"Squirt? I swear, if you mess this up for me I will take you home and sit on your face for the rest of the night... and remember. We had beans for dinner." Cooper scowled as he stomped along the sidewalk leading up to the movie theater. Blaine gulped and clutched the teenage mutant ninja turtle closer to his chest. He glanced up at his big brother with wide eyes.

"I'll be good, Coop. I promise," he whispered. Cooper stopped and turned around at the little voice. His heart melted just a bit at the wide hazel eyes and the little hands holding onto the action figure like it was a lifeline. The teen groaned to himself and rolled his eyes as he got down on his knees in front of the child.

"Look, Blainey. I know that this isn't your fault, and I know that you'd rather be at home playing than dragged along on my date, but we both have to suck it up and be men about it. K?"

Blaine nodded, feeling slightly reassured. He always got the impression that he either wasn't good enough or was just a huge annoyance to his brother. The only time he didn't feel this way was when Cooper got down on his level and actually talked TO him, not AT him.

"Okay, now you have your toy and I'll buy you whatever candy you want. Just don't eat so much that you puke on me. If you make it through this whole night without bugging me once, then... I'll play football with you on Sunday. A whole hour, just the two of us."

Blaine's eyes brightened. Cooper hardly ever wanted to spend time, just the two of them. The little boy couldn't even count how many times he had begged to be taken along when Coop played football with his friends, only to be turned down flat. He nodded excitedly, bouncing up and down as he did so.

Cooper watched his excitement and felt like the worst big brother in the world. A five-year-old shouldn't be that excited about one hour of football. Guilt took over for a moment when he tried to remember how many times he had done something like that with his brother. He was coming up really short on memories here. He felt a rush of emotion and uncharacteristically threw an arm around his brother and hugged him. Little hands quickly wrapped around his neck and the small, warm body clung to him tightly.

Yeah, enough of this.

He quickly pulled away when the hug lasted for more than five seconds and pushed Blaine away playfully, messing his hair up at the same time.

"Cooper!" Blaine smoothed down his gelled hair in a desperate gesture. He had worked long and hard to get every hair perfectly in place. Now his curls were escaping their prison and sticking up at odd angles.

"You look better this way, kid," Cooper laughed, grabbing Blaine's hand to pull him along the sidewalk again. "Girls will like the curly look, trust me."

"I don't want girls to like it!" Blaine looked up at him, a little terrified at the thought. He frantically smoothed his hair once more, hoping that no girls would notice him.

"Kurt, I'm begging you. Please be good and quiet tonight. I really like this guy. I'll buy you whatever you want from the concession stand. Just..."

"Layla?"

The teenage girl jumped from where she had been kneeling and blushed when she saw Cooper standing right behind her.

"Do you have a... a kid with you?" Cooper asked with eyebrows raised. The girl sighed heavily and stepped a little further to the side, revealing a small, blue-eyed boy. He was cradling a Barbie in one arm and a fuzzy yellow blanket was bundled up in the other.

"I'm so sorry. I probably should have cancelled, but I... I really wanted to go out with you tonight."

The little boy eyed Cooper cautiously as he cuddled the Barbie into his shoulder.

"This is my little cousin. His parents had a last minute emergency and needed me to babysit. He's a really good kid though. We should still be able to have a pretty decent time..." She trailed off, looking at him uncertainly. Cooper surprised her by bursting into laughter. She noticed for the first time that his right hand was tucked behind his back. When he pulled his arm out in front of him, a little boy was attached and clinging tightly to the teen's fingers.

"My little brother. Same exact thing."

The teenagers smiled at each other with goofy looks in their eyes and the two children watched the whole scene unfold warily.

"Um, it's Blaine, right?" Layla looked between the two Anderson brothers. The five-year-old nodded shyly before ducking behind his brother's leg again. Layla crouched down with a smile and reached out a hand to both of the young boys. They took her hands tentatively and stepped forward so that they were face-to-face.

"Blaine, this is my cousin Kurt. I think you guys are about the same age. This'll be fun! You can play together!"

Kurt rolled his eyes and pulled his Barbie a little closer to him. He didn't want to be here. He'd had an amazing fashion show planned for his dolls tonight. He wanted to be home, making clothes for the new fall line. He didn't say this out loud though. This new boy would probably just make fun of him.

"I like your Barbie," Blaine said with a shy smile. Kurt's eyes widened.

"You do? The boys at my school say only girls play with Barbies." He looked at the floor after this last little admission. Ready to be made fun of.

"Nuh-uh. I love Barbies. Cooper put mine in the microwave though so they're all ruined." Kurt smiled brightly at his new friend.

"I'll share mine with you if you want."

"Okay!" Blaine grinned. The blue-eyed boy gently handed over the doll and Blaine happily swapped it for his action figure. Kurt eyed the turtle with interest, trying to decide if it looked fun or not.

"You melted his Barbies?!" Layla hissed as she stood. Cooper blushed and looked guilty.

"It was a year ago! He was totally up for it until he realized what was happening. I never did buy him new ones..."

She playfully smacked at his arm and they told the boys to sit together on a bench while they bought snacks. Blaine nodded gleefully and grabbed Kurt's hand, pulling him over to the nearest bench.

"This dress is really cool. I never saw one like this in a store before." Blaine held the Barbie up to scrutinize it with great interest. Kurt felt his face grow pink.

"I made it," he whispered shyly.

"Wow!" Blaine stared at him with wide eyes. "That's so cool. I could never do anything like that."

Kurt smiled and reached out to hold the other boy's hand once again.

"I bet you could. I'll show you."

"Thanks!"

"You... you can have this Barbie if you want. I've got lots and you should have your own doll," Kurt offered with a small smile. Blaine looked at him in surprise.

"You don't have to do that, Kurt. This is special. She has on an outfit you made all by yourself. You should keep it."

"You're special too though. And I have lots of outfits. I make 'em all the time."

They just smiled at each other and Blaine slotted their fingers together, clutching the Barbie to his heart with his free hand. They sat that way in content silence until the teens came back with the refreshments.

Minutes later they were settled in the darkening theater. Cooper had convinced the kids that it would be fun and 'grown-up' if they sat on their own, a couple rows ahead of the teens. Layla seemed slightly less sure, but both Kurt and Blaine seemed game, so she went with it.

The five-year-olds were sitting next to each other, surrounded by candy, popcorn and sodas. Cooper had spared no expense making sure that the boys would be happy and occupied the entire evening. They were just delving into a new box of candy when the lights went down completely and the previews came on. Kurt pulled out the fluffy, yellow blanket and wrapped it around him before settling back completely in his seat. Blaine looked over at him a little jealously. He wished he had thought of bringing a blanket. He loved cuddling under a blanket at home when he watched movies. Why not in a theater? Kurt caught his gaze and Blaine looked away quickly, feeling embarrassed. The blue eyed boy just smiled though.

"You can share with me. Here," he scooted over as far as he could in his seat. "Sit with me. My blankie isn't that big. We'll have to snuggle."

Blaine couldn't have jumped out of his chair any faster if he tried. The chance to share the blanket, sit right next to this totally awesome boy and be snuggled? That kind of stuff didn't happen every day.

They situated themselves easily, feeling comfy and cozy within seconds. It felt like they were meant to be like this, that they had been doing it for forever. Kurt rested his head on Blaine's little shoulder, and the dark haired boy wrapped an arm around his friend, pulling him in close. They linked their other hands together and sat quietly, all candy and popcorn forgotten in their contentment.

Halfway through the movie, Kurt's eyes started to get tired. He blinked sleepily several times before closing them completely, head heavy on the other boy's shoulder. Blaine was nodding a little bit himself, and when he felt Kurt start to go lax in sleep, he quickly followed suit. He rested his own head on top of Kurt's, turning to press a soft kiss on the brown hair. His mommy always kissed the top of his head when he went to sleep and it felt so nice. It made him feel loved. He wanted Kurt to feel loved too. The other boy sighed happily at the kiss and nuzzled into Blaine's shoulder.

"Kurt?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you be my best friend?"

"Yes. Will you be mine?

"Course."

"For forever?"

"For forever... promise."

"And I still promise."

Kurt jumped slightly at the voice in his ear and the arms around his waist. He smiled though and tipped his head to the side, waiting for a kiss. Blaine leaned in and met their lips in a light kiss, cupping Kurt's cheek in his hand.

"Eeewwwww! Gross papa!"

The men broke apart with wide smiles. Blaine pulled away from his husband and skipped over to the bunkbeds, kissing both of the boys goodnight and ruffling their hair. He pecked his husband on the cheek one more time before ducking out of the room, guitar case and satchel still in hand.

Kurt grinned at him before tucking the blankets around the boys and kissing their foreheads.

"Thanks for telling us the story again, daddy."

"You're welcome," he said softly as he turned out the light. He smiled at them from the doorway. "It's my favorite one to tell. I love you both. Go to sleep."

"K, daddy. Night."

"Goodnight."

"Shut up!" Kurt almost shouted as he dove onto their bed. He snatched away the doll from his husband's hands and stared at him in shock.

"How in the world have you had this... for THIS long... and I didn't know about it?"

Blaine just grinned and took the doll back gently.

"I dunno. It was just always this special thing that was just for me. I'd pull it out and think about you whenever I wanted you and you weren't right there. It seemed silly. I've had this thing for so long. I think I was a little embarrassed. I hadn't heard you tell the boys that story in a while though and... I dunno. I was feeling nostalgic."

Kurt sighed happily and pulled his husband down onto the bed for another kiss. This one was much longer and deeper. Kurt reached up his hand to thread his fingers together with Blaine's, and laughed when he felt hard plastic there.

They curled up into each other and Kurt took the doll in his hand.

"This dress was fabulous work for a five-year-old I'll have you know."

Blaine laughed and pressed a kiss into the brown hair.

"Hey, it's not that late and neither of us have to go in to work in the morning. Let's go downstairs and watch a movie."

Kurt grinned. "Only if you'll share my blanket with me."

"Deal. Maybe this time around I'll get a little more action than hand holding and a kiss on the top of the head."

Kurt bounced away and grabbed up a blanket from the foot of their bed. He turned with a wink as he walked out the door.

"Maybe."