Kurt pulled over after five minutes for fear of crashing. He parked at the side of the quiet road and pulled the key out of the ignition with shaky hands. Pain pushed through his body and distinguishable thought was impossible. This just couldn't be happening, it couldn't! This was supposed to have been the best summer of Kurt's life and instead he had been toyed with; a puppet in Blaine's sick game. He should have listened to Rachel, he had known Blaine wasn't any good, but Blaine had loved him.
A soft whimper broke through Kurt's pained silence. His cheeks were getting red and his eyes puffy but he didn't even care. On autopilot Kurt undid his seatbelt and pulled his legs up to his chest wrapping his arms around them so that he was in the tightest ball he could possibly make. His forehead pressed into the top of his knees and he cried; hot tears soaking his jeans, for it seemed, this was a summer of broken dreams.

.o...0...o.

Blaine had somehow found his way to his bed, and there he lay for hours on end staring up at the bland ceiling. If he stared at it long and hard enough, he thought, maybe the world would slip away. Maybe everything he'd ever done would disappear and it would just become him and this wall for the rest of time. But alas this wasn't to be. Nothing ever went Blaine's way so why would this? Why now?

Three quick knocks brought Blaine out of his almost coma-like stupor.

"Son?" Paul called from outside the door. "May I come in?"

If Blaine had the energy he would have said no, or given a snarky answer. But breaking people took a lot out of him and all he gave was a noncommittal groan. Paul took it as a yes though because Blaine heard the door open and his dad's soft footsteps walking over to the bed.

There was a pause before Paul finally spoke. "What happened?" he asked with a sigh.

"Like you care," Blaine said quietly. He narrowed his eyes at the ceiling trying to block his father out, trying to get back to his coma-like state where no emotion or memory could haunt him.

"Would I be asking if I didn't care?" Paul asked gently sitting down in the spinning desk chair that Kurt had occupied some time ago. Huh, Blaine didn't know what time it was or how long he'd laid there for, staring intensely into the nothing that probably held everything.

"I'm sorry," Blaine said his voice his sounding hollow. "Let me rephrase that; like you care about me. If you are here…which you are that means there's some other ulterior motive."

"Why does there need to be an ulterior motive?" Paul asked in the same caring voice. His son's words had hurt but he didn't show it.

"Because I haven't seen you, in like, weeks." Blaine said in the same monotonous and hollow voice. "And now you're being kind to me. It's weird and unusual and I don't like it."

"Blaine I—"

"Look," Blaine said tearing his eyes from the ceiling and looking his dad dead in the eye. "I've had a really bad day and I honestly don't have the energy for whatever conversation you want to have right now. I'm sorry if I sound rude, I just…I need to be alone right now."

Paul swallowed thickly. The deadness in his son's eyes was unexpected and it hit him harder than anything he'd ever experienced before. His voice truly matched how he was feeling. Blaine was hollow, empty, a shell of the boy Paul had never really known; a stupid decision that he regretted every single day.

Paul nodded slowly and rose to stand. Blaine looked back at the ceiling and sighed heavily. It sucked the life out of the room.

Oh my poor boy, Paul thought sadly. What has she done to you my wife of steel? He looked down at his son and echoed the sigh before walking to the door. He looked back and noticed a single tear falling down Blaine's face and Paul's heart broke.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. So softly that Blaine didn't hear him, didn't even register the word's presence. "I am so sorry my sweet boy."

.o...0...o.
"There he is," a man's voice said waving his flash light into the car.

"Oh thank god!" another man cried complete euphoria overwhelming him. "I'm going to kill him."

"Sir, I don't think it's wise to make death threats in front of a police officer."

"Ernest, we've been friends since high school and he's my son. He's so dead it's not even funny." The police officer rolled his eyes and knocked on the driver's window.

"Kurt," he called out. "Kurt it's me Ernest, Ernest Mcmanaway. Can you unlock the door please? I have your father here with you."

The figure in the car looked up at them, blinking his unseeing eyes.

"Kurt?" Burt gasped shoving his face onto the glass. "Kurt, are you okay? What happened?" Ernest put a hand on Burt and pulled the growingly frantic man away from the car window.

"Burt," Ernest said in a calm voice. "Breathe. In and out. You just had a heart attack for Christ's sake, relax."

"Relax?" Burt asked his voice going surprisingly shrill. "You want me to relax? Look at my son—!"

"He looks like he's in a state of shock," Ernest said calmly. And from what I can tell he's been that way for a while. I'm going to break the car window to get him out of there but while I do that I need to be able to trust that you're not going to kill yourself via hyperventilation. I'd rather not be dealing with two messed up Hummels."

"Messed up?" Burt asked fear racking through him. He couldn't lose Kurt too, not so young. A parent should never outlive their child.

"That was insensitive," Ernest said wincing slightly. "Sorry. See, police officer first, friend second. You, stay here." Ernest left Burt on the road and went back to the police car rifling through the contents in the boot. He picked up what he needed and closed it walking back to Kurt's Navigator.

"Kurt," he said knocking on the window. "Cover," he made a covering motion. "Your head." Kurt seemed to understand and moved a tiny bit, ducking his head in his hands. Ernest shrugged and swung the baton he had in his hand down very hard onto the glass. It shattered sending rays of glass spiraling down. Quick as a whip, Ernest manually unlocked the passenger door and climbed in ignoring the copious amount of glass.

"Kurt," he said placing a soft hand on the pale boys shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Kurt didn't answer right away, but he moved; his eyes blinked more awareness back into his face. Finally Kurt gave a sarcastic smile, rolling his head to look at Ernest. "Do I look okay?" he asked. His voice was hoarse and his cheeks were splotchy with tear stains. His eyes were puffy and his eyes were glassy.

"To be honest kid, you look like hell."

"If you know the answer, don't ask the question," Kurt spat. "It makes you look stupid."

"Alright," Ernest replied resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "Well then…will you come outside with me?"

Kurt looked at him, scrutinizing his face. "Why?" he asked quietly all spite and snarkiness gone. "Why should I trust you?"

"Kid I've known you since you were born," Ernest said slightly confused. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"And I knew Blaine inside and out!" Kurt screamed. "He couldn't of been lying to me he couldn't have!" Suddenly Kurt broke down crying again and Ernest watched the emotional display awkwardly not sure what to do.

"Umm…Burt!" He called out the window to the man who was still standing on the street. "I think you should handle it from here."

.o...0...o.

"Tell me, why did I marry you again?"

Jane sighed looking at her husband with annoyance. "What do you want?" she asked watching him with steady eyes as he entered her office. His black hair was messy and he was missing a tie and suit jacket. The blue shirt was slightly rumpled and she groaned at how untidy he looked. Perfection wasn't just for show!

"You are a real cold hearted bitch, you know that?"

"Aaw," Jane cooed sarcastically. "Thank you so much for the compliment." She gave her husband a bright smile before rolling her eyes and placing her hands on her desk.

"And so I repeat, what do you want?"

"What did you do to Blaine?" Paul asked putting his hand in his pockets and leaning against the door frame.

Jane gave him an incredulous look. "As if you don't already know."

Paul shrugged in answer and gave a sarcastic smile. "Enlighten me."

"I ensured the survival of this company."

He narrowed his at her in suspicion, "and how did you do that?"

"I got our son's head out of the clouds."

"Is it weird that I don't believe you?" Paul asked cocking his head to the side.

Jane shrugged. "You always did have trust issues."

"Look!" Paul growled storming into her office completely and stopping in front of her desk. "I'm not playing games with you. What. Did. You. Do?"

Jane smirked giving her husband an amused expression. "Calm down honey," she said with a silky voice. "I promise you, it isn't as bad as you think."

"My definition of bad and your definition of bad are two different things."

"Oh really," Jane asked rising an eyebrow. "How is that?"

"You don't one," Paul answered running his hand through his hair, which explained why it was so messy. "I'm sure bad isn't even in your dictionary."

"You flatter me so, please keep going." She fake begged, batting her eyelashes.

Paul growled and slammed his hands on the desk taking Jane completely off guard causing her to jump a little. Satisfaction slid through Paul as he spoke. "Stop wasting my time." He said quietly. "What did you do?"

Jane sighed and leaned back in her chair crossing her arms. "You are no fun when you're mad."

"I'm only mad when you do something stupid."

"Then you shouldn't be angry with me," she retorted. "I'm a genius; stupidity isn't in my handbook." She flashed a smile and Paul sighed.

"Do I really have to ask again?"

Jane shook her head the smirk back in place on her devilish face. "You know the Kurt kid, right?"

"Rachel's pale friend?" Paul asked scrunching his face in confusion.

"Yes that one, well it turns out he and Blaine have been dating all summer." Jane paused waiting for Paul's reaction. The man in question just gaped at her disbelief blatant on his face.

"Blaine's gay?" he asked slowly, the surprising words unfamiliar in his mouth.

"As the fourth of July."

"How did we not know?" Paul asked still mildly shocked. Jane scoffed resisting the urge to roll her eyes.

"Don't drag me down with you," she scolded looking at Paul with something akin to disappointment. "I've known for a while now. You're just negligent and neglectful."

"Or you've been piling up my work to keep me busy for the last few weeks, why? So Blaine's gay and dating Kurt, whoop-di-doo, you don't care that he's gay and Kurt's a good kid…what did you do to them?" Paul asked suspiciously slipping into the chair opposite his steely wife.

"Oh I didn't do anything," Jane said emphasizing the I in such a way that Paul knew she was lying. "Blaine did. He ended their summer romance."

Paul paused staring at his wife unable to put together the pieces. He couldn't leave her alone for five minutes, God! "He seemed pretty broken up about it," Paul started.

"That's because I made him do it," Jane said with a satisfied smile. "Our son crushed the boy's heart like it was a bug under his boot. I don't mean to sound so grotesque but my word it was heartless; I'm proud."

Paul gave her a scrutinizing gaze, this still didn't make sense. Jane met his gaze and sighed dramatically. "You still don't know why?" Paul cocked his head in answer and she breathed out heavily in annoyance. "It was an attempt to get Cooper back."

Silence filled the study. Three beats passed before Paul burst out laughing, his loud laughter filling the space between them. "Honey, that boy is never coming home."

"Yeah, no thanks to Blaine," she grumbled uncharacteristically childishly.

"So what, you threatened Cooper with the destruction of Blaine's heart? Really Jane that's the best you could do?"

"Don't mock me," Jane retorted angrily. "You didn't see them they really…they really love each other," she said softly. Paul cocked his head at her at the random display of feelings. "And he and Blaine were closer than anything," she continued the softness gone from her voice. "I'm surprised he still said no, but now I've got Blaine in my hands and I've insured that he'll never try to pull a Cooper and up and leave me."

Paul paused taking in his stunning wife with her soft features and hard eyes. Her long curly hair framing her face, and cascaded down her back that sat erect and strong in her seat. She was beautiful as she was dangerous, and some days Paul felt really bad for loving her.

"I know I'm going to regret asking, but, how did you do that?"

"I hit him where it hurts most," she said with a devilish smirk. "Children and love—they really are suckers for it."

"So you threatened Kurt?" Paul asked scrunching his eyebrows. He wasn't usually this slow and he felt stupid asking so many questions but he'd been out of the loop for a while and all the pieces weren't adding up.

"Oh of course not, I would never do anything so trivial." Jane rebuffed shaking her head a tiny amount. "I threatened his family; it wouldn't benefit Kurt much if Burt ended up in jail for first degree murder."

.o...0...o.

From the minute they decided to have kids, Elizabeth and Burt had agreed that Izzie would be the emotional one. She would deal with the heartbreak and puberty and all the awkward stuff and Burt would sit on the side lines offering comfort but never really saying anything less it involve his shotgun.

But when Elizabeth died that plan went to shit and Burt had to figure everything out as he went. Puberty had been awkward but he was exponentially glad that Kurt wasn't a girl because periods he would not have been able to deal with. He probably would have called in his sister Annie to help.

When Kurt told him he was gay Burt wasn't even surprised and had spent his gorgeous boys' childhood deleting any traces of homophobia that might have been instilled in him as a child. Not that his parents were madly against gay pride, it was just frowned upon in their eyes and naturally it came with him. But Kurt changed that, funny, kids are very good at changing things.

And when Kurt told him he was gay, Burt had been pretty happy because that meant

1. He didn't have to about the kid getting any girls pregnant

2. He wouldn't be breaking any or getting his heartbroken any time soon because they lived in Hick Town and

3. Kurt had made passing comments on how he would never date anybody who was in the closet.

So when Kurt had come home from Rachel's with his head in the clouds he knew something was incredibly wrong—or right. Apparently she had a closeted twin brother who was a dapper prince and they had a date planned for later in the week. Call it parent tuition, but Burt had known things wouldn't end well. Though he obviously couldn't tell his son that, so he sat and watched as the two fell in love and Burt had thought that maybe, just maybe, they have what it takes to make it work.
But as he drove his heartbroken son home with a thick silence lingering between them, all Burt could feel was sadness and longing because Elizabeth wasn't here to help him put their son together again.

.o...0...o.

CURRENT DAY

"What!" Kurt screeched his hand flying to his mouth. "W…what did you say?"

Cooper sighed heavily running a hand through his hair. "Do you really want me to repeat it?" Kurt stood on shaky legs shock and then anger coursing through him.

"That bitch!" he yelled fury harsh in his eyes. "How…what— I…what?"

Cooper looked up at the teen suddenly unsure how to continue. "Answer me," Kurt answered his tone like steel. "She threatened to have my father thrown into jail! How."

"I…" Cooper started, Kurt glared at him and he shut his mouth. Taking a deep breath he started again. "We're very rich, Kurt," Cooper said sadly, "Filthily so even. You'd be surprised how easy it is to fabricate evidence."

"But my dad would never kill my mother!"

"We know that," Cooper said as calmly as he could. "But other people don't, and my mother would buy out the jury if she had to."

"Well it wouldn't have worked," Kurt said defensively. "He wouldn't have had any motivation!"

Cooper looked at Kurt, really looked at him and decided whether he should tell him. It was big news, massive news even. Cooper knew it had the potential to rock Kurt's world and tip it upside down but he needed to know. He was kind of surprised Burt hadn't told the kid but then again it didn't come up in casual conversation.

Cooper suddenly felt very awkward; this news was a lot, more than Cooper himself had the right to know but Kurt deserved the truth—too bad it wouldn't be coming from someone who matters.

"Your mother was pregnant," he said matter of factly. He watched stone-faced as Kurt froze from shock, and then disbelief.

"I'm sorry what?" he scoffed; a harsh laugh of disbelief and growing despair.

"You're mother she was…she was pregnant. Only two months or so and she hadn't told you yet, she hadn't told anyone….Only your dad."

Kurt stared at him, a battle going on inside his head. No way in hell had his mother been pregnant. Burt would have told him…right? And what did it have to do with anything if she was pregnant; they were a loving married couple, babies were bound to happen. And then it hit him…Kurt could have been an older brother to a little boy or girl. He could have had someone to share the loneliness of a quiet house with, someone to love, and bicker with, and protect, and beat-up. He could have had a sibling and his dad had never told him.

"You're lying!" Kurt screamed collapsing back into his chair. "You're fucking lying to me you cruel unreasonable bastard!"

Cooper sighed running his hands through his hair. He stood and walked over to Kurt kneeing in front of the distraught boy. "I'm sorry," he said sympathetically. "I'm not lying, and my mother would have used that in the trial. She would have twisted, made up evidence saying that Elizabeth had cheated on your father and that in a fit of fury he killed her. Falling down the stairs isn't a common way of dying, Kurt. It would have been really easy."

Kurt let out a strangled sob and Cooper put a comforting hand on his knee. "You don't know how sorry I am," he said softly. "And that's the truth."

Kurt's body racked with sobs though no tears fell. This was just too much to handle. Blaine returning and wanting to make things right, the trips down memory lane, Cooper showing up, Kurt finding out that Stacey had be raped, them reconciling, and now finding out that Blaine had saved Burt from a lifetime in jail for a murder he didn't even commit. When had his life become a soap opera and when was it planning on ending? All he wanted was peace and happiness but Blaine oh god.

"Blaine saved us," Kurt rasped out. "The idiot. He should have told me." Kurt suddenly turned to Cooper whose efforts at comforting had been ignored until now. Kurt violently grabbed his shoulders and pulled his face close to his. "Why didn't he tell me?"

"Are you seeing yourself?" Cooper asked not unkindly. "You're a mess, and then you would have had to choose; the love of your life or your father? It's not a fair question and you would have had to choose your father. Blaine made the choice for you hoping to save you from the distress of all of this."

"But what he did wasn't kind either," Kurt snapped letting Cooper go and pushing him away.

"You didn't make it easy," Cooper replied sadly.

Kurt gave a frustrated growl and stood, setting his irate gaze on Cooper. "How do you even know all this?" he asked accusation and bitterness heavy in his voice. "You weren't even in the same state!"

"Jane told me," Cooper said wincing slightly. "She told me everything in an attempt to make me cave and come home."

"She told you everything?" Kurt growled. "We could have used that as evidence, discredited everything she said—!"

"Blaine didn't—still doesn't know that I know," Cooper said. "And even then it would have just become a war between her and us, and in the end mother always gets her way."

"I can't believe this," Kurt said mostly to himself. He started pacing and his hands held his head half threatening to pull his hair out. "I don't…I can't believe this."

"I know it's a lot to process," Cooper said standing up and putting a calming hand on Kurt's frantic shoulder. "But you need to—"

"Don't you dare tell me what I need to do!" Kurt yelled throwing Cooper's hand off of him. "You've told me enough, you've done enough!"

Cooper sighed heavily. "Kurt I had to, you needed to know."

"There's that fucking word again," Kurt said with venom. "What makes you think you can tell me what I need? What makes you and Blaine think I can't choose for myself?"

"Kurt—"

"No, fuck you!" Kurt yelled. "I'm done, I need time and oh god, I could have been a brother."

Cooper didn't say anything; he just looked at the boy's mental breakdown sadly. "I'm sorry." He said quietly.

Kurt whirled, "get out." He growled with authority.

"What?" Cooper asked in shock. He looked mildly hurt too but Kurt couldn't dwell on that.

"I said," he said taking a scary step forward. "Get out of my house."

"Kurt," Cooper said calmly, trying to talk sense into the irate boy. "I don't think—"

"That's the problem," Kurt said frantically using his arms to make wild gestures. Tears began to spring in his eyes and a lump grew in Cooper's throat. "You don't think do you?" he continued. "You just do what you want, tell people what to do, "tell the truth." But you don't fucking think. You don't think that for one second, people may not need your help, or people don't want to be bossed around or hey, THAT MAYBE THE TRUTH WASN'T TOLD FOR A REASON."

Kurt stopped, his breaths ragged and uneven, his hands contracting in and out of fists.

"Get out," he growled again. "Because I need time to think about the things that you really should have."

Cooper didn't know what to do; this wasn't the reaction he had expected. Granted he had been aware that it wouldn't be good, he hadn't expected…that. Not wanting to get another slap, or push the broken boy any further Cooper left without another word. He stopped at the door and watched as Kurt; breathing heavily in the middle of the room slowly put his head in his hands and crumbled to the floor, silent sobs racking his body.

"I am so sorry," Cooper said softly before walking to the front door and leaving the house.

He stepped into the night and sighed. He should really stop breaking everything he touched, but old habits die hard, and old prayers fall on deaf ears. He sighed and went to sit on the swing, not really sure what to do next. Taking out his phone, he texted Santana a quick message before pocketing the device again. This was going to be a long night. Who was he kidding, this night was going to last a lifetime.

.o...0...o.

To: Santana

From: Cooper

…I think I just broke Kurt