“Nice to see you too, Bee.”

“Seriously, Coop, I thought you were shooting some Michael Bay film?”

“Yeah, well, I think my talents were wasted there,” he said with a shrug. Blaine’s brows knit together. Why would Cooper turn down Michael Bay? He’d seemed so excited about it before. Unless, they didn’t want him?

“Bay’s overrated,” Blaine said. “Hold out for J.J. Abrams.” Coop nodded.

“So, where were you? Swim practice?”

“Um, no,” Blaine said, feeling warmth rush to his cheeks and he ducked his head in an attempt to hide his flush from Coop.

“What is that? Bee, you’re blushing! Who is he? I want details.” Blaine let out a sigh. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to tell Cooper. In fact, he’d wanted an excuse to gush about Kurt. But for some reason, now that the opportunity had arisen, he felt bashful.

“His name is Kurt,” Blaine said, and Cooper blinked at him a few times.

“What, that’s all I get? Details, Blaine!”

“Alright, alright! Kurt. He’s in my grade. He’s fluent in French-”

“Is he hot?”

“That’s the thing about him,” Blaine began and Cooper gave him a look that said, “Blaine, your boyfriend better be hot.” “Kurt is-” Blaine took a minute to gather his thoughts about Kurt as images of his boyfriend danced through his mind, “-the most beautiful man, being, creature- anything, that I’ve ever seen. He’s gorgeous, and adorable, and yes, very hot.” Coop smiled at his brother.

“Sounds dreamy. When do I get to meet him?”

“Um, I can see if he’s free tomorrow? We’re going to a football game at McKinley tonight to watch his step-brother Finn play.” Cooper smiled sweetly at Blaine, who in turn rolled his eyes. Blaine pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Kurt’s number, avoiding Coop’s gaze as he waited for his boyfriend to answer.

“Blaine? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s great. I was wondering if I could bring a plus one to the game tonight? Apparently Cooper can’t wait any longer before meeting you.”

“Of course he can come, Blaine,” Kurt said like it was strange Blaine even had to ask. “I can’t wait to meet him either.”

“Great. Then I guess we’ll meet you there.”

“Sounds good. See you then. Love you.” Blaine felt like his heart might explode. Even though it wasn’t the first time he’d heard Kurt say the words, they always made him feel like he was floating. Like a cloud lazily floating above the rest of the world.

“Love you too,” Blaine said before hanging up. He didn’t even need to look over to know that Cooper was grinning larger than the Joker.

After a while of catching up it was time to leave the house and head over to McKinley High School. Blaine and Cooper’s excitement of both introducing and meeting Kurt was palpable; both boys stood outside the gates of the field and bounced on the balls of their feet as they waited for the Hudson-Hummel’s to arrive. Finally, after the Anderson brother’s toes had gone numb in the cold, Blaine recognized Burt’s truck pulling into the parking lot. “Please, Cooper, don’t be weird,” Blaine said, wanting this night to go perfectly.

“What? How am I weird?”

“I don’t know. Just, don’t talk about credit score reports or how dinosaurs still exist or-”

“What? But my dinosaur theory is a great conversation starter!”

“Coop, please, this is very important.” Cooper sighed dramatically.

“I promise not to be weird if the occasion doesn’t call for it.”

“It won’t.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

“Coop, please-”

“That’s the best I can do. Take it or leave it.” Blaine could see Kurt, Burt, and Carole, crossing the pavement and almost to them.

“Fine,” Blaine grumbled just as Kurt quickly closed the few feet between them and threw his arms around Blaine. Blaine immediately engulfed Kurt in a hug, pulling him tightly against his chest, loving the warmth. He felt Kurt press a soft kiss to his neck before pulling back and Blaine smiled at him. “Burt, Carole, Kurt, this is my brother, Cooper.”

“Oh my god, you’re the guy from the Free Credit Rating Today commercials, aren’t you?” Carole asked and Cooper shrugged.

“Yeah, that’s me.”

“Blaine, you didn’t tell me your brother’s famous,” Kurt whispered in Blaine’s ear and Blaine rolled his eyes.

“Silly me. How could I forget?” Kurt wrapped an arm around Blaine’s back and rubbed it softly.

“We should head inside and get some seats,” Burt was saying and they all made their way into the stands, finding relatively close seats. Once they were all settled in, however, a group of girls recognized Cooper and came over to ask him for photographs. Blaine sighed and rolled his eyes as he heard the girls gush about how hot his brother was. Blaine felt Kurt take his hand and he looked over to see Kurt leaning closer.

“Cooper may be hot, but you’re definitely the better looking brother,” Kurt said softly. Blaine smiled and squeezed his boyfriend’s hand. Blaine quickly glanced past Kurt and to his parents, confirming that they were engaged in conversation, before leaning in and kissing Kurt softly. As he pulled away, he heard Cooper “Oohing.” Blaine looked over at Cooper who was grinning at him.

“You two are almost too adorable,” he said, and Blaine felt Kurt lean into his side. “Bee, you never told me how you two met!” Coop looked over at Kurt. “Blaine doesn’t understand the full definition of the word ‘details.’” Kurt looked at Blaine for a further explanation before speaking.

“Well, actually, Blaine and I have known each other for years.”

“We just didn’t know each other.”

“Well,” Kurt began, about to say something about himself knowing Blaine, but Blaine squeezed his hand and Kurt smiled brilliantly at him.

“But our first date was a few weeks ago.”

“And how did that happen?” Coop asked. “I know Blaine didn’t make the first move. He’s a chicken.” Blaine blanched at his brother.

“Actually, Blaine asked me out,” Kurt said and Cooper raised he brows and his brother. Blaine shrugged. “It was after school one day and he asked me if I wanted to go to Breadsticks with him.”

“Breadsticks? Fan-cy,” Cooper said as he nudged Blaine’s shoulder.

“It was perfect,” Kurt said and Blaine smiled over at him.

“Because you were there.”

The game started soon after that and casual conversation melted into chants and cheers from both Anderson boys and Burt. More than a few times Blaine caught Kurt staring at him when he got too into the game. During half time the Cheerios came out on the field and did an elaborate performance. During a very provocative dance routine including dips and shakes, Blaine turned to Kurt and whispered, “Have you ever considered joining the Cheerios?” To which Kurt blushed and swatted his arm.

The game ended with the Titans winning 30-16. Afterwards, the Hudson-Hummels and the Andersons all went out to dinner to celebrate the win. As the group crowed into a both at Breadsticks, Blaine wondered when Lima would open up another restaurant. Honestly, there were only so many items on the menu.

They spent dinner talking about the game, the upcoming Glee competition, and Cooper’s Hollywood career. Blaine tried to focus on the conversation, but he kept thinking about the previous night when they’d been there with Sam and Tom. One look at Kurt said that he was thinking the same thing. The only difference was, Kurt had the visuals. Blaine reached his hand under the table and took Kurt’s, holding it tightly as if to assure the both of them that they were okay.

The rest of the night went smoothly and soon enough everyone was saying goodbye. Kurt and Blaine had been attached at the hip all night, and both were quite reluctant to say goodnight. “I’ll see you tomorrow, right?” Kurt asked, his bright blue eyes wide and unwavering as he stared into Blaine’s.

“Of course,” Blaine said immediately.

“I thought you said Kurt might be busy tomorrow,” Cooper said next to them. “So he’s too busy for me and not for you? Or are you both too busy for me?” Blaine rolled his eyes.

“We’re never too busy for you, Cooper,” Kurt said.

“Don’t encourage him,” Blaine muttered softly. “He’s like a puppy. If you pet him, he’ll never leave.” Kurt smiled.

“You’re like a puppy too, you know.”

“Yeah, but I’m your puppy. He’s the neighborhood stray.”

“I resent that,” Cooper began, but Blaine wasn’t listening anymore because it was impossible not to get lost in Kurt’s eyes, not that it was a bad thing by any means.

“Blaine- always good to see you,” Carole said, breaking Blaine’s strict concentration on Kurt. Blaine blinked and broke away from Kurt to give Carole a hug and Kurt went to say goodnight to Coop.

“You too, Carole. I didn’t get to say this earlier, but that scarf is lovely on you.” Carole grinned.

“Thanks. Kurt picked it out.”

“You needed more color,” Kurt said behind her and she turned around to swat him with the end on the scarf. Burt walked over and shook Blaine’s hand.

“Nice to have you join us tonight.”

“Thanks for inviting me. Nothing like a good football game. You were great, Finn.”

“Thanks, dude. I heard about the meet on Thursday. Awesome job on beating the Chipmunks.”

“Thanks,” Blaine said, and then it got kind of quiet. Burt cleared his throat.

“We’ll give you boys a minute. But only one.” Burt wrapped an arm around Carole and Carole pulled Finn’s sleeve to lead him to the car. Cooper winked before turning and going to his car. Kurt turned to Blaine and wrapped his arms around his neck.

“Thanks for coming tonight. Your play-by-plays of the game made it almost bearable to watch.” Blaine circled his arms around Kurt’s waist and held him close.

“Glad I could help. Maybe tomorrow night we can go out again. This time just the two of us?” Blaine was saying and he barely said it all before Kurt was agreeing. Blaine smiled up at Kurt.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love my family, and Cooper is cool, and Sam and Tom are fun, but I want to just be with you.” Kurt leaned forward and pressed his lips to Blaine’s, soft and slow. Blaine moved one of his hands to Kurt’s cheek and began to deepen the kiss when he heard Burt clear his throat. Blaine began to pull away, but Kurt held his face in place for a few more seconds. “Call me when you get home?” Kurt asked and Blaine hummed. He leaned in and kissed Kurt’s cheek.

“Love you.”

“Love you too.” Burt cleared his throat again. Kurt let out a groan before pulling away from Blaine and walking over to his father’s truck. Blaine smiled as he watched Kurt walk away before he heard a car horn. He turned around and saw Cooper waiting for him in the car. When Blaine got inside and put his belt on, he could feel Coop’s eyes on him.

“What?” Blaine asked and Coop shrugged before putting the car in gear and pulling out of the lot.

“Nothing. You just seem really happy with Kurt.”

“I am.”

“Good. He seems like a good guy for you.” Blaine smiled over at his brother. “And you were right.” Blaine’s brows knitted together in confusion and Coop smiled over at him. “He’s gorgeous.” Blaine’s face contorted with the size of his grin. “Good job, Bee.”

Once the Anderson’s got home, Blaine called Kurt and they talked for a long while until Kurt fell asleep. Blaine, however, seemed to be wide awake, so he got up and took a shower. Once he was clean and his fingers were getting pruny, Blaine got out and put on his pajamas- a pair of sweatpants, and went out to see if Cooper was still awake. To his dismay, his brother was passed out on the living room couch, so Blaine turned off the television, grabbed a water bottle from the fridge, and went back up to his room.

Blaine glanced at the clock; 1: 47. Blaine sighed. He still wasn’t tired. He looked around the room for something to do when his gaze landed on the Guardian books. “Might as well,” Blaine muttered before walking over to his desk and bringing them over to his bed. He got settled in and picked up the one he’d already started, the Guardian’s Guide, and continued where he’d left off.

A short while later Blaine found himself at the back of the book, staring at pages that seemed to be hand written by Kurt. They were journal entries. Blaine skimmed through a few of them before he realized that they were about him. Blaine bit his lip and went back to the first one, reading it thoroughly. 2004. That’s when the first one was. Kurt’s been saving his ass since 2004? With a sigh, Blaine continued on to the next entry and the next, finding each one worse than the rest. How could Kurt think that all of this was okay? Just a few days ago Kurt had said that he’d given his live “purpose.” How was putting Kurt through all this trouble a good thing? Blaine thought he might be sick.

After reading the many journal entries, Blaine got to the most recent.
March 2, 2011
Today started off and continued to go flawlessly, even with that stupid Share Circle, until dinner. Blaine, Thomas, Sam, and I went out on a sort of double-not-but-kind-of-date at Breadsticks. Everything was going great, and it seemed even Sam and Tom were getting more comfortable with each other. Then when we got up to leave, a man at another booth voice his opinion on seeing four boys on a double-not-but-kind-of-date. We went outside and Sam got upset so Tom went to talk to him leaving Blaine and I alone. I saw the guy from the booth come out of the restaurant with the rest of his group and they saw Blaine and I together still, in a compromising position, and decided to take out their anger on us. I tried to stop them, but they were all older and bigger and stronger. All I could do was block Blaine as best I could and try to absorb their blows, but once I couldn’t stand any longer they went for him too. They didn’t stop for a long time. I died first with Blaine a minute or two behind me. Now that Blaine knows about us, I didn’t have to make up an excuse to get him away, but I he asked what had happened. I don’t think he understands the severity or what could’ve happened. He says that it’s okay because it didn’t happen, but what he doesn’t know was that that was the first time I’d ever seen myself in a vision. It was the first time that I could’ve been there to help him and there wouldn’t be a need for a vision at all. He doesn’t get that I couldn’t save him. He doesn’t get that if I can’t save him, then I’m not doing my job. Why am I here if I can’t protect him? I’m useless. George, maybe I’m not cut out to be Blaine’s Paladin. I know that you and everyone else think I’m strong enough for this, but how am I supposed to protect him in battle if I can’t do jack-shit against a couple of thugs? I really think Blaine deserves someone better. Our only hope is to break past those blocks in his memory. Blaine needs his powers because I can’t protect him by myself. I mean, I can get him out of those situations, but once he’s in them I’m useless.

Blaine could see smeared spots on the page; Kurt had been crying when he wrote that. Blaine couldn’t say he blamed him since he was as well. Why couldn’t Kurt see that they were okay? It wasn’t that Blaine didn’t understand the severity of the situation the other night; he completely grasped that they had been inches from death. What he didn’t understand was why Kurt thought he was ill fit to protect him because of what could’ve happened. What Kurt didn’t seem to understand, was that it didn’t happen. It was just a vision, and even though it may have seemed real in the moment, it wasn’t. It could’ve happened, but it didn’t. Blaine hated that Kurt had to see that, but why wasn’t he happy that he had saved both their lives?

Blaine closed the book and placed it on his nightstand with the rest of them before crawling under his comforter. As he turned off the lamp on his bedside table and sunk into his mattress, Blaine promised to do whatever it took to break down the blocks in his head. Not so could get his powers, but so Kurt could finally have some peace of mind.