Blaine leaned against the glass door leading to the small balcony of Cooper's - and now his - Los Angeles apartment.  He peered out at the bright blue California sky and the deep green of the palm trees lining the street.  A family strolled by wearing Thanksgiving tee shirts and flip flops.  He sighed.  It just didn't seem like Thanksgiving or even autumn, with the heat wave going on outside and without his usual traditions to look forward to.

Every year after he was five, his dads and the Hummels had celebrated Thanksgiving together.  Then, when his fathers had died, he and Rachel had always come home with Kurt to Burt and Carole's.  Cooper had only come home sporadically, after leaving home for Hollywood when Blaine was ten.  After Hiram and Leroy died a few years ago, and Blaine moved to New York with Rachel, he and his brother hadnt seen each other even once ... until Blaine ran away from New York and appeared at Coopers doorstep.  Even a few months later, it felt strange and foreign to be alone with Cooper on this family holiday.

Today Cooper had tried his best to put something festive together. Blaine surveyed the small card table that Cooper had set up on the balcony for their makeshift dinner.   There was a dollar store plastic tablecover festooned with cornucopias and turkeys.  Cooper was grilling two enormous turkey legs.

Blaine was trying too; he had made the Berrys' Famous Cranberry Relish that Hiram always used to make, and some pasta salad from a beloved, dog-eared recipe book of his Mama's.  But it was a poor effort compared to the turkey Burt always deep-fried, and the groaning tableful of side dishes he and Kurt, and Rachel and Finn, had helped Carole prepare.  It had always been so much fun, and this year … this year should have been the first time he and Kurt were a real couple for the event.  If Rachel hadn't ruined everything with her selfishness, he would be there with Kurt now, he was sure.  Kurts painful abandonment was all Rachel's fault, he'd decided; it hurt too much to place any blame on his beloved Kurt.

He thought about and missed Kurt most of all today.  How beautiful that familiar, sweet face always looked by candlelight when Burt turned down the lights in the room and ordered each of them to say what they were thankful for, and Kurts blue eyes glowed warmly at his family and friends as each one spoke.

If Cooper asked him to carry on that tradition, Blaine supposed he could truthfully say he was thankful he'd known Kurt and loved him, and had the honor of being loved by Kurt even for a short while.  He was thankful that Los Angeles was so busy and beautiful, and that he had the distraction of a brand new high school and glee club drama out here.  New friends.  And a new beginning with his big brother.  Even with a broken heart, he could be thankful for all that.  He was trying to, anyway.

He wondered what Kurt was thankful for this year.  In spite of everything, he hoped, fervently, that Kurt was happy today with his family.

“So, this isn't too bad, is it?” Cooper called from the deck.  He took a swig of mineral water and dabbed his face with the striped tea towel he'd draped over his bare shoulder.  “The very first Anderbros Thanksgiving …  just two dudes enjoying a little holiday spirit.”

Cooper jabbed the turkey legs with a long fork, and transferred them to a platter left over from a pepperoni and cheese tray he'd served at their last NFL game night party. “Come ‘n' get it.  But don't overdo it, Squirt.  You have to stay sharp for Regionals.”  Seeing Blaine reach for the pasta salad, he shook his head and swatted Blaine's hand.  “No, no no no.  You don't want a lot of carbs,” he reprimanded.  “You'll be too bloated for those tight competition pants.  Have some turkey and some of the regular salad.”

“Okay,” Blaine smiled a little.  He picked up the turkey leg from his plastic plate, feeling weirdly like he was at a Renaissance Fair.  Before he had taken two bites, Cooper's phone rang on the table and Rachel's face appeared on the screen.  Blaine scowled, and dropped the turkey leg on his plate, reaching for a napkin. His appetite vanished entirely.

“Hey, how's my Broadway Baby sister doing?” Cooper said cheerfully.  He listened for a few moments and Blaine's lips tightened in resentment as he heard the bleating sound of Rachel's voice on the other end.  Cooper's eyes flickered up at Blaine.  “Yeah, he's here.  I'll put him on.”

Blaine's eyes widened and he shook his head wildly.  Cooper held the phone out and raised his eyebrows in warning.  “Blaine! It's Thanksgiving, and Rae's family - -”

Blaines temper burst.  He jumped up and shoved his patio chair back with a clatter.  “Do me a favor - dont lecture me about holidays and family!  This is the first time I've seen you on Thanksgiving in eight years!  Where were you when I needed you after our dads died?”

“Blaine, bro - -”

“No!  If you're on her side, then you two go ahead -- have a great Thanksgiving chatting with each other! I'm going to Regionals by myself!”

Cooper sighed and spoke into the phone again.  “Rachel, I have to handle this, okay?  Happy Thanksgiving, and stay in touch -- yeah.  Bye.”

Blaine stormed into the tiny apartment he shared with Cooper.  His competition outfit was hanging on the back of the bathroom door in a garment bag, neatly pressed.  He jerked it down and picked up his cellphone.  He flipped open the contacts and looked for Jean Baptiste's number.  Jean was his glee club coach now, and lived within walking distance with his new boyfriend.  “I'm going to Jean's house,” he snapped.  “He can take me to my competition, so there's no need for you to cut your phone call with your sister short.”   He started to dial, but Cooper nabbed the phone out of his hand unceremoniously.

“What do you think you're doing?” Blaine seethed, grabbing at the phone.  

Cooper held it out of reach.  “We're having this out, it's been brewing since before you showed up at my doorstep this summer.  Is this the thanks I get for taking you in?  And the thanks Rachel gets for taking care of you before that?”

Blaine felt his face heating up with an odd mix of guilt, shame, and anger. “You're right, Coop.  It's Thanksgiving, after all!  And I should be more grateful that my family didn't let me starve on the streets when our parents died!”

Cooper bit his lip and cast his eyes down.  “You're so bitter,” he whispered.  He handed the phone over to Blaine with a dull, hurt look on his face.

Blaine snatched the phone back.  “Yeah, I am a little bitter, now that you mention it, Coop!  You disappeared out of my life when our parents died, when I needed a big brother!  And Rachel?  She drove away the love of my life!”  Blaine looked contemptuously at Cooper.  “But I can't expect you to understand how that feels.  You'll never lose the love of your life, all you have to do is look in the mirror to see the only person you care about!”

Cooper looked as if he'd been stabbed, and Blaine felt a pang in his own heart as the angry, hurtful words rushed from his mouth.  But he threw his head up stubbornly and dialed Jean's number.  

“Chez-Baptiste!” Jean chirped.  “Who's this?”

“Jean, it's me, Blaine.  I need a ride to the competition later.  Can I come over there?”

“Certainement, but I can pick you up in an hour - there's no need for you to walk all the way over here, Blaine.”

Blaine shook his head and picked up his competition costume.  “No.  I need the walk to clear my head before showtime, if that's okay.”

Cooper pleaded quietly, “Blaine, please - -”

“Okay, thanks Jean.  I'll see you in an hour.”  He clicked the phone off.  “Don't bother to show up for the competition, Cooper.  I'm sure that won't be a problem, since not showing up is kind of your speciality.”

He slammed the door on his way out.

                                                 ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Across the country, Kurt picked at his dinner.   He'd prepared an Italian pasta dish, going for something as unlikely to remind him of Thanksgiving as possible, and only serving to remind him all the more that he was now cut off from everything he loved on this day of thanks.  Finn had returned from Afghanistan, finally, disabled by his wounds but sweet and caring as ever.  And he had asked Rachel to take him back.  It was a question that hardly needed to be asked, and now Rachel was home in Lima with Carole and Finn and, incidentally, Kurt's father.  Kurt had begged off from Thanksgiving, claiming his new job was too busy.  The truth was, if Rachel was there, Kurt wouldn't be.  Not ever.

Kurt stirred the food on his plate before dropping his fork, picking up his wine glass and draining it.  The buzz settled pleasantly in his brain, making the edges fuzzy, but the ache and longing in his heart was just as piercing no matter how much he drank.  He gazed dreamily at his phone, twirling it on the table with one hand while pouring the last splash of the bottle into his glass with the other.

Blaine was with Cooper today, and he knew from stalking Blaine's Facebook account that Blaine's glee club was competing in their Regionals today in Los Angeles.  He … he could call there and … say break a leg.  He could do that.  It wouldn't be wrong, it wouldn't do any harm.  Blaine was still 17, and his relationship with his sister had been destroyed because Kurt had loved him when he had no right.  But … but Kurt needed to hear his warm, velvety soft voice, he needed to.  Just this once. He picked up the phone and dialed Cooper's phone number.

“Hello?”

Kurt froze at the sound of Cooper's voice.  What was he doing?  He had to make a clean break with Blaine -  he couldn't contact him - it would make things worse -

“Hello?”

“Hi, Cooper,” he slurred, cursing at himself silently for drunk-calling.  “‘s Kurt.”

“Oh - Kurt - it's … it's good to hear from you, man.  Been a while.”

Kurt lifted the glass to his lips and turned it upside down, draining the last few drops.  “Yeah.  A lot's changed, I guess.  I called looking for Blaine.”

“I figured that.  He's not here.  We had an argument, and he called his friend Jean and walked out.”

Kurt set his glass down with a clank.  “Jean Baptiste?” he whispered.  

“Yeah, that's right.”

Kurt knew that name.  That was the the French-Canadian former glee club whiz that Blaine had dated the summer before they finally got together.  Blaine was with him again?

Well, why shouldn't he be.  Why shouldn't Blaine be happy. He deserved it. The tears gathered behind his eyes and he blinked them back fiercely.  Keeping his voice steady, gripping the table, he said, “Cooper?  I - - I didn't ... mean to call - - I'm a little tipsy, actually, and - - and I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell Blaine I called, okay?”

“If that's what you want, okay, but - -”

“Cooper?  Is - is Blaine doing all right?  Is he happy?  Are you taking good care of him?”

There was a long pause, and then Cooper's voice sounded heavy as he answered, “I'm trying to.  Look, I gotta go.  I'm going to his competition to see him sing, so - are you sure you don't want me to pass on a message?”

Kurt rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, blearily.  “No.  He's better off if I don't stir that all up again.  Just … take good care of him.”  He clicked off the phone and dropped it to the table, and buried his face in his hands with a sob.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

The performance was over, and they'd come in first, and Blaine felt the giddy rush of performance and competition and victory wash over him.  He hugged his teammates as confetti fell from the ceiling and victory music blared, and his eyes were temporarily blinded by strobe lights.  He was glad they'd had Regionals today. This was just the release he needed after that regrettable fight with Cooper.  He should have talked things out with Cooper, cleared the air, long before an outburst like that.  He hoped Cooper wouldn't stay angry.

His teammates were all heading back to interrupted family celebrations, so there wasn't the after-competition party that there might have been otherwise.  Blaine accepted a hug from each team member, and declined several invitations to come along for pumpkin pie.  He needed to get back to his own one-person family - - and then, to his surprise, he saw that family headed toward him through the crowd.  

“You came,” Blaine said, his voice choked.  “After those crappy things I said?”  He looked down at his feet, ashamed.  “I'm sorry, Coop -”

Cooper waved it off.  “We both said some not-too-cool stuff, Squirt.  At least you have the excuse of still being a teenager.  I'm sorry too.  I was glad to take you in, and I shouldn't have thrown that in your face.  I just got upset when you wouldn't take Rachel's call, because … I don't want you to make the same mistakes I did.”

Blaine waved goodbye to Jean and his boyfriend.  “What do you mean?”

""Lets talk on the drive home. Traffics gonna be murder."

Blaine followed Cooper to the mini-Cooper that his brother insisted on driving, and then got into the passenger seat.  Cooper got into the driver's seat, adjusting his sunglasses.  “You know my mom took off when I was six, and I never saw her again.  Then Dad married your mom … and then they both died.  And then Hiram and Leroy.”

Checking his mirror, Cooper backed out of his spot.  “I got left behind a lot, I guess.”

“So ... why did you do the same thing to me?” Blaine asked.  

Cooper shrugged. “Because it hurt being around you guys, around the Hummels.  I wanted to protect myself from that pain happening again, so I ran off to California away from anything that reminded me of all the family I'd lost.”  His big blue eyes looked over the sunglasses.  “From what was left of my family.”  He looked back at the road.  “I regret that, a lot.  I know you're mad at Rachel, I get that it's not exactly the same, but it's a little the same, I think.  And she's still your sister, and you guys love each other.”

Blaine sighed and closed his eyes.  “It's not the same thing,” he insisted stubbornly.  “And she doesn't need me anyway.  She has true love again,” he said, the bitterness twisting in his heart.  “She'll be fine without me.  And so will Kurt.”  The tears slid down his face silently and he gave a prayer of true thanks on this Thanksgiving Day that Cooper let the topic drop for the time being.