A hand was waved in front of Kurt's eyes, snapping him from his daze. He found himself staring at Tanya's face, who was watching him, clearly amused.

“Are you here, Kurt?” She asked with a smile. “You look like you're in another planet.”

Kurt ran a hand through his hair, and immediately regretted it. He had styled it perfectly before leaving his apartment and now it was probably ruined. “Yes, yes, sorry. I'm right here.”

Tanya placed a hand on her voluminous belly and leaned back on her chair, trying to get comfortable. “But are you okay? Because you look a little upset.”

“I'm just a little stressed. Nothing's wrong,” Kurt lied. He wasn't about to burden Tanya with his problems. “How are you? Are you taking the vitamins the doctor suggested?”

“Yes, everything's perfect. I've been taking excellent care of myself and your little munchkin,” Tanya assured him. “Though I will be so grateful once this ends – it's been playing soccer with my bladder for like two weeks now. I have to pee every twenty minutes…” She paused, frowned and sighed. “See? I have to pee right now.”

She stood and walked towards the bathroom without another word, as Kurt watched her in amusement. But the lightness in his mood didn't last long – he was again assaulted by thoughts of Blaine as soon as Tanya wasn't there to distract him.

He fished his cell phone out of his pocket, to check for the thousandth time if he had missed any messages or calls. He had sent Blaine a message yesterday to apologize and ask for a chance to talk, but Blaine hadn't replied. Kurt started wondering if maybe Blaine was done with him, once and for all.

Something inside of Kurt seemed to break at the idea of Blaine not being a part of his life anymore. He knew he owed him the truth, and he thought that the last thing he could do to honor how amazing Blaine had been to him was giving it to him.

He opened a new message.

To: Blaine

I know you're probably still upset, but I really want to talk to you. Please. Can I call you tonight?

He pocketed the phone when he saw Tanya walking back towards him. She was radiant, as cliché as that sounded. Kurt had always thought she was a pretty girl, but lately she was stunningly beautiful.

She was about to sit down next to him when the doctor called her name.

Tanya smiled down at him and offered him her hand. “Are you ready to see your kid again?”

Kurt smiled the most genuine smile that had bloomed on his lips since he had last seen Blaine. "Always.”

*

The cold rain seemed to seep through Blaine's coat, rising goose bumps on his skin and making him wish he could go back home instead of pushing the gym's heavy door open. But if there was one thing he had learned in all these years, was that unless he was hurt, training would not be interrupted. And the truth was, even if he felt lazy and jaded, the distraction was more than welcomed.

Other people must not have shared his opinion, because the gym was emptier than usual. He took off his coat and walked towards his locker to leave his bag, making sure his cell phone was buried deep in one of the pockets.

Kurt had been sending him messages all week, but Blaine couldn't even look at them.

He was being stupid, he knew. There had to be a perfectly good explanation for what had happened. But Blaine was never very rational when it came to his family, and he couldn't deny that seeing those pictures of Kurt and Cooper had almost made him sick.

Cooper had taken everything he had ever loved from him – did he really need to take the man Blaine so desperately loved as well?

Logically, Blaine knew there was nothing going on between them. Cooper was the straightest guy he had ever met, and he knew his brother loved his wife, even if he hadn't seen them together before or after their wedding. But Kurt was supposed to have been the one thing that hadn't been tainted by his past – Blaine had hoped he would be his fresh start, his one happy ending.

Well, Blaine should have remembered that happy endings were bullshit.

He changed into his workout clothes before heading to the treadmill. It was too cold to run at the park, which made him sad. He had always liked running outdoors more. He had the feeling it would be snowing before Thanksgiving…

And oh, he definitely wasn't eager for the holidays.

By mid-morning, as he was working through his weight-lifting routine – the rain had slowly morphed into a storm. He couldn't see out of the windows, the city swallowed by a curtain of water and lighting. Blaine didn't mind as much – it kind of fit his mood, after all.

“Blaine?”

He startled at the sound of his name, and threw his head back on the bench to be able to see who was standing behind him. Cooper was the very last person he had been expecting, to be honest.

Blaine put the weights down a little brusquely. “What do you want? I'm busy.”

Cooper shifted from one foot to the other, visibly uncomfortable. He was wearing a very expensive-looking black coat that gave him the air of a Golden Age Hollywood star. He was holding an umbrella, which explained how his luscious locks had escaped from the storm.

“I was hoping we could talk,” Cooper replied simply.

Blaine arched an eyebrow. “I think it was very, very clear that I didn't want to talk to you.”

“Well, then it sucks for you, Squirt, because I do want to talk to you,” Cooper said, shrugging as if he didn't care.

Blaine stood from the bench, crossed his arms over his chest and faced his brother. “Don't call me that.”

“This silly little dispute between us has gone too far,” Cooper said, frowning. He looked upset about it. “And I'm afraid my last attempt at getting closer to you may have ended a little badly.”

Blaine didn't say anything. He still wasn't sure if he wanted to be part of this conversation or not.

“I talked to Kurt last night,” Cooper said, and oh, no, Blaine definitely didn't want to take part in this. “He said you two argued after you saw some pictures of me and him online.”

Blaine turned around, walked to the punching bag and grabbed his gloves from where he had left them earlier that morning. He began fastening them, not paying much attention to his brother, who trailed behind him.

“I'm sorry if I caused trouble between you two, but I needed to talk to him,” Cooper continued. He stood at a safe distance once Blaine started going at it on the punching bag. “I figured he was my only option, and I truly needed his help.”

“I don't care, Cooper. Please leave,” Blaine muttered between clenched teeth.

“Look, Blaine, I'm going to be a hundred percent honest here,” Cooper sighed and opened his arms, as if he was showing how vulnerable he was. “I spent the past few years trying to get my little brother back, but I have run out of ideas. Kurt has informed me that most of them were pretty misguided, actually. I'm sorry for being such a clueless idiot, but I really, really love you, Squirt, and not having you in my life is killing me.”

“I'm sure you'll be fine,” Blaine replied, as he hit the bag as hard as he could. “You have mom and dad, and a perfect wife, and the perfect career, and a perfect life…”

“No,” Cooper interrupted, and he sounded a lot more serious now. “I won't get to have a perfect life until you're part of it again. Please, Blaine, just give me a chance…”

Blaine ignored him. He could feel the flames of anger lapping teasingly at his insides, trying to provoke him, but he stayed put. Punching Cooper wouldn't solve anything. It wouldn't teach his brother a lesson. It would only make everyone see that Cooper was still the best out of the two, that Blaine was the fucked up one who couldn't even hold a conversation with his brother.

With another sigh, Cooper carefully removed his coat and placed it on a bench nearby, with the umbrella next to it. He began to roll up the sleeves of his grey cashmere sweater.

Blaine hugged the bag as he tried to get back some air. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Let's get up there,” Cooper said, gesturing towards the ring. “You want to punch me? Fine, let's do it. If that's what makes you feel better. If that's what helps make things even between us.”

Blaine huffed in annoyance. “Are you an idiot? Hitting you right on your stupid face won't change anything.”

“That's not what you seemed to think the last time I tried to visit you at your place,” Cooper said, with an edge of mockery in his voice that only made Blaine angrier. “Come on.”

Cooper tried to climb through the ropes gracefully, but mostly ended getting tangled in them. Blaine watched him, not sure if he wanted to laugh or just push him out of the gym – and his life – and into the storm.

Bouncing a little in the middle of the rung, Cooper raised his fists close to his face. “What are you waiting for? Come teach your older brother a lesson, if you can.”

Blaine was very unimpressed. He considered simply walking away and continuing with his workout, but he knew Cooper was very stubborn when he wanted something. So instead, Blaine reached for a spare pair of gloves and threw them to his brother.

Cooper's face lit up with excitement as he caught them. He put them on quickly. “That's what I'm talking about! Alright, Squirt! Show me what you got!”

Blaine didn't need to be told twice. He got into the ring and advanced on his brother, throwing a quick jab at him, mostly to make him lose his balance. “Don't. Call. Me. That.”

Cooper quickly put his gloved hands in front of his face to shield himself. “I'm sorry for getting Kurt involved. I had no right to ask him for his help, but I was a little desperate.”

Blaine changed tactics and aimed for Cooper's stomach instead. “He was the one thing you hadn't ruined. And now…”

“Now, what?” Cooper asked, landing a punch on Blaine's side that surprised his little brother. “Just because he was too nice to reject a coffee invitation, you're going to dump him? Let him go? I thought you were smarter than that, Squirt.”

Blaine was furious. He made Cooper back off until he had him against the ropes. “He knows how I feel about you.”

“Oh yeah? And how do you feel about me?” Cooper asked, way too chipper to be trapped between his brother's fists and the ropes.

“You're a selfish asshole,” Blaine spat madly. Cooper used Blaine's slight distraction to revert the roles, and soon Blaine was the one being backed to the corner. “Where the hell did you learn to do that?” He asked, half impressed, half annoyed.

“I almost landed the lead in Rocky the Musical,” Cooper replied. “I had to learn how to box.”

The mention of Cooper's career made Blaine even angrier. “Almost,” he repeated. “Did the casting directors see how full of crap you were?”

“Probably,” Cooper admitted, far too easily. “I wasn't really interested in the part. I just… I really miss Hollywood.”

Blaine gritted his teeth. “Then why don't you go back? Nobody needs you here, Cooper.”

“I accepted Broadway because I thought it would bring me closer to you…” Cooper explained, making Blaine hesitate for a second. They both stopped trying to punch each other and simply stood there, panting harshly. “I'm not a Broadway actor. I don't like theatre. It's exhausting and boring…”

Blaine saw red for a second. He threw a fast jab at his brother's stomach, making Cooper bend in two in pain. “What the fuck does that even mean? Did you do it just because you could and I couldn't?”

Cooper raised a hand between them, trying to catch a break so he could breathe. “What? Are you crazy?” He said, wheezing a little. “I had no idea how to reach out. You were a completely different person, and you were so hurt…”

“So you just stole my dream?” Blaine asked, and he realized his voice was getting louder, but he couldn't help it. “You just thought, hey, what else could I possibly do to make my little brother's life miserable? Oh, I know, being on Broadway when he can't will sure as hell finish him!”

Cooper lifted his head to look at him, his blue eyes wide and sad. “Blaine, no. I would never…”

“But that's what you did,” Blaine interrupted. “Why should I believe you? Mom and Dad were so obviously relieved that I wasn't going to be able to pursue a career on Broadway anymore…”

“Blaine, you had cancer,” Cooper murmured, completely horrified. “We thought we were going to lose you. Do you think any of us was worried about what you wanted to do for a living? We just wanted you to live.”

Blaine just stared at him for a moment, as if that was the hardest thing to believe. Then he simply ripped one of his gloves open with his teeth, and began to take it off.

“That's what you've been living with for the past ten years?” Cooper asked, and the pain in his voice seemed to hit Blaine like a fist to the stomach. “You've been thinking that we were glad you had cancer because you wouldn't be able to sing on Broadway anymore?”

Blaine started working on the other glove. “Well, Mom and Dad were already disappointed because I was gay, so let's just add that and…”

Cooper shook his head, frowned, and landed a punch on Blaine's shoulder, taking him by surprise. “You idiot! We love you! Mom and Dad may not be the most loving parents in the world, but they've been worried sick about you for years! And I might be the biggest clueless asshole ever, but everything I did was a way to show you how much I cared about you!”

“You have a very awful way of showing that, Cooper,” Blaine huffed, irritated, rubbing at the spot where Cooper had hit him.

“The four of us seriously need to sit down and solve all of this,” Cooper said, removing his own gloves. “And you need to stop pushing us away – we're your family, damn it. We love you just the way you are.”

Blaine didn't know what to say. He had spent so many years believing his family preferred to see him sick instead of living a life they didn't approve of, that he couldn't conceive the possibility of having being wrong all this time. He had been so angry – at his parents, at Cooper, at himself, at life for the way it had kicked him when he was already lying helpless on the ground – that he had never stopped to think about things rationally. He had just exploded and let everything he ever cared about shatter around him.

Just like his relationship with Kurt. He had felt so betrayed and hurt, that he never gave Kurt a chance to explain. He had kicked him out of his apartment, most likely ruining what they had built together.

Blaine really needed to learn how to deal with his emotions without these disastrous explosions. There had to be a healthier way…

Cooper clapped his hands together and gave Blaine a bright smile that looked a little out of place. “So! Is everything okay now? Can I have my brother back? I was thinking you could come have dinner with us on Monday nights? Make it a weekly thing? We have a lot of catching up to do…”

Blaine snatched the gloves out of Cooper's grip and turned to climb down from the ring. “Don't push your luck, Cooper.”

But there was a tiny smile trying to force its way onto Blaine's lips, and judging by Cooper's incredibly idiotic and proud grin, he could see it, no matter how much Blaine tried to hide it.

*

The ultimate distraction for Kurt arrived a week later. He had ordered a beautiful French style crib online about a month ago, and it had finally been delivered that day. Kurt had it moved into the baby's room and contemplated where to place it, trying different options.

He had chosen a gorgeous, gender-neutral color scheme. The base color was a very chic grey, and the fun details all around were a bright yellow that reminded Kurt of the sun. He still had to put most of the room together, but he was having so much fun with it that he didn't care how much work it was.

The company where Kurt had bought the crib didn't have it available in the exact grey color he was looking for, so he had got a can of paint to do it himself. The comfortable grey armchair he had found at a hidden little boutique in Brooklyn was carefully wrapped in protective plastic so it wouldn't get stained with paint, and he had found some lovely yellow fabrics the other day that he was planning to use for throw pillows. The wall where he had decided to put the crib was painted in thick grey and white stripes to pull focus. It was all very classy, and the touches of color would make the room fun for a baby.

Kurt had loved every second of this project, and he couldn't wait until his kid was old enough to ask for the room to be redecorated in whatever his or her favorite colors would be.

He put on an old pair of yoga pants and a college hoodie, and sat on the wooden floor, carefully covered with newspaper, to start working on the crib. Even when he was drained after work, hiding in this room and getting more things ready for the baby arrival managed to relax him.

It was his very own happy place.

He stopped halfway through to order some Chinese food when his stomach started groaning, but went straight back into the room to keep painting as he waited for his dinner to arrive. He still hadn't decided if he would add some specific animal to the décor. What if he picked the one animal the baby would be terrified of?

He was balancing the pros and cons of sheep and bunnies when the doorbell rang. He stood up, careful not to touch anything with his paint-stained hands, and grabbed an old rag to wipe them clean as he walked towards the front door.

He was rummaging through his wallet for the money when he realized the person standing before him wasn't carrying a takeout bag. Instead, Blaine was looking at him a little awkwardly.

“Hi,” he said, a bit unsure.

Kurt gaped at him for another handful of seconds. Maybe it was because he hadn't seen him in a couple of weeks, but oh god, Blaine really looked amazing. That navy blue scarf wrapped around his neck went wonderfully with his skin tone… “Hi.”

“I'm sorry for dropping by unannounced,” Blaine said, looking down at his shoes for a moment, before glancing back up at him. “I thought maybe we could talk?”

“Yes, yes, sure,” Kurt opened the door a little wider. “Come in.”

Blaine stepped into the apartment. “I feel like I should probably apologize before we even say anything else,” he began, as he moved towards the living room. “You know I tend to be a little unreasonable when it comes to my brother, but the way I treated you that day at my place…”

Kurt shrugged, uncomfortable. “I shouldn't have got involved. It was not my business.”

“You had very good intentions,” Blaine replied, smiling a little as if to reassure him. “I talked to Cooper, actually. He came to see me.”

“Really?” Kurt was surprised to hear this. “And what happened?”

“He told me a few things I didn't know. It was…” Blaine shook his head, as if he couldn't find the adequate words to describe the experience. “Well, it left me thinking, that's for sure. And it made me realize that I owed you a big apology.”

Kurt smiled warmly at him. “It's fine. I just hope you're in a better place with all of this.”

Blaine sighed. “I think it'll take a while, but… I'm trying, yeah…” He paused, and really looked at Kurt since he had arrived. “Uh, were you busy? Redecorating or something?”

He began to look around, as if to find the changes Kurt had been making to his apartment, and Kurt realized, stupidly, that he had forgotten about the baby's room as soon as he had found Blaine standing outside in the hallway. His heart raced, throwing him into panic-mode.

“Oh, are you finally getting the guest room set up?” Blaine asked, when he noticed the light was on in the one room Kurt had often kept hidden from him.

“Yes. No, I…” Kurt hesitated, and when he didn't know what else to say, Blaine frowned at him, a little amused at his reaction, and simply walked towards the room to see for himself.

Kurt hurried to follow him, not sure if he wanted to close the door before he could peek inside of just let this whole thing come to an end – Blaine had to know, after all, even if this wasn't the way Kurt would have wanted him to find out.

Blaine froze just one step away from the bedroom. From there, he could clearly see the vintage chiffonier, the bags from baby clothing stores, the armchair… the half-painted crib. Kurt wanted to reach for the doorknob and keep Blaine from seeing everything, but it was too late.

This was the truth he had been trying to tell him for the past few months.

Blaine took one hesitant step forward, until he was inside the room. He blinked and looked around, completely perplexed. “Kurt… what…?”

Kurt held onto the door frame, afraid his strength would fail him at the worst possible moment. “I meant to tell you…”

Blaine turned to look at him, confused. “Tell me what?”

“I-I'm adopting a baby,” Kurt said softly. “I got in contact with an adoption agency around the time I was planning Cooper's wedding. One of the mothers from the agency picked me… she's due in a few weeks…”

Blaine looked dizzy, as if it was too much information to process so quickly. “You…”

“I'm sorry for not telling you,” Kurt hurried to say. “I wanted to, I tried to a million times… but I wasn't sure how you would react, and I didn't…”

“You didn't what?” Blaine asked sharply. He hid his face behind his hand. “God, Kurt, this isn't… this isn't something small, this is huge. Why didn't you tell me?”

“Because I knew everything would be over between us as soon as you knew,” Kurt answered, quite bravely even though he was feeling a little sick. “I was having such a great time with you that I didn't dare put an end to it.”

“You were having a great time with me,” Blaine repeated, looking incredulous. “So what, I was some sort of distraction while you waited for your baby? What were you going to do once the baby arrived? Were you just going to break up with me or…?”

“I don't know, Blaine,” Kurt said, crossing his arms over his chest defensively. “I hadn't figured it out yet. I thought maybe you would leave first and I wouldn't have to say anything at all.”

“I can't believe this,” Blaine mumbled, chuckling bitterly. “You knew we had an expiration date and you still let me believe we had something real? You let me fall in lo–… wow, I'm an idiot.”

“No, Blaine, please,” Kurt said sadly. “I know it was wrong of me, but I just thought…”

“You thought you could have some fun while you waited for the baby to arrive,” Blaine interrupted, his voice cold and full of betrayal. “You thought you could keep me around while I was convenient, but as soon as you had the baby, you wouldn't need me anymore…”

“Blaine, don't say that,” Kurt pleaded desperately. “That's not how it is…”

“That's why you told me we weren't on the same page that time you wanted to put an end to things,” Blaine said, and his hazel eyes looked so hurt and so empty at the same time that Kurt didn't know what to do. “All this time, you knew you were just going to break up with me…”

“Blaine…” Kurt tried again.

“Fuck you, Kurt,” Blaine said, as his eyes filled with tears that he stubbornly held back. “You've been lying to me since day one. You never even gave me a real chance, did you? You already knew you would end things. You made that decision without giving a shit about what I would think or feel…” Blaine backed out of the room, his gaze still on Kurt. “Well, you know what? I'm not going to interfere with your perfect little family anymore.”

“No, no, please, wait!” Kurt reached for him.

“I hope you had fun. I hope it was worth it,” Blaine said coldly, and just like that, he headed for the front door without looking back.

This time, Kurt didn't even think of stopping him. He knew Blaine wouldn't stay.

*