Cooper

"And the prince and the princess lived happily ever after," I say as I close the book. I place the book on Blaine's bookshelf again and tuck him in again. He can never stay still when I read him a bedtime story. I kiss his forehead and say: "Good night, Blaine."

"Coop?" I hear him ask in a small voice when I turn around to leave his room. I turn again to face the little bed. He is watching me with his big brown eyes. He seems to be bothered by something, because he isn't saying anything.

"Yes, little brother?" I ask, sitting down on the edge of the bed again.

He pouts his little lip and his cheeks round a little more like they always do when he is pouting. "Hey, when I get older I will be just as tall as you are!"

"We'll see," I laugh. He might be right, but that doesn't mean I can't teas him right now. Besides, I'll always be his big brother.

I wait a moment and I see him narrowing his eyes. I raise my eyebrows to silently ask what is bothering him. "Does a prince always have to kiss a princess?" he asks shyly.

I don't fully understand his question. Is he asking if there are fairy tails about single princes? "What do you mean, Blainers?" I ask and try to think of a story of a prince who doesn't kiss a girl in the end.

"Can a prince kiss a prince?" Oh. Okay. So that's what he means. He is young, but the sooner I tell him there is nothing wrong with being gay, the better. I can't let dad be the first to talk about homosexuality, he will tell him the wrong things and Blaine's view would be based for life.

"Yes they can," I tell him honestly. I see a spark of hope in his eyes and I wonder if there is a personal reason behind his question, or if he is just curious. "If a prince wants to kiss another prince they can kiss each other. And princesses can kiss princesses if they want to," I explain. "There is nothing wrong with that and don't let anyone tell you otherwise," I don't think he understands how important my words are, but I hope he'll remember them.

"Okay," he says with a smile tugging on his lips. Apparently he is happy with my answer.

"Why do you want to know that?" I ask, trying not to be too obvious about it. I don't want him to think these kind of questions are odd.

He smiles all bubbly at me. "Because there is a boy in my class and I think he is a prince and he is so pretty," he tells me in one long breath. "He is way prettier than all the girls in my class. And I think I want to kiss him, like a prince kisses a princess."

I ruffle his hair once more. "That is great, Blaine," I say to him. "But you can't just kiss someone because you think they're pretty," I inform him. A smile ran away from his face at my statement.

"Oh," he responds, disappointed.

"You have to find someone who makes you feel warm inside, like there are a hundred butterflies in your stomach," I explain in child language to him. I thought I did well, but he just looks horrified.

"How will the butterflies get out?" he asks with wide eyes. I try to hold back my laughter by biting the inside of my cheek.

"There aren't real butterflies in your stomach," I explain to him, laughing. He just looks confused, but comforted nonetheless. "It is what people say when someone makes you feel good," he nods to let me know he understands. "What I meant to say," I continue, "is that you have to feel a tingling in your belly."

"He makes me feel like that," Blaine tells me and there is that goofy smile again. "Does that mean I can kiss him?" he asks and his voice contains nothing but hope.

"No," I shake my head. And the smile is gone. "First," I start, "you have to ask if he gets that tingling in his belly too when he sees you," I poke my finger in his belly and receive a fit of giggles in return. "But before you ask him you should say something really nice to him. And if he says yes you can ask him if you can kiss him," I explain and I can't believe I just explained to my baby brother how to seduce someone. He is five years old!

"What if he says no?" he asks me thoughtfully.

"Then you ask him to be your friend."

"Okay," he says and snuggles farther in to the pillow. I tuck him in once more and turn off the light before leaving the room. I climb the stairs to the attic.

Father and I need to talk.

I don't make the effort to knock before I open the dark wooden door to his office. He is sitting at his desk, surrounded by papers that are neatly sorted in piles. The lightning in the room is low, except for the area where his desk is. He doesn't seem to notice me entering the room, because he doesn't turn around or gives me any sign that tells me he acknowledges my presence.

"Father, we have to talk," I say in the quite of the room. Again, he doesn't bat me an eye, so I guess he actually did notice me coming in seconds earlier. That's very much like him, just ignoring someone if he doesn't want to see them.

"Cooper James Anderson, haven't I taught you to knock before coming in?" he asks me absently while highlighting a sentence in the report he is currently studying.

"It's important," I explain and sit down in the leather armchair next to his desk. The one he uses to sit in when he is reading things that aren't work related. By sitting down I try to make clear I am not leaving the room before we have had our conversation.

"My work is important, too. Can you get out, I'm busy," he clearly doesn't get the message.

"No," I tell him curtly. "It's about your son, so you have to make time," I can't help but think I shouldn't have to tell him this. He, as a father, should know this.

He lets out a deep, annoyed sigh. "Make it quick," he says without even looking up from his report.

"I know you don't like hearing this," I start out, hoping I will get his full attention during the conversation, "but we have to talk about this."

"Get to the point," his eyes keep scanning over the paper and he highlights another sentence.

"Will you just listen to me?" I snap, when I realize he isn't paying any attention to me.

"I am listening," he replies absently.

"I mean really listening," to my surprise I see he actually turns around to face me. The movement is unwilling, but it is a movement. "What if one of your sons was gay?" I decide to ask him right away.

His face falls. His eyes turn cold and his eyebrows frown together in a thick knot. "You're gay?" he asks me quickly, not bothering to sound comforting or warm. Actually, I think he is trying to sound as distant and cold as possible.

"No," I answer him. He seems relieved, but still tense. "I think Blaine is."

"Blaine is not gay," is all he says and turns his desk chair to face his work.

"But-"

"We watch football together and he plays with toy cars," Father says, as if that has anything to to with the topic we are currently on. "He is not gay," he points out angrily again. I roll my eyes and laugh lightly at his stupidity, I just know he thinks I'm being arrogant.

"Being gay is not about being feminine," I explain to him. "It's about who you fall in love with. And I just talked to Blaine. He told me he has feelings for a boy in his class," my statement makes him boil with anger.

"He can't!" He yells at me, but I stay calm. I deeply want to punch him, but I know not giving any reaction will get him even more frustrated. Right now I just want to piss his tiny mind as much off as possible. "He's not gay and he's too young to even think things like that," he he speaks through his gritted teeth.

"But he is not too young to be himself," I say and get up. There is no reasonable thought in this man. I'm done wasting my time on him and I want to leave him alone so he can boil over. It's my duty to keep Blaine safe right now. I don't want him to become a victim of the fight I started. He is probably dreaming innocently in his little bed right now. "I'm taking Blaine to school tomorrow and I'll pick him up too. We're going to the park," I inform him, I leave no room for discussion. When I reach the door I turn to him again. "And you, Father," I point at him, because people point their finger a lot when they are being really intense, "you should work on yourself. Because the sooner you start accepting that your son might not be the exact way you imagined, the happier he'll be."

"I won't allow this!" He screams at me. Allow what? Falling in love? He is so stupid!

"He is your son! He is a human!" I cry out at him. "You can't program him like a robot, he has got his own mind!" That's my final sentence before I slam the door shut. Mark that!

Blaine

There he is. He is building a big castle out of legos. Maybe we will live in a castle like that when we are older. He will be my prince and we will live happily ever after. He can build our castle too, later. I think he would be good at that. He could build it out of bricks, Cooper told me long ago bricks are legos for grown ups. I take a deep breath and walk to Kurt. "Hi Kurt," I say and sit down next to him. He is really pretty. He is wearing really nice clothes and his hair has a nice colour.

He looks at me and smiles. I smile back at him. "Hello," he says to me.

What did Coop tell me last night? First, I should say something nice to him. That is easy, I can only say nice things to him. "That is a really pretty castle. You're good at that," that was a nice thing, so I think this is going well.

"Thank you," he says and his cheeks turn pink.

Cooper didn't tell me how to ask him. I don't think I can just ask him, that would be weird. I should say something first. Maybe I can tell him what Coop told me. "Did you know I have a brother?" he shakes his head. "He is older and he knows a lot of things," I say, because Cooper is really smart. "And he told me that when a person makes me feel good inside I should ask them if they feel it too," he nods, so I know he understands. I think this is a good moment to ask him. "Do I make you feel good inside?" I wait for is answer. I hope he says yes.

He looks away from his castle and I look in his eyes. "What?" he asks. I think he didn't hear what I asked.

"Do I make you feel warm and make your belly tingle?" I ask again.

He doesn't answer me. He looks at me and I look at him. I like his eyes very much, they are blue and really pretty. "Maybe," he says really fast.

Cooper didn't tell me what to do when he says maybe. He said what to do when he says yes or no, but not what to do when he says maybe. I don't know what to say to him. "Do you want to be my friend?" I ask, because I think that is what I should do.

It makes me really happy that he smiles at me again. "Yes," he says and gives me a lego to help him build the castle.

Cooper

I am waiting on the playground to pick Blaine up when I feel someone tugging on my sleeve. I look down to see it is Blaine. A pale boy with freckles on his nose and wearing stylish looking clothes is standing next to him. "Coop, Coop!" Blaine calls for me as if I'm not standing right beside him. I crouch down to get on eye level with him. "Can Kurt come with us to the park?" he asks me enthusiastically. I think this is the boy he was talking about yesterday.

I look to the shy boy next to my brother. "Have you asked your parents?" I ask him, looking in to his blue eyes.

The boy shakes his head. "No," he tells me in a squeaky, small voice.

"Let's go ask them," I say excitedly and tell Kurt to lead the way to his mum op dad.

He stops at a women in her early forties. She has chestnut hair that is fumbled together in a casual bun. It suits her. I can see where Kurt got his style. "Mummy, can I go to the park with Blaine and his brother?" he asks her whilst tugging on her sleeve like Blaine did moments before.

She eyes me. I realize Kurt didn't tell her my name, so I decide to introduce myself properly. "Hi, I'm Cooper Anderson," I stick out my hand to her.

She takes it and gives it a firm shake. "Elizabeth Hummel," she introduces herself.

"Blaine and I were planning on going to the park and he invited Kurt to join us," I expand Kurt's explanation. "Is that alright?"

Her eyes flicker between Blaine and Kurt before she gives me a certain nod. "Yes, of course," she grants her permission. "Can I come with you?" she cocks her head to the side.

"Sure," I tell her. We walk to the park, since it is in walking distance from Blaine's school. Blaine and Kurt walk in front of Elizabeth and I. They are happily chatting about God knows what. When the park is in sight, they race to it. Blaine wins and makes sure Kurt knows it.

Elizabeth and I are seated on a bench, watching her son and my little brother playing on the climbing rack. I'm absolutely certain Kurt is the boy Blaine has a crush on, because he is wearing that grin from last night constantly. "I have a question for you, Miss Hummel," I turn to her, unsure of how she will react. "I know Kurt is only five years old, so you haven't had this conversation, but I have to ask," I take a breath and look at the boys playing without a care in the world. "Is he gay?" I ask Elizabeth.

She did not expect that, obviously. She takes a moment to decide if I'm being serious. I have never been this serious in my life. I worry about Blaine. I worry about his future. I don't know what he is going to go through in his life, but I know it can't be good with a father like ours. "Oh," she says. "Eh...there are signs, you know?" I nod. I know what she is talking about. I see several signs in Blaine's behavior. From his love for bow-ties to the way he plays with his action figures. "My husband, Burt," she continues, "says he has known since he was three years old. I won't be surprised if he would come out of the closet in a few years, but I can't really know this early," I am pleasantly surprised by the way she handled the question. She doesn't seem upset, or angry with this topic of conversation. "May I ask why you want to know?"

That is a very understandable question. "Blaine has a crush on him," I explain and she looks confused at me. I get it, they're just little kids, Blaine probably doesn't even know what is going on with him. Why would he tell me? "I told him, yesterday, that two boys can fall in love after he asked me if two princes could kiss each other. When I asked him why he wanted to know, he told me that there is a boy in his class who is 'really pretty' and 'makes him feel warm inside'," I repeat Blaine's words.

She watches me as if I just told her something special. I guess I did, but she looks at me like she is sympathetic towards me, there is a hint of surprise showing in her expression, too. "So you had that conversation with him?" I nod. "Not your parents?"

I shake my head briefly. That would have been jolly good fun if Blaine had told Father. "No," I say as if it should be very obvious to her. It isn't, of course. She doesn't know Father. She doesn't know the way he thinks. "I'm glad it was me who he talked to, because my father would defiantly not approve and I don't know what my mother would say."

She nods, sadly. I also tell her about my conversation with Father. She tells me she thinks it's very wise of me to handle the situation the way I did. We sit in silence for a few moments, watching the two boys running up the steps to the slide. "Kurt has been talking about Blaine and his clothes and how smart he is," she tells me, still watching her son struggling up the wooden steps and reaching the platform. We watch Blaine and Kurt talk for a little while before she goes on. "He can't stop talking about him," she laughs lightly.

"Wait!" I tell her before she can say anything else. Blaine is smiling at Kurt after Kurt gave him a nod. Blaine leans in and kisses him. It ended just as quickly as it started. My five year old brother just had his first kiss on a climbing rack in the park, for everyone, including Elizabeth and I, to see. The boys just carry on running around the platform and the playground like nothing had just happened.

"Did I just witness my son's first kiss?" Elizabeth asks in an odd mixture of horror and excitement.

"Don't worry," I calm her, "I made sure Blaine would ask politely if Kurt wanted to kiss him, too," I point out, telling her not to worry about if her son even agreed to it. I know she probably wasn't even worried, because Kurt was smiling bright and we both saw the nod Kurt gave Blaine before they kissed.

Again with the sympathetic look. "You shouldn't have to be the one who has to teach him those things," she tells me, sadly. I don't see the problem. I want Blaine to be happy with whomever he might be. Our parents won't teach him that, so I am glad I can. I am glad Blaine listens to the things I tell him and takes them to heart. I am glad to see Blaine is giving me a proud grin and I see his smile widens when I give him an approving thumbs up.

"I like to see I did a good job," I brush the subject off. We watch the two children trying to climb a rope, but miserably failing. They are laughing together when they realize the rope climbing isn't going to work.

"I've never seen Kurt smile that bright," she smiles at her son who is happily helping Blaine on his feet. There is no worry whatsoever in the scene in front of us. The boys are just innocently playing with the person they like. Their lives aren't always going to be like that, that's for sure, but they don't know that right now.