The next couple weeks were strained with Quinn in the hospital. They only got the odd bits and pieces of information on her status since her mother was not indulging any friends with visiting privileges. Mrs. Fabray wouldn't even let William Schuester or Coach Sylvester visit Quinn.

What they did get was courtesy of Santana's father who did let them know that Quinn was on the mend, but with some serious, potentially life-altering consequences because of her accident.

That was another thing. It wasn't an accident because Quinn was found at fault due to careless driving - in particular, texting while driving. That information, discovered who knows how by Puckerman, caused Rachel to get madly upset since she was the one texting Quinn to hurry up. With Rachel upset, of course Finn was at her beck and call, trying to make things better, which meant that when he was at home, he was venting to the guys and his mother.

"She wants me to take care of her cell phone when we're at school in order to punish herself." He declared one evening when Puckerman was visiting in addition to the other members of the household.

"Dude, no offense, but for a Jewish chick - Rachel's kind of an idiot." Puck noted, shovelling spaghetti into his mouth as he ate supper at the table with the rest of the clan. Sam and Blaine were about to nod in agreement when Burt tsked the insult.

"Well at least she has a conscience, and even though I don't think it's ultimately her fault, it's good to know she's accountable."

Kurt rolled his eyes a little, not going unnoticed by his father who gave him a signature Burt Hummel look to which Kurt immediately apologized and looked back down into his salad with guilt spread over his face. Blaine smirked at the sight. He imagined that even when Kurt was fifty his father would still be able to command him with a glance.

"Is kind of stupid though... texting and driving. I can't even drink a pop and drive." Sam declared.

"Really? Not even drinking a pop?" Finn piped up.

Sam shook his head and went back to eating his spaghetti. The conversation went on like this, as it did most family dinners, with everyone adding their little bits in and drifting between topics. Texting segwayed to favourite types of pop which segwayed to advertising which segwayed to TV shows. It always went like this - so smoothly and with no pressure. Blaine loved it.

So often growing up the conversation was forced at the dinner table. His parents asking him question after question about his progress in school and sports, scolding him when he didn't use proper language and manners, and more focused on table manners than getting to know about their son's feelings. Even as he got older, the dinner conversations held were more between his mother and father, and then his mother and grandmom, while he was expected to sit quietly - be seen and not heard, as all good children were.

Now usually when the phone rang during family dinners, it was ignored, but on this occasion it kept ringing and ringing and ringing, until Burt Hummel clearly had enough and went to answer it - the irritation clear in his voice when he picked up with a curt hello. After a few seconds where Burt listened to the other end of the line, his gaze shifted onto Blaine and stayed there. Blaine immediately knew this call was about him, and god he was sure he hadn't done anything illegal lately to get himself in trouble.

"Blaine. Phone for you." Burt stated, holding the phone out toward him. It was weird to say the least. Anyone who ever needed to contact him called him on his cell phone - even the lawyers. So when he took the phone, he half expected to be in trouble with someone.

"Blaine here."

"SQUIRT!"

Blaine's eyes went wide and he could feel the eyes of the Hummel-Hudson house on him as he ducked backward a few feet and farther away from them. His brother's voice was unmistakable, and also very unexpected. He hadn't heard from Cooper in almost 2 years now.

"Cooper...?"

"Who else little brother?"

"Um... hi?"

"Hi yourself. Listen. I'm in town, heard you ditched mom and dad, and was hoping I could visit you."

Ditched mom and dad - like it was so casual. Leave it to Cooper though to be so nonchalant about a detail like that though.

"Sure... I guess."

"Lunch Wednesday? What school are you at now? I'll put it into my phone map!"

Blaine gave his brother the details and hurriedly ended the call, feeling unnerved by the sudden reemergence of his brother - whom he so often suffered through watching on those ads he did on TV. He saw more of Cooper from those ads than he ever saw him growing up.

"Soo...." Kurt immediately prompted when Blaine returned to the table.

"Uh... that was my brother. He's taking me out to lunch in a couple days."

"Really?!" Kurt nearly jumped in his seat, and for reasons Blaine couldn't discern, Kurt was clearly elated at the thought.

"Dude, I didn't even know you had a brother." Finn noted.

"Well...." Blaine stirred his cooled pasta with a fork idly, talking towards it instead of to Finn, "There's a big age difference... he's got ten years on me.... I don't see him often."

"Whoa... ten years..." Finn uttered.

"So who was the accident?" Puckerman asked with genuine interest.

"Puck!" exclaimed half the table in protest to his tactlessness.

"It's okay... and I was." Blaine swirled some spaghetti around and around and around his fork. His appetite had waned, but the food in front of him gave him a good distraction for the moment.

"Oh sweetie. There are no accidents when it comes to kids - just surprises." Carole insisted with that sweet motherly tone of hers.

"Uh... what's the difference?" Sam queried.

"An accident is something you could change if you had the chance, a surprise is something you didn't know you wanted until you got it." was the matter-of-fact response from Carole.

"Pretty sure then that in my dad's eyes, at the very least, I'm still an accident then." Blaine said with a chuckle.

More tsking from Burt and Carole, and Kurt, ever the diplomatic, changed the focus of the discussion.

"So, I finally get to meet the mysterious brother you never talk about."

Blaine chuckled again. "Oh... you know him."

Kurt lifted an eyebrow and shook his head, "No... I never met him before Blaine."

Blaine shook his head, "I know you've never met him. I haven't even heard from him in two years.... I'm just saying - you'll know him when you see him."

"Oh! Do you two look alike then?" Carole chimed in.

Blaine again shook his head. "No. I have more of my mother's colouring and he has more of our dad's.... just trust me on this. You'll know him when you see him."

He really didn't want to be pushed further on the matter. Cooper's relative fame was just another sticking point when it came to his place in the Anderson family. Even before he got the gig as the credit rating representative, Cooper was a well known model in California, and before that, just an all star stud in high school. Blaine was consistently compared to Cooper - his looks, his talent, his heterosexuality. All of those things were seen as superior in Cooper in the eyes of the Anderson parents.

Conversation lulled after Blaine deflected some more questions, and then Sam and Finn were in the kitchen cleaning up as it was their turn. Burt and Carole excused themselves, leaving Blaine alone with Kurt and Puck.

"So...." Puck began, and Blaine could automatically tell that Puckerman was about to ask what he thought was a prolific question. "Are you sure you dudes are gay?"

Kurt sputtered a little and looked at Blaine with those adorable wide eyes of disbelief. Blaine just chuckled and nodded, "Yup. Pretty damn sure."

"How do you know though man?"

"Well how do you know you're for sure heterosexual?" Blaine asked him back.

Puck grinned broadly, "Oh man... boobs man. I love boobs. Vagina too."

Blaine made a gagging sound at the word and Puck gave him an incredulous look.

"What? How can a dude not like vagina?"

"It's gross... it looks like a tremor and I've seen the pictures when my dad was trying to make me straight... they're all gross and nasty..."

"Really dude?"

"Your dad made you look at naked women to try and make you straight?" Kurt added onto to with an incredulous tone.

Blaine nodded to both of them. "Anyhow. I like cock. Really like it. Especially Kurt's."

Again Kurt sputtered and turned a few shades of red. Puck looked over at Kurt curiously and then back at Blaine, "I never figured Kurt for having a good wang."

"Can we PLEASE not talk about my genitalia!" Squealed Kurt, absolutely flustered and adorable.

"Oh fuck yah. He has an amazing dick. Nice and long and girthy and not any weird color issues or anything!"

"Ohmygod...." Kurt looked like his was trying to hide himself in his chair, curling up upon himself.

"Really! Huh!" Puck looked over at Kurt again and grinned, "Our little countertenor is a total man! Good for you!"

"Pleasepleaseplease... just shut up...."

"And does he know how to use it!" Blaine kept going, keeping his eyes on Kurt. God his boyfriend was adorable.

"Blaine... please..."

"Well at least then you guys are doing each other and not taking away from my potential lady pool."

"Nope. We're happily getting one another off."

"Blaine!"

That last exclamation was Kurt's last warning. He could hear it in the hiss behind his words. Blaine just stopped talking, smugly smirking to himself and exchanging knowing glances with Puckerman who knew they were egging him on, and successfully at that.

He's make it up to Kurt later.

In bed.

Blaine hesitantly clapped along with the other students in Glee club as Quinn announced to them all that she would be up and dancing by the time Nationals came around. Looking at her once proud frame, now stuck in a wheelchair, and Artie looking at her with skepticism, made Blaine feel sorry for her. Maybe she would walk again, but if she didn't, her pledge would make it that much harder for her to accept her fate.

"Man she's come a long way." Kurt mused as they gathered their things to go from Glee club to Booty camp.

"I never knew her when she was knocked up." Blaine reminded Kurt. He had only ever known Quinn when she was proud and too good for glee club, and again when she was a skank. Honestly he preferred Quinn when she was a skank. She didn't even bother to put on airs then. She was just plain spoken and simple.

"Right.. well... Let's just say that if this happened to her a couple years ago, she would probably not have handled it with the grace she is right now." Kurt noted.

As they got to the changeroom, Kurt and Blaine both changed into more comfortable garb, and they both tried to avoid looking over at one another. Well, Kurt tried, Blaine just accepted that his eyes would become glued to Kurt's body. Even though Kurt always shyly did most of his changing in a bathroom stall, just the fact that he was getting naked nearby aroused Blaine without fail each and every time they did this.

"Come on Hummel! Apparently you're well endowed! Don't be shy!" Puck yelled out at Kurt as he ducked into his usual stall.

"Puck! That's my brother!" Finn protested.

Blaine just laughed while Kurt told Puck to shut up from within the stall, Puck reiterated what Blaine had told him at dinner, and the rest of the guys alternated between curious wonder about Kurt, and outright discomfort about having to hear this.

"Blaine Anderson! I am going to kill you for saying all that!" Kurt yelled out from the stall, causing Blaine to chuckle even more.

When they did finally get out to the auditorium stage for booty camp, it wasn't Will waiting for them, it was Coach Sylvester. Apparently she was now in charge of Booty Camp and man was she furious with them with everything they did. Kurt had to yank Blaine back by hood on his jacket several times when Coach Sue had gotten too in his face for comfort.

"Behave." Kurt warned.

At least she was entertaining when she wasn't getting down on Blaine specifically. For instance, she chucked Mercedes' phone clear across the auditorium. That was hilarious.

For him anyhow.

When Booty Camp was over, and everyone was thoroughly shaken up, Kurt vowed to email Mr. Schuester to let him know about his displeasure over Sue being installed as Booty camp coach.

"She's not that bad..." Blaine noted as he changed, causing everyone in the boys locker room to look at him skeptically, and then quickly look back away when they realized he was naked.

"Sure, she's a bitch - but at least she's an honest bitch." He explained, pulling on a fresh pair of boxer briefs.

"A bitch is a bitch is a bitch." Puckerman stated.

"Whatever man. I'd rather deal with a bitchy woman than a manipulative one." Blaine recalled how his mother dealt with him.

"I'm still emailing Mr. Schue." Kurt said from within his stall.

"Are you sure he's that well hung Blaine? Have you even seen other penises?" Puckerman interjected.

"Fuck yah man. I've watched a lot of porn. If he wasn't so bashful he could be making shit tons of cash in pornography with his schlong." Blaine nodded as he spoke.

"BLAINE ANDERSON!"

"What kind of porn man?"

"All kinds really. The best are the ones where there's no set pairings - but everything happens. Boy on girl, girl on boy, girl on girl, boy on boy, boy on boy on boy...." Blaine listed off. He could tell who in the room was a virgin and who wasn't by the amount they avoided the conversation.

"Ever seen the one where -" Puck began to ask but was again cut off by Kurt.

"YOU ALL BE QUIET RIGHT NOW! THIS IS COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE AND I WILL TELL ALL YOUR PARENTS!"

That shut them all up.

As noon approached the next day, Blaine got more and more nervous. What if Cooper was here to try and return him to mom and dad? What if Cooper was just giving him a formal 'so long forever'? What if Cooper embarrassed him.

That last one was a real possibility.

Kurt however got more and more excited, and pushed for more information on Cooper, which Blaine deflected with a certain degree of annoyance. Honestly, he really didn't even know Cooper that well at this point.

So when Cooper strolled into the school, unannounced, instead of waiting outside in the car like Blaine thought he might, Blaine was just as surprised as Kurt - though for different reasons.

Cooper hadn't really changed from when Blaine had last seen him - aside from on the commercials that is. He still walked with his air of self importance, and made all the girls gawk and drool as he passed by.

Kurt too for that matter.

"Blaine... your brother is the most handsome man in North America...."

That made Blaine grimance, and he grimaced again when Cooper called him squirt and threw an arm around his shoulder to lead him out for lunch - only momentarily saved by Coach Sylvester getting Cooper to sign her gross, old, girl boobs and talk to him for a minute.

Kurt meanwhile had his eyes permanently locked on Cooper in awe and desire, and had Cooper not been his brother, Blaine would have punched him for it.

Instead Blaine just to endure an awkward and unsettling lunch.

"So mom told me you moved out to live with your boyfriend there. Look at you Blainey - so grown up!" Cooper stated as they waited for their food.

Blaine arched an eyebrow, wondering what spin his parents had put on it for Cooper. "Well... that's one way of putting it."

"Can't say dad's happy - but I mean, only one of us can be a the favourite right?" Cooper laughed and didn't seem to care when Blaine didn't join in on it.

"Did they... say why I moved out?"

Cooper shook his head, "No. Assumed it was for love and all that. At least you're dressing better these days."

Blaine sighed. So Cooper was in the dark about everything. "Coop... I left because I have a restraining order against dad, and he moved back in and mom let him. I can't be near him."

Cooper squinted a moment, trying to process that information. How he got good marks in school was always a mystery to Blaine given how long it seemed to take Cooper to process information. "Wait... why do you have a restraining order against dad?"

"Because of the numerous times he beat me... and then tried to beat my boyfriend."

That actually left Cooper at a loss for words. Few things did.

"Are you sure baby brother? Are you sure maybe dad wasn't just playfully roughhousing and you're just oversensitive?"

Blaine squared their eyes up and tried to keep his fists unballed as the anger began to settle in his stomach. "I'm sure."

"And... mom... she let him?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"God Cooper... were you always this oblivious?!" Blaine snapped.

Cooper, for his part, looked hurt, but didn't respond. Blaine took in a calming breath and started again.

"Because I'm gay, because I was an accident, because I'm not you, because he drinks too much, because mom still hangs onto the image of the perfect husband in him despite what happens to me."

Cooper's eyes cast downwards, looking at the table, and before he knew it, Blaine began rambling.

"Did you know I was on the streets until I got so sick I was hospitalized? I also didn't just move in with my boyfriend - his dad got guardianship of me until I'm eighteen. Did mom tell you her big plans for me after high school? That I was expected to stay with her to be her caregiver? NO. You know why you don't know? Because you left. You left right when mom began to lose her sight. When things started to get bad and then worse. You never called. You barely ever visited. Hell, this is the first time I've seen you in two years!"

"Are you sure?" choked Cooper, and Blaine could tell he was getting upset, and quite frankly, Blaine didn't give a shit.

"Am I sure? What do you want? The police records? The health records? To talk with my social worker? To see the scars I have? What?"

"It just... it doesn't sound like the parents I know and grew up with."

"Yah, well, maybe if I was more like Cooper the golden boy, then I'd be singing their fucking praises too."

Blaine stood up and dug a ten dollar bill out of his pocket and tossed it on the table. "I'm going. Enjoy lunch."

"But... Blaine...." Cooper called to his back as Blaine darted out of the diner and towards the nearest bus stop.

And, just like always, Cooper didn't follow him to see if he was alright.

When Blaine got back to the school, his face and his demeanor must have told Kurt not to talk about it, because not only did Kurt look worried, he definitely didn't ask how lunch was. By the end of the school day, Blaine had cooled off, and was happy to have the distraction of glee club, until Cooper came in.

Blaine had to bite his tongue when Cooper announced that tomorrow he would be doing a master's class in acting for those interested at the behest of Coach Sylvester, and again when Rachel suggested that the brothers probably had a lot of great duets up their sleeves.

Kurt tried to signal to Rachel not to talk, but as usual, she was oblivious and before he knew it, the glee club was egging him on. He looked towards Cooper, who looked back at him hopefully, and finally stood up stiffly.

The mash-up of Rio and Hungry Like the Wolf was a classic of theirs. Cooper had been given voice training lessons as a child and tried to teach Blaine what he got in the lessons - prompting them to sing together many times as children.

It had paid off for Cooper. Blaine wished his dad had invested in him as much as Cooper, but Blaine was never seen as something to invest in as far as his father had been concerned. He wasn't valuable enough.

When they were done, Blaine went straight back to his seat, ignoring the claps of the glee club and Coopers self-absorbed praise about how good he was in the song and dance.

Kurt's hand found its way to Blaine's thigh and when Blaine looked to his boyfriend, he received a small smile and a whispered, "Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine." Blaine said with a quiet sigh and put his hand over top of Kurt's as they suffered through the rest of the glee club meeting. Cooper left, but Mr. Schuester and Coach Sylvester droned on and on and on.... about who knows what. Honestly, Blaine's mind was a mess. If the acting class was tomorrow, that meant he'd have to deal with Cooper some more and he was just not wanting to put up with more pain in his life.

Eventually they were released from glee club and allowed to return home. Blaine wished they had driven there alone, but all the Hummel-Hudson boys had packed themselves into one vehicle on the way to school that day, and so all were crammed into the vehicle on the way back. Kurt, thankfully, must have said something or at least signalled Finn and Sam not to talk about Cooper because there were no questions about him.

Of course that all changed once they were home and Kurt got Blaine alone in his room.

"What's going on Blaine?"

Blaine sighed and crossed the room, dumping his schoolbag to the ground by his bed. "It's just... always been about him. Mom and dad's favourite... and hell, even his own fucking favourite person. He's just another reminder of how I'm shit in my family."

Arms crept up from behind him and encircled him around the waist. "Maybe he wants to change that..."

Blaine hung his head. "I'd want that ... so much babe.... but he never checked in on me, and when I told him what had gone on... he just questioned it... like what I said couldn't possibly be true..."

"They... your parents.... they were never like that with him?"

Blaine shook his head toward the ground, his hands slipping over Kurt's to make sure they stayed in place because he needed them there. "They spoiled him and preened over him and always asked what he wanted... They even let him name me. Can you believe that? I'm just lucky I didn't end being named after a cartoon character..."

Kurt chuckled a little at that. "Blaine though... not a name many ten year olds would have come up with...."

"He meant to say Bane... like in Batman. The jacked up bad guy... Thankfully my mother was so doped up from giving birth that she heard Blaine and that's what went on the birth certificate."

Another chuckle and a squeeze around his midsection. "Well sweetheart- "

" - You only call me sweetheart when you're trying to soothe me."

Kurt led Blaine back to the bed and pulled him down on top of the covers with him. "Which is exactly what I'm doing."

Blaine sighed and turned himself around in Kurt's arms once they were in the bed and snuggled against him. Generally it was Kurt who curled up into Blaine's arms, but today he did need to feel safe and secure.

"Sweetheart, I think your brother probably does love you... but if he's been spoiled as bad as you say, and probably gets away with a lot because of that face and body of his..." Kurt hummed in appreciation and Blaine nudged him in the ribs at that. Stupid brother making his boyfriend think dirty thoughts.

"... I would say that he probably means well but doesn't have a clue how to handle things."

"I don't want to handle anything with him. I have you. Your family. This is where I want to be now. This is the family I want to be a part of. I don't need him." Blaine contested.

A hand reached up to gently stroke the stubble along Blaine's cheek and he shut his eyes, letting Kurt pacify him and lull him into a calmer state.

"Sweetheart... just the fact that you're arguing it tells me how much you WANT him in your life. It isn't about need. You want your brother."

"Fucking... fuck.... fuck!" Blaine cried and tried to pull away from Kurt, who was sounding awful treacherous with his words, but found Kurt's hands locked around him still so he settled for turning away from Kurt - though quickly found himself spooned by his boyfriend.

He didn't want his brother. Hell, he barely knew his brother to want him. Finn was a better brother. Sam was even decent as a live-in brother. Blaine had no use for Cooper. What was Cooper going to offer him through their shared genes that he couldn't get here?

"Will you at least come to the class tomorrow? You don't have to say anything... but you should at least give him a chance. He probably needs time to process what you told him."

Blaine mumbled agreement, and allowed Kurt to keep on spooning him closely while his mind drifted.

All a brother was to him was another person to hurt him.

God what a fucking mistake.

Blaine hit the bag in front of him, again and again and again.

His brother was a total asshole.

Punch, punch, and punch.

How could everyone else just hang onto Cooper's words like that?

Punch, punch, and punch.

Was he the crazy one or were they all really just that star struck?

Punch, punch, and punch.

Don't go to college? Don't do broadway? Point at everything? Ridiculous!

Punch, punch, and punch.

And yah, he let Kurt pick out his clothing now. He was only a few more months from graduating and he didn't care so badly about his hardass reputation. At least he didn't have to worry about whose junk was in his clothing before him.

Punch, punch, and punch.

Who the fuck cares if Micheal Bay has him auditioning anyhow?

Punch, punch, and punch.

Not a word, anywhere, about what had happened to him. Clearly he didn't give a shit.

Punch, punch, and punch.

Or maybe Cooper was happy with what had happened to Blaine. Maybe he was a complete masochist.

Punch, punch, and punch.

Eventually, Blaine's anger and his thoughts both left him and he slumped against the punching bag, completely worn out, sweating all over the place, and numb from his fingers to his toes.

"Ready for a shower?"

Blaine slid his sweat soaked his against his bag to look the other way and found Kurt standing there, holding a towel, soap, shampoo, and conditioner. He was quietly watching, waiting, and Blaine realized he didn't know how long Kurt had been there for, if he had even been there that long, because he was so lost in his rage.

"Yes... thanks babe."

Blaine stripped himself down and slowly moved to the shower, aching all over but glad to rid himself of the sticky sweat coating him and for the heat from the shower to dig into his sore muscles. When he was done, Kurt quietly helped him get dressed.

"You don't have to do this..." Blaine whispered to him when Kurt started brushing out his curls.

"Yes I do." Kurt said simply, and continued with the task. Blaine just let him. He was sore, tired, and done with fighting today. He had just gotten it all out of his system and into the bag.

When they got home, Blaine was treated to a massage, complete with oils, as Kurt grumbled about how Blaine was going to ruin his back making knots like the ones in him. Blaine just hummed a response and drifted off to sleep.

He was done with the day.

The next day, Kurt joined their friends for Senior Ditch Day. Completely stiff and still grumpy, Blaine excused himself from those plans and attended class as per usual. His friends were probably better off with him not there to drag them all down. Plus, he didn't want to find out that he was too short to go on any of the rides.

At the end of the day, he saw the glee club members file in one by one and Kurt presented him with a stuffed puppy that Finn had originally won for Rachel and Kurt confiscated. Honestly he was inwardly elated with the gift. He could remember the last time, if there were any times in his history, that he had been given a stuffed toy. Something small and soft to cuddle... well... he didn't let it show, but he was going to treasure the little doggie.

Especially since Kurt always insisted that they couldn't get a real dog anytime soon.

"Give your brother one last chance Blaine... please?" Kurt pleaded as they strolled down the halls.

Blaine huffed, "He's probably already back in California for his stupid ass audition."

Kurt smiled coyly. He knew something.

"He's actually in the auditorium... waiting for you."

Blaine stopped in step. "What? Kurt? REALLY? Why the hell is he still here? I don't want to deal with him!"

Kurt reached over for Blaine's hand and looked at him steadily, "Please. Just... talk to him. One more time. I know you don't want to, but give it one more go - for me?"

God damn Kurt and his god damn puppy dog eyes.

Blaine wandered into the auditorium, finding Cooper sitting in the aisles.

"Hey."

"Hey."

They were both quiet for a moment before Cooper finally broke the silence.

"I asked mom and dad... about all that stuff...."

"And?"

"And they were jerks."

Blaine smirked a little at that. It wasn't much, but it told him so much.

"Blaine... honestly. I get that I'm a shitty brother. Hell, I'm a bad son too because it's not like I was checking in with them either... but I should have made sure you were alright. If I knew... hell... I don't know what I would have done... but I would have done something. I'm sorry."

"Well... fuck Coop -"

"You shouldn't swear."

"You just said shitty!"

"You still shouldn't swear."

Blaine rolled his eyes, but bit his tongue when he felt like saying fuck a few more times just because. "Fine."

"I'm glad you have someone who made sure you were taken care of... like I should have."

"Yah... well... "

"And I'm going to figure out how to make this all right."

"Really Coop... don't bother... I'm okay."

"But I want us to be more than brothers! I want us to be friends... and I feel like I'm wronged you on so many levels...."

"Coop. Really. It's fine."

"No, it's not, but I'm going to figure it out, and then maybe I'll be able to qualify for being a good big brother."

Blaine sighed and just shook his head. He didn't need Cooper to fix anything or do anything. He just needed him, to be there, to care.

"I have to go back tonight. My agent has some things for me to take care of, but I'm going to be back, and I won't be staying with the folks. I can't. Not after all that."

"Cooper... I get it. Our parents, even though they have the same bodies, aren't really the same parents. They act one way with you and another with me... you shouldn't have to -"

"No. You're my little brother and you come first. You're the closest thing I have to a responsibility in this world and I've got to honor that."

Blaine smiled and just looked down, wishing away the tears trying to gather in the corners of his eyes. God, that was all he wanted. Was it insane that he was almost eighteen and wanting to be someone's responsibility? That he wanted to be cared for?

"I love you little brother."

Blaine groaned and leaned in for a hug. "God... you had to make it so fucking sappy.."

"Don't swear!"