Disclaimer: I do not own Glee.

Chapter 1:

"They better catch that bastard, I swear -"

"Josh, lower your voice!"

"Mom, he's my little brother. Since Dad doesn't seem pissed off at all that this happened -"

"Joshua Zachary Anderson -"

"Mom, I'm twenty-four. The whole 'full name in a threatening tone' doesn't really work on me anymore." There was a brief pause. "...and now he's been shot, and his boyfriend's -"

Josh Anderson stared down at his brother's unconscious form, reaching over to adjust the blankets around his waist.

"I don't think I'll ever forget seeing that..." he whispered. "The mess in the bathroom, Blaine on the floor...Mom..."

Valerie Anderson placed her hand gently on her eldest son's shoulder.

"I know, honey...but until Blaine can tell us exactly what went on -"

Josh shook his head.

"We know what happened, Mom. Blaine was going to bring his boyfriend for dinner tonight, and things went really wrong...I don't know how much, but if it ended with him getting shot, I don't doubt it was a seriously screwy situation."

He stood up and stretched his arms.

"I'm gonna go get some coffee...text me if there's any -"

"K-Kurt."

Josh froze, and turned around so fast he was surprised he didn't get whiplash. Blaine was awake, normally bright brown eyes somewhat glassy, face pale, a few dark curls of hair plastered to his forehead.

"Blaine..." Josh sank back down into the chair, knees weak. "Blaine, it's Josh, and Mom."

Blaine looked over at his brother, confused.

"Where..." he whispered. "Kurt...I couldn't -"

Valerie leant over him, looking concerned.

"Honey, you're in the hospital." she said soothingly. "You - Do you remember what happened -"

Blaine stared up at her incredulously. The light from the overhead lamp was hurting his eyes, the hospital gown uncomfortable and itchy, and his shoulder was throbbing painfully.

"I remember." he said quietly.

How could he not? Kurt's screams still echoed faintly in his ears, magnifying his guilt and his pain.

It was all his fault. He should have taken Kurt back to the Hummel-Hudson house instead of his own...where family was barely ever present to look out for him, where his mother and his brother (when he visited) were the only ones to accept his sexuality.

"Blaine," said Josh tentatively, his green eyes full of anxiety, "Mr. Hummel...your boyfriend Kurt's Dad? He's here with his wife. They...They want to see you."

Blaine's world turned upside down.

"I - I can't, Josh." he whispered, tears sliding down his cheeks. "I - It hurts. It's my fault Kurt's gone - I can't face his father. I can't."

He broke into sobs, and the elder Anderson grabbed his brother's hand, holding it tightly.

"I'm here, B. I've got you. It's okay." he whispered.

Blaine licked his lips, throat dry.

"Where - Where's Natalie?" he asked when he had calmed down a few moments later.

"She took the girls home when Mom and I found you," explained Josh. "Don't worry, they didn't see anything inside - Nat refused to go in the house when Mom told her what happened. As far as Erica and Mel know, you're in the hospital and you're hurt. She didn't go into details."

Blaine closed his eyes momentarily.

"Thank God." he breathed. "After that dance last year -"

Josh shook his head fiercely, light brown curls flying haphazardly.

"Don't even start on that, Blaine." he said, throat constricting. "Just...I don't even want to remember that night, okay?"

Blaine nodded. He looked over at his mother.

"Where's Dad?" he asked.

Josh and Valerie exchanged a dark look.

"I called him, honey," said Valerie, "but he was tied up in meetings - or so his secretary said."

Josh held a feral expression on his face.

"We both know he wasn't." he growled. "He was at a bar getting drunk, Mom."

Valerie looked ready to argue, but they were interrupted by another voice:

"B-Blaine?"

Blaine nearly fainted.

Josh turned: a tall, brown haired boy wearing a red letterman jacket was standing in the doorway of Blaine's room.

"Finn." he said hoarsely.

Josh turned to look at his brother.

"You know him?" he said, trying to hide the anger in his voice. It was justified - how many times had he confronted the asshole jocks at his brother's middle school or high school?

Blaine nodded.

"He's Kurt's step-brother, Josh - it's okay." he was silent for a moment. "Finn, I don't really -"

"My brother is missing!" Finn cut him off, "I'm sorry if you don't wanna talk about it, but he's your boyfriend. If it was Rachel, I'd -"

"This isn't about you," said Blaine flatly, "and it's sure as hell not about Rachel. I'm sorry Finn, but I can't talk about this now."

"Blaine -"

"Get out, Finn!"

Blaine was crying again, and actually tried to launch himself off of the bed. Josh caught him around the waist, holding him firmly.

"Finn, go tell your parents that my mom and I will talk to them in a few minutes," he pushed Blaine back into bed, "and I'm not in a good mood right now, so you really don't want to push me."

Finn scowled, but turned and lumbered out of sight.

Blaine looked desperately at his mother and his brother.

"Please tell him -" he pleaded. "Please make Mr. Hummel understand I didn't know this would -"

Valerie leant over her son and kissed his forehead.

"We will, baby." she promised. "It's going to be alright."

It wasn't long before Blaine had lapsed into an uncomfortable sleep.

Josh and Valerie left Blaine's room five minutes later and made their way to the waiting room where Finn was waiting with, Josh assumed, his parents.

"Mr. and Mrs. Hummel," he said, holding a hand out toward Kurt's father, "I'm Josh Anderson, Blaine's brother. This is our mother, Valerie."

"Burt," said the other man as he took the younger man's hand and shook it. "and this is Carole," he gestured to his wife. "I'm sorry about what happened with Finn. How's Blaine doing?"

Josh sighed.

"Not good, sir." he replied. "I'm sorry, I know you want to see him, and I told him so, but he's...he wants you to know, he had no idea this would happen."

Burt frowned.

"I don't blame him if that's what you're thinking, Josh." he said. "I won't ever blame him for this. I...I just want to know what happened to my son."

Carole leaned against him, holding his hand tightly.

Valerie took a step forward.

"We know," she said. "and we'll let you see him, when he's had a chance to calm down and talk to the police."

Burt shot her a grateful, albeit watery, smile.

"Thank you." he whispered.

"Of course." she smiled back.

Burt pulled his wallet out of his pocket.

"This is Kurt." he said, opening it and extracting a picture before showing it to the two Andersons. "His school picture from last year."

Valerie looked over at Josh, who was grinning at the wallet-size photo of the slender, brown haired boy.

"He's...I can see why Blaine's so crazy about him." he said softly. "Kurt's one of a kind, Mr. Hummel."

Burt smiled.

"He is, believe me. He is."

"Excuse me, Mrs. Anderson?"

Josh and Valerie turned around to see a silver-haired man wearing a white lab coat approaching them.

"Doctor Jackson," said Valerie, smiling a little in relief. "How is Blaine, will he...?"

"He'll be fine," said Jackson, smiling at her, "He should take the anti-biotics I've prescribed to keep off infection, and I'd like him to stay here over night for observation, but he should make a full recovery."

Josh exhaled.

Thank you God.

Then he saw the officers waiting near the Nurse's Station. Dr. Jackson noticed them too.

"Yes, they want to speak with him, but because he's a minor -"

Valerie looked at Josh questioningly.

"You go, Mom." His voice cracked. "I-I know I'm not gonna be able to stomach whatever happened, and I'm gonna lose it, he - he doesn't need -"

The hospital seemed so claustrophobic to him now, Josh felt like he could barely breathe as he watched his mother walk back into Blaine's room. The cops followed a minute or two later.

"Josh?" a hand tugged at his sleeve. He turned his head to see Finn staring at him. "I - I wanted to say sorry for earlier."

Josh exhaled. Sure he couldn't fault Finn, he seemed cool, and if he was Kurt's step-brother, then he supposed he could trust him.

"It's okay." he said softly. "I'm sorry if I snapped at you. Saw the letterman jacket and just - my brother's important to me you know? I don't like seeing him hurt."

Finn nodded and crossed his arms.

"Me either," he said, "You know, with Kurt."

Josh smiled. Finn glanced at the closed hospital room.

Blaine's brother understood.

"We'll find him, Finn." he said quietly. "We'll find him."

Thoughts?

No flames please - constructive criticism only!