“I’m sorry - what?” Blaine blinked at his father in disbelief.

“I wish that there had been a better way to tell you,” Carl replied, sitting down in his seat. “But Cooper managed to get a flight out this morning last minute, and I didn’t want to waste another moment away from my son.”

The room spun and Blaine felt like he couldn’t breathe for a second. It was too hot and he could hear his heart pounding.

“Is this what having a stroke feels like?” he asked. Kurt took his hand, squeezing it tightly.

“Are you okay?” he questioned. Blaine couldn’t seem to form words, and he just stared at Kurt.

His entire world had been turned upside down in less than a minute.

Of course he wasn’t okay.

“I know it’s a shock,” Carl said, getting Blaine’s attention. “But I can explain.”

“Please,” Blaine gasped out. “Because I…”

Grace reached over and took Blaine’s other hand. “Just listen.” Blaine turned to his mother, horrified.

“You knew?” he hissed.

“Don’t be angry at your mother,” Carl interjected. “She knew about Cooper but not that he was coming today until after you got here. I asked for her to let me tell you in my own time.”

“Blaine,” Kurt whispered but Blaine ignored him.

Carl cleared his throat and Blaine looked at his father. “I’ll have Mary bring in the food, so we can eat,” Carl began. “No sense in letting good food go to waste.” He picked up a little bell to the left of his plate and rang it.

Mary appeared in the doorway from the kitchen and set about bringing in the food, one dish at a time. There was an awkward silence, watching as she worked (Carole had offered to help but Mary had refused). Once the table was set, Mary excused herself to the kitchen.

They set about passing the dishes around, serving themselves. Blaine wasn’t even sure what food he’d put on his plate. He just wanted to know what the hell his father was trying to do here.

“About ten years before I met your mother,” Carl began, once everyone had a full plate, “I was married to another woman.”

The bite of mashed potatoes he’d just taken turned to sawdust in Blaine’s mouth. Kurt’s mouth fell open and his eyes went wide, his fork halfway to his mouth.

“We were young, she ended up pregnant right away,” Carl continued. “We were happy together until Cooper was around nine.”

“What changed?” Blaine found his voice, staring hard at his father. He never would have thought…

“I did,” Carl answered. “I met someone and fell head over heels for her.” He smiled at Blaine’s mother across the table. “So, to add to the list of things I’ve done that I’m not very proud of, I ended up having an affair.”

Blaine’s fork slipped from his fingers and clattered to his plate. His mother had actually had an affair with a married man and then stolen him away or something?

“Cooper’s mother found out. She divorced me, sued me for full custody and told me never to come near them again,” Carl finished.

“So what – why –“ Blaine stumbled over his words. He felt like pinching himself because surely this was a nightmare and he was going to wake up at any second.

“I’ve been seeing a therapist,” Carl admitted, looking down at his plate. “Someone at PFLAG suggested it. My therapist recommended that maybe Cooper and I should reconnect because I was projecting my issues of not knowing Cooper onto you.”

“And what do you think about this?” Blaine looked at Cooper.

“I spent my whole life thinking my father didn’t want me,” Cooper replied. “Turns out my mother was less than truthful about some things as well.”

Blaine frowned as Cooper talked, picking his fork back up. He forced a bite of potatoes into his mouth.

“Besides, I figure I should just embrace the pain, right?” Cooper continued. “I mean, how many times am I going to get to experience this kind of emotion and then file it away for my art?”

Blaine’s swallowed hard at Cooper’s words, nearly choking on his food. Kurt thumped him on the back while he took a sip of water.

“What is it you do, Cooper?” Carole asked.

“He’s the Free Credit Rating Today dot Com guy,” Kurt answered in a rush, and Blaine glanced at him to see his face turning red.

“I see I have a fan,” Cooper smirked. Kurt’s blush deepened and Blaine felt kind of sick to his stomach.

Blaine dropped his fork again, and then stood up, his chair scraping on the hardwood floor. “Excuse me,” he mumbled, tossing his napkin down and stalking out.

He couldn’t take it anymore.

*

Kurt was the first to stand up after Blaine’s exit. “I’ll go,” he said. “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to see anyone else right now.”

Blaine’s father looked like he was about to object, but after an icy glare from Kurt, he kept his mouth shut. Kurt hurried upstairs, heading for Blaine’s room. He slipped inside, shutting the door. Blaine was pacing the room, hands tangled in his hair, messing up the gelled locks.

“Blaine?” Kurt asked softly.

Blaine let out a pained sound and Kurt crossed the room in three strides and took Blaine in his arms. Blaine squeezed him tightly, his whole body trembling against Kurt’s.

“I don’t,” Blaine gasped out.

“I know,” Kurt murmured.” “It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay, Kurt!” Blaine shouted, pulling away. Kurt resisted the urge to touch him again, waiting until Blaine told him what he needed. “How could he do this to me? To our family?”

“I don’t know, Blaine,” Kurt said quietly.

“Why would he do this today?” Blaine asked.

“I don’t know, Blaine,” he repeated. Kurt felt useless, powerless. He wasn’t sure what to do next – he’d never seen Blaine quite like this before. Not even last Christmas, when Blaine had all but thrown his father out of his life.

“I feel like my whole life has been a lie,” Blaine muttered, tangling his fingers in his hair. Kurt watched as the carefully tamed locks broke free from the product. Blaine didn’t seem to notice what he was doing.

“I’m sorry,” Kurt told him. “I wish I knew how to make you feel better.”

“He always does this,” Blaine shouted. “Always! We can’t even have one freaking family meal because he always screws it up.”

“He’s trying to make it right, Blaine,” Kurt pointed out. He may not have a great love for Blaine’s father but in this instance he had to agree that it seemed Carl Anderson was trying to do something good. “He just went about it in all the wrong ways.”

“God,” Blaine exclaimed. “Do you realize that this means my father knocked up my mother and then left his wife because she was pregnant with his kid?”

“You don’t know that’s what happened, Blaine,” Kurt tried to soothe him.

“The dates add up, Kurt,” Blaine sniffled and then straightened his shoulders. Kurt nearly took a step back at the sudden look in Blaine’s eyes. It was like a wall had slammed into place and all the love that normally shone in out was gone.

“Blaine,” Kurt said his name softly.

“I can’t,” Blaine replied. “I’d like to go, please.”

“Sure,” Kurt agreed. “I’ll tell Dad and Carole and we’ll head back to Lima.”

“And then to the airport,” Blaine told him. “I want to get as far away from here as I can.”

Kurt nodded, hugging Blaine again. Blaine was stiff in his arms and Kurt frowned. He didn’t like this.
He didn’t like it at all.

*

The drive back to Lima was torture for Blaine. He just wanted to go and get away from the whole thing – his family and Cooper and the hell that was once again his life. He was so, so tired of being constantly slapped in the face by his father’s words and deeds.

He was done.

Carole and Burt made small talk on the way back but Blaine didn’t say a word the entire drive. Kurt just sat next to him in the backseat, holding tightly to his hand. Blaine wondered if he was scaring Kurt with his behavior but he didn’t care. If he let himself feel what he was feeling, he might actually break and he wasn’t sure if he could come back from that.

Their bags were packed up into the rental car without many words exchanged. Carole and Burt hugged them goodbye and Blaine pushed away the ache in his chest because Kurt’s parents were never going to be his parents no matter how much they treated him like family and it was time he stopped pretending that his own family was going to get better.

He knew better now.

*

Holidays are the best, especially for family reunions, right @BlaineAnderson?
@CooperAnderson

WTF?

Can someone explain to me if this tweet means what I think it means?

SOMEONE GO MESSAGE KURT AND JEFF.

Please don’t do that. We have no idea what this could mean or if it even means anything at all. We don’t need to involve Kurt and Jeff in our drama.

OMFG. I WAS JUST GOING ON THE OTHER WEEK ABOUT COOPER AND BLAINE LOOKING ALIKE AND NOW THERE’S A TWEET THAT THEY MIGHT BE RELATED SOMEHOW HOLY SHIT ALSDIHFJA;SLDIJKF

Here’s the skinny on Cooper Anderson, for the inquiring minds who want to know – he was born and raised in Ohio and then his mother moved with him to California when he was around nine. He’s had some bit parts on a few CSIs and Law and Order before he landed the Free Credit Rating Today dot Com commercials.

Here’s a link to his bio from IMDB.

I wonder how they’re related. Wouldn’t it be trippy if they were long lost brothers or smthg? #I watch too many soaps #sorry # I’ll go put myself in the corner now

*

Blaine put down his script and sighed, staring at the wall across from him in the makeup trailer. One of the makeup ladies was working on Jeff next to him, and Blaine knew he’d be next.

Filming was going to suck – about as much as everything sucked these days. Since the disastrous Thanksgiving dinner with his family, Blaine hadn’t spoken to his parents once, even though they’d called multiple times. Even Cooper had called and tweeted him a few times, both of which Blaine also ignored – he definitely didn’t want to speak to his… brother.

He was pretty sure that Kurt thought he was being overdramatic (which was ironic, coming from Kurt), but he just couldn’t do it. Since it seemed Kurt was on his parents’ side (he was really on Cooper’s side and if Blaine had to hear one more time how great it could be to have a brother, he was going to scream), he couldn’t talk about it with anyone.

Now there was this – the day had finally arrived. James was going to cheat on Toby with Edward and the whole Joby relationship was going to go to shit. The fans would hate him and hate James and Blaine was just over all of it.

He wanted to climb into bed, pull the covers over his head and wake up a month ago, when things were good and he didn’t have a long lost brother.

He’d always thought the saying “innocence is bliss” was clich�, but now he longed for that innocence with every fiber of his being.

*

Soaps in Depth

Big shake ups are coming to Chance of a Lifetime! The long running soap is getting some new blood in the form of Michael Hendricks, as played by newcomer Cooper Anderson.

I: So Cooper, tell us a little bit about your character, Michael. What’s he like?

CA: Dark and brooding with a mysterious past. He’s definitely in town to cause some trouble. *he points* But the fans wouldn’t want it any other way.

I: So far you’ve done some work as an extra and of course, the credit rating commercials where you sing. Do you think Michael will be a singer?

CA: Wouldn’t that be amazing? I’ve run the idea passed the writers a few times.

I: Has it been difficult to play such a dark character?

CA: Not to be melodramatic, but I’ve drawn a lot from personal experiences and I think I can relate a lot to what Michael’s been through.

I: Would you be willing to elaborate?

CA: Well, it’s like, Michael’s in all this pain? And I get that because I know what that’s like. I spent a lot of my childhood not knowing my father. *he pauses* We’ve recently reconnected, which has been great. I even got to meet a brother I didn’t know I had.

I: That’s amazing!

CA: It has been truly, truly magical. One of the reasons I wanted to get on Chance of a Lifetime is because it films in New York and moving there would put me closer to my brother. *he leans closer and whispers* Blaine’s an actor, too. It’s adorable how he took after me.

I: How sweet! When do you start filming?

CA: Next week! The fans can expect me to air in January.

DaltonFan
uM okay, this was in my soaps week magazine (don’t judge me) and he name drops who I think is Blaine and says they’re brothers and add that into Cooper’s tweet from Thanksgiving and someone send some fucking help

omfg Blaine has a brother I can’t

I can’t imagine what it must have been like to find out you had a brother you’ve never met

This is insane

I WAS SERIOUSLY ONLY JOKING WHEN I SPECULATED THEY WERE RELATED OMFG OF ALL THE FUCKING THINGS TO BE RIGHT ABOUT I HAD TO BE RIGHT ABOUT THIS. CAN JOBY BE IN THE SAME PLACE NOW *waits to see if luck holds out and I can be right about this too*

He’s really pretty. JFC, look at the resemblance.

I SUDDENLY NEED PICS OF BLAINE AND COOPER TOGETHER AND OH GOD WITH KURT BECAUSE OMG THE HOTNESS WOULD KILL ME DEAD.

BRB, WRITING THREESOME FIC #what #you all know you were thinking about it too

*

Kurt was at the end of his rope. He didn’t know what to do. Blaine was being distant and Kurt knew it wasn’t because of him but it still stung a little. He just didn’t know what else he could do or say that would make the situation okay for Blaine.

He sighed, going through the dance moves that Cassie had shown them in class. He and Rachel had stuck around after to practice, since Cassie was still haranguing Rachel at every turn. Adam had stuck around to help out, offering corrections and suggestions as needed.

“Coffee?” Adam asked when they decided they were too exhausted to do more. Kurt checked his watch and nodded.

“Sure, Blaine won’t be home for a few hours yet,” Kurt said. “Rachel?”

“I can’t,” she replied, gathering up her things. “I promised Finn I’d be home for dinner. He’s trying out a new vegan recipe.”

She pressed a kiss to Kurt’s cheek and dashed off, leaving him with Adam.

“Guess it’s just us.” Adam offered him a small smile.

“Guess so,” Kurt murmured. They walked silently through the halls, heading for the coffee cart in the lobby. The silence was awkward and Kurt didn’t know what exactly to do about it. “Why don’t we just take these to go and we can talk while we walk to the subway?”

“Sure,” Adam agreed after a moment. They headed outside into the brisk late fall air and Kurt took a moment to tighten his coat around him. He was glad they’d stopped for something warm to drink.

Adam brought up one of the moves Cassie had shown them in class and that passed the time as they walked. They went around a news vendor, trying not to bump into others on the crowded sidewalk, when Kurt saw something that made his heart stop.

“Oh, no,” he managed, staring. “Oh, crap.”

“Kurt, what is it?” Adam asked, coming to stand next to him.

Kurt pointed to the tabloid in front of him, with the large headline that read “Scandal rocks Anderson family: Long lost brothers reunited!” There was a large side by side photo comparison of Blaine and Cooper underneath it.

This was not good.

*

“James, what’s wrong?” Toby asked. “You’ve been weird this entire conversation. I know the distance sucks but…”

“It does suck,” James murmured, tears coming to his eyes against his will. “I don’t… I miss you so much.” He clenched the phone tightly in his fist.

“You know how important this is to me, James. Don’t make me feel guilty about this.”

“I know, Toby, I know, I just…” James couldn’t say it, but he knew he had to. He had to get the words out.

“What is it?” Toby asked, sounding impatient.

“I was with someone,” James replied, shocking himself.

“What?” Toby asked after a long moment of silence.

“You heard me.” James couldn’t bear to say it again. “Toby…”

“I can’t do this,” Toby muttered, and then there was a dial tone in James’ ear. James dropped the cell phone to his bed and laid back on it, tears coming in earnest now. It was all ruined.

*

Kurt tried waiting up until Blaine got home, but it was pointless. He fell asleep and Blaine didn’t wake him when he came in. When Kurt woke up in the morning, Blaine was gone.

He debated about what to do over his morning cup of coffee, before finally texting Blaine.

Please call me when you get a minute. I have to tell you something.

Kurt’s phone rang twenty minutes later.

“Hi,” Blaine greeted him quietly when he answered. “What’s up? I only have a few minutes.”

“I wanted to talk to you last night,” Kurt said. “I saw something on the way home and I don’t think you’re gonna like it.”

“What?” Blaine asked, sounding tired.

“Cooper’s talked to the press.”

There was silence on the line and for a moment Kurt thought Blaine might have hung up. “I can’t do this right now,” Blaine muttered. “I’ll talk to you when I get home.”

Then he did hang up and Kurt was left staring at the phone in his hand.

*

Blaine stared at the phone in his hand for a long time, and then he dialed a number, lifting it to his ear to hear it ring.

"Hi! You’ve reached Cooper Anderson’s voicemail. Cooper can’t come to the phone right now because he’s busy perfecting his art. Please leave a message because he definitely wants to talk to you!”

The beep came and Blaine took a breath.

“It’s Blaine,” he said into the phone, angry. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but it stops now. Stop the tweets, stop the calls, and stop the interviews. We’re not brothers and we’re never going to be brothers. Stop screwing up my life.”

He hung up and then redialed. “Jules,” he said when his favorite publicist answered. “We’ve got a problem.

*

OH GOD PLEASE TELL ME THIS IS A FUCKING FAKE.

Someone actually found that lying on the floor on the set and posted it? I mean really #obviously a troll
IT SAYS THAT JAMES CALLS TOBY AND TELLS HIM HE CHEATED I CANNOT HANDLE THIS WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS THIS IS NOT OKAY

I’m fine #that’s a fucking lie I will never be okay again

I’m in a spiral

NO. NONONONONONONONONONONONO

If I close my eyes and pretend it’s not true will that make it not be true?

Send help.