Blaine had always considered himself to be a very patient person. You had to be, with an oncologic surgeon for a mother and a Hospital executive for a father; they would promise and plan, but Blaine learned to wait on their actual follow through, if they ever did. His brother was also one for promises that took forever to be fulfilled. Blaine had waited to be taught to ride a bike, to take his first trip to the zoo; for birthday parties and outings to do things he wanted instead of sitting through another one of Cooper's art shows. Waiting was just something Blaine did.

But waiting out the five days to his lunch with Kurt was torture. There was usually Rachel there to ignore or escort around town, but she had been spending more time out in the city alone than she had initially planned. The morning after Kurt set the lunch date, Cooper made mention of an actor he was doing headshots for. After an onslaught of demanding and pleading from Rachel, he agreed to let her go to the appointment. Blaine chose to stay back that day, taking a much-needed Rach-cation; he updated his tumblr and took another spin around to his favorite shops in East Chelsea without her incessant chatter and random bursts of song. It had been nice for him, but not so for Cooper: Rachel managed to get around his watch and talk with the actor. She learned, apparently, that the actor knew a guy who knew a girl who dated this waiter who knew the secretary for the NYADA admissions board, who said there was going to be a Mixer on the eleventh at the Producer's Theatre. Armed with that roundabout information, Rachel had drilled Cooper for more of his connections and secured a practice room on Columbia's campus, where she was rehearsing every showtune she could imagine, looking for the right one to impress the NYADA representatives who would be in the crowd. She was, consequently, uptown every day, and so focused on her task that Blaine didn't see her until he had to go drag her bodily from her practice room.

Rachel's being gone freed up a good chunk of Blaine's time; there was only so much wandering he was willing to do by himself, and he had told Kurt as much over their texting conversations. So Kurt kept him entertained with random snippets about his days, which were getting more and more hectic as the kickoff concert at Madison Square Garden drew nearer. Blaine would get texts:

Ohmigod [12:32pm]: people wouldn't mind if i sold my left leg to a guy who says he can get me out of choreo, right?

Ohmigod [12:33pm]: i mean, the whole song-and-dance-hummel thing *should* be completely overrated.

When choreography rehearsals were running long and Kurt had a couple seconds to spare during a water break. Blaine would laugh, wonder what exactly who the choreographer was –rumor had it Kurt's people landed the legendary Sue Sylvester, but no-one in Kurt's fandom could find a definite answer and Blaine wasn't about to intrude on Kurt's professional life unless Kurt himself brought it up—and text back reassurances that things were going to go fine once they staged everything he was practicing. It was still surreal, the fact that he knew Kurt Hummel and was texting him every day. So very, very strange and exciting to Blaine, who didn't have the largest number of friends back in Lima, and worked hard to keep his head down as the only kid to out himself at McKinley. Having this complete stranger decide he liked him enough to talk to him every day put Blaine on top of the world.

At least, until he checked his phone and saw there was still time until he got to see Kurt in person again. He would note the day as he woke up with a groan; four daysuntil, three, then two, and eventually one, which Blaine watched arrive in the corner of his laptop screen while writing an email to his mother. No sooner had the clock turned to midnight on July 8, Blaine let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, and his computer opened its internet browser to his Facebook page, where Cooper had sent him an instant message.

Cooper Anderson: oh good, you're on.

Blaine Anderson: Indeed I am. Can I help you?

Cooper Anderson: yes, actually; clear your schedule for today.

Blaine Anderson: There's this thing called context…? If you could give me some, that'd be great, Coop.

Cooper Anderson: but see,

Cooper Anderson: if I told you,

Cooper Anderson:I'd have to kill you. Maybe.

Blaine Anderson: COOPER.

Cooper Anderson: BLAINERS.

Cooper Anderson:just do it…

Blaine Anderson: And what if I had something majorly important to do today? What would you do then?

Cooper Anderson: what I'm apperently having to do now.

Cooper Anderson: bring out hte big guns.

Blaine Anderson: *apparently, *the

Cooper Anderson: I was getting there…

Blaine Anderson: You wouldn't

Cooper Anderson: I can and I will. ABD *aaaaaaalllllll day* tomorrow.

Blaine Anderson: :(

Cooper Anderson: Don't you angry face at me, young man. You'll thank me in the morning.

Cooper Anderson: Remember: schedule. Clear. All. Day.

Blaine blinked at the screen, torn between wanting to put his face in his hands and screaming; of course his brother would demand an ABD—Anderbros Bonding Day—once Blaine had concrete plans not involving rush tickets or museum tours.

ABDs were one of the things Cooper invented to keep Blaine feeling relevant to his life once Cooper headed off to Columbia for his undergrad work. Every long break Cooper could get home for, he would keep a day or two completely free to hang out with Blaine, which Blaine had thought was just the coolest thing when he was nine and really missing his older brother's crazy energy. They didn't even have to do anything special; Cooper would dedicate a full 24 hours to spending time with Blaine, teaching him things their parents were too busy to begin or letting Blaine stay up way past his bedtime watching scary movies. When Blaine was smaller, ABDs could make him jump out of bed with obscene amounts of energy. He would fly through his morning routine and bother Halida, the housekeeper Blaine's parents hired once Cooper moved out and it was discovered nine-year-olds were hopeless when it came to taking care of houses, with speculations about what Coop would have planned when he woke up. Blaine lived for ABDs then. He didn't even mind waiting the long stretches of time between Cooper's breaks, because he could live off the memories he made with his cooler older brother for months. Plus the gaps were long enough Blaine could work off whatever punishment he gained because of the last ABD and his parents would forget about the fact that Cooper was the one who had gotten Blaine grounded in the first place.

Up until Blaine turned 15, ABDs were a huge deal. But once the family got situated in Lima and Blaine made his handful of friends, they were more of a hassle. Cooper would plan one, and Blaine would have to pass because of sectionals, or regionals, or work on a really-big-group-project; Cooper then proceeded to mope about the house, complaining that he never got to "play with his Blainey" anymore. Blaine would spend a couple minutes feeling bad about abandoning Cooper, but he was growing up; his big brother couldn't be the center of the world anymore.

Blaine shuddered to think of the kind of guilt trip Cooper would put him on if he turned down an ABD in the town he'd grown to call home over the last eight years. So, unfortunately, it looked like Blaine had a cleared schedule.

Now he just had to tell Kurt.

It seemed like something he needed to do in a more personal way than through a text message, but he didn't have Kurt's email, and something told him that trying to get his attention over twitter would be an even stupider idea than texting him. So there was only one thing to do.

He grabbed his phone, scrolled down to Kurt's number in his contacts, and pressed Call.

It had been another long day for Kurt; fittings, interviews, and a grueling rehearsal made him wonder if he'd even have the energy to meet Blaine for lunch the next day. He checked his phone as he let himself and Ken into his apartment. Midnight.

Oh. So he'd be meeting Blaine for lunch in about twelve hours. That was cool. He needed to get to bed before Holly came by for Pilates, and so he would have some semblance of common sense to finish his obligations with Terri and everyone. And so, you know, he didn't do anything stupid at lunch. He didn't want to get recognized, after all.

He took a second to make sure Ken was settled before heading to the bathroom for a quick shower and to run through his skin care regime. He was drying off, just about to step out of the shower, when his ringtone sounded from somewhere in the floor. Kurt quickly fished it out of his jeans, wondering who could be calling him after midnight. He wasn't sure how long it had been ringing, so he accepted the call without checking to see who it was.

"Hello?" Kurt said. If he heard Terri or Roz respond he would do his best to appease them and end the call as quickly and painlessly as possible.

A couple seconds of someone clearing their throat before the voice on the other line sounded.

"Uhm, hi. Kurt?"

"Maybe." Kurt began tousling his hair with the towel, drying methodically to avoid tangles. "May I ask who is calling?"

"It's Blaine."

"Well, hello stranger!" Kurt was genuinely surprised to hear from him; they usually talked over text messages. What had changed so that Blaine wanted to call? "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Lunch, actually…" Even through the speaker on Kurt's phone, Blaine sounded acutely uncomfortable.

"What about it?" Kurt worked to keep his tone light and professional, wondering if Ken would get suspicious if he continued the phone conversation in the steamy bathroom.

"My brother decided to pull a family gathering card and wants me to clear my schedule for the day, which would include lunch. It's for this…really lame bonding thing we do sometimes. I feel awful, but is it too late to take a rain check? I know that'd be kind of hard, considering."

Kurt stopped drying his hair, torn. He didn't want to be the one coming between Blaine and his brother's bonding (which sounded like it could be more fun than a hurried lunch with a disguised celebrity), but this was the last free afternoon Kurt would have before the tour officially launched. He mentioned as much to Blaine, who let out a sigh, apparently thinking it over.

"I don't really want to go," his voice sounded muffled, like he was turned away from the phone with something as he spoke. "But he's pulled this event we used to have and I can't just turn it down without consequences."

Kurt's interest was piqued. Blaine kept avoiding what it was called, and now Kurt wanted to know. He walked out of the bathroom to his room, resolutely ignoring Ken, who was pretending not to watch him as he walked up the short hallway. "What's this 'thing'? It seems like you're scared of telling me what it is…"

Blaine sighed into the receiver. "Because it's stupid, and you're probably going to think I'm making it up. It's really nothing; just something we've been doing since before he came here for school."

Kurt chuckled and shut his bedroom door, moving to sit at his vanity to start his moisturizing regimen. "Try me."

"He calls them ABDs—Anderbros Bonding Days." Blaine admitted. "He picks something for us to do all day, and we do it. Lots of hilarity ensues at my expense. They're really not as interesting as he makes them out to be."

"They sound adorable." Kurt replied, switching his phone over to his earpiece. That done, he opened his first bottle of cream.

"I'd rather go to lunch." There was a petulant edge to Blaine's voice; Kurt could imagine him gearing up for a pout, setting his jaw and minutely sticking out that lush lower lip…wait, what? Okay, focus, Kurt mentally chastised himself. Blaine was still talking. Something about a chinchilla getting caught in a parasail while they were vacationing, maybe?

"Basically, whenever there's an ABD, I'm the one who winds up in trouble. That's the way it is with Cooper."

"I can see why you'd want to skip out on it, then." Kurt consoled. Blaine made a noise Kurt took to be affirmation, and continued.

"Maybe there's a way to get him to agree to a partial day? Like, you meet in the morning and break for the afternoon or something? That way he gets his—what was it, 'Anderbros'?—and we still get to meet up. And you may not wind up being together long enough to get in trouble."

"I hadn't thought of that." Blaine said after a moment of hesitation. "I guess I can text him and see."

"Sounds good. Let me know what he says, okay?"

Blaine agreed, hanging up the phone to contact this brother of his. Kurt took out his earpiece and focused on finishing his regime. After all, there wasn't anything he could do now apart from wait for a response and hope for the best.

Blainers [12:25am]: Coop.

Blainers [12:32am]: COOPER.

Blainers [12:35am]: JACOB COOPER ANDERSON!

Sparky McFlashpants [12:36am]:jesus, *what*?

Blainers [12:37am]: Is there any way we can take, like, a lunch break from the ABD? For an hour or two in the afternoon?

Sparky McFlashpants [12:38am]: and interrupt the fun? i think not, unless you have a really good reason?

Blainers [12:39am]: I made plans that are going to be impossible to reschedule. They *have* to happen this afternoon.

Sparky McFlashpants [12:42am]: can I get some details, please?

Blainers [12:43am]: but see,

Blainers [12:43am]:if I told you,

Blainers [12:43am]: I'd have to kill you. Maybe.

Sparky McFlashpants [12:44am]: ah ha haa, smartass. You forget that I give permission for things.

Sparky McFlashpants [12:44am]: no deets, no deal.

Blaine groaned. Of course he would be obstinate about an ABD. Of. Course. They hadn't had one in what, eight months? Cooper was probably feeling robbed or something. And Blaine couldn't tell him what was going on, since he's going out with a celebrity who was probably planning on sneaking away from his entourage (again.)So resigned, Blaine shot one last round of texts:

Blainers [12:46am]: Fine. what time do I need to be ready?

Coffee Mate [12:47am]:It's a no-go for tomorrow; he won't budge and I don't think I'd be able to sneak off without some kind of punishment…

Blaine sighed while setting his alarm and going to bed, already upset by a day that hadn't even started.