"Where have you been, Coop?" Blaine asked as he sat down on the step, trying to steady his heartbeat and take everything in.

"New York." Cooper said, sitting down next to his little brother.

"Really? New York? Knowing you, I thought that you would go somewhere more...glamorous. California maybe."

"Me? California? Please. I moved out there for a year, auditioned for some movies, a few advertisments here and there but no one wanted me. I guess, I just wasn't good enough."

"Cooper Anderson? Not good enough? I do not believe that I have ever heard those words come out of your mouth Coop, how'd it feel?"

"...Like a punch in the stomach, the same feeling I got when I saw you trying to take like thirty of mom's anti-depression pills." Cooper stopped laughing and looked sternly at Blaine.

"I..." Blaine didn't know what to say.

"I, for one, would like to know what made you think for a second...that was a good idea."

"I didn't think...jeez Coop, you're starting to sound like Dad." As soon as the words left Blaine's mouth he tried to take them back, "Oh my God, Cooper that's not what I..."

"Don't you dare compare me to him."

"You know that I didn't mean it...you just..."

"I know Blaine, I get it. I just want you to talk to me. What happened?"

Blaine thought back to when it was easy for him to open up to Cooper, to tell him everything that was on his mind.

As he thought of a place to begin, Blaine took in his brother's features. His cheekbones were more pronounced, no longer covered with that tiny layer of baby fat, he noted. He noticed the way that the black shirt clung to his brother's chest and covered every muscle just so. His arms had grown, no longer slim, like they used to be. His hair though, his hair was the same. The wisp to the side, still long, but not too long, and just the right amount of gel. Blaine remembered how Cooper was the one that had introduced him to hair gel, the one thing that Kurt could never understand his obsession of. Kurt.

"Kurt? Did he do something? Was he the...?"

"Did I say that out loud?"

"No Blaine, I can read minds. Yes, you said it out loud."

"Well, I guess he was part of it...a big part."

"Tell me. All of it."

Blaine moved into the living room, Cooper following him closely, sneaking small glances at his old home.

"Dad...He...Well I...I brought up Kurt's name last night by accident. I was so used to talking about him with my friends and it slipped. It pissed him off and...well...he hit me. Then kept me up all night with his stupid car parts...just like he did when I was younger...after you left."

"So...how does this have to do with the pills and Kurt?...Not that I'm rushing."

"Well, Coop, if you wouldn't interrupt, I would be able to con-"

"Got it...no more interrupting."

Blaine stared at him for a moment, fighting back a laugh, "So...I was tired the next morning, well today, as you very well would imagine. I fell asleep during class and Kurt had to wake me up. It had been a long day anyway. But no matter what, there was always one thing that would make it better, and that was Kurt."

"...And."

"Coop," Blaine warned, "...And, that afternoon he texted me telling me to meet him at the Lima Bean. I was busy with homework and wanted to be done before Mom and Dad got home so that I could go to bed, but he wanted me there...so I went. I was in a bad mood going into it. I didn't mean to lash out at him, and I think it just solidified his decision...." Blaine let a small tear fall down his face, but that one tear turned into a waterfall.

"Blaine...shhhh...." Cooper put his hand on Blaine's shoulder, making sure that he wasn't going to shrug it off. When he realized that Blaine didn't mind, he wrapped his arm around his baby brother and tried to comfort him.

A few minutes after, Blaine wiped his eyes and continued, "He...he said that he was leaving in two months to go to NYADA and that the whole long distance thing wasn't...umm....wasn't gonna work for him. So he dumped me. And I went off on him, I told him all about Dad beating me and the car and just...dammit...everything. The worst part was though...it made him feel sorry for me, and right now, believe it or not, that is the last thing that I need."

"So what is it that you do need, Blaine?"

Cooper waited for an answer, "A safe place...someone that actually loves me."

"A brother?"

"That's all that I could ask for, but as far as I'm concerned, you stopped being my brother the day that you left me alone with these people." Blaine gestured to the family portrait full of the Anderson family, minus Cooped, and ridiculous fake smiles.

"Blaine! What the hell are you talking about!?"

"You left...never once...did you call to say you were okay...that you still loved me...that everything was okay."

"I..."

"Do you understand that I would keep my phone under my pillow every night just so that I wouldn't miss one of your calls or any notification that you were still alive...that you remembered that I existed." The tears returned to Blaine's eyes.

"I left...for you. I wanted to make a living and save enough money for you to come and live with me...I wanted you to be safe."

"Then why didn't you call?"

"What if Mom or Dad heard? What would you do?"

Blaine said nothing, just looked at Cooper who too had tears forming.

"Exactly. But I'm back now. And Blaine, I want you to come to live with me in New York."

"Wh-I have school left."

"Only two months...home school. Get all of your assignments tomorrow. Then we'll leave. Pack a bag tonight. Hide it under your bed and leave your window unlocked. Take everything. I have enough to pay for thirty bags, shit, I could pay for a hundred..."

"I assure you, I don't have one hundred bags of shit, Coop."

"I'll climb through your window and get your stuff while you are at school. I'll pick you up early, before Mom or Dad come. We'll be on a plane before they realize it."

"Clean break?"

"From them? Blaine, it's been broken for years. Yes or no?" Cooper was standing on his knees, nearly bouncing with excitement.

"I..."

"They have a great high school for your last year, then you can get into one of the New York colleges...NYU...Julliard..."

"NYADA."

"No. Blaine, don't you dare do that. You're not going to go after him. You are leaving this life at the airport and never looking back."

Blaine could feel a smile forming on his face.

"Yes...or no?"

"Yes. Coop, you are fucking insane."