from our parents for so long.  Eventually Blaine had come out to some of his friends, but coming out to our parents, to our dad, was completely different and I knew that.  Mom would come to accept it, hopefully, but Dad would be mad, like scarily mad.  I imagined my dad would yell like he did the time that Blaine and I were playing catch and broke a lamp.  It was actually my fault, but Blaine willingly confessed to protect me.  The night Blaine came out was the first night my dad completely lost it.  Blaine was 14 and I was 12.

                Later that night Blaine snuck into my room.  He didn't say anything; he didn't need to.  I simply scooted over and he crawled in my bed.  I could feel his body shaking from the sobs and I knew that nothing in this house would ever be the same.   But that didn't matter because he and I had each other.  Through thick and thin we stood up for one another. 

                It's been a year now, almost to the day, and nothing has happened with my father since.  I took this as a good sign.  But tonight when Blaine came into my room he had a serious look on his face.

                "I decided that I'm going to tell Mom and Dad about Kurt tonight at dinner."

                "Blaine, I don't think..."

                "No, Riley, I'm sick of tiptoeing around Dad.  I'm not going to let my fear of him keep me from living my life.  It isn't fair.  I want to be able to have Kurt hang out here.  I want him to meet you!  I want to be able to help Kurt understand where I come from, and I don't think I can do that if I continue to hide him from my home."

                "So I'll go to coffee with you two one day.  Don't do this. You know what will happen."

                "Look Riley, that's not the point."  Blaine grabbed my hand and sat down on my bed beside me.  "Maybe you're still too young to understand, but this" Blaine gestured towards my door, "This is not how a house is supposed to feel.  We shouldn't have to walk around in constant fear of our words and actions getting us hurt.  It took me a long time to realize that.   And I'm not willing to live like this any longer."

                I knew exactly what Blaine meant.  We both walked around this house like it was made of glass.  He and I never had more than a telepathic conversation unless we were safely behind a closed door.  We both stood up and he pulled me into a tight hug.  He whispered into my hair, "Don't worry about me, Ri.  I can handle Dad."  Blaine took my hand as we both headed out to the kitchen where we knew our world was going to shatter.

                Before we even started eating Blaine dropped my hand and encouraged me to take my seat while he stood directly behind me and cleared his throat.  His hands were on my shoulders and I could feel the slight build in tension as both Mom and Dad turned to look at him.

                "Mom, Dad, I have something I want to tell you."  Mom shifted in her seat as Dad folded his hands together in front of him.  "I don't know if you have noticed, but the reason that I have been gone so much and missed family dinners is because well...I... I have a boyfriend.  His name is Kurt."  Mom hung her head as if she thought that would make her invisible for the fight she knew was about to come.  Dad started shaking, and I watched as his eyebrows furrowed. I was sure that the crease between them had grown so deep that there would always be a line that resided there.

                "Riley. Did you know about this?"

                "Dad, don't drag her into this."

                "Riley! Don't make me ask again!"

                I looked nervously up to my brother for silent advice.  He closed his eyes and gave me a little squeeze to my shoulders.  "Yes, Dad."   Blaine's hands tensed even more around my shoulders because he and I both knew that the difference between knowing the answer and saying the answer could be the difference between life and death.  I wanted to wince in pain but I knew that, compared to what was about to come, this was nothing.

                Before I could even figure out what was going on, Dad took a swig of his beer and threw the empty bottle towards the wall where it shattered, leaving an imperfection in the wallpaper. His fists slammed down on the table as he stood up and got in Blaine's face.  "Son, I need to talk to you. Alone."

                "No I'm just as much a part of this as he is."  Dad reached down and grabbed me by the wrist.  He was squeezing my wrist so hard that I could feel each individual finger on my skin and I could practically feel the bruise forming already.  My mother started sobbing quietly in the background but did nothing to stop him.  Blaine tried to stand between us and yank his hand off of my wrist yelling, "Dad! Stop it! You're hurting her" and "Let her go!"  When that didn't work, Blaine smacked Dad square across the face.  At that, he dropped my wrist.

                I tried to stand between Blaine and Dad but Blaine pushed me out of the way. He was always a protective older brother.  My dad raised his hand to hit Blaine; there was already so much tension in his muscles that I could see how badly this is going to hurt him.  So I did the only thing I could think of; I grabbed a piece of glass from the broken bottle and reached up and dug it straight into his palm.  Dad turned around and smacked me right in the eye making me fall to the ground.  I was hit with such force that my eye was instantly swollen and I couldn't open it.  Dad was too strong for me; I couldn't hold him back any longer.  He turned to face Blaine again, pulling the piece of glass out of his hand.

                "Is this what you wanted, son?  Do you see the blood this family has shed for you to just be ‘different'?"  Dad threw the piece of glass at Blaine and it hit him right under the eye leaving a cut.

                "Do you think I can't see that?" Blaine yelled back.  "Do you think I can't see how disappointed you and Mom are when you look at me?  This is just as rough on me as it is you.  I have a little sister to protect and I can't do that now that I was forced to transfer to Dalton.  It kills me, Dad. But maybe if you were to put down your damn beers every now and again I could protect her from the real world and not her own father!" At his words, I closed my eyes and began to pray.  We weren't a religious family, but right now I was so desperate I would try anything.  God! Please! Don't let him hurt Blaine.  He doesn't deserve this!  Blaine is all I have. Please protect him.  When I opened my eyes I saw Dad's foot hit Blaine's shin and he fell to the ground.  He and I were at eye level now and he just looked at me and his eyes said it all: "I'm so sorry, Riley. I will fix this."

                Dad's arm lifted high above his head before punching Blaine in the jaw.  I leaned my head back against the leg of the kitchen table and closed my eyes again.  God! Where are you? Can't you stop him? You put Blaine and me here. Please take us away!  But no matter how hard I tried, no matter how hard I prayed I could not stop the repetitive motion of my dad's fist punching Blaine's face.  I was out of options and Blaine needed my help.  I stuck my foot out and somehow managed to trip my dad.  He turned and looked at me.  I didn't even recognize him anymore.  The look in his eyes was terrifying.

                "Are you really standing up for your fag brother?  Do you not see how useless he is? He is just a waste of space and money in this house.  Going to that school full of fags!  Singing in that group of fags! And now he wants to spend his free time swapping spit with a fag! He's useless!"

                "HE IS MORE OF A MAN THAN YOU WILL EVER BE!" The house fell completely silent.  Part of me wished I could suck the words right back in but more of me was happy I finally said it.  I knew what my consequence would be so I simply turned my head, locked eyes with my helpless brother lying there on the floor, and accepted my fate.

                My father raged on for another fifteen minutes as he took turns between kicking and punching, using both Blaine and I for the target.  Finally he walked to the door, grabbed his coat, and walked out into the brisk December air.  I looked over to my mom's chair for help, but sometime within the whole scene she too had managed to get away.  All that remained in my house was me, my brother, and some broken glass. 

                "Come here, Riley." Blaine and I used as much strength as we had left to pull ourselves into a hug right there on the ground.  "We're going to get out of here.  Tonight."