"See, that wasn't that bad, was it?" Kurt asks reassuringly, squeezing Cooper's hand which is still gripping his painfully tight, knuckles bone white.

Cooper just shakes his head, taking deep breaths as they walk down the aisle of the plane, only letting go of Kurt's hand when they're safely in the airport.

"Sorry," he finally says after his hearts stopped pounding loud enough to drown out any other sound, the feeling in his fingers finally returning.

"Hey, it's fine," Kurt laughs, rubbing Cooper's back soothingly. "I only specified no hand crippling on take off, I said nothing about landing," he jokes. Relief floods his body when he sees a gentle, if not still somewhat shaky smile curl his friend's lips.

Cooper runs a hand over his face, breaths deeply and looks up at Kurt. He bats at him playfully when he sees Kurt hiding his smile, and that's how Kurt knows he's mostly back to normal. Kurt flexes his hand jokingly, wincing as he does so, earning a harder smack and a glare from Cooper, who takes another deep, cleansing breath and runs a last, finally steady hand down his face.

"Ready?" Kurt asks, waiting expectantly.

Cooper glances up and smiles, "yeah," he says, following Kurt as he leads the way to baggage claim. "Thanks, by the way, for, y'know," he adds as they force their way through the crowd, smiling shyly. Kurt throws him a smile over his shoulder and shrugs. It's what friends do.

Not long later they're stood with the sun beating warm and gentle against them in the airports short stay car park, eyes scanning for a familiar car. "Is that it?" Cooper asks, pointing to a black Lexus parked a few bays over. Kurt follows his line of sight and squints, focusing on the license plate.

"Yeah, I think so," he says, turning just in time to see a grin split across Coopers face.

They make their way over, suitcases dragging behind them, rolling against the tarmac until they reach the car. Kurt lifts their suitcases into the back while Cooper darts round the front to greet his dad.

"Da- Blaine!" Kurt hears him shout in surprise, glancing round the car to see Cooper's younger brother grinning happily from the front seat, sliding his phone into his pocket before stepping out. He looks a little older than when Kurt last saw him, but still smiling the same goofy smile and watching his brother with complete awe.

"Hey Coop," Blaine greets, stepping forward for a hug, which Cooper stops by taking hold of his wrists mid lift, holding him back as he stares incredulously at the car behind Blaine.

"Since when are you driving!?" Cooper asks in shock.

"Since I turned 16, I told you I got my licence," Blaine replies, somewhat hurt by Cooper having forgotten, arms dropping to his sides.

"No, I know that, I mean, since when are you driving dad's Lexus?" Cooper practically howls in jealousy, hands still holding Blaine's wrists maybe a little too tightly in shock.

Blaine shrugs as Kurt throws his carry on bag in the back seat, rolling his eyes at Cooper's inevitable jealous. "Since I passed," Blaine says quietly, glancing round at the sound of a door slamming. "Hey Kurt," he greets, smiling over the car at his brothers friend.

"Hey," Kurt greets before sliding into the passenger seat.

"Well that's just great," Cooper says sarcastically, finally looking down at his brother and seeing hurt flash in his eyes. "Come on, give your big brother a hug," he then hurries to add, laughing under his breath as Blaine's face lights up before he steps into Cooper's embrace, head tucked into his shoulder. Kurt glances out the still open driver's door at the two of them, Cooper rolls his eyes over Blaine's shoulder, but Kurt can see the pure happiness shining in his eyes, the tight grip he has around Blaine before they both pull back. "Okay, in the back Blaine," Cooper says, patting him mockingly on the shoulder, moving to slide into the drivers seat.

"Woah, Coop, no!" Blaine complains, grabbing hold of the open car door, jostling with his brothers as they each try to push the other out the way.

"Blaine, move out the way, I'm driving," Cooper complains, pushing at his considerably smaller brother.

"No, your not! You're not insured, dad'd kill me!" Blaine argues, pinching Coopers arm, causing him to step back, rubbing the quickly reddening skin with a frown.

Blaine however makes the most of his distraction and practically dives into the driver's seat, reaching to shut the door before Cooper grabs hold of his arm and yanks, pulling his upper body completely out of the car while his legs remain in place.

Blaine screams, literally screams as he's tugged from the car, before the sound turns into laughter, free arm flying back, hand gripping the frame of the car as Cooper continues to pull with all his strength. "I. Want. To. Drive!" Cooper shouts, each words accompanied by an increasingly harder tug on his brothers arm.

"Get. Off of me!" Blaine replies, wrestling to drag his arm back, laughter starting to cramp his stomach muscles, making it considerably harder to hold on and fight back.

But by this time Kurt's had enough. He just wants to get home and see his family, eat some normal food and enjoy a Cooper-free afternoon. "Cooper!" he yells, leaning across the console to stare over Blaine's stretched body to glare at his supposed friend, "just get in the fucking car and let Blaine drive," he chastises, causing Cooper to halt all movements, a look of surprise creasing his face.

"But… I wanna drive," he complains like a petulant child, both hands still gripping Blaine's arm.

"I don't give a shit, just get in the back," Kurt complains. Cooper huffs and unceremoniously drops his brother's arm, causing Blaine to half fall against the ground. Kurt hoists him back up into a sitting position, glaring at Cooper through the door before smiling and rolling his eyes at Blaine.

"Thanks," Blaine says with a gentle laugh, returning Kurt's smile as he straightens his clothes and pulls his door shut gently, while Cooper slams his behind him.

But before Kurt can reply Cooper's complaining again, "why d'you get to go in the front?" he asks, poking Kurt hard in his ribs.

"Because I'm not acting like a little bitch, now shut up else I'm not getting on the return flight with you," Kurt threatens, feeling a sense of satisfaction when Cooper huffs and throws himself back in his seat.

However it doesn't take long for Cooper to get over himself and start questioning his younger brother while they drive to Kurt's, asking him about his new school and teasing him about a guy in class who he quite obviously has a crush on. Kurt can't help but watch with a smile as a blush creeps over Blaine's face, staining the tips of his ears red as he avoids any and all eye contact.

"Come on Blaine, all you've gotta do is ask him out!" Cooper half-begs from where he's pushed himself between the two front seats, watching as his brother glares at him out the corner of his eye, an unshakable smile still crinkling his eyes.

"I don't know whether you remember Coop, but last time I asked a guy out it didn't go all that well," Blaine says seriously, still smiling despite the sombre subject change.

"That's irrelevant Blaine," Cooper says, suddenly solemn, "you can't let that dance rule your life," he tells Blaine, referring to the Sadie Hawkins dance Blaine had attended the year before.

Kurt knows what'd happened, had been there when Cooper got the phone call saying his brother had been beaten by a group of guys after the dance. Kurt had caught Cooper when he'd crumpled to the floor, and was the one who drove him almost 600 miles through three states to get to Blaine's hospital bed when they were told there were no flights available.

Kurt glances round at Blaine and tries not to look at the thin, pale scar along his hairline, just visible against his shock of dark hair. He's been friends with Cooper since they were 15, in high school together, and has therefore known Blaine since he was ten, practically watched him grow up.

"I'm not letting it rule my life!" Blaine retaliates, eyes connecting with Cooper's through the rear view mirror, "I just don't want to ask him out, that's all." Kurt watches Blaine discretely, noting that he's no longer crimson, just a faint, pink blush remains high on his cheeks, and Kurt can't help but smile too. He remembers what it was like to be 16 and completely infatuated by someone, feeling your heart pound in your chest and your skin goose bump beneath their touch.

"Oh come on, you've been crushing on him for months," Cooper taunts, oblivious to Blaine's unwillingness to have this conversation.

"I don't even know if he's gay!" Blaine tries, elbowing Cooper back from where he's squeezed himself between the front seats.

"Well there's only one way to find out," Cooper replies, ignoring Blaine's attempts to knock him back, instead grinning like he's just won the lottery at his little brothers obvious embarrassment.

"I'm not asking him out Coop, I'll just make a complete idiot of myself. Now can you please just drop it?" Blaine practically begs, forcing an arm around his seat and finally knocking Cooper into the back. "And can you please put your seatbelt on!" he asks, glaring at his older brother through the mirror.

Kurt hides his smile behind his hand, staring out the window and coughing to cover his laughter.

The rest of the journey passes in blissful near-silence, the radio quiet in the background, Blaine humming gently along to certain songs, Cooper occasionally dramatically huffing in the back.

Eventually they stop outside Kurt's house, the driveway empty of cars just like he'd hoped. Kurt thanks Blaine quickly, giving him a brief hug at an odd angle from their seats before sliding out the car. Cooper's already out, grabbing Kurt's suitcase before dragging him into a fierce hug, a kiss on his cheek, before sliding into the front seat. Both Cooper and Blaine wave as they drive of, leaving Kurt to let himself in and wait for his dad and step-mum to get home from work, starting dinner with a simple smile on his face.