Two days. Two painful days in which no member of either family left the hospital. Candi and her father had a screaming fit in the hallway about how she refused to go back to school until she learned if her brother was alright. Dan finally gave in when he saw the terror in her eyes. She was scared for her big brother.

After Dr. Kingsley had reported the news, Kathleen and Andrew had held each other and cried for what felt like days, but was only an hour. When they broke apart, one word escaped Kathleen's lips. "Cooper."

The phone rang again and again before voicemail picked up. Again and again Kathleen Anderson left the same message. "Cooper, something has happened. Your brother is in the hospital. It's pretty bad. Please call me." She didn't care that it was 6 am on a Saturday in California, Cooper had to know. So when Cooper answered on her sixth call, she heaved a sigh of relief.

"What? And this better be good." an irate and tried sounding Cooper answered.

"Coop," Kathleen gasped out, relieved to hear her son's voice. She din't even realize how much she had needed that. It was so similar to Blaine's.

"Mom? What's wrong?"

"Coop," Kathleen gasped, "Coop, it's Blaine."

Cooper listened in a stunned silence as his mother summed up everything she knew. Blaine was gay and had been getting bullied about it for a while, but was too scared to come out to his family. He had gone to a school dance with a boy. Some jackasses beat him senseless, and now he had just emerged from endless hours of surgery.

"Shit," Cooper swore when his mother finished talking. Cooper was reminded of the seriousness of the situation when she didn't even remonstrate him for his language. "I'm buying a ticket now. Can someone come get me at the airport?"

Blaine began to stir in the early hours of Monday morning. First it was just a slight twitch in one of his fingers. Then he began to move a bit more. At 7:39 am, Blaine shuddered and gasped and woke with a start. That's not to say that he wasn't still groggy, of course.

A nurse came in when she heard the commotion from the room, and she administered some painkillers to the boy in the bed.

When Blaine pulled himself from the blackness, it was terrifying. Suddenly his world was bright again, and he didn't recognize where he was, and there were people around him. Oh. That was his mother. And father. And, was that … Cooper? What was Coop doing here? And why did they all look like hell? He opened his mouth, tried to speak, but all that came was a low croak. His mother looked at him sadly before holding a small cup of water to his lips. When his throat was finally feeling better, Blaine tried to speak again. he managed one word: "What…?"

Kathleen wanted to cry at the pain and fear present in her son's eyes. She wanted so badly to respond and say that it was nothing, that he was okay now. But she couldn't. She looked to her husband and her eldest son for strength before taking a breath and speaking.

"What do you remember?" she asked tenderly.

Blaine thought for a moment; it was clearly difficult and Kathleen wanted to burst into tears right then and there. "Dance," he managed.

"Do you remember anything else about that night?"

Blaine took much longer this time. She saw a flicker of recognition behind his eyes, and suddenly even more fear moved in. "Do - do you know?" he asked.

"Yes, honey, I know," Kathleen said. "I love you, baby. We all do."

Blaine looked almost surprised, and a few tears leaked out of his eyes. "Jay and I were waiting. And they came. He, uh, he punched me. And then they kicked me." Blaine was sobbing now. "It hurt, mommy," he said in such a small and weak voice. Kathleen broke down and pulled her son into an embrace. They stayed that way for a few minutes before breaking apart. Blaine looked like he wanted to say something, but was too scared.

"What is it, hon?" Kathleen finally prompted.

"You, uh, you all know I'm - I'm gay?" he asked, no longer looking at anyone in the room.

Kathleen squeezed his hand. "Yes, baby."

"You don't hate me?"

Candi heard that Blaine woke up that morning. Her parents were still holding vigil around Jay's silent, unmoving body, but she couldn't stand the tension anymore.

"Hey Sarah," she said, holding out a hand toward her slightly-confused younger sister. "Want to g see Blaine?" she suggested after lunch.

Sarah's face brightened up, and Candi instantly felt guilty. She felt sick to be tricking her baby sister into going to see Blaine like this. Sarah still had no idea what had happened. She still kept asking when Jay would wake up.

They knocked lightly on the door and pushed in. Candi had only seen Blaine's parents once before, while they were all waiting in the lobby. Now they had been joined by another man, who Candi had to assume was Blaine's older brother.

Andrew looked up when he saw the two girls enter the room. He had an odd feeling of relief wash over his body. He loved his son, but he hated sitting here watching him in so much pain. "Kat, Cooper, why don't we go have some lunch in the cafeteria?"

Kathleen look scandalized until she sat Candi's timid form. She, too, smiled at the girls, and nodded. "Come on Cooper."

As they passed the girls in the doorway, Kathleen whispered, "He's sleeping now, but you can wake him up if you want to talk." She paused for a moment. "I hope your brother wakes up."

Candi nodded numbly and led Sarah into the room. Sarah, who had been uncharacteristically quiet these past few days, tugged to Candi's shirt sleeve. Candi bent down to talk to her sister. "Why are Blaine and Jay both here?" she asked in her small, sweet voice.

Candi's heart nearly broke. She didn't want to be the one to have to explain this to the girl. "Ask mom and dad later."

They had entered the room by now. Blaine was sleeping, like his mother said, but it looked like a fitful sleep. His face was swollen and black and blue. His hair had mostly broken from the gel that Candi had applied, and now looked crusty and greasy. His right leg was held in a sling, keeping it elevated, and it was covered in the largest cast Candi had ever seen. She wanted to cry. Jay could have almost passed off for sleeping these past few days, but Blaine … he really did look like he had just been beaten. This isn't fair, Candi found herself as she led Sarah to a chair pulled up beside Blaine's head. She sat down and pulled the small girl on her lap. Then she gently grabbed Blaine's hand and whispered his name.

Blaine stirred slightly, and woke with a wince. "Hey," Candi said quietly, trying to force a smile.

"Hey. Hi Sarah," he added.

"Hi Blainey," Sarah said, slightly more happily. "Why are you here? I thought you lived by our house?"

"I hurt myself, bud," he said simply, looking to Candi for help. She shrugged and tried to change the subject.

"How are you feeling?"

Blaine gave her a bit of an incredulous look. "Well, it hurts. Everywhere." He looked around nervously, when he realized who he was complaining to. "Is Jay … I mean, how is he?"

"He's still asleep. The doctors are going to be running a few more tests this afternoon, but … Dr. Harper doesn't think he's going to wake up."

Blaine's eyes widened, and he turned his head away, trying to hide the wetness that had begun to spring from his eyes. "He-he can't! He has to wake up! Jay can't just -" Blaine began.

Candi squeezed his hand. "I know, Blaine. I know."

"It's my fault," he said in a low, resigned voice.

"What? No! Blaine, none of us would ever think about blaming you!"

"I asked him to the dance. I convinced him to go with me even thought he was scared. They went after me first," he admitted. "If I could have fought back more or stopped them…"

"Blaine, there were more of them than you. They were bigger, stronger. This was not your fault."

"What'll I do if he doesn't wake up?" Blaine asked in a resigned voice.

"I don't know, Blaine. I don't know what any of us will do."

Cooper decided to come back to the room before his parents, hoping to get some alone time with his parents. He entered the room to find the two girls holding Blaine tightly as he cried. Cooper uncomfortably cleared his throat, and Candi pulled back.

"Cooper Anderson," Cooper said, holding out a hand.

"Candi Adams," Candi said, taking his hand.

"I'm Sarah!" Sarah added. "You look like Blaine but older. I still think Blaine is cuter. Plus, he's going to be my boyfriend when I'm older."

Cooper chuckled at the young girl. He stopped himself halfway through, realizing that this was the first time he'd smiled since getting that call from his mother two days ago.

"We should probably go," Candi told Blaine. "The doctors are going to be running their tests after lunch, and I want to be there for it. But we'll come back. It was nice to finally meet you, Cooper," Candi said before taking Sarah's hand and leading her from the room.

Cooper sat down in their recently vacated chair. Neither boy said anything for a few minutes.

"Interesting girlfriend you've got there," Cooper said, trying to break the tension. The last time he saw Blaine was months ago. he didn't know how to deal with his baby brother, especially now.

"Would that be better, Coop?"

Cooper looked confused, so Blaine continued. "Would it be better if I had a girlfriend, if I liked girls?"

"No, Blaine. No way. Those people were just ignorant. You are allowed to love whomever you want." Blaine smiled a bit at the earnestness in his brother's voice. "Why didn't you at least tell me?" Cooper finally asked.

"I was scared that you guys would stop loving me," he said simply, as if it was obvious.

"What ever gave you the impression that any of us could ever stop loving you Blaine? You are obnoxiously lovable."

Blaine laughed slightly, and was launched into a coughing fit that caused his healing ribs to ache.

"How's LA?" Blaine asked when he recovered.

Cooper welcomed the change of subject. "Pretty good. I had a couple of auditions last month, and I even got a callback for one. It's for a credit score commercial," he explained. "I'd get to sing and dance, and if it's successful, they'd want to use me to make a whole bunch of them!"

"Wow," Blaine said, a look of awe crossing his face. "So you'd be, like, famous?"

"Well, commercial-famous. But it's a start!"

"That's great, Coop. When do you hear about it?"

Cooper looked confused for a moment. The director said he'd call him in a couple of days after the audition on Thursday. Then the call about Blaine had happened. Cooper had no idea. He hadn't even checked his phone, told anyone where he was going. He just took off. "Soon," he told Blaine.

When their parents returned to the room, Cooper excused himself and pulled out his iPhone. 16 missed calls, 40 new text messages, and 4 voicemails. He sighed and began sorting through everything.

The police stopped by the hospital later that evening to interview Blaine and Mary, since she was the closest thing to a witness they had. Blaine was uncomfortable telling the strangers about what they boys had said to him, unsure of how they felt about his sexuality. But he couldn't bear to look at his mother's face as he relayed the story, so instead he looked the lead officer right in the eye. He identified the three boys. He described the alcohol on their breath, how this wasn't the first time they had harassed him. He described the first punch, and his breathing hitched. But he couldn't even begin to explain what had happened to Jay. His best friend who might never wake up.

"I think they hit him or something. He definitely fell to the ground near me," Blaine said when Officer Brody asked about the other boy. "But I was already down and my head hurt and they…they were kicking me. I closed my eyes and everything went dark. Then I woke up here. I don't know what they did to Jay, I'm really sorry."

"Don't ever apologize for this," the female officer said in a hushed voice. "This was never your fault, honey."

Blaine nodded, but looked like he didn't totally believe the woman. He fell asleep when the officers left, too exhausted from the meds and talking so much, and too scared to face his family after what they had just heard.

Mary Adams was not in the mood to talk to the police about how she had found her son and his best friend on the cement sidewalk outside their school. How there had been two pools of blood leaking from each boy's head. How neither had moved, and she was so sure that they were dead. She was especially not in the mood now, after having talked to Dr. Harper. But she did, because she knew that this was the only way to get any sort of justice for her son. A boy whose life had been cut short.

She still couldn't manage to wrap her head around the thoughts. Jay was right there in front of her, breathing steadily with the help of a machine. Another machine beeped away, confirming that his heart was still beating. All that proved that the boy was alive. But his brain was dead. And the doctor said there was little to no chance of him recovering.

Jay had become an empty shell.

On Wednesday morning, Mary and Dan went to visit Blaine for the first time. Candi had finally gone back to school that day. She and Sarah were now staying with a neighbor. Mary didn't think she'd be able to go back to her house. It was too filled with memories.

Kathleen and Andrew had to go back to work, but Cooper still sat in silent vigil as Blaine slept. When he saw the two adults enter the room, he got up to get some much-needed coffee and give them time alone.

The adults sat on either side of Blaine and shook him gently, hoping to wake him up. Blaine's eyes snapped open, but when he caught sight of first Mary, then Dan, he looked away in shame. "I'm sorry," he murmured before either of them could speak. "I'm sure you probably hate me now, hate that I'm sitting here talking to you when Jay is – Jay can't -"

Mary put her hand on the agitated boy's shoulder. "We are so happy to see you awake, Blaine. I was so scared that I'd never see your eyes again when I found you in the parking lot."

"We could never even think of hating you," Dan finished gently.

Blaine looked up between the two adults. They obviously didn't understand. "But it's my fault!" he said. Someone, anyone, needed to realize this. He deserved to be in the coma, he had practically put his best friend – his only friend – there. "I asked him! He didn't want to go, but I practically forced him!" Tears were streaming down his cheeks.

"You didn't force Jay to do anything," Dan said.

"You should have seen how happy he was in the weeks after you asked him. He was thrilled to be going to a school dance with someone he cared about so much. After you two went shopping, he proudly modeled his new tie for us, and told us how much he cared for you and wanted the dance to be perfect. This was never your fault, Blaine," Mary said in an impassioned voice.

By now, all three were sobbing and holding each other. "I'm so sorry," Blaine kept repeating. It was all he could say. What exactly does one say to the parents of his now-brain dead best friend?