When Blaine goes down for breakfast the next morning, he just has time to make out the smell of bacon before strong arms are wrapping around his neck, pulling him into the embrace of an excited Cooper.

"How've you been, kid?" asks Cooper, holding Blaine at arm's length. "Wow, you've really grown. Even starting to get a bit of stubble there."

He brushes his hand against Blaine's chin.

"Yeah I've been great," says Blaine, dazed. "But why are you here? I thought you weren't coming home till Christmas Eve,"

"He flew in late last night," says Mrs Anderson, beaming over at her sons from beside the stove. "Snuck into the house and was waiting for breakfast when I woke up this morning. Boy did that remind me of his high school days."

"Hey, that's not fair. If it was really like back in high school, I wouldn't be up this early," says Cooper, as he and Blaine take their seats at the breakfast table

"Ah, that's right," says Mrs Anderson. She serves the rashes of bacon onto two plates that are already laden with sunny-side up eggs and hash browns. "Just be glad your father never found out about that."

Mrs Anderson sets down the plates in front of her two sons, who sing a 'thankyou' before picking up their knives and forks. Taking the seat opposite the boys, Mrs Anderson gazes affectionately at Cooper as he shovels down his hash brown.

"So how's LA?" says Blaine, watching Cooper while cutting up his sausages.

Cooper swallows his mouthful before replying.

"Same old, same old," he says. "My agent's had me doing a play for the last three months. Not the best exposure or anything, but I figured Mum and Dad's college fund won't last forever."

Blaine is glad to hear this. When Cooper had left school, he'd decided that college wasn't for him, opting instead to move to L.A and try and find work. But their parents, not wanting to send him out without any sort of assistance, had still allowed him access to his college fund. Blaine wouldn't have found a problem with that if hadn't made Cooper extremely selective in the jobs he took up. The result is that Cooper now only has a handful of roles on his resume, the most notable of which is a part in an insurance ad that is only shown online.

"Speaking of college," says Cooper, setting down his knife and fork. "Mum told me you were applying to NYADA."

"Yeah," says Blaine abashedly, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I'll do pre-law if I don't get in, though."

"Only my son would have pre-law as a backup."

The party at the table looks up as Senator Anderson enters the room, wearing a beige woollen night robe, as well as a large grin on his face. Cooper stands to greet him.

"It's good to see you again, Cooper," says Senator Anderson, clasping Cooper's hand. "Nice of you to finally visit."

"You know what it's like in LA, Dad. Work isn't the easiest to come by," says Cooper, as if he hadn't just admitted to living off his college fund alone for the past five years.

"And you know I'd be more than willing to help you out if you just helped me campaign," Senator Anderson reminds him, as he does every time they meet.

"No can do, Dad. You know how left-wing L.A has become. Me doing that would be like social suicide. Career suicide too," Cooper adds as his dad frowns at him. "Practically every second production over there involves someone who's pissed off at you. It's just too much of a risk."

"Well, good thing I have Blaine," says Senator Anderson, shrugging off Cooper's words and instead clapping his hands onto Blaine's shoulders. Blaine stands abruptly. Empty plate in hand, he takes it to the sink, feeling Cooper's eyes on him even when his family continues with their small talk. But Blaine washes his plate in silence. He may be keeping his opinions and his sexuality to himself in order to save his family the drama, but that doesn't mean that it isn't tearing him apart, bit by bit.

"So what's the plan for today?" Senator Anderson asks, when Blaine has calmed down enough to return to the table.

"I actually have some last minute Christmas shopping to do," says Cooper, setting down his knife and fork. "Blaine, do you wanna come with me?"

"Sure," says Blaine. "Just let me go get changed."

"So are you going to tell me what's up?"

They're in their mum's car, stuck in traffic on the way to the mall, when Cooper says it, speaking up over the new Pink song that's playing on the radio.

"What do you mean?" asks Blaine, but of course he knows. Cooper isn't always the first to pick up on something. On the rare occasion that he does, however, he'll let you know about it -though whether out of genuine concern or a mere need to show off his astuteness, Blaine still doesn't know.

"The way that you fully flinched out of Dad's grip earlier," says Cooper. "I thought I was sure you'd follow him into politics, too."

"It's nothing," shrugs Blaine. "You're not the only one who can do something different, you know."

"I knew you'd want to follow in my footsteps instead," says Cooper proudly, causing Blaine to roll his eyes.

That's the end of the discussion - Cooper had fallen for Blaine's excuse. But a part of Blaine hadn't wanted Cooper to. Because he'd been thinking about coming out to Cooper. Cooper wouldn't care, Blaine's sure of it. And he can't imagine how letting Cooper in on his little secret would make Cooper's life more difficult.

But before Blaine knows it, Cooper is parking the car at the lot of the mall, and telling Blaine to hurry because he has to get home in time to Skype his girlfriend before lunch. And so he won't tell Cooper today, not when they're in a crowded shopping mall, running around buying presents.

Maybe for Christmas, thinks Blaine, following Cooper into the shopping complex.

On Christmas morning, Blaine is woken at an obscenely early hour by the ringing of his phone.

"So, who's the cutie you picked up?" says a voice in Blaine's ear when he answers.

"Merry Christmas to you too," says Blaine sleepily, rubbing at his eyes. But of course, he's happy to hear Kurt's voice. They had been exchanging texts on and off since the masquerade, but no trips from school had meant no excuses to call each other every day. When Blaine finally manages to process Kurt's words, however, his sleepiness is replaced by confusion. "Wait, what are you on about?"

"There were photos of you out with what must be the best looking man in all of North America," says Kurt dreamily. "I must say I'm a little insulted that you were out with someone else so soon after rejecting my picks, but at least you don't have bad taste."

"Slow down, Kurt. I'm so confused right now," says Blaine. "Link me to the photos?"

"Alright, I'll message you," says Kurt.

As Blaine pulls his laptop off his bedside table and sets about opening up a web browser, Kurt's excited voice is still chirping away in his ear.

"He looks so much like the guy from the commercials!" Kurt gushes. "And obviously the press just reckon he's a friend or something but of course, they don't know what I know."

Blaine finally pulls up the article - a gossip column on famous figures out and about doing last minute Christmas shopping. Clicking through the images, he finally sees the one that caught Kurt's attention. It's a photo that had been taken from their shopping trip the other day, of Blaine and Cooper walking through the shopping mall talking. Cooper's eyes are covered by sunglasses so all that is visibly are his pearly white teeth exposed in a large smile, as beside him Blaine is also smiling warmly. Underneath the photo, the caption reads: It seems Blaine Anderson is not quite as organised as his father, who admitted on The View to buying gifts at least a month before Christmas. The eighteen-year-old was seen just last week leaving a gift store with a friend.

"Would you tell me who he is already?" Kurt all but whines.

"Well, it is the guy from the commercials, you were right," says Blaine, closing his laptop lid.

"Hot! How much older than you is he?" asks Kurt excitedly, as Blaine settles back down in bed.

"Six years," says Blaine casually.

"I'm impressed."

"Mm," Blaine hums. "He's also my brother."

"What?" Kurt yelps.

Blaine grins. In his mind, he can see Kurt's face. Eyes wide, jaw agape. It's enough to put Blaine in a good mood, despite the early morning awakening.

"Yeah, that's Cooper," Blaine explains. "He never comes to anything though, so it's no wonder you didn't recognise him."

"But he was in that commercial," says Kurt. "Surely the media's made the connection."

"Anderson isn't exactly the hardest surname to come by," Blaine shrugs. "And besides, it's not like most people recognise the actors in commercials."

"They do when he looks like that," says Kurt.

There's a pause.

"So anyway," says Blaine loudly.

"Sorry, right, awkward," says Kurt. "So... is he straight?"

"Yes," says Blaine. "I think one gay son's probably more than enough for this family to deal with."

"And you're sure he's not bi or anything?" Kurt presses.

"Are you sure you're still with Harry?" Blaine counters. His voice remains playful, masking his frustration at Kurt's fascination with his older brother.

"Hey, I'm merely asking in case you might find it easier to come out to him," says Kurt defensively.

"I'm not worried about that," says Blaine. "I doubt Cooper's even listened to anything Dad's said in years. And if I overheard that phone call from a couple of years ago correctly, a few of his high school friends did some experimenting while they were in college."

"So, you're thinking of telling him then?" says Kurt, and Blaine wonders if he's really that easy to read, or if Kurt simply knows him that well after all this time.

"Yeah. Today actually," says Blaine. "I thought it'd make for an interesting Christmas present."

"It would."

"I trust him, you know?" says Blaine quietly, his voice all of a sudden serious. "Even though he's never around and he barely calls, I know he's got my back. "

"That's the thing about family. They're going to love you no matter what," says Kurt kindly.

"I hope you're right," sighs Blaine.

As soon as Blaine leaves his room that morning, his mother has him running errand after errand to prepare for Christmas lunch with her sisters and their families. The result of having such a jam-packed schedule is that Blaine doesn't get time alone with Cooper until the afternoon. The cousins have just left, and Mr and Mrs Anderson have retreated to their room, exhausted and ready for a nap, stomachs full from the feast that Mrs Anderson and Cooper had prepared. When Blaine finds Cooper he's in the lounge room, limbs splayed out from his seat by the fire.

"Cooper, I need to talk to you," says Blaine, looking down at his brother with his hands buried deep in his pockets. His voice comes out more confident than he feels, but that's hardly surprising these days. It's what Blaine's become good at, masking himself. But apparently the façade of confidence is read as anger by Cooper, as he sits up straighter in his chair.

"Is this about the fact that I didn't call on your birthday?" says Cooper. "Because I promise you, little brother, as soon as you turn 21 I'm taking you out clubbing."

"Actually, no. It's a bit more serious than that," says Blaine.

"What's up, then?" asks Cooper. When Blaine doesn't reply immediately, Cooper's expression hardens. "B, did you knock someone up?"

"What? No!" exclaims Blaine.

"Hey, you don't need to act like it's that hard to do," says Cooper indignantly. "And if she wants to you can get those things taken care of. But take it from me, you just gotta let her do what she wants with the situation, okay?"

"Coop, stop," says Blaine, holding up a hand. "What I mean is that I think it's kind of unlikely that I'll ever be getting anyone pregnant.

"Ah, so it's girl troubles then?" says Cooper, a slight tease in his voice. "Well, I know you have the same awesome genes that I do, but I guess not everyone can be as smooth as me now can they?"

"Actually, Coop, I'm gay," says Blaine.

The words are greeted with silence. Cooper stares at Blaine, long and hard, eyes conveying no other emotion than surprise.

"Well I guess that isn't exactly something we can change," says Cooper finally, his tone expressing as little emotion as his eyes.

"Coop, I'm serious here," says Blaine weakly. His voice cracks as he says it. He needs Cooper to understand. Because if Cooper doesn't, he has no idea how the rest of his family will.

"Hey, little brother..."

Cooper gets up from the armchair. Gaze never leaving Blaine's, he grips his brother's shoulders with both hands.

"I don't care, okay?" says Cooper firmly. "You're still my little brother. And even though we don't talk as often as we should, I'm always going to be here for you. If Dad ever gives you any trouble, you can call me, alright?"

Blaine nods. Smiling, Cooper pulls Blaine into a hug. Blaine lets himself go, the unnoticed tears that had been clinging to his eyelashes falling freely down his cheeks.

"Thanks for telling me, squirt," says Cooper, sniffling.

"I just need to let it all out," says Blaine, as he and Cooper pull apart.

"Ah," says Cooper, his hands still on Blaine's shoulders. He cocks his head to the side. "Can I give you a bit of advice?"

Blaine nods, wiping at his eyes with his palm.

"You can't escape it," says Cooper sadly. "You can't run away. As much as I pretend like I have, you can't. People are still going to recognise you. And it's not like you can just stop talking to your family. But you have to remember that you have to live your own life, okay?"

"Okay," says Blaine, giving the slightest of nods. "Although, I think you've escaped the family name pretty well, y'know."

"How so?" asks Cooper curiously.

"Some paparazzi showed us together the other day and thought we were just friends," says Blaine.

"Huh," says Cooper. "You know, that's kind of what I always wanted. I know I seem like I want to be this big shot actor, but I want to make a name for myself, y'know? Even if I'm just a nobody now."

"That actually makes a lot of sense," says Blaine.

Forget the colognes and sweaters they had exchanged earlier. The best Christmas presents shared between the Anderson brothers this year? A five minute conversation which had led to the both of them gaining a better understanding of the other.