Chapter 10: Cooper

"Honestly, Cooper? I'd keep him as far away from Blaine as possible. Something transpired between them and it was bad so forgive me if I refuse to subject Blaine to him especially after everything Blaine has been through...Seriously Cooper? You really believe that?" Sebastian turned from the coffee pot he was fiddling with and made eye contact with former Warblers sitting around his kitchen table, frustration with the man on the other end of the conversation evident in his posture and facial expressions. "I understand that they were once fiancées Cooper but if you had seen Blaine reaction to Kurt you wouldn't even be questi-"

The phone was unceremoniously yanked out of Sebastian's hand from behind. He turned taking in a very irritated Blaine. "Cooper?" Blaine said into the phone. Cooper must have started in because Blaine scowled deeper. "Save it," he snarled darkly. "I don't really care. Mind your own goddamn business and stop sending Kurt to bother me. If you really fuckin' cared you would have been on a plane when you were first contacted about me so give it a rest and grow a pair to see me yourself or simply fuck off."

He ended the call and tossed the phone back to Sebastian before pouring himself a coffee. "Fucking asshole," Blaine muttered to himself before turning and regarding the men around the table. " If he attempts to call any of you tell him off and hang up," he ordered. "They're all fucking assholes," he muttered again before retreating back to his room with his coffee, slamming the door behind him.

Silence reined before David shifted uncomfortably. "He was always grouchy when he first wakes up." David offered, trying to break the uncomfortable silence.

"That's true," Jeff confirmed. "He once chucked his clock radio at me when we roomed together at Dalton."

"Jeff that's because you set it to go off at 4:30 in the morning on a Saturday after we spent the night before partying," Wes pointed out with a sigh. "I think Thad and Trent tried to brain you when they saw you that morning since they were your immediate neighbors and you woke them up too."

Jeff pouted and crossed his arms defensively. "Blaine told me to make sure he wasn't late for coffee with Seb. I just did as I was told."

"Jeff, Blaine and I always met for coffee at 10:00 on the dot," Sebastian said giving the blond a confused look. "Why would Blaine need to be up that early?"

Refusing to answer for his reasoning Jeff asked instead, "So what's our next step in the Blaine Warbler Project?"

Sighing at the return to the present, the men around the table started to brainstorm the next step in helping Blaine.

Frantic knocking on his apartment door caused Sebastian to glance up from the brief he was reading and take in the time on the kitchen clock from his place at the dining room table. Concerned when he realizes it was close to midnight, he got up from the table and made his way to the door, eyes softening as he found Blaine sprawled out on the couch sleeping peacefully. Each night had been riddled with nightmares for the other man and after waking he had refused to go back to sleep, exhaustion causing him to be less irritable and more like the old Blaine, unable to keep his walls up without effort.

They had taken to sleeping cuddled together in Sebastian's bed which provided Blaine with some relief from the night terrors which was why Blaine had insisted he try to stay up until Sebastian was done working for the night.

Taking in Blaine's peaceful face, Sebastian was grateful that they hadn't encountered any major problems acclimatizing to living together. The others had also taken to coming over for dinner and to hang out regularly, refusing to loose their connection to Blaine again. Thad and Trent had arrived two weeks after hearing about Blaine as they had made arrangements with their companies to have permanent transfers to New York, both stating a brother in need. They had both gotten settled recently in an apartment and had made sure, like the others, to spend as much time as possible with Blaine. Even Sebastian was working from home as much as possible, enjoying quiet evenings going over legal briefs at the dining room table while Blaine watched tv or read. The best part was when they went to bed, curled together in the dark, Blaine sighing in contentment as he lay in Sebastian's warm and secure embrace.

Draping the throw blanket from the back of the couch over his friend, he made a mental note to take Blaine to get his haircut, the curls long and unruly.

Making his way over to the door, he pulled it open and stepped back in surprise. "Cooper?"

The other man was disheveled and looked like he had slept in his clothes. Cooper gave Sebastian a small smile. "Hey, Seb," he greeted quietly. "Can I come in?"

"Um..."

"Just let the asshole in, Seb," a new voice interjected. "He'll sleep in the doorway if you don't and your super isn't gonna be happy."

"Blaine," Cooper breathed taking in the appearance of his younger brother. The too-thin face, dark bruises under his eyes from lack of sleep, hair long and curly as ever and face covered in five o'clock shadow (Sebastian finally managing to convince Blaine to shave the awful beard he had been supporting). Blaine looked exhausted from living and even though Cooper hadn't seen him years, he could even tell Blaine had faced hardships of the look in his eyes were anything to go on; the warmth that those warm-honey eyes used to hold was dulled and gone, life lessons learned in the worst possible way having tarnished Blaine once optimistic outlook beyond repair.

Blaine gave a thin fake smile to his brother from his place on the couch. Sebastian stepped aside to allow the other man to enter the apartment, closing the door behind the older Anderson and indicating for Cooper to sit in the arm chair. He move to give them some privacy but Blaine snagged his hand on the way by, tugging him towards the couch, a pleading look directed at him. Giving Blaine's hand a reassuring squeeze, he settled next to the other on the couch, not letting his surprise that Blaine didn't let go of his hand show. Cooper also noticed but bit his tongue from saying anything.

"What do you want, Cooper?" Blaine demanded, voice hostile, indicating h was not happy about the intrusion especially after their phone call two days ago.

Cooper shuffled uncomfortably and refused to make eye contact with his brother. "You were right, Blaine," he said softly. "I should have come to New York when Seb called to say they had found you. I just - um - gave up hope, I guess." he lifted his gaze and took a moment to simply study his brother. "You were gone five goddamn years Blaine," he burst out angrily. "Kurt told us you had argued and left to cool down."

Blaine snorted angrily. "Of course," he snarled back. "We would never question the great Kurt Hummel."

Cooper sat back in surprise at the tone, noting with some surprise Blaine's reaction. "What happened, Blaine?" he asked gently. The Blaine of the past adored his future husband and the man before him was dripping in contempt for his former fiancé.

Blaine raised his eyes from where he buried his face in his hands. "What do you think happened?" he demanded.

Frowning, Cooper studied his little brother intently. He swallowed hard in realization, the devastated look in Blaine's eyes telling him more than any words could. "B - Blaine - did Kurt rape you?"