A/N: I'm so sorry for the huge gap between updates! I tried but school work and debate have taken up a lot of time. Not to mention all these snow knocked out my internet for a while. But it's finally here!

Disclaimer: Glee isn't mine, *sigh*.

Chapter 10: Always and Forever

The question lingered in the air, silencing the quiet hum that had surrounded them like a bubble. Emily and Andrew exchanged looks with each other before turning to the Hummels, clearly not knowing what to say. Emily looked back at Blaine, who was waiting for an answer. She glanced back at her husband, conversing with him silently. Emily let her eyes do the arguing while Andrew let out a few words of verbal disagreement before eventually giving up, letting his wife win. Satisfied, Emily turned back to Blaine, who was picking a loose thread on his hospital gown to distract himself. Emily gave him a moment before speaking.

"Blaine," she started and at his name, Blaine looked up at his mother, expectantly. "According to the police, the third driver was a man by the name of Grayson Peeters."

Blaine's face was a blank slate, holding not even a smudge of deep emotion. "Tell me more." He said abruptly.

Emily studied her son carefully as she spoke. "As far as we know, he was thirty-nine years old. All of his immediate family was deceased and no spouse or children that they know of. But," she paused, gauging Blaine's reaction. "The police also drug up a long history of alcoholism. Reports of drunk driving were numerous and he was in many accidents due to high alcohol intoxication."

Blaine has a perfect poker face, Emily decided when her son showed no reaction. Emily scooted her chair closer to her son and reached for his hand, gently rubbing soothing circles on the back of his hand. Blaine turned his hand over to grip Emily's hand tightly before lowering his head, blocking her view on his face. Emily let Blaine have a moment before reaching out the hand that wasn't being held, to tip his face up to meet her eyes. Emily's heart cracked at the sight of her Blaine starting to tear up. Unable to help herself, Emily let go of Blaine's hand in favor of wrapping her arms around Blaine, holding as tightly as she could without hurting Blaine's ribs. Emily felt Blaine wrap his arms around her and the choked sobs began. Emily felt helpless as her Blaine started to cry, for Blaine was never one to cry; he was more the type to hold it in. Emily rubbed his back and just held him, unable to do more.

Blaine's sobs lasted for several strained minutes until Blaine had finally emptied his despair and relief into his mother's shoulder. Blaine grieved for the unknown man, but at the same time, he also felt the relief flow through him due to the realization that the once unknown man wasn't being ripped away from a family or an amazing life by Blaine's hands.

Emily pulled back to watch her son's expression shift from depression, to relief. She removed her hands from his back and placed them on the sides of his face again and held tightly. Emily searched his eyes while simultaneously swiping away leftover tears from Blaine's face. Blaine's eyes held a new light, free of sadness and filled with a new hope. Emily smiled and kissed his forehead gently. Blaine gave a small smile in return and wiped his face of any remaining tears that his mother hadn't caught. Blaine took a deep breath and spoke.

"Thanks, mom. And I'm sorry for crying all over you, it's just... everything." Blaine paused, clearing his throat. "It started with the accident, then Dad and Cooper and now that man...it just piled up." Blaine sighed.

Emily released Blaine's face in favor for taking one of his hands in both of hers. She squeezed lightly and said, "You don't need to explain anything to me, Blaine. You've been through a lot in the span of about two or three days. You can only hold in so much before you burst. You are only human after all." Emily smiled at the end. She gave his hand one last pat before letting his hand go and relaxing back into her hospital chair.

Emily spared a glance at her husband, who was hidden in the shadows of the shame that was etched into his face. She felt a pang of sadness for Andrew but then again, he did deserve it on some level. And judging by his expression, Andrew knew it too.

"Mom?" Blaine's voice startled her out of her thoughts.

Emily turned towards Blaine and said, "Yes, dear?"

Blaine gave her a hint of his smile. "Thank you. I know I don't say it often, but I just wanna make sure you know."

A smile tugged at Emily's lips. "I know, Blaine. But it's nice to hear. And judging by the way you're yawning, I think it's time for some sleep–even if its only seven." Emily added once she caught Blaine stifling a yawn.

Blaine grinned sheepishly. He let out another yawn before nodding. Blaine slide down his bed, settling down in the curled up position he used to sleep in when he was a child. Blaine felt the heaviness of sleep drag his eyelids down and pulled him under.

Kurt let out a breath of relief as soon as he heard Blaine's breathing level out, telling him that Blaine was asleep. Kurt wasn't entirely sure of how Blaine would react to the information about the third driver, but Blaine had thrown him a curve ball. Kurt thought that Blaine might have shut down, but the more Kurt thought about it, the less his theory made sense. From the hours of talking with Blaine, Kurt had gathered that Blaine was a very empathic person as well as sensitive. Blaine had the unique quality that allowed him to put others before him in everything, except for taking the blame; Blaine was always first in line for that. The more and more Kurt thought about it, the sillier the anticipated reaction seemed. Blaine's reaction of breaking down made more sense by the minute.

Kurt fiddled with the pages of the magazine that Carole has gotten him, trying to get his mind off of Blaine. Kurt had tried reading it when Emily had first started talking, but Kurt quickly founded out that not even Vogue could distract him from finding out Blaine's reaction. So, yeah. Kurt eavesdropped. I've been doing that a lot lately, Kurt muses.

Kurt heard snores coming from the chair besides his bed, interrupting his "reading". He glanced over to see his father, head tilted to the side, mouth slightly open, snores coming out at an almost deafening volume. Kurt shook his head at how fast Burt had fallen asleep. Knowing his father, as soon as Burt had collapsed into his chair, he had dozed off. Carole, on the other hand, was on Kurt's other side and was laughing at her husband. Kurt looked back at his father, smirked, and dragged his eyes back down to his magazine, finally absorbing some of the printed words. But not for long.

A half hour later, Kurt heard the hushed voices of Emily and Andrew float over the partition that had been set up to separate the two spaces.

"I think he took it well." The voice of Andrew said.

Kurt heard shifting on the other side before Emily responded.

"I suppose. But it's not over. Blaine will want to know more about the man." Kurt heard Emily let out a quiet sigh. "I love Blaine to pieces, but sometimes, I wish he would worry about himself more. All his life, he's put others before him, and that helped him gain friends, but now, it can put a halt on his life. I don't want him to change, but just for now, I want him to focus on getting better, then, worry about the third driver."

Kurt glanced over at Carole, hoping she wouldn't notice him being nosey, and he smiled when he saw that she had a pair of old school headphones on plugged into an ancient looking CD player. She looked occupied so he continued listening.

"I know, Emily. I've always admired him for being a gentleman at all times, but this time, I think he should tone it down a little. Just for a little while." Andrew voice grew soft and quiet towards the end.

"I think there's another reason that Blaine is trying to be a gentleman." On Blaine's side of the partition, Emily jerked her head to Kurt's side.

Andrew smiled at his wife, knowing exactly what she was taking about. "Yeah, I think so, too. But for that reason, I can't blame him. You can see the feelings he has towards him."

Emily nodded along to her husband's words, completely agreeing. Over in Kurt's side, Kurt was the perfect picture of confusion as well as insanely curious. Kurt had no idea what they were referring to and it drove him crazy that he couldn't just ask without reveling that he was listening. Kurt shifted in his bed, hissing quietly when a spike of pain shot through his injured wrist. Kurt shifted some more until wrist wasn't shooting sharp pains up his arm. Kurt settled and began listening again.

"I remember that once, when he was a kid, he tried to prove to everyone that he could fly. He kept at it until he broken his arm." Emily giggled. "He gave up flying forever but he wasn't sad about not be able to fly, he was sad that he couldn't get the attention of this boy in his class. What was that kid's name again?" Emily questioned herself. "Hmm...was it Jeremiah? Yeah, Jeremiah! He was smitten for years until Jeremiah moved away. But I think he's found someone new to impress." Emily sighed.

"I think it's best for Blaine to heal before he does anything extremely rash." Andrew interjected.

Kurt listened closer, now only catching pieces of the hushed conversation.

"I think he can do both." Emily said neutrally.

"I don't doubt he can." Andrew replied, amusement clear in his voice.

Kurt waited for a few moments, but it was clear that the conversation was over. Kurt looked over to his family, who were still stuck in their own worlds, oblivious to the fact that Kurt was listening in to a conversation. Kurt heaved a small sigh and reached towards his sewing that lay on the bedside table. Kurt got to work, still consumed with thoughts of Blaine.

A hour passed before Blaine woke up. Unlike previously, the heavy weight that had pressed him down was gone; replaced with a feather-light feeling of liberation. Blaine blinked a few times to get his bearings before sitting up. He looked around to see that his parents were gone as well as were Kurt's. Kurt, however, was sleeping peacefully, needlework still on his lap. Blaine studied Kurt closer, wanting to figure out this mystery of a man. Kurt let a snuffle and shifted in his bed, making Blaine smile at the adorable sound. Blaine looked away from Kurt so he wouldn't feel like a too big of creeper when his eyes fell upon a folded piece of paper on his beside table. Blaine reached for it with his non-broken forearmed and hand whilst minding the pain in his rib. Blaine snagged it and flicked it open with a powerful movement of his wrist. It read:

Blaine, if you are reading this, it means you've woken up and your father and I are not there. Do not worry, dear. We only went home for the night since your father was about to drop dead. We also convinced Kurt's family to go home as well since they were as bad as we were. But Blaine, we do this because we love you. We left temporally because we know you both can handle this by yourself. Do not do anything too stressful or harmful. Look out for yourself and Kurt. We love you. P.S. If you need something, call us. Also, Cooper is outside your room if you need anything immediately. Don't be too hard with him, he cares. Cares enough to camp outside your room. Don't hesitate to call.

Blaine folded the note back up and set it aside with a sigh. He looked back to Kurt for a moment before craning his neck to get a glimpse of the outside of his room. Blaine caught a sliver of a body slumped over in a plastic chair, clearly asleep. Blaine stopped craning his neck because there was no way that that wasn't Cooper. Seeing Cooper so willing to stay brought a lump in Blaine's throat. Blaine tried to swallow the lump and called out, "Cooper?"

Silence met Blaine's ears. He tried again. "Cooper?" This time with a little more volumn. Unlike the minute before, Blaine heard shuffling of someone getting up. He heard a yawn and then a scrape of a chair before finally seeing Cooper emerge from his hideaway and into the room.

Cooper was not quite a mess, but definitely working towards it. His clothes were rumpled up and they hung loosely on him. His hair was sticking up and he was beginning to get bags under his eyes.

"You need something, Blainely?" Cooper asked, his voice scratchy and rough.

Blaine indicated him to take the seat that had once had occupied his mother. As soon as Cooper took the seat, he wasted no time.

"Why did you camp out in the hallway?"

Cooper gave him a look that said, "really?"

Blaine wouldn't take that for an answer, he wanted Cooper to say it. Blaine waited and let the silence tell Cooper what he wanted.

Cooper stared at Blaine until he broke. "Fine then. It's because I care about you. You're my brother and I have to do everything I can to protect you. I've failed before and I can't fail now. Not after everything I've done." Cooper's voice faded to a whisper.

Blaine watched his brother's face be covered by his hands before speaking.

"Why couldn't you have told me that when I needed to hear it?" Blaine whispered, heartbreaking his voice.

Cooper's head shot out of his hands, a few tears that had been brewing spilling over on his cheeks.

"Blaine, I tried so hard to convince Dad that he should listen to you more often that I started to ignore you myself. I cared, but I never told you. I was stupid for thinking that you already knew when in my heart I knew that it was all you needed to hear. In all the years we've been in the same house, I only told you once and that was when I was leaving for college. But I promise that I will be there as I should have been all those years ago. If," Cooper took a deep breath and wiped away the tears that had escaped before continuing. "You want to tell me to get out of your life, then it's your choice. But know that I will always love you." Cooper finished.

Blaine's shoulders sagged a little before he answered his brother.

"Cooper, I would never tell you get out of my life. You're my brother and nothing can change that. We stick together, always and forever. That's what a family is supposed to do. Our family doesn't always remember that, though. But we're getting better." Blaine said, a smile creeping on his face.

Cooper smiled back at his brother. Cooper got up and hugged his brother gently, still aware of his rib. In Blaine's ear he whispered, " I love you, Blaine. And as you said, always and forever."

A/N: Yayy! The brothers love each other! Sorry again for this huge gap in between chapters but I shall never abandon this story! Also, did you catch my Vampire Diaries reference? Plus, in the next chapter or two, the boys will be getting out of the hospital!