Blaine thinks that Uncle Matty and Auntie Helena are his favourite people in the whole wide world. Cooper's okay, and mummy and dad are alright and he's only seven so he doesn't know that many people but he thinks they're still his favourite.

Uncle Matty and Auntie Helena are visiting them in Ohio before they take him with them back to New York so Coop can go with his mum and dad on some business trip to... Well, Blaine doesn't really know where they're going but he also doesn't really care. Because Uncle Matty and Auntie Helena are his favourite.

Blaine loiters in the entryway as Matty and Helena exchange the usual pleasantries with his parents. He's thrumming with excitement, his big eyes gazing up at the grown ups expectantly. He can't stand still, bouncing on the balls of his feet and clenching and unclenching his little hands sporadically.

Blaine's mummy and daddy always look annoyed when Auntie and Uncle come to stay but Blaine loves them. Uncle Matty is tall and loud and funny and Auntie Helena is always nice to him, unlike his mummy's sister who always tells him to smarten up and stop being such a baby. Aunt Helena doesn't think he's a baby, she calls him a stud. He's not sure what that's suppose to mean yet but it sounds cool anyway so Blaine let's her.

When his mummy and daddy move into the lounge Blaine shuffles forward grinning goofily, bright and giddy at his aunt and uncle.

"Hey" he says timidly.

"Hey little B" Matty says cheerfully, his own grin so similar to Blaine's it's almost as if he's his father and not his uncle "shall we sneak down to the den?"

"Yeah!" Blaine squeals enthusiastically, grinning almost painfully wide as Matty tugs him into his leather jacket, the bottom almost reaching below his knees and the sleeves miles too long so he has to roll them up a dozen times.

Blaine swivels round on one foot, pops the collar, pouts his lips and winks just like his rock and roller of an uncle taught him too. Matty hoists him up onto his shoulders and mumbles something about being ‘so proud of his little rockstar' and it makes Blaine feel all warm and fuzzy. His daddy never says stuff like that but Blaine decides that it's okay. He'd much rather be Uncle Matty's little rockstar anyway.

.oO0Oo.

They all sit on the floor in the den, Helena with her dreadlocks and draped in a sea of tie-dye fabrics, braiding Blaine's long curls and Matty combing his hair back for the fiftieth time.

"Matty? Why do you keep doing that?" He questions, staring quizzically at the comb in his uncle's hand. "'Cause I gotta look slick little B, for the ladies ya know?" He winks at Helena with another blinding grin and Blaine wrinkles his nose. "Laaaadies" he mutters with an eye roll.

"Look at you" Matty tuts, "you're hair's all messy, it's got paint in it little man"

"Oh leave him alone" Helena admonishes, trying to bat Matty away from where he's inching closer, comb held high as Blaine scrambles, giggling trying to get away from him. "He's an artist! Our little bohemian. If he wants to braid his hair he can braid it, he wants it to have paint in it then so be it, he doesn't like girls then good for him".

Matty and Helena share a look briefly and Blaine blushes, patting his hair and tugging on the sleeves of the too big leather jacket. Helena just grins and Matty fixes Blaine with a knowing look.

"Hey little B?" he whispers conspiratorially "wanna listen to some records?". And just like that Blaine's excited again, throwing himself into a hug with his uncle as they pull out the vinyl.

.oO0Oo.

Later, after all the singing and dancing, Blaine's tucked up in bed but he can't sleep. He's tugged Flash, his best friend, under the covers with him, stroking his fur and trying to let the puppy's steady breaths and small warm body calm him as he over hears the yelling coming from downstairs.

"Honestly, how dare you expose my child to such crudeness!" He hears his mother screech.

"Oh come on Cynthia" That's Matty "It's not crude or anything of the sort. It's just music, and the joy on his face, that smile..."

"You'd think he'd never been exposed to something so wonderful." Helena pipes up "He's seven Cynthia; he deserves to be able to sing and dance and play. He's your son, not some employee or obligation".

There's a deafening silence all of a sudden and Blaine cowers under his Transformers sheets, trying not to cry or snuffle too loud in case he wakes Cooper and he comes to tease him about how babyish he is again.

"You're right!" His mother screams "He is my son. Not yours! You have no right"

The yelling get's louder and louder.

"He might as well be!" Helena bellows and Blaine's never heard her sound so bitter and sad "I may not be able to have a child of my own but I can raise one a damn sight better than you could, he's miserable here!"

"How da-"

"You treat him like he's stupid. Like he's just some household pest. And when you're not too busy shooing him away you just ignore him". Blaine's mother is for once silent and he prays that this means it'll stop soon.

"His shoulders are covered in bruises, did you know that?" Matty starts quietly and it sounds like he's crying "Do you know how long they've been there because there are dozens of them, fresh on old? I would suspect you if I thought you gave a shit about him enough to actually touch him. So do you even have the slightest clue what's going on, do you even care?" Matty's voice is strained and getting quieter and quieter and Blaine feels wretched.

He hears a knock on his door and Cooper steps in and walks to his bed without a word, pulling back the covers, climbing in and letting Blaine snuggle into his side.

"I'm s-sorry Coop" He sniffles into his shirt and begins to cry just a little harder. "Shh it's okay little B" his brother comforts him "It's not your fault Squirt okay, grown ups are silly".

Cooper is seventeen and it's always been difficult for the two of them. They're both not fond of their parents and even Cooper doesn't understand why everything is the way it is, it's why he can't wait to run away with Suzie after senior year. Blaine loves Coop. He's his idol, along with uncle Matty of course. Blaine trusts Cooper because he understands a lot more than Blaine does because he's big and knows lots of stuff so Blaine feels very small a lot of the time. But it's okay, because when Blaine get's knocked down in the park or get's dirt in what his brother calls his ‘puppy' eyes, Cooper's always there to pick him up, dust him down and patch him up.

"I'm sorry I'm no good Coop" Blaine whispers curling his fists in his brother's night shirt. "I promise I'll try and be better ‘kay? I promise".

Cooper's heart clenches and he valiantly tries to hold back tears of his own. His sweet little brother is already so hurt and he's planning on leaving him behind. "There's no need little B" He whispers back, holding him tight and kissing his braided curls "You're perfect".

.oO0Oo.

The next day he spends an incredibly long time saying goodbye to Flash. He gives him a firm warning not to eat his comic books again and hopes for the best as he wanders out of the house. Everyone's gathered in the driveway and the way that they're all just watching him makes him feel a little uncomfortable.

He hugs Coop tightly, wishing he was going with him to New York instead of following mummy and daddy. His dad gives him a gruff goodbye and tells him to ‘remember who he is' and he thinks that's silly because he's not likely to forget his own name, he's Blaine, he likes art, loves music and his favourite Disney character is Prince Charming. His mother pats his arm and tells him to behave himself and then that's it.

His family bundle into the car without him and drive off. The only one who looks back is Cooper and he doesn't look happy.

Blaine sighs and turns back to his aunt and uncle, both smiling brightly and he thinks that maybe he feels a little better about not being good enough for his parents because he's good enough for them.

.oO0Oo.

By the time they arrive in New York Blaine isn't tired at all in fact far from it. He feels so free at Helena and Matty's that he begins to practically radiate joy. Matty is tired so he goes to take a nap, leaving Blaine and Auntie Helena to themselves.

She watches as Blaine pulls out her art materials from the Persian wooden trunk under the windowsill, huffing and puffing as he lifts out heavy boxes of paint with thin arms and fumbling hands. It makes her so proud to find that Blaine, their little B, is so determined to do what he loves and she feels her heart warm in her chest with the realisation that with her and Matty and New York City he has an opportunity to do so.

Blaine dances like he's as light as a feather, beams like the sun, sings like all the angels in heaven are his voice. He has never been happier finding the love and warmth of a real family, allowing him to be a kid for once.