Cooper grabbed the little red heart off of Blaine's desk, his giggle had a tint of maliciousness, but it was more innocent teasing than anything else. He held it up, reading, it aloud, mocking his younger brother,
"I like you, Happy Valentines Day, love Blaine." Blaine grabbed for it, trying to get it out of his brother's hands, but he held it up above the shorter boy's hands. Blaine jumped in the air, attempting to get his Valentine back, he'd worked hard to write all that, but still he couldn't reach.
"Cooper, give it back!" Blaine whined at his brother, but still the older boy would not return his brother's little paper heart.
"I'm gonna tell Daaaaad," Cooper said to Blaine, grinning; he enjoyed teasing his brother. Blaine's large dark eyes widened, this was a secret, he hadn't wanted anyone to know… Being 6, this was Blaine's first crush, and he was shy about it.
"No Coop! Please don't!" Blaine stuck his lower lip out, still trying to play to his older brother's sympathies, but this failed, and Cooper darted off to their father's office, laughing loudly. Blaine chased him, but couldn't keep up, and his little feet fumbled on an over-turned carpet corner. He tumbled to the ground, tears leaking onto his round cheeks and running into his untamed curly hair. He heard his father's footsteps, and stood back up, wiping the tears from his cheeks; no one liked a crybaby, especially his father.
"Blaine, what's this? Is there a girl you like?" His father smiled down at him, ruffling his son's hair affectionately. Blaine thought about the girls in his class. Rachel was too bossy, Santana and Quinn too mean, Brittany too gullible, and Mercedes and Tina were nice enough, but they were his friends! Blaine thought for a minute, trying to decide a feasible option to report to his father. Sugar? No, Blaine didn't mind Sugar, but he didn't really know her either; her father travelled a lot and she often missed school. After giving up on his false options, Blaine settled on the truth.
"No, Daddy, I don't like a girl,"
"Then Blaine, son, who's this for? Your Grandma?" His father's eyebrows crinkled together, confusedly.
"No Daddy," Blaine looked down at the ground, "It's for Kurt…" His father quickly began to look angry.
"Blaine, Kurt is a boy's name….
"I know! There's a boy in my class! I like him a lot! He's pretty, and we play fairy tale games together, and have tea parties during lunch and he always wears pretty clothes." Blaine smiled, thinking of Kurt. Kurt was special, Blaine had always known that. Blaine's father clenched his fists, his condition clearly deteriorating quickly. He gritted his teeth, and left the room for a moment, returning with a horse whip. That was the day Blaine got his first spanking. Cooper cried as he watched his brother sob almost uncontrollably, feeling terrible for bringing this fate upon his brother. It was a house rule that whenever one boy was disciplined, the other boy had to watch the punishment, as to make sure they would never do the same thing. Both boy's hated it, but where Blaine rarely got in trouble, Cooper often did. After Blaine's punishment, he returned to his room.
"Cooper, I know what you just saw may have confused you, but its time you learned about this," their father had calmed down, but Cooper was still upset with him.
"Why did you do that to Blaine? He just wanted to give a Valentine to the person that he liked…" Being 9, Cooper had suffered his fair share of beatings, but none as harsh as the one he'd just witnessed.
"Because Cooper, Blaine liked a boy. That's wrong. Its evil, God does not approve of such things."
"But why? Isn't all love good?"
"No, love between two people of the same gender is an abomination. I need you to understand that, I need you too help me put your brother back on the right path."
"Okay dad," Cooper looked down unhappily, he didn't want his brother to change. He would have to speak to their Mother about this, "Dad, can we visit Mom this weekend?