They ended up going to an Italian place instead of Thai.

For the remaining afternoon the three of them stayed inside - Blaine still convincing Kurt it was alright and they could be touristy tomorrow - and watched some horrible daytime movies.

But something in the atmosphere had changed. Or let's just say: Cooper had changed. Of course Blaine couldn't judge - he had never really seen his brother around a boyfriend except for those few holidays back home and he could have been on his toes because of their parents and all. Except Kurt's face was stating the obvious: this was not his normal behavior.

On their way to Kurt's dorm so he could change his clothes into something more dinner appropriate, Cooper's arm remained solid around his waist, pressing them together as many times as they were able. Kisses were placed every few minutes, always with a smirking grin and some whispers in his ear.

Kurt's eyebrow seemed permanently raised, shooting his boyfriend questioning looks and tried to make Cooper less clingy in front of his friend. But it seemed a lost cause.

With the same confused look, Kurt disappeared inside his dorm-building to change his clothes and the two brothers waited outside, hoping it wouldn't take too long.

"So," Cooper started and Blaine looked up, "Juilliard."

"Yep."

Cooper bit his lip to hide a smile. "Does dad know yet?"

Trying to avoid the question, Blaine decided the facade of the building was an excellent thing to observe and Cooper let out a chuckle.

"I'll take that as a no, then."

"You know how he is." Blaine said with a serious tone. "He'll think Lima Community College would be a better choice for me than New York."

"Dad's just trying to make sure you get a more respectable job, unlike me. I'm the lost cause." Cooper seemed awfully proud of that.

"He's trying to keep me in a cage like a bird." Blaine sighed.

Cooper shrugged. "Then fly away."

"What?" He dug his hands deep into his pockets, unsure what his brother was aiming for.

"You're a big guy, almost eighteen - lil' bro, you got into Juilliard, why the hell would let dad - ‘forever stuck in Ohio' dad - keep you like you're some kind of souvenir? You really think he could stop you from going to Juilliard?"

"N-No." Blaine said immediately. "But tuition - student loans, he'll expect me to come crawling back." Unless - the scholarship.

"Then don't!" his brother said, raising his voice. "Blainey, Squirtle - I know I tease you with your buckets of talent, but -" Cooper placed a hand on his shoulder. "You need to get out of there, live your own life. College may have not been everything I wanted for a future, but for you - maybe it is."

"Thanks, Coop." Today was a weird day, Blaine decided.

The door of the building swung open and Kurt, wrapped in a fashionable scarf, strode outside. "Ready!" he said.

"Great!" Cooper said, with a weird tone, jumping forward to take his boyfriend's arm and possessively held him close.

Together they already started to walk, practically forgetting Blaine, but Kurt last minutely turned around and asked if he was coming. Blaine gave a soft smile and jogged forward to catch up. With Kurt in the middle, Cooper close to his side and Blaine with his hands still in his pockets, head down - they walked to whatever restaurant Cooper had in mind.

---

Blaine was on the verge of barfing.

They had been seated for about thirty minutes now, Blaine on one end of the booth and Kurt and Cooper on the other and it definitely wasn't the food that made Blaine want to hurl, because the pasta was delicious. It was more or less Cooper and Kurt practically playing out the Lady and the Tramp sequence with the spaghetti.

"Try it." Cooper held out a piece for Kurt to taste and Kurt was playfully ignoring him.

"No."

"Come on."

"Stop it!" Kurt let out a snort while Cooper was trying to hold him down.

"Not until you try it."

"You're being childish."

"I'm being childish? Babe, you're the one refusing to eat." Cooper had driven him into the corner and held his fork in front of his mouth. He let out a shout of victory when Kurt finally took the bite and Blaine was deciding if he could fake a stomach flu to get out of there.

"Good, huh?" Cooper teased, smiling at Kurt nodding. "I knew you'd like it." And quickly kissed him.

"Pass the salt." Blaine demanded coolly, even though the salt was closer to him than Cooper or Kurt. His sudden request did exactly what he wanted to achieve, because the couple looked up as if they forgotten Blaine was even there.

"O-of course." Kurt gave Cooper a push so he would back off and passed him the salt. The trio continued to fully concentrate on their dinner instead of eating each other and Blaine thanked heavens for that.

Kurt took over the main conversation by telling his re-adjusted plan of showing Blaine around New York and with every word Cooper managed to become all clingy again, proposing sights to see Blaine wasn't even sure they were in New York.

Their plates were taken away by a service girl, whom had trouble deciding who to look at - but quickly deducted Kurt and Cooper as together and threw her flirting skills on Blaine.

"The bill would just be fine." he said after she lustrous asked if they wanted dessert. His shin was kicked badly underneath the table and Blaine bit away a growl of pain.

"Bro, that was like an invitation for free dessert!" Cooper spat.

"Then she should've asked you, because I just can't do that." Blaine groaned back. "I don't want to get her in trouble. I'm not that kind of person." He didn't notice Kurt staring at him with wide eyes.

"Damn you and your nobility."

"I think it's sweet." Kurt said quietly.

"Well, a banana split would have been sweet too. Give me mom's credit card, you can explain her the costs."

"Fine!" Blaine rolled his eyes and handed him the plastic card.

"Who wants to get frozen yogurt?" Kurt said with fake giddiness to break the tension. "We pass one on the way to my dorm." Both brothers grunted.

Blaine couldn't sleep that night, turning and twisting on Cooper's couch. He was going back to Ohio on Sunday and with everything he was going to do on Saturday - or more likely: today, as it was past midnight, he really needed to sleep. But the weirdness of the past day was still raging through his mind like a whirlwind.

He had gotten into Juilliard.

He might get a scholarship to the education of his dreams and therefore not even his father could stop him from going.

Cooper was acting odd.

Kurt. Rachel. The kind of war between them.

He sighed loudly. Cooper and he had barely shared one word after they dropped off Kurt at his dorm and it was eating Blaine. The dim light coming from underneath Cooper's door told Blaine he wasn't the only one not being able to sleep and he threw the blankets off, stood up and walked straight to the room.

His brother wasn't even lying in bed when he entered. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, hands deep in his hair and shaking his head.

"You okay?" Blaine asked partly sleepy.

Cooper stared up, hands going down to his face and rubbed his eyes with force. "M'fine."

"You sure?" Blaine walked up to him, dipping the bed as he sat down next to his brother. "I'm not an expert, but I lived with you for several years - most of my life to be exact - and you usually fall asleep within seconds."

Cooper chuckled softly. "I just have a lot on my mind right now. Decisions."

Blaine wanted to do something but could only awkwardly place his hand on Cooper's shoulder. "You'll figure it out."

"Hope so." he sighed. "But what if I don't want to pick? Can't I just have - both?"

"Depends how bendable everything is."

Cooper looked up with a grin, throwing his arm around his little brother and pulled him close. "When did you get so wise?"

"Since you left Ohio, mainly." Blaine said with a serious face but it broke quickly. "But seriously, if you want both you need to see how well the two go together."

Cooper nodded, his other hand back on his face. "There's my problem."

"Then you need to decide which one is more worth it." Blaine felt his body grow more tired. "Or how good you are at convincing." He got up, stretching his body with a yawn. "Try to sleep, thinking makes your head hurt."

"Thanks, I'll try."

"Night, Coop."

"Night, Squirt."

"Don't call me that."

"Goodnight."

With a last look Blaine realized his brother wasn't going to try to sleep just yet.

Back on his way to the couch he passed a neatly folded red sweater and Blaine picked it up, holding it up to smell it. A vague scent of lilacs, something fruity and an overall cleanliness met his senses and before he even realized what he was doing, he slipped the sweater over his head, basking in Kurt's smell.

He jumped back onto the couch, pulling the blankets back. Within minutes he fell asleep. The feeling of Kurt hugging him still tangible on his body.

"Just pick one."

"Kurt, I told you - I don't need them."

"Come on, you can't leave New York without at least one new item of clothing." Kurt pouted his lips in an adorable way while holding up two different cardigans. "You look great in both of them and be happy I'm not forcing you to buy both."

"But deep down you do." Blaine smirked.

Kurt rolled his eyes playfully. "But deep down I do. I mean, have you seen yourself in them?"

"Your catcalling was already sufficient."

"Can't help it, shopping turns me on." Kurt smiled before pouting again. "Pretty please?"

"I - don't know." Blaine stared at both of them - one was dark navy and made of a thicker fabric than wool and the other one was green and blue striped. In the middle of the clothing stood Kurt, pushing the items forward to make Blaine decide - but secretly he already knew what he was choosing.

Kurt let out a happy squeal when Blaine took them both and walked to the line to pay.

"Can't believe you talked me into this." he hissed while they were waiting. Kurt's day of showing Blaine around had consisted a lot of walking, ooh-ing and first and foremost: shopping.

"You love me and you know it." Kurt said as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Blaine however froze at the word and forced himself to give the boy he actually loved a smile. "You okay? You seem a bit preoccupied."

Blaine snapped up, not realizing he had to step forward to pay and felt himself fluster. "Y-yeah, just lost in thoughts." He paid for his newly-bought clothes and accepted the bag with a smile. "Are you okay? With the - Rachel thing from yesterday and all."

Together they exited the store and Kurt still hadn't answered. It was until they were halfway the busy street Kurt gave him a small smile.

"I've decided no longer let bossy little girls force me down. What you said yesterday - about missing things you never had, I think you're right." Blaine didn't really know what to say. "So, thank you - for that. You want to sit in a Starbucks? I'm craving for a muffin."

"Yeah, sure." he quickly said. Luckily Starbucks were on every corner and after finding one that was less crowded, they settled down at a table while Kurt insisted on getting the coffee, as an apologize for forcing him to buy things.

"One medium drip." Kurt set down the steaming cup in front of Blaine and he stared at it for a moment. Kurt sat down across him, a non-fat mocha in his one hand and a blueberry muffin in his other. "Want a bite?" he held out the muffin, but Blaine was still staring at the cup. "Blaine?"

"You know my coffee-order?" he asked quietly and Kurt huffed.

"It's the only thing you drank at the Lima Bean, of course I know your coffee order. Take a bite, it's delicious."

Blaine tore a bit of the muffin off and ate it. "Thanks."

"I seriously can't wait for next year." Kurt suddenly said. "I really should introduce you to Nancy, because she's going to be all over you. Are you coming back again to check for dorms and such?"

"Actually," Blaine hadn't really mentioned his battle for a scholarship to Kurt - only that he had gotten into Juilliard, "I'm - oh God, this is going to sound really arrogant and all, but - they liked my music."

"Well of course, otherwise they wouldn't have accept you -"

"No, no - they liked it a lot. So much that they're inviting me to -" his voice grew smaller, "conduct it with the first-year orchestra."

Kurt set down his muffin in shock. "What? Why didn't you tell me? Oh my Lord - Blaine! When? Is it an open concert, because I have to come - I mean, I really want to hear the piece, but now with an orchestra? When is it?"

"I-in April." Blaine managed to say. "They - they didn't have the exact date yet." Liar, liar, pants on fire. But if Kurt would come to the concert - what if he realized it was partially based on him? Blaine wouldn't be able to look him in the eye for the rest of his life.

"Well, once you have the date - you better tell me, otherwise I will do some research myself."

Blaine laughed. "Good luck with that, I believe it's only open for family and the panel that decides who gets the scholar-"

"What?"

There was no turning back now; he had already said too much and with a blush on his face, Blaine told Kurt about the scholarship. Their coffee turned cold by the time he had said everything.

"That's - amazing, Blaine." Kurt finally said, face fallen a bit and voice flat. "You really deserve it."

"What's wrong?" he asked, noticing the change in Kurt's behavior.

Kurt shrugged. "I'm - oh God this is really stupid of me and I'm really happy for you, I guess - I'm just a bit... jealous. Which is really, really stupid because I know you worked so hard for it, but you practically get it all in your first try - I'll just stop talking now." He rested his head on his hand, a vague smile on his face realizing how silly his thought was, but Blaine understood - after all; he knew exactly what it was like to be jealous.

Ohio seemed boring after his trip to New York. He missed the tall buildings, the taxis, Juilliard - he even missed his brother's apartment. But most of all he missed Kurt.

What he absolutely hated though - was the fact he couldn't tell anyone he had gotten into Juilliard in fear someone would tell his father. In Glee club everybody asked how his trip to New York was and why he had to skip school for it, but he brushed it off as a minor thing. His acceptance was in such an early stage that he feared it was too easy to be taken away from him.

He had to tell his mother how it went by giving her a big smile, as his father never seemed to leave her side.

Tina was the only one who was determined to find out why he really went to New York and a week later she was still asking questions about different colleges.

"Blaine, I know you're hiding something." she said while walking to the next class. "Why don't you just tell me?"

He pretended he didn't hear her by looking down to his watch.

"Just tell me which school."

"Why do you want to know so bad?" he asked, collapsing under pressure.

"Oh, I don't know -" she said sarcastic, "maybe I just want to know if we need to decide on a coffee shop where we can meet when we both go to New York."

"What?" They stopped in the middle of the hallway, Blaine staring at a broad smiling Tina. "Did you - are you a finalist?"

She was jumping up and down now. "Yes! For Tisch! Not NYADA, though - which is a shame, but I'm invited for Tisch!"

"Tisch looked amazing," Blaine started to talk uncontrollably, "the dorms are like super close to campus -"

"What?" Tina interrupted. "How do you know that?"

An automatic nervous cough silenced their conversation as Blaine was turning red. He almost told Tina that Kurt showed him around Tisch campus on their tour.

"You went to see Tisch? But you never told me you were interested in going there? OH! Blaine! Are you a finalist too, oh my God - that would be perfect!"

"No - n-no!" Blaine quickly said. "Not Tisch."

"Then Blaine Anderson, you tell me what school right now or I will abuse my power as co-captain of the New Directions to strip you from any solos in competition -"

"You wouldn't. The other co-captain disagrees."

"That's because you're the other co-captain."

The bell rang, but Tina was refusing to let him go to his class. Blaine bit his lip, feeling Tina's hand tighten around his arm. Before he could even consider his action, he leant forward to whisper ‘Juilliard' in her ear. Blaine took her moment of shock to free himself and walked away, but turned around one more time.

"I got in!" he yelled with a smile and skipped away, enjoying the feeling of actually telling a kept secret. What he didn't anticipate was that within a day - the entire school knew.

---

Happily humming and whistling Blaine entered the choir room, but stopped mid whistle - letting it die slowly by going lower - and stared at the entire New Directions eyeing him with enormous grins.

"What's going on?" he asked, frightened by the suspicious atmosphere.

Suddenly Sugar and Brittany had squished him into a hug, guiding him to the middle of the room and turned him around to face the whiteboard.

BLAINE <3 JUILARD

Was written across it and he stared at it with open mouth in horror.

"Blaine got into musical Hogwarts!" Sugar squealed and everybody clapped.

"Hogwarts? I thought he had a new boyfriend called Juilard." Brittany said confused and pronounced it as if it was a Spanish name. "That's why I drew the heart."

"No, Brit," Tina said and got up herself. "Juilliard is a school."

"Why did we let Brittany write it down again?" Sam spoke up and Blaine jumped at the slam on his back. "Congrats, dude."

"Th-thanks." He shot Tina a glare and she shrugged innocently.

"Hey guys!" Mr. Schue said while entering the classroom, staring at the weird sandwich of students in the middle of it. "What's going on?"

"Blaine's a wizard!" Brittany said. "I thought he had a boyfriend, but he's gotten into a school -"

The teacher saw the whiteboard now as well and since he had been teaching Brittany for several years now, he understood quickly that Blaine neither was a wizard or had a boyfriend.

"Wow!" Mr. Schue started to clap himself. "Good job, Blaine! Now everybody take a seat - we all know what time of the year it is - Valentine's day."

All the students groaned in unison.

---

Halfway February, a day before Valentine's day, Blaine got home after school to his mother sitting at the kitchen table. She was fidgeting with the hem of her blazer, giving her son a sympathetic look.

"Your father wants to talk to you in his office."

He froze in the doorway.

"Do you know why?"

His mother quickly shook her head, mouthing ‘no'.

"Do you think he knows?" Blaine felt his heart beat faster, this wasn't the way he planned on telling his father - he had planned on keeping it secret for at least a few more months.

"I don't know, Bee." she said. "You should better go, before -"

Blaine didn't let her finish. He nodded, turned around and let his heartbeat be the background noise of his walk to his father's home office. Twice he knocked on the wooden door, letting himself in after hearing his father mumble something.

"Ah, Blaine!" his father said with a strange jovial smile. A feature he didn't see very often on Mr. Anderson. "Come in, come in - have a seat."

He seemed too happy, so maybe he didn't know about Juilliard - yet - and Blaine was about to sit down in front of his desk when he saw them. They were all placed next to each other, all of them with a different logo on the corner of the envelop - four of them. Four returned applications of business colleges in Ohio, lying proudly on his father's desk.

"They all came today." his father said with a grin. "I thought we could open them together and discuss which one is the best for you."

None of them, Blaine wanted to say. He wanted to say it so badly.

"Blaine?" His father's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Sit down, boy - this is an important decision."

But Blaine didn't want to sit down. He stared at his father with a blank look, his mind fighting things to say and do. Finally he decided what to do - even though it could end quite badly. With his voice low and determined he asked:

"Can I get something first?"

His father didn't understand what he needed, but let his son get whatever he needed for this ‘important moment of his life', maybe a good luck charm. But when Blaine came back, he placed a similar envelope on top of the others - an open one. After his interview at Juilliard he had received this one with further instructions about completing his application so he would enroll for the upcoming semester.

He watched his father stare down at it, eyebrows frowned in confusion before the name of the school made his gears grind.

"What is this?"

"It's a college letter." Blaine answered patiently.

"But - that's in," his father looked up, "that's in New York, Blaine."

"Yes, it's a beautiful school. The school was Founded in 1905 as the Institute of Musical Art, Juilliard maintains an inventory of 253 Steinway pianos,  -"

"Blaine,"

"Dr. Hera told me the dorms were separated on education, so I don't have to fear I get next to some kind of Opera student -"

"Blaine," he tried to cut his rambling, but his son continued. "Blaine!" Fists were smashed into the desk as he stormed up and instead of being frightened, Blaine smashed his as well - causing a few things to fall of the desk. It scared Blaine - how similar their tempers were. He had promised himself to never become like his father, but sometimes he feared it was already too late.

The silence that had fallen was fragile, easily breakable by the loud breathing by both men and they stared at each other in anger.

"This is not what we agreed on." Mr. Anderson's words lingered in the room, but Blaine refused to let himself being intimidated.

"You mean what you agreed on. This is what I want." He snatched the Juilliard letter from the table, freeing it completely from its envelope and started to read out loud.

Dear Mr. Anderson,

Congratulations on your pre-acceptance into Juilliard School of Music on the Music Composing department. As explained during your inauguration interview you are chosen to compete for the prestigious Zimmer-Fund Scholarship, where we offer you the chance to receive a fully supported stay here at Juilliard School of Music. Please note that this is chance we only offer to five students per year and is known as one of the most acclaimed scholarships in the entire United States -

Blaine stopped reading, he already knew the letter by heart and looked up from the paper to see his father had sat down into his office chair.

"I'm really good, dad." he sniffed, ignoring his father's face at hearing him say ‘dad'. "I don't even know what these are -" he gestured to the closed envelopes on the desk, "But this - this is what I want."

His father stared at him with his hand against his cheek, leaning on the rest of the chair. "I always thought -"

"No, dad, you assumed." Blaine interjected. "That's a whole different thing than thinking and I didn't correct you because I felt already guilty enough."

Mr. Anderson's face softened. "What do you mean? Why do you feel guilty?"

"Because of all the trouble I caused. Transfers, hospital bills -" he focused on a silver item on his father's desk to avoid eye contact, "and I just wanted to make you happy by doing what you wanted, but when the college-things came - I couldn't let it go without trying."

"Did your mother know?"

The loaded silence was filled with the truth but Blaine refused to betray his mother - not after what she'd done for him.

"You can't shelter me forever, dad." said Blaine with a thick voice. "You either support me and let me go, or I'll leave."

His father slowly got up, readjusting his tie like he always did when he was thinking. "When is this - scholarship competition?"

Blaine felt his heart swell. "It's a concert. In April."

"Alright." his father said. "We'll continue this after that. If you're really that good, you should be able to get that scholarship and leave -"

"Dad."

"- but know I don't support this."

"I've already gotten in, dad. I'm already good, only fifteen students get accepted -" Blaine tried to get through, but his father seemed deaf to him.

"Then I expect you to be the best. Now leave, Blaine. And I assume you to pick your back up plan." He piled up the envelopes and handed them to his son.

Minutes later Blaine stood outside the office, the envelopes between his arms and the upset expression still on his face. He heard someone walking toward him and he jumped at feeling the hand against his shoulder. His mother was staring at him with a knowing look.

"I'll talk to him."

"Mom -"

"It's alright. It's going to be alright." She pulled him against her and hugged her son since a long time. "You deserve to go to what school you want, especially when you're already accepted."

Blaine wanted to say more, but his mother carefully pushed him toward his room and told him to stay inside.

Everything is going to be alright, he told himself and dropped the other envelopes in a corner. He knew he needed the scholarship - but he never really thought through how badly.

Dinner that night passed quietly. His mother staring at her husband in a judgmental way, but his father didn't seem affected by it. Blaine left the table as fast as he could and instead of working on his glee-assignment for Valentine's day tomorrow, he decided sleep would be better.

When he woke up he felt like he only slept for five minutes and came to the conclusion it was still too dark for him to be awake. He moaned displeased, wanting to turn around but realized there was actually something that had woken him.

"Who'd have known, who'd have known - when you flash up on my phone," Blaine rapidly sat up straight in search of his phone. It was Kurt's ringtone, he thought startled. "Are you mine? Are you mine? ‘Cause I stay here all time -"

"H-hello?" he picked up, eyeing his alarm clock that told him it was two in the morning. "Kurt?"

"Hi." a female voice said instead of Kurt's. "This is Blaine, right?" She sounded unsure.

"Yes, yes this is Blaine. What - what are you doing with Kurt's phone - is he alright? Who is this?" He threw the blankets off and stood up, pacing nervously.

"This is Nancy, I'm a friend of Kurt's."

"Is he alright?" he repeated.

"I - I don't know, he woke me fifteen minutes ago and is now sitting motionless on my bed. He wanted to call you, but also didn't want to call you - it was all very confusing if you'd ask me - but," Nancy swallowed, "I think he and Cooper had a fight or, more likely, an argument."

"What?" Blaine's voice rose in volume as well in height.

"What?" Nancy asked, but not to him, "Kurtie, it's Blaine - do you want to talk to him?" There were some muffles and in the background he heard Kurt say some things. "Blaine?" she turned back to him.

"Yes?" he gasped.

"I think - I think they broke up."