“This is Cooper Anderson. I'll call you back if you leave a message with your name and number after the beep,” the voicemail said. Kurt sighed and swallowed. He'd never talked to Blaine's older brother, but now that Blaine was in the hospital, it was time to.

            “Um, hi, Cooper. I'm Kurt, Kurt Hummel, boyfriend of your brother Blaine. Blaine's in the hospital. He's injured and he keeps mumbling your name. We're at the West Lima Hospital; third floor, room eleven. My number is 419-555-0172,” Kurt said lamely before hanging up. Kurt sighed and went back into Blaine's room to comfort him.

!

            Cooper had just gotten off work and was checking his voicemail when he heard Kurt's message. “Shit,” he muttered before getting into his car and taking off towards Lima. When he reached the hospital, he walked right in and took the elevator. Spotting room 11, he saw a tall brunet boy standing outside the closed door.

            “Hi, you're Kurt, right?” Cooper asked the boy, who nodded.

            “Yeah, are you Cooper?” Kurt whispered, tears rimming his eyes.

            “That's me. What happened?” Cooper was scared; last time Blaine was in the hospital, he couldn't sleep at night.

            “We were in a parking garage, our Glee clubs were having a sing-off, and then one of the Warblers threw a slushie. It was meant for me, but Blaine dove in front of me and took it. He was on the ground, yelling about how much his eye was burning,” Kurt explained, trying to hold back the tears. “Some of our friends and I got him here, and the doctor said the cornea is scratched. We still don't know what did it, but he's sedated right now.” Kurt slid down to the floor, sniffling; Cooper bent down and put a hand on his shoulder.

            “He's gonna be okay,” Cooper said confidently, although he was trying not to cry himself. “Blaine's strong. He'll get through this, just like last time.”

            “Wait, what? Blaine's been in the hospital before?” Kurt looked up, frightened.

            “Yeah, he and one of his friends were beaten up before their Sadie Hawkins dance,” Cooper said.

            “I remember he told me about that,” Kurt mumbled, remembering inviting Blaine to the junior prom.

            “Who did this? It was one of his Warbler friends, but which one?” Cooper looked at Kurt, who was wiping away tears.

            “I don't know if he was really friends with the guy. His name is Sebastian Smythe, and he's been trying his damnedest to break up me and Blaine so he could have him. Sebastian's a psycho and a slut,” Kurt replied. “I'm a nonviolent person, but I would punch Sebastian in that smirk I bet he's wearing right now if I could.”

            “You don't worry about this Sebastian, Kurt. I'll take care of him,” Cooper promised before he stood up and left the hospital.

!

            Cooper headed straight for Dalton Academy; he had been the one to drive Blaine there on his first day. Their parents refused to talk to Blaine before he left the house. Cooper was the one who always took care of Blaine, whether Blaine wanted him to or not. Cooper got out of the car, walked to the front door, and knocked. The door opened and two boys stood there, looking curious. One was short and had black hair; the other was a taller blond.

            “Uh, hi, is there a Sebastian Smythe here?” Cooper asked.

            “Yeah, he's here,” the blond said. “Sebastian, someone's here to see you!” he yelled.

            “Come on in,” the black-haired boy said. “I'm Nick and this is Jeff.” Cooper shook both boys' hands. A tall brunet walked over, arms crossed across his chest.

            “Hi,” he said shortly. “Nick, Jeff, you two scram now.” Nick and Jeff took off on the last word; Cooper saw the one named Nick look back at Sebastian with a scared look on his face. “So who are you?”

            “I'm Cooper, and you're Sebastian?” Sebastian nodded and looked Cooper up and down before smirking.

            “Are you here for the fun I promised online?” Sebastian asked smoothly. Cooper grabbed the boy and slammed him against the wall. “Whoa, I like 'em feisty,” Sebastian whispered.

            “Shut up,” Cooper snapped. “What did you put in the slushie?”

            “How do you know about…I mean, what are you talking about?” Sebastian tried to look innocent, but Cooper scowled and slammed Sebastian against the wall again.

            “What did you put in the slushie that hospitalized my little brother?” Cooper asked, looking daggers at the boy.

            Sebastian looked confused for a second before the realization dawned on him. “You're…you're Blaine's brother?” The boy looked absolutely terrified now.

            “Got that right, you little shit,” Cooper snarled.

            Sebastian swallowed hard and blinked. “P-Please don't hurt me. I swear to G-God that slushie wasn't m-meant to hurt B-Blaine,” he stammered.

            “The fact that it wasn't meant for Blaine isn't the point. You wanted to hurt Blaine by hurting Kurt, and I'm not for that either. There's only one person in this world who can mess with Blaine and that's me. I am going to ask you one last time. What did you put in that slushie?”

            “I-I put r-rock salt in it. I didn't m-mean it. I'm sorry,” Sebastian said, actually looking remorseful.

            “You need to apologize to Blaine and Kurt,” Cooper said, releasing Sebastian. “And you need to show them you're actually sorry.”

            Sebastian mulled it over for a second, and then snapped his fingers. “I got it.”

!

            Cooper drove Sebastian back to the hospital, but made a quick stop on the way. Sebastian walked hesitantly towards Blaine's room.

            “I'll make sure Kurt doesn't attack you,” Cooper said from behind him. Sebastian stepped into the room and Kurt looked up.

            “What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded, storming over to the door. “Come to hurt Blaine again?”

            “No, Kurt, I'm not. I'm actually here to apologize,” Sebastian said softly. Kurt saw the hurt in the taller boy's green eyes and moved out of the way. “Blaine? It's Sebastian, and I promise I'm not here to hurt you.”

            “What are you doing here?” Blaine moaned, leaning back against his pillows.

            “I'm sorry, Blaine, and Kurt too. It was just a joke that went too far,” he replied. “None of the other Warblers knew about it. It was all me, and I'm here to make it up to you.”

            Kurt stood up again. “How can you make anything right after you injured Blaine?” he asked.

            “There's nothing I can do to make it right, but I hope this helps a little bit,” Sebastian said, pulling out a paper bag, removing a slushie and a little baggie. Kurt flinched. “I'm not going to use this on either of you, I swear. This is your time, Kurt. The slushie I threw was meant for you, and it was laced with rock salt.” Kurt saw a tear roll down Sebastian's cheek. “I am so sorry, you guys. I doubt this will do any good, but I did the same thing to this slushie, and Kurt, you can go ahead.”

            “You're actually willing to let me injure you so we forgive you?” Kurt asked, looking incredulous.

            “You don't need to forgive me. I've been a jerk from day one, and there is nothing that should get you to forgive me. Starting now, I'm going to be completely honest and everything's going to be fair,” Sebastian promised. "No more messing with you and your Glee club. I'm planning on bringing the Warblers by tomorrow to apologize. I'm going to tell them everything, and we're going to compete at Regionals. We're going to cheer on the New Directions because it's the right thing to do.”

            “Why do I think he's lying?” Kurt turned to Blaine, who shrugged.

            “You have every right to think I'm lying, Kurt, but I'm not,” Sebastian said, putting a hand on Kurt's shoulder. “Just go ahead and do it.” Sebastian moved away and closed his eyes, waiting for the attack, but it didn't come. He opened his eyes to see Kurt still sitting where he was.

            “If I did that, I'd be just like you,” Kurt said. “I won't do it. I can't.”

            “I should go then,” Sebastian said, picking up the slushie and baggie, and leaving the room.

            “I can't believe that just happened,” Kurt muttered.

!

            The next day, Kurt and Cooper had rounded up the New Directions and gathered in the auditorium, where Sebastian and the Warblers were waiting onstage.

            “Aw, hell to the no, what is he doing here?” Mercedes demanded.

            “I am going to go all Lima Heights on his meerkat face,” Santana yelled, starting for the stage, but Sam and Puck held her back.

            “Satan, calm down. He's not here to hurt us,” Kurt said, pulling Santana into a seat.

            “I'm not here to cause any more grief,” Sebastian said. “I wanted to apologize to all of you for what I did to Blaine.”

            “Sebastian didn't tell us what he had put in that slushie,” Nick piped up. “Seb, you want to tell them?”

            “Yeah, I put rock salt in it.” With these words, Santana broke away from the boys and made her way onto the stage.

            “Santana, come back here!” Quinn called. Finn, Puck, Sam, and Mike all trooped onstage and restrained Santana as she tried to claw out Sebastian's eyes.

            “Anyway, Seb told us what he did and we're here to apologize,” Jeff said. Sebastian straightened his blazer and started to sing:

“There comes a time when we heed a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
And it's time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all”

            Nick and Jeff duetted on the next verse:

“We can't go on pretending day by day
That someone, somehow will soon make a change
We are all a part of Gods great big family
And the truth, you know
Love is all we need”

            As the Warblers began to sing the chorus, Finn, Rachel, Sam, Quinn, Kurt, and Cooper joined them and sang along:

“We are the world, we are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
Its true we'll make a better day
Just you and me.”

!

            “I'm sorry to all of you. What I did was really messed up, and I apologize,” Sebastian said. “See you guys at Regionals?” Finn and Rachel nodded and took each other's hands. “Come on, you guys. Let's go sing to Blaine.” The Warblers hugged the members of New Directions and followed Sebastian.

            “I think he's actually sorry,” Sam said.

            “You should've seen him last night,” Kurt put in. “He actually brought a slushie, with the rock salt, to the hospital and said I could throw it in his face.”

            “Well, why didn't you?” Santana asked, still in her seat.

            “Because I would be just like him, and that's not who I am,” Kurt replied.

            “Can I be the one to ask?” Finn interrupted. “Who is this guy?” He motioned to Cooper.

            “I'm Cooper, Blaine's big brother. Kurt called me last night to tell me Blaine was in the hospital,” Cooper explained. “I talked it over with Kurt and went to hunt down Sebastian. I got him to admit to what he did, and the rest of it was his idea.”

            “The slushie and the rock salt was his idea?” Rachel asked and Cooper nodded.

            “Well, I should go back to the hospital and make sure Blainers is okay,” Cooper said as he headed towards the door. Kurt, Finn, and Rachel followed him.

            “Tell Mr. Schue we'll be back later,” Rachel said.

            “I have something I want to sing to Blaine anyway,” Kurt added. “You guys know the song 'Ben' right?”