“Hey sport!” Blaine said enthusiastically as he was crashed into by his favorite (okay his only) nephew. The boy looked up at him and smiled.

“Uncle Blaine!” He squealed in delight, laughing when Blaine smacked a kiss against his forehead. “Daddy’s in the kitchen, cookin’ the speak.” (He still hadn’t gotten out of the habit of saying the word steak with a “p” sound instead of a “t.”)

“Good,” he said, grinning fondly. “I am starving.” Kurt walked- more like tripped- into the house while Blaine tickled Tony until he was near crying, writhing on the floor in a fit of giggles. Blaine picked Anthony back up and stood him on his feet, placing a steady hand on his stomach and patting it once. “Steak’s your favorite, isn’t it?”

Tony nodded happily with a toothy grin. “Yep!”

Chuckling, Blaine ruffled his hair and stood back up. “I’m going to go see if your dad needs any help.” He left, leaving Kurt and Tony alone.

“Hi Uncle Kurt!” Anthony greeted him with a hug as well, and Kurt was shocked at the usage of the title “uncle.” The bag that he had tripped over when entering was once again an obstacle for his legs and he almost collapsed again.

“Oh Tony, you don’t have to call me Uncle, you can just call me Kurt.” Tony looked confused. Kurt straightened himself out and shoved his bag in the hallway so it wouldn’t get in anybody’s way.

“But you and Uncle Blaine are gettin’ married, right?” Kurt was flustered and just nodded. He had no idea why, but a blush spread across his face. “Well then you’ll be my uncle too, right?”

Kurt laughed then shrugged, but his heart was practically melting. “Sure, I suppose so.”

Anthony looked at him for a little bit before getting bored and running to the TV. He turned it on to the Superman movie. He watched intently and barely noticed when Kurt seated himself down next to him. “So you like Superman?” Tony looked at him quickly, nodding with the enthusiasm that only a child could have (either that, or Blaine on his good days.)

“Yeah!” he yelled out in response. “Superman is the bestest. He saves all the people from the bad guys. He can fly too,” he said while putting his arms out like an airplane’s wings and spinning them around. “Nothing can hurt him either, ‘cept that krypton stuff, but that’s like, really really hard to find,” he said, nodding matter-of-factly. “So nothing can hurt him! I want to be like him when I’m a grown up.” After his rant, he turned back to the television and crossed his legs on the couch in front of him.

Kurt pursed his lips amusedly, watching the show with him, wishing he could still harbor some of the innocence that the little boy next to him had, some of the goodness. If more people were like him, the world would be ten times better. He smiled and it only grew when Blaine snuck up behind him and kissed him on the cheek. “So Kurt,” Blaine huffed out as he sat in between the pair. “Do you happen to know what day it is today?”

Kurt practically saw Tony’s ears perk up at the question, and he turned his head to listen. “Well…” he pretended to think for a moment. “It’s the 10th right?”

“Yes, yes it is,” Blaine said, looking like he was deep in thought. “But it seems like there’s something we’re missing.” Tony looked between the two of them, trying to decide if they were joking or not. He turned to face Blaine, and poked him. “Oh, yes ‘Ton?” Blaine grinned mischievously. “Do you remember what today is?”

Tony sighed. “Uncle Blaine, it’s my birthday today.”

Blaine and Kurt feigned surprise, opening their mouths in fake shock.

“Well of course it’s your birthday!” Kurt yelled out after they couldn’t take his disappointed face anymore. Tony giggled when he realized that they were just joking, the relief apparent on his face. “We’d never forget your birthday kiddo.”

“That wasn’t very nice Uncle Blaine,” Tony muttered, but they could both tell that he was pleased that they remembered after all.

“Stop tormenting my kid,” a voice rang out from the doorway and Kurt turned his head to the side, not quite able to see the face of the speaker.

“Hello to you too Coop,” Kurt said before being pulled off the couch by the hand and smashed into a hug.

“Nice to see you, future brother in law. Keeping my brother satisfied?” Kurt blushed and Blaine smacked his older brother on the back of the head. Cooper laughed, looking between the two and was obviously pleased that they hadn’t killed each other yet.

“That’s none of your business Cooper.” The usage of his full name had Cooper backing down already, looking more serious.

“Uncle Blaine, wha’s that for?” Tony was pointing a stubby finger to Kurt and Blaine’s bag, a hint of underlying excitement showing.

“Well ‘Ton,” he started, kneeling down to his size. “We were hoping we could stay over here for the weekend with you guys.”

Anthony’s eyes widened and he gasped in surprise. “The whole weekend?” Blaine chuckled and nodded. “Wow daddy, can they stay?” Tony turned his eyes on his father, silently pleading with them. Even though Cooper had been the one to invite them, he pretended to consider it.

“Oh I don’t know,” he said, and Tony ran up to him and pulled at his shirt.

“Please daddy!” His bright blue eyes were staring at him with so much hope, he cracked and nodded.

“Of course they can stay.”

“YAY!” Tony yelled, surprising them all just a bit. “This is going to be so much fun, we can play with my toys and play Superman, I even got a bunch of action figures…” He dragged Blaine away to the huge box in the middle of the living room to show him all about his new items bought at the mall over the past couple of months.

Kurt watched the two interact, smiling tiredly. “Wow, he’s going to be a great dad someday.” The sentence was said to himself, but Cooper was within earshot so he caught it.

“Yeah,” he sighed out, putting an arm around Kurt’s shoulder. They stayed silent for a moment before Cooper looked at him, concerned. “You doing okay?” he asked, bumping their hips together companionably. “You seem kind of… blegh.”

Kurt chuckled and shrugged. “Me and Blaine barely got any sleep last night-“ when Cooper raised an eyebrow he shoved him away and laughed, even more so when Cooper just pulled him closer. “No not because of that youpervert, there was a party going on in one of the apartments above us and no matter how many times we complained, it never quieted down.” He sighed and rubbed his eyes. “So yeah, we’re both kind of on edge today.”

Cooper nodded without quite looking at him. “So how are you Coop? How have things been?” Cooper tensed and pulled his arm away, moving them to hug around himself slightly, and Kurt regretted asking as soon as he saw the guarded look. As soon as it happened, it was gone, and Cooper was running a hand through his hair with a sigh.

“I’ve been okay I suppose. Better.” He looked to Tony with a sad look in his eyes.

“That’s good,” Kurt replied, and now he was the one to pull Cooper to himself with a smile. “It’s progress.”

~

“Blaine?” Kurt called from the garage.

“Yeah?” He was humming, helping Cooper cook dinner while Kurt, who offered to carry the bags in, walked back and forth from the house to the guest room.

“You remembered the cake right?”

Blaine dropped the potato he was slicing onto the counter and it rolled off and onto the floor with a plop. “Oh shit.”

~
“I’m so sorry Kurt, I thought I left it in the fridge,” Blaine watched as his fianc� slowly panicked before his eyes. “We can go get a new one before we head over there; you don’t mind an hour or so of extra car time, do you ‘Ton?” He summoned Tony over, more for his own protection from Kurt than wanting to ask his nephew’s opinion. Tony had insisted on going with them, and Blaine was glad to let him, hoping the boy would lessen Kurt’s anger at him.

So he was pretty much using him as an adorable shield.

Kurt looked between the two with crossed arms. He was barely keeping himself composed, and Blaine could tell.

“Tony,” he started. “Go sit in the car, we’ll be out in a little bit.”

Tony nodded once and started hobbling away, his action figure tucked under his arm. He grabbed Blaine’s sleeve when he was almost out, and Blaine looked down to see him smiling brightly. “’S okay that my cake was melted Uncle Blaine. It’s a nice birthday today.” Blaine smiled as well and pulled him into a hug.

“Thanks kiddo,” he muttered. “Now you heard Kurt, please go wait in the car for us.”

“’Kay,” Tony looked over Blaine to smile quickly at Kurt, dimples pronounced on his face. Then he walked out, leaving them alone.

Blaine looked around before meeting Kurt’s eyes. He tried to smile, nervous, and Kurt huffed out a breath angrily.
I’m so screwed.

~~

“Look, I don’t understand why you’re ye-” Blaine started, turning the wheel of the car a little harder than necessary and exiting the parking lot while his boyfriend glared at him coldly enough to almost make him nervous. He was angry now though, he had almost had enough of Kurt scolding him constantly for something so unimportant.
“You left the cake out, Blaine,” Kurt near yelled. He pulled himself up by the arm of his car door so he could glare at Blaine properly. “We had to go and wait for 2 hours for them to make a new one, and now we’re late for his party. 2 hours, Blaine.” Blaine rolled his eyes.

“No one cares if we’re a little late Kurt. It doesn’t matter.”

“Yes it does!”

“Hey, Uncle Blaine, look!”

“I’m so fuc-fudging sorry for leaving it out, now can’t you just drop it?” Of course he knew Kurt wouldn’t just drop it, he knew it as soon as he saw the ice cream cake on the counter, all of it melting in the plastic container.

“Uncle Blaine.” The little boy in the back seat went ignored again as the couple up front bickered back and forth, exhaustion heightening the irritation against one another.

“I said I was sorry. I’m not apologizing again.”

“Uncle Blaine!”

Blaine snapped, hitting the steering wheel to glance angrily into the rearview mirror. “Not now Tony,” he snipped. He saw a smiling, dimply Tony with a Superman action figure raised in the air frown, then lower it, looking upset.

Looking at his nephew’s face, Blaine couldn’t help but feel bad. He sighed, running a hand through his hair roughly. “Sorry ‘Ton. What did you want me to-“

A scream shattered out from Anthony’s mouth and before Blaine’s mind could even process the noise, before he could even turn his head, a crash resounded in his eardrums

~~

There was no pain when Blaine finally came to.

There was only a dull throbbing sensation that he knew would only grow worse, but as he slowly stirred in the remains of his now ruined car, he couldn’t really bring himself to care. With a grunt (the absence of pain didn’t make moving any easier,) Blaine managed to turn slightly in his seat to look at the man beside him.

His eyes widened with horror at the sight of Kurt, bleeding and unconscious. He reached out for the other man, a ‘no’ forming on his lips, but the word died in his throat when he realized that his seatbelt was on and wouldn’t allow him to move far in his seat. With trembling hands, Blaine removed the single, flimsy barrier between him and Kurt before he moved closer to his fianc�.

“No,” he whispered, his hands hovering close to Kurt’s face, but never touching. He was afraid to touch. “No, please,” he added before taking a deep breath and trying to calm himself before he broke down, because breaking down would help nobody.

He’s alive, Blaine told himself with each shaky breath. He’s alive, he’s alive. It was now a mantra, keeping him grounded, helped him keep the cries building in his throat from ringing out.

When he finally felt that he was as calm as one could possibly be in this situation, he moved to see if there was any way to get Kurt out of the car. As he did so, he became aware of a slight whimper.

He froze, looking at Kurt with his breath caught in his throat, but the sound hadn’t come from the other man. His brow furrowed in confusion for a moment before something suddenly clicked in his mind, and he found himself moving as quickly as he could to get out of the car.

Kurt would be fine, he told himself as he moved.

Kurt was strong, after all.

Much stronger than an eight year old boy.

When he was out of the car, it took him a moment to stand, and he felt some sort of strength flood through his limbs when he finally managed to do so. But the sudden energy faded as soon as he looked towards the sound of the whimpers, and his eyes fell on the tiny form lying on the ground.

“Tony.”

The word was almost lost in a sob that wracked his body as he moved forward. He only managed to take a step before he fell to his knees by the car.

Ignoring every part of him that screamed for him to stop (You’re hurt, too. You can’t save everyone. Save yourself.), he crawled on his hands and knees to the body, ignoring the wet warmth of blood and the crunch of glass beneath his weight.

“You’re going to be okay,” Blaine whispered when he finally reached Tony. “We’re going to get you to the hospital, okay? And they’ll make you better. You’re going to be okay,” he repeated before pausing to take a deep, shuddering breath.

His eyes moved away from the broken child he was kneeling beside to the old man slumped over the wheel of his truck. He knew that part of him should be concerned for the man, because he could be dead, or dying, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Not when his fianc�’s blood was staining his clothes; not when his nephew was dying (and that’s the truth; Tony was dying, and there was nothing he could do,) and trapped in some stupid car on some lonely road in the middle of nowhere.

“Oh, God,” Blaine looked away from the old man and to the front of their own ruined car. He wanted to get up, to help Kurt, but he couldn’t move. He was frozen, and shaking, and he just wanted to close his eyes and pretend that this had never happened. He wanted to wake up in bed with Kurt’s arms wrapped around him and Tony sleeping in his own room, because they’re all safe and happy. He wanted all of what he was seeing to be a lie.

“U-uncle…”

The weakly spoken word caught Blaine’s attention and tugged him out of the safety of his fantasy land. He looked back over at Tony, and the boy was struggling to speak. He wanted to tell him to stop, to save his strength, because maybe, if Tony was quiet, death would be unable to find him. He didn’t say a thing, though.

“It hurts,” Tony finally managed. “I don’t…make it stop,” he looked like he wanted to say more, but those few whispered words are all he could get out and Blaine felt like screaming, because how is this fair?

Blaine didn’t scream.

Instead, he reached out and took hold of Tony’s hand. The boy’s hand failed to hold onto his, so Blaine held on a little tighter than usual to make up for it.

“I know,” he whispered, and when he did, he thought he heard his voice crack. He wasn’t sure. “I know. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” he repeated. “But…the ambulance. They’ll be here. You’ll…you’ll be okay,” he added. A while ago, Kurt had insisted that they buy the type of car that had a system to automatically call an ambulance in case of a crash. Blaine had told him he was silly. Now he was thankful for how cautious his boyfriend was, it may just have saved more than one life.

He took a pause to draw in a deep, shuddering breath. When he looked back down, Tony’s eyes had begun to slide shut.

“No, hey,” Blaine said. “Tony, stay awake. I’m going….I’m going to tell you a story. Your favorite one. So stay awake, okay?” He took another breath, squeezing Tony’s hand harder. “Once upon a time, there was a little boy, and this little boy was special. He was a superhero. He could fly high, and he could beat up anyone that tried to hurt him or the people he loved. He was invincible…” Blaine’s broke off, then, tears running down his face as he set down Tony’s hand and kneeled for a moment longer.

~~

The toy was stained with blood, and Blaine faintly wondered whose blood it was as he bent down to pick it up. To be honest though, he really didn’t want to know the answer to that question.

When the ambulance arrived, he was standing with the doll clutched to his chest, his lips moving as he whispered the tale of the invisible boy to the ears of one that couldn’t hear it if he tried.