I've got to be honest with you guys, I never update this soon. It's just that I'm so excited for this story myself, that I can't restrain myself. At the moment, I'm halfway through chapter 5, which contains a major realization and it kind of explains Blaine story. Anyway, I won't keep you guys any longer.

But please don't forget to review! It's like drugs to me. And, of course, as always,

Enjoy!

Chapter two

Gratitude

Puck

The first week of the new school year had passed and Puck was surprised to find out that his new roommate was still there. If anything, it was even worse than that. The boy had soon found out that the Mohawk'd male was the most popular guy at the Academy and to Puck it seemed as if he was trying to get a taste of his glory. The badass was selfish and independent, though, so he really wasn't fond of the idea of a right hand and he even hated the idea of someone that was planning on stealing thunder.

"I'm going out for smoke," he stated before he got up from his bed. Blaine was reading some thick book about something that Puck could care less about, but the boy had been into it since the day he had arrived, so the hazel-eyed guy had figured it must be a good story in some way.

"Can I come?!" Blaine immediately looked up, hope displaying in his dark eyes.

Puck exclaimed a helpless groan. "Sure, dude, I really don't think I care," he answered as he put on his flip flops. He left their dorm with Blaine on his heels and Puck noticed that he had already gotten used to the sound of his footsteps behind him. Which actually should´ve freaked him out, because if you thought about it, Blaine was practically a stalker. The only thing that kept him from that title was that Puck knew who he was.

They got to the entrance of the building and Puck pushed the door open before he stepped outside. He searched for the pack in his pocket and lit up one of the cigarettes. Blaine was watching him curiously as he did so and Puck upped an eyebrow at him. The boy didn't seem to mind, though, because he didn't avert his gaze.

"Can I have one?" he suddenly asked.

Puck frowned at him. "You haven't smoked in a week and now you're going to tell me that you actually do?"

The curly haired one glanced away shyly, but then nodded confidently. Puck shrugged it off and offered him one, secretly dying to find out if this was going to be the boy's first time. He made a fire with his lighter and held it into the tip of the cigarette, the other end caught between Blaine's lips. The younger one took a cautious drag, held the smoke in his mouth for a moment and then parted his lips to let it flow out. Puck shook his head at him in judgment and turned towards him.

"You've gotta inhale the smoke, smartass," he explained. "Like this." He took a drag from his own bad habit and sucked in a breath.

Blaine was now biting his lip nervously and nodded understandingly. He didn't say anything when he tried, but the nightly silence was broken by the sudden coughs that were leaving his throat. The cigarette dropped from his hand and Puck laughed as he put his foot on it.

"You're a liar, Anderson," he stated easily, showing him a not impressed look.

"Give me another, I will get used to it," Blaine responded.

Puck snorted at him. "No."

Suddenly the body of his new roommate was radiating uneasiness again and the Mohawk'd boy searched his appearance. Why was he getting uncomfortable again? No, wait, why did Puck even care? He shook the questions from his head and turned his gaze to the sky, noticing that the stars were literally clouded, so that he could only see Blaine from the corner of his eyes. Unfortunately, it was still enough to see that the boy's facial expression had dropped and when Puck was about to take his last drag, he heard a sniff. He rolled his eyes in annoyance and have him a disgusted look, not that Blaine could see, though, because he was examining the pavement under his feet. In some weird way, Puck wanted to ask him what was wrong, but he decided not to. He was still on his never ending quest to not let his life get fucked up by feelings, so he just started to walk back to his dorm.

The sound of the footsteps bounced against the walls as his roommate followed him and by the time they had gotten back to their domain, Puck's irritation level had hit the ceiling. And like always, he needed to blow off steam, so he let it out.

"Okay, seriously, what is your problem?" he asked when Blaine had shut the door.

"What do you mean, Noah?" the boy asked him back.

Puck's eyes widened when the boy pronounced his real name. "How the fuck do you know my name?" he exclaimed in slight discomfort. He had told everyone at Dalton that he was going by Puck.

"It said on your fake ID!" Blaine explained innocently. "Look! I got one, too!" He turned around to grab his wallet from his desk, searching for the white piece of plastic in it. He then proudly showed it to the older one.

Puck was on the edge of freaking out, but he quickly calmed himself down by taking a deep breath and closing his eyes for a brief moment. "Dude, that's fucking weird," he said. "Wait. Did you go through my stuff?!" He walked over to him, holding still right before his face as he threatened him.

"N-no! I…I just saw it on a-accident when you p-pulled out your wallet!" Blaine stuttered in defense, his face switched into shock.

"Whatever, dude, still doesn't explain how you're acting. It's starting to freak the fuck out of me," Puck continued his rant.

"I…I…" Blaine stammered, tears welling up in his eyes. "I am sorry…I-I just thought you would like me if I did…"

Puck rolled his eyes at him, but his body language settled down. "Why do you want me to like you?"

"Because I want us to be friends," Blaine explained, "you're popular. And cool. And tough. It feels safe to be around you." The tears had vanished from his eyes as quickly as they had appeared.

Puck frowned at him, but couldn't help to feel good about himself. Sure, it wasn't as if he didn't know those things about himself, but it was still nice to hear it from someone else. "Well, I guess that sounds legit." He shrugged, watching as Blaine cheered up.

"Does that mean we are friends?!" he asked desperately hopeful.

Puck shook his head before throwing his hands up in the air as to display that he was giving up. "Sure, dude, whatever."

"Yes! Thank you!" Blaine exclaimed, suddenly crashing his body into Puck's and wrapping his arms around his back. He buried his face into his broad chest and Puck could even hear a giggle leave his mouth.

The Mohawk'd boy blinked down at him, still not understanding how the curly haired one could switch moods so quickly. "You still mustn't annoy me, though."

Blaine pulled back and rapidly nodded his head. "I won't. I promise."

Puck sighed at him, suddenly noticing how cute Blaine actually looked when he was excited over something. He wasn't planning on starting to care for the boy, but it somehow felt nice to have someone around that apparently was looking up to him instead of fearing him. He sat down on his bed and Blaine quickly got beside him, which reminded Puck that his roommate was still one weird guy. "So, tell me, Anderson," he decided to start a conversation, "why did you tell me you smoked while you didn't?"

Blaine's cheeks reddened a little and he glanced away. "Well, you were doing it and it looked good on you, so I wanted to do it, too."

Puck nodded, his ego receiving another boost. "It's stupid to do things you don't like, though."

"Well, do you like smoking?"

"Yeah, kinda."

"Me too, then."

Puck frowned at him again, something he seemed to be doing a lot when he was around the younger one. "Anyway…I think Im'ma go to sleep."

Blaine yawned in response. "Yeah, I am pretty tired, too, dude."

Puck grinned at him. "You've never said 'dude' before."

The curly haired boy smiled happily back at him. "I know, but when you do it, it sounds so casual and all. I like that." He was absentmindedly slightly rocking his upper body back and forth.

"Are you gonna copy everything I do?" Puck asked curiously, but there was also some suspicion, the way he narrowed his eyes showed that.

"Do you want me to?" Blaine questioned him back.

Puck rolled his eyes at him. "I don't know, dude, suit yourself."

The boy next to him started playing with his own fingers. "Please tell me," he said, begging in his undertone. "I have to know."

"Dude, I told you, I don't know. I've never had anyone copying my every move!" Puck started to get frustrated again. Why did Blaine had to know every little thing for sure? And why was it always about stuff Puck had never thought about?

The boy with the curls sucked in his bottom lip, not knowing how to respond to his friend's outburst. Silence fell around them and after a while, Puck got up and started changing into the sweatpants he always slept in. "Get off my bed," he demanded indifferently, suddenly noticing the sound of rain slamming against the window.

Blaine didn't know how fast to get up and quickly started undressing himself. He took off his clothes and grabbed a t-shirt before he got under his covers. "Thank you," he whispered after Puck had turned off the lights.

"Whatever," sounded the muffled response of the Mohawk'd boy's.

Into the night the rain hadn't stopped and the room had been illuminated by flashes of lightning that were striking from the sky. The sound of thunder reached his ears and he focused on it, hoping that it would settle him down a little. The Mohawk'd man had never been bothered by storms, it had somehow always soothed him. So that sure wasn't the reason why he found himself unable to catch his sleep. His mind kept wandering off to his roommate, who apparently also wasn't able to take off towards dreamland, because Puck heard him turning and sighing every somewhat minutes. Full of frustration and with a clenched jaw, the older one tried to force his body to relax, which obviously wasn't helping. The fact that he couldn't figure out what was going on between him and his new friend was keeping him on the edge of exploding into a million of angry pieces. He couldn't stop thinking about him and their moments of interaction kept repeating themselves before his eyes. Somewhere it was tiring, but apparently not enough to actually make him fall asleep.

When he turned onto his other side – again -, he suddenly noticed a presence nearby his bed. His eyes shot open and he looked up into the nerves ones of Blaine.

"What?" he grumbled in annoyance, switching onto his back so that he wouldn't have to watch the boy.

"I cannot sleep," the curly haired one mumbled awkwardly.

"Yeah, so?"

"I do not know."

Puck's face twisted into a frown and he groaned, rubbing his face with the palm of his hands. "Do you want me to read you a story or something?"

"Would you?"

"No."

Puck saw the boy shivering slightly and his fingers were fumbling with the hem of his shirt. Puck noticed his adorableness again and when he heard the boy sniffing he could almost hear his own walls cracking. "What do you want from me, Blaine?" But he would be damned if he was going to give in to his sudden feelings of compassion.

"I am scared."

"I'm annoyed."

A trembling sigh left Blaine's mouth and it caused a painful sting to go through Puck's chest. "It's just a thunderstorm, you'll be fine."

"Well, if you say so…"

Puck watched as the boy attempted to go to his own bed, but then the room lit up again and thunder sounded immediately after it. The Academy was shaking on its foundation and Blaine cringed into a ball of fear onto the floor. For the second time Puck felt the significant ache in his ribcage and he was mentally punching himself when he heard his own words. "Do you want to get into bed with me?"

"Can I…?"

"No."

The Mohawk'd boy realized perfectly well that he was coming across as plain evil, because why would he have asked if he was going to reject him anyway? But the silent, internal war he was experiencing explained that. There was something pulling on his conscious, but he was fighting to not give into it. On the other hand, would it be that bad?

When a sob mixed with the sound of the rain, he knew he had lost the battle. With balled fists he yanked his covers off of him. "Get in. And don't talk."

"Really?"

"Shut up."

Puck had already screwed his eyes closed again when he heard Blaine scrabbling himself back onto his feet and he felt him slipping into the newly created spot next to him. Their shoulders were touching at first, but soon the younger one turned onto his side, facing the badass. Puck restrained himself from looking back at him, secretly finding himself a little curious to see if Blaine had already fallen asleep. But he had gotten his answer when he felt a cold hand wrapping around his bicep and tugging on his limb.

"Thank you." Relief was carefully weaved through Blaine's words.

Puck mumbled something inaudible that sure wasn't a 'you're welcome', but Blaine still pulled Puck's arm close to his upper body and cuddled around it. He buried his cheek into his shoulder and the hazel-eyed boy shook his head enigmatically.

Blaine

There's one night in my life I will probably ever forget. I was eight and me and my family had just finished dinner. I was doing quite okay, nothing special, honestly, and left the table when Cooper did, as always. He went up to his room and I followed him enthusiastically, because I thought that we were going to grab his big box of Lego's and built an awesome city. Later, I would grab my dinosaurs and we would fight against each other as our creatures would crash into our malls and houses. It was pretty cool.

"I'm sorry, little one, we can't play tonight," my brother explained when I cocked my head in confusion as I saw him turning towards the bathroom, instead of his bedroom. He grabbed his gel and started to put his dark brown hair into shape while he studied himself up close in the mirror.

"Why not?" I actually was shocked when I figured that he might not be with me that night.

"Because I'm going out with friends." The casual way he said it would probably have meant that it wasn't a big deal, but it was to me. The inner ends of my eyebrows crooked downwards and I pursed my bottom lip forward.

"Can I come with?" My question was filled with hope.

"Why are you sounding so desperate?" Cooper now turned to look at me and he studied my appearance. When he noticed my pouting lip he walked up to me and ruffled my hair. "We'll play tomorrow, I promise."

"But I need you tonight," I voiced demandingly.

"What's so special about tonight?" I saw the confusion in his eyes.

"Nothing. I always need you." I shrugged innocently, not seeing any bad in my own feelings.

"I know, bro', but sometimes I need time for myself," my brother tried to explain.

"But you can have time for yourself!" I exclaimed, suddenly seeing a possible mid-way by which I would still receive what I wanted. "You will not even notice I am there!"

My small chest hurt when Cooper's laughter echoed into my ears. "You're silly, Blaine," he chuckled, messing up my curls again. He then walked past me and down the stairs again. I hesitated no moment to run after him towards the front door. I heard him yell to my parents that he was going out and after his announcement, my screaming and desperate 'no' had alarmed them. I quickly stopped the door from closing and saw Cooper leaving our front yard, but when I reached the fence, two strong hands wrapped firmly around my waist and picked me up. I recognized them as my father's and I kicked into the the August air beneath me.

"Let me go!" I whined, feeling how a lump already started to form in my throat.

"It's fine, Blaine, Cooper's gonna come back." My dad's words sounded soothing, but they didn't help at all. I started to get cold again and with big eyes I watched the world around me turning darker. My old man took me back into the house and when my mom had locked the door shut, he put me back onto the ground again. I threw them an angry and upset look before I stormed off to my room. I still remember how it felt to have my heart wrapped up in fear and when my stomach hit the mattress and my face the pillow, I started crying. The fabric of my cushion started to get wet, but I didn't care. My shoulders just couldn't stop shaking and there wasn't anything that could comfort me.

An hour or two later my mom came upstairs and entered my bedroom. By that time my crying had turned into soft sobs and my back was resting against the headboard of my bed as I had my legs pulled up to my chest. My bloodshot eyes looked up at her and she presented me with one of those warm smiles that only mothers could muster. I shook my head at her, not taking the soothing gesture.

"It's time for bed, sweetie," she announced with such easiness in her voice that made me wonder for a split second if she might had gone blind in the past minute.

"I want to wait until Cooper gets home," I muttered, resting my forehead on top of my knees again.

"He'll be home soon, Blaine, you'll see him again tomorrow." I picked up on the slight frustration that was sounding on the background of her voice.

I felt myself getting mad at her, but I didn't want to disobey her, so I started changing into my pajamas as slowly as I could, still hoping that I would suddenly hear the sound of the front door opening. It didn't happen, though, and my mother didn't leave my room until I was safely under my Harry Potter quilt.

Apparently my body had gotten tired from all the crying, because I soon drifted off into a light sleep. My young mind was just about to generate a dream when I woke up to the sound of footsteps on the first floor. I turned and listened carefully to where they would go and when I heard them tiptoeing into the room next to mine, I rolled out of bed. Twenty seconds later I was standing before the closed door of my brother's bedroom and I opened it slowly. I saw him lying on his bed with his laptop on his stomach and I silently strolled over to him. He picked up on me and he turned his head to look at me. "Hey, little guy, you still up, huh?" The question was rhetorical.

I nodded at him with a broken look in my dark eyes and I debated if I should tell him how much he had upset me by leaving me, but the optional outcome that contained him getting mad at me or, even worse, leave me again, kept me from coming up with it. So, without saying a word, I hopped up onto his bed and sat down crossed legged.

"You should sleep. It's already past midnight," Cooper told me.

I shook my head in response, a smile displaying on my face since the coldness had left my body. Then, an idea came to my mind and I excitedly wiggled my toes.

"Can I sleep here?" I questioned, showing him my puppy dog eyes.

"Why?" he asked, although my proposition hadn't been uncommon. I had spent a lot of nights in Cooper's room, honestly. Either from playing with our toys all night long or just because I wanted to.

"I like sleeping with you." I didn't realize by then how wrong my sentence sounded, so I frowned when my brother let out a soft chuckle.

"Well…" He gained a look on his face as if he was deeply thinking about it. "…Okay."

An intense feeling of relief broke loose inside my chest and I set off to excitedly jump on top of him. "Thanks!" I voiced my gratitude, giving him a tight hug. My smile grew even wider when Cooper ruffled my hair in the way he always did. He then closed his laptop and put it onto his nightstand while I crawled under the covers of his bed. He laid down, too, and even though our bodies weren't touching, I could still feel the comfortable heath that his body was radiating. My eyes closed and with a small, childish grin on my face I fell into a deep and dreamful sleep.

The next morning I woke up early to the sound of soft snores that were leaving my brother's nose. I smirked and sat up onto his bed, wondering if I should get out and play with some of the toys that were in his room. However, none of them seemed to attract me and I sighed when I realized that there wasn't anything I wanted to do. I turned my head towards my brother and as clouds that vanished from the sky, I knew what was going to keep me busy for the next few hours. I settled myself down onto my side and blinked innocently at Cooper's face as I watched him sleep. He looked peaceful, safe and I studied his features. I didn't know what it meant that I wanted to do that until he would wake up, but I didn't question it either. As for as my eight year-old mind was concerned, I was just acting like any other kid.

My thoughts trailed off to my friends at school and I tried to come up with every one of them who had siblings. Most of them said that their younger brother or sister annoyed them, but the words of the ones with older siblings had always been lovingly. I smiled at myself, because the realization had convinced me that I must have been normal.

But then the fact that I was the younger brother to Cooper came to mind. I sucked in my bottom lip, wondering if it might be true that I was irritating to him, too. I was always the one thanking him, but I had almost never heard him use those words towards me. I frowned as I chewed onto the red skin that was caught between my teeth. My head was soon racing with thoughts on how it could be that he had rarely showed any gratitude towards me.

I slammed my own forehead when it finally hit me. My brother did find me annoying and had nothing to be thankful for, because I hadn't done anything for him. A boost of energy shot through my body and I jumped out of bed as silently as I could manage. I tiptoed out of Cooper's bedroom and made my way downstairs, towards the kitchen. My hands opened some cabinets and I started to grab some stuff together as I tried to fix up a breakfast for the most special person in my life. I knew my parents would get mad if they'd find out that I had used the oven, but I figured it was worth it.

About half an hour later I finished and I carefully took the tray full of sweet breakfast goods upstairs. My hands were trembling slightly because it was heavy, but with the tip of my tongue pursed through my parted lips I managed to get it to his bedroom. I grinned when I saw he was already awake and I think I will never forget the surprised look on his face when he noticed what I had managed to come up with. I cautiously put down the tray onto his lap and he smiled down at me.

Then, his lips turned to form the words I wanted to hear so badly. "Ah, thanks, little guy!" I could easily see how much I had pleased him. "What made you do all this?"

"I wanted to make sure that I would never lose you."