Kurt hated hospitals. Always has, always would. He hated coming here when he fell ill in his first week of kindergarten and the nurse distracted him with pictures of animals whilst the doctor put a needle in his hand as he screamed and screamed and screamed for his daddy who was just outside. He hated seeing his mother hooked up to tubes and beeping machines as every time he visited her eyes shone less brightly and her smile looked more forced as her condition deteriorated. He hated seeing his father, his only remaining family, lying there silent and pale and not knowing if he would ever wake up again.

So when Rachel called him up and asked him to come to the hospital with him, it didn't take long for him to blurt out "No!"

It was the small sob and quiet "Please, Kurt. I jus- I need you here" which made him climb into the Navigator and back carefully out of his driveway.

He didn't know what was wrong. The Berrys visited the hospital every week so that Rachel could sing for the children in paediatrics but that was in Lima and this hospital was all the way over in Westerville, so he was completely unprepared for what was awaiting him. When he entered the hospital and found one of Rachel's dads stood by the entrance to the over-priced gift shop he simply said "Come with me, Kurt. Rachel will explain everything" and set off down the long, winding corridors.

They passed through walkways of peach and pale yellow and eventually stopped outside a set of double-doors.

"I'll go get Rachel. Would you mind cleaning your hands?" the man muttered, gesturing towards the hand sanitizer on the wall before ducking through the doors. Rachel emerged soon after the doors stopped swinging and throwing her arms around his shoulder burst into tears.

Startled, and knocked back a little from the force from which she had thrown herself into him, he dropped his bag to the floor beside him and wrapped his arms around her shaking back, muttering soothing nonsense into her ear like his Mom used to do when he was upset or sick and needed patching up. After twenty minutes she withdrew her face from his collar, sniffing and wiped her shiny face with the backs of her hands. Her eyes were bloodshot and swollen and her face red and blotchy from the crying. Kurt simply pulled a fresh baby wipe from the packet in his satchel and carefully brushed it over her skin, removing the salty streaks running down her cheeks as he hushed her attempts at apologising for the past few minutes.

"So," Kurt dumped the used wipes into the bin and sat them both down in the uncomfortable chairs, "do you want to talk about it? You and your fathers are both alright?"

"We're all fine." Rachel sniffed. "It's, it's my aunt. And hi-him." She hiccupped and looked like she was about to burst into tears all over again.

Kurt slid over on the seats and pulled her head so that her left cheek rested on his shoulder. With his right hand, he slowly slid his fingers through the strands of her hair in a calming motion. "How about you start from the beginning? Why are we at the hospital? Why are we at this hospital?"

"There was a car accident." Rachel said quietly, staring straight ahead at a smear on the floor tile. "My aunt, uncle and my- my Blaine." Kurt didn't comment on her hesitation, but continued stroking her hair so she carried on. "They were on their way back from, something when they crashed. Just veered off the road and hit a tree. They didn't make it. Roger died in the car and Helena, dad's sister, died on the way here. Blaine, Blaine's in there." She pointed to the doors through which Kurt could see the outline of her dads' talking with two women. "He came out of surgery about an hour after I called you. I, I just can't see him Kurt. Not knowing that he, he's-" and Rachel broke into tears again.

The double doors opened and Kurt could see the adults clearly for the first time. First came Rachel's dads who immediately swooped down and scooped Rachel away with them, moving to sit on the next bench as they attempted to soothe her. Behind them was a doctor and

"Miss Corcoran?" Kurt was surprised to see Rachel's birthmother here. Last thing he'd heard about her was that she had adopted Quinn and Puck's daughter Beth last year after New Directions lost at Sectionals, quit coaching for Vocal Adrenaline and moving to New York to start her life over. What was she doing here?

The doctor spoke briefly to her once more then turned and exited back through the still swinging doors and into the first room leading off from it, presumably to go check on her patients.

"Hello, Kurt." she said and tucking a strand of hair behind one ear sat next to him. "I'm guessing that Rachel hasn't had a chance to explain things properly to you yet."

"No, just that her aunt and uncle were involved in a car accident and that her cousin just came out of surgery, but I don't understand. What are you doing here?"

Shelby sighed and shook her head a little sadly. "Blaine isn't Rachel's cousin, Kurt." At his confused expression, she elaborated. "He's her brother."

Kurt remained silent, head spinning. Rachel had a brother? Well, that certainly made her original song Only Child rather pointless. He turned to face woman and made a 'go-on' gesture.

"I wasn't just pregnant with Rachel all those years ago, Blaine was there too. Only there were complications and he was born early. Very early. I didn't tell her dads. I couldn't bare it if they decided that they wouldn't want to pay me for a child anymore. So I lied. I said that everything was fine and with Rachel it was. She was born and she was healthy and loud and perfect as a baby should be. They were so happy and so I showed them Blaine. He'd gotten better by then, the doctors had worked wonders and he was getting healthier all the time. They were surprised and a little angry with me for keeping him from them but they said that they would take him in too." Shelby paused and her hands twisted in her lap. "But his sister, Helena, had other ideas. She and her husband were unable to have children and begged and begged to have Blaine. She wanted to be a mother more than anything and eventually they broke down and said that they could have Blaine and they would say instead that he was her cousin.

"We just didn't factor how big a problem Roger would be. Unbeknown to us at the time, Roger was extremely homophobic and had been incredibly jealous that two men could have a child together, two in fact, but he and his wife couldn't have any. As soon as they had Blaine, they uprooted and moved several hours away." Shelby gestured over to the Berrys. "They were distraught but there was nothing they could do. Roger had turned his sister had turned against on him and the adoption was all legal. If they tried to get Blaine back by any means they would tell Rachel everything about who her Mom was and cause of a heck of trouble for the Berrys. All they could do was pretend that Blaine was their nephew and Rachel would still be able to see him once a year when she visited in Spring Break."

"And now?" Kurt asked. "What's going to happen? To him. To them."

"We simply don't know, he only woke up for a few minutes. They were able to tell him that Helena and Roger didn't make it and that was it. Slipped back under." She sighed. "I've spoken with Rachel and she knows all this and why, but I just don't know how he'll take it. I know I have Beth now and I love her dearly, but-"

She seemed incapable of continuing. Her eyes, like Rachel's before, were swimming with tears which threatened to slip down her face and Kurt fished a packet of Kleenex from the pocket in his bag and offered her one. With a small smile she accepted as the doctor came back through the doors.

"He's awake. You can see him now."

So yes, this is my take on the Anderberry siblings idea. I wanted them to be siblings in as many ways as possible, ie blood and not just adoption, but also wanted the fresh, meeting each other for the first time and not hidden away and unheard of/not mentioned or seen for seval years. So this gives them the chance to grow.

So, what do you think of the direction I've gone in? Do you like it? Do you see certain things happening? And how is Blaine different from the Blaine Anderson we all know and love? You'll find out soon. (Hint: Those who review get replies and find out quicker.)

PS. The whole 'missing first couple of weeks of Kindergarten' thing is a true story. I missed my first two weeks of Reception when I was 4 because I was getting tests done in the hospital and I screamed and cried so loud when my dad let me get the injections get done by myself - he's afraid of needles. And they never did work out what was wrong with me.