Part three

They left Blaine's house at nine o'clock the next morning, which left them plenty of time to get to the school and get ready in time for the competition at eleven o'clock. Most the club was already gathered in the choir room when they got there – including Finn who had apparently chosen to heed Kurt's warning to not be late, so Kurt would have time to go through his combined evening and morning routine before they all had to gather for last minute preparations. Kurt gratefully accepted the plastic bag of supplies that Finn held out, and he glanced through it quickly, checking that everything was there, before he zoomed off to the bathroom.

This left Blaine standing alone with Finn as Rachel was currently occupying Rory and Sam in one corner, talking animatedly at them, and Tina and Mike looked to be having a serious conversation in another. Both Finn and Blaine shuffled their feet kind of awkwardly, because while they had worked out their conflict following Blaine's outburst earlier in the week, neither could deny that there was some lingering tension while they both figured out how to act around each other, now that neither were trying to undermine the other or send him evil looks. There was also the fact that Finn had been present during Blaine's breakdown, and the thought unsettled Blaine a little. While Kurt had assured him that Finn hadn't understood what Blaine had been talking about, he surely knew that something was going on, and what if he repeated what he had heard to someone who might be able to figure it out? Blaine couldn't be outed. He just... No, he couldn't.

'Guys!' Sam skipped over to them finally, when they had exchanged stilted conversation for a long uncomfortable while, perhaps taking pity on them, and he flung an arm around Blaine's shoulder and patted Finn on the back with the other. He was beaming at them, clearly overjoyed to be back at McKinley. Or else he was just really happy to have escaped Rachel. 'Ready to kick some ass?'

Blaine laughed. 'Sure, Sam.'

'Yeah, we're totally gonna win this,' Finn said. 'The girls don't stand a chance. And as for The Unitards, well...'

'Yeah, the name kind of says it for you, doesn't it?' Sam chuckled.

'Well, I don't really know what a "unitard" is,' Finn admitted. 'But it sounds lame.'

Blaine caught Sam's eye and they shared an amused look, but before either of them could launch into an explanation of what exactly a unitard was, a voice from the door interrupted their conversation.

'Blaine,' it called, and Blaine wheeled around to see Cooper standing there, his hands in his pockets and still wet from the rain outside, having obviously just arrived. He looked more serious than Blaine was used to seeing him.

'Cooper?' Blaine approached his brother, feeling worry settle in the pit of his stomach. Cooper had left Lima yesterday and was supposed to be back in LA by now. 'What are you doing here?'

Cooper didn't reply but gestured with his head that they should talk privately in the hall, and Blaine followed him out.

Rachel had liked Blaine since their first meeting – actually since before they met, and Blaine was not even really a person, just the name of a boy Kurt had met at a neighboring school, because anyone who made Kurt smile that much was all right in Rachel's book. And of course meeting Blaine properly had been a delightful experience; with his easy charm and boundless energy and optimism, Blaine was very easy to like. However, for a long time he had remained a bit of an enigma, always happy and kind but never revealing much about himself in a strange combination of being open and closed off. It was only through working together on West Side Story and spending extended periods of time together, that the real Blaine had begun to slip through and Rachel could start to put together the pieces that made up this boy. Even though she couldn't help the feeling that Blaine still kept a lot of things to himself, she at least now felt that she could safely call him a friend regardless of his relationship with Kurt.

It was through those friend-colored glasses that Rachel watched now, a light frown on her face, as Blaine and Cooper disappeared into the hall, the door closing sharply behind them. She hadn't missed the concerned look that crossed Blaine's face upon seeing his brother – and wasn't Cooper supposed to have gone back to LA? Something was up with Blaine – she had been noticing it for a while now – but she couldn't for the life of her figure out what.

Rachel excused herself from her conversation with Rory, barely noticing when he seemed oddly relieved, and she stood up, crossing the choir room to look through the window of the door Blaine and his brother had left through. Blaine had his back to the door, so Rachel couldn't see his face, but his stance seemed... tense, somehow. On guard.

'Rachel,' she heard Finn's voice from behind, reprimanding her. 'What are you doing?'

'Trying to find out what's going on,' she replied without moving.

'Well, don't.' Finn tugged at her wrist until she had to turn around and face him. 'It's kind of rude.'

'Aren't you worried about him?' she asked a bit louder than she intended to, attracting the attention of their fellow team mates.

'No. I'm not,' Finn replied determinedly, but it seemed to Rachel almost like he was trying to convince himself as much as her. He looked around the room for a moment, taking in everyone's curious looks, before grabbing Rachel by the wrist and leading her across the room, through Mr. Schue's office and out into a hall, around the corner from where Blaine and Cooper had gone, but far enough away that they couldn't hear or be heard.

'You clearly are,' Rachel said, folding her arms across her chest and narrowing her eyes at him. 'Do you know what's going on? You haven't said two words to me about what happened in Mr. Schue's office the other day.'

'Kurt asked me not to tell,' Finn said simply.

'I'm your girlfriend, Finn. You're supposed to be able to tell me things,' Rachel argued, and when Finn still didn't budge she went on, talking fast and spilling everything that had been on her mind lately. 'Look, I'm just worried about them, okay? I talked to Kurt last week and he as good as told me that something's going on, but he wouldn't tell me what. And then Blaine flips out on Sam for no reason and there's shouting in Mr. Schue's office, and I swear Blaine looked like he had been crying after. And now Cooper's here when he shouldn't be, and Blaine looks all worried, and I know Kurt said they're fine, but he seems preoccupied all the time, his mind off somewhere else, and he barely even seems worried about NYADA anymore and it just- it all adds up, doesn't it?'

Finn, who had been watching her with that confused, overwhelmed look he sometimes got when she said too much too fast, opened his mouth to respond, but something behind Rachel caught his eye.

'Hang on for a moment,' he said and Rachel jogged after him as he strode down the hall where someone – a jock, judging by the letterman jacket – was standing with his back to them. He was poking his head around the corner, gazing down the hall where Rachel knew that Blaine and Cooper must be standing unless they had moved their conversation elsewhere. 'What do you think you're doing?' Finn asked sharply.

'Shh, I'm trying to find out what they're talking about,' the other boy said, and something about his tone made Rachel's blood run cold. 'Oh hey, Hudson,' he added, turning around as he seemed to register who was talking to him. Rachel vaguely recognized him as being one of the senior members of the football team that Finn captained, and the boy was definitely build like one.

'What are you doing here, JT?' Finn asked somewhat coldly. 'Don't tell me you've come to watch the competition.'

The kid – JT – let out a short bark of laugh. 'No, I just came to pick up some stuff from my locker, and I happened to catch that.' He pointed over his shoulder. An idea seemed to occur to him then and he leaned in, speaking in a conspiratory voice. 'That Blaine kid. You know him, right? I mean, he's in your little queer club, isn't he?' Rachel's eyes instantly narrowed in dislike. 'Does he seem... off to you?'

'What the hell is that supposed to mean?' Finn demanded angrily.

JT shrugged. 'I dunno. I can't put my finger on it. There's just something strange about him, and I don't just mean the gay thing, though that's bad enough-'

'Go home, Thompson,' Finn said, taking a step closer and his voice low and dangerous. 'Or anywhere that's not here.'

JT's lips quirked in an amused smile at Finn's reaction. 'You've noticed something too, haven't you?' Rachel looked quickly at Finn, and JT caught it. 'Wait, don't tell me. Is that what you and the missus were talking about just now?' He met Rachel's eyes and there was a strange, unreadable look on his face. 'I'm telling you, there's something up with that kid.'

'Go,' Finn repeated. 'I'm serious.'

The other boy chuckled derisively. 'This isn't a football field, Hudson. You can't order me around.' The two of them stared at each other for a long moment, dislike clear in both sets of eyes, and Rachel was about to make a comment about disturbing displays of testosterone, but then JT seemed to let up. 'Alright, as you wish, my captain.' He took a step back and gave an over-pronounced bow, before hoisting his bag over his shoulder and turning to leave, calling over his shoulder as he went, 'Just keep an eye on the queer for me.'

'That... that was creepy,' Rachel said a moment later, her voice small and a little frightened. 'Why would he be... Finn, I didn't like that. What's going on?'

Finn looked thoughtfully in the direction JT had gone, but after a moment he shook his head. 'Nothing. JT's a creep, it's that simple,' he said as he led Rachel back down the hall where they had come from.

'It didn't seem like nothing.' Rachel insisted as she hugged her arms against her chest.

'I know this guy, okay?' Finn said, speaking in a calm, clear voice. 'JT – he's been on the football team for years, and he likes to screw with people's heads. It's what he does. He probably just overheard us talking and decided to have some fun. He doesn't even know Blaine; how's he supposed to have an opinion? It doesn't make sense.'

Rachel took a few seconds to digest Finn's words before finally relaxing. Of course, she was being paranoid, and JT was clearly having them on. 'I'm still worried though,' she said. 'For the same reasons I listed before. And you still haven't told me what went on in there.' She pointed towards Mr. Schue's office.

Finn sighed and shook his head. 'I told you. I can't. I don't even really remember most of it, and it didn't actually make a lot of sense to me.' He frowned to himself for a moment. 'But Kurt made me promise not to repeat any of it, and I'm sorry, but in this case brother trumps girlfriend.'

'Just tell me if I should be worried then.'

'You shouldn't,' Finn said firmly. 'Whatever is or was going on, they're working on it alone, and they're fine. And it's obviously none of our business anyway.'

'Kurt is my best friend,' Rachel said hotly. 'You're his brother. And Blaine is our friend too. How can it not be any of our business?'

'I don't know, and I'm curious too, don't get me wrong, but- but what if it's something really private and by snooping around, you're just making things worse?' Rachel could tell that Finn was getting a little impatient, and there was a clear note of finality in his voice. 'That's not being a very good friend. If we find out, it should be on their terms.'

'I just hate not knowing things,' Rachel said with a small sigh, but accepting defeat.

'I know,' Finn said, smiling fondly at her before pulling her into a hug. 'But you can't control when you find this out any more than you can control when you get the result of your NYADA application.'

'You think that's what I'm doing?' Rachel mumbled into his chest. 'Trying to control things?'

'Well, you do kind of have a history of that,' Finn said in a carefully even tone, and Rachel snorted despite herself.

Finn was probably right. She should stop obsessing about things that weren't her business. Besides, if it was something truly serious, Kurt would tell her, she was certain of it. It was probably something really silly and private, like – Rachel's cheeks pinked a little at the images that went through her mind at the idea – a sexual mishap, perhaps, which wasn't serious at all, just embarrassing.

Rachel was obviously panicking for nothing, she decided, and a short while later when Blaine strode back into the choir room, hand in hand with Kurt, looking trouble free and smiling widely, Rachel felt silly to have been worrying at all.

'What's wrong?' Blaine asked once he was alone with Cooper in the hallway.

'Nothing's wrong,' Cooper said, holding up his hands in a calming gesture. 'Not exactly.'

'Then what are you doing here? What happened to your audition?'

'Blew it off.' Cooper shrugged. 'I only got as far as Columbus before I decided to come back here. Figured I'd be remiss if I didn't come see all my hard work pay off.' He smiled, but Blaine thought it seemed forced, and he narrowed his eyes at his brother. Was that all? 'Plus someone's gotta film it for Mom and Dad. And maybe we can go over the footage later. Fix all the mistakes you're bound to make.'

Well, that was more like it, Blaine thought as he felt the buildup of the familiar bitterness and annoyance that he kept just underneath the surface these days, though he wasn't sure if it was directed more at himself or Cooper. 'Great, thanks. Listen, I gotta go. We're supposed to gather before the-'

'I'm kidding, okay?'

'What?' Blaine had been about to walk back inside the choir room, but he turned back to face Cooper now, frowning in confusion.

Cooper stuck his hands in his pockets again, looking uncharacteristically awkward, not quite meeting Blaine's eye, and Blaine could tell that he was about to say whatever it was that had had him looking so serious.

'We haven't really talked since... since that incident earlier in the week,' Cooper began, and Blaine didn't have to ask which incident he meant. 'But I wanted you to know that I heard you. I haven't been able to get it out of my head all week. What you said. It takes me a while sometimes to get things, but I catch up.' Cooper paused for a moment and caught Blaine's eye, holding his gaze as he continued. 'I know I can pretty tough on you when it comes to performing, and I may have gone a little overboard lately. But, Blaine, those things you said...' Cooper shook his head sadly. 'I never meant to make you feel like that, and it kills me to think that I did.'

Cooper sighed and slid to the floor, leaning against the lockers lining the hall. Blaine watched him for a moment, and he looked so distraught that it almost didn't register that his brother was apologizing to him. Blaine moved to sit next to him on the floor, but stayed quiet, not quite sure what to say.

'It's just, I see how talented you are, and I want so bad for you to go that extra mile and do it all. Broadway, movies, you name it. So I push. Clearly I'm not a very good teacher.' Cooper huffed out a short humorless laugh.

'No, you are,' Blaine said quickly. 'I've learned so much from you. We all have. It's not your fault. I just overreacted, because of- everything.'

'But I was part of it,' Cooper said, shaking his head again. It wasn't a question. 'I made a difficult situation worse.'

'Well, maybe you could work harder at not praising everyone but me?' Blaine said quietly, speaking honestly but hating how it made him sound like some attention-starved child. 'It makes it seem like I'm doing something wrong that nobody else is.'

'You're not. On the contrary. I just always thought you knew that.'

'It's okay, Coop,' Blaine said. It was odd hearing his brother speak with such vulnerability in his voice. Cooper was usually so in control of every situation he found himself in. 'I know you're just trying to help.'

'No. It's not okay. Like I said, I- I push, because...' Cooper trailed off and drew a long breath before launching into speech again. 'I can't stop bigotry. Grandma's right, I'm not clever. I didn't do that well in high school, and I did even worse in college. I don't know how to make the world a better place for you. But I do know the arts. So what I can do is help you take all that pain and anger and frustration – all that energy – and channel it into becoming a better performer. And then maybe in five, ten years, when you've taken the world by storm, it won't matter so much what the grandma Angelas and the uncle Petes of this world think, because- because you've proved them wrong.'

'Coop...' Blaine bit his lip. He felt like he should be saying something. Anything to express the rush of gratitude and affection he felt – had always felt – towards his brother. A way to describe what it felt like to know that he had someone so completely in his corner, and it didn't matter that said someone stumbled sometimes; he was still Blaine's person.

Before Blaine could think of anything to say, however, Cooper had risen to his feet again and was holding out a hand to help Blaine up.

'Thank you,' Blaine said, when he was back on his feet and standing in front of Cooper, and he hoped that Cooper realized he didn't just mean the hand.

'So we're good, right? You don't hate me?'

'Cooper,' Blaine said, almost reprimanding him, and he wrapped his arms around his brother in a tight, affectionate hug. Considering that Cooper was the one who had apologized to Blaine, it felt oddly like Blaine was comforting him now. 'I don't hate you.'

'Good.' Cooper was smiling again when they parted, and he pointed at the door to the choir room. 'Now go get ready. I'll be in the audience.'

'Do you want to come in?' Blaine offered. 'Give a last minute pep talk?'

'Nah, I'll leave you to it. You've got it in the bag, I think,' Cooper said with a wink and smile, before turning and walking down the hall, and as Blaine watched him go, he was suddenly seeing years of interaction with his brother, and what he had seen as nothing but criticism after criticism, in a new light, and something finally clicked into place.

'What are you smiling about?' Kurt asked in amusement as he appeared around a corner, the contents of the plastic bag clinking as he walked.

'Oh, you know, just thinking about the amazing people I'm my life,' Blaine said and took Kurt's hand in his, leading him back into the choir room. 'I'm kind of a lucky guy.'