Kurt relaxed on his bed, stretched out between Mercedes and Rachel, with Tina laying sideways across the end of the bed, flipping through one of his older Vogues. He was happy that they'd all agreed to a night over. Prepping for Nationals, on top of school, and getting college options in order. He was going to be taking his ACT as many times as it took to get at least a thirty. If he was going to New York, he was taking as many scholarships as possible with him. The girls were on board with helping him with studying and giving him practice tests.

"I think I'm going to have arthritis in my dominant hand before I'm twenty, and it'll be because of college applications and essays." Kurt sighed, wiggling his fingers experimentally.

"You can't think like that! Think of all the autographs you'll be giving out when you're famous on Broadway!" Rachel said, playfully smacking his hand.

"I don't want to think about holding a pen for the next twelve hours." Kurt groaned. "I'll worry about autographs when I'm famous."

"Speaking of Broadway, are you planning on checking it out while we're in New York for Nationals?" Tina asked.

"I want to say of course, but it'll depend on how early in the competition we actually compete. I don't think we'll afford ourselves the luxury of those kinds of distractions until after." Kurt said.

"Is Blaine an allowed distraction?" Mercedes teased.

"Maybe." Kurt grinned. "A little."

"You won't let it distract you too much, will you?" Rachel asked.

"Rachel. I might be a hormonal teenage boy, but you know me. Music is important, and I'm dedicated to this. Have a little faith in me." Kurt said.

"I suppose you are due that much." Rachel nodded.

Kurt chuckled, shaking his head.

"Please, Rachel, we all know once you get the chance the two of you are going to run and have breakfast outside Tiffany's." Mercedes smiled.

"Touche." Rachel said

"So tell us more about Blaine." Tina said.

"Was this whole night orchestrated for the sole purpose of interrogating me?" Kurt teased.

"Very nearly." Tina nodded.

Mercedes and Rachel gave matching half nods. Kurt laughed, and then launched into telling them about the phone call he'd had with Nick.

…...

Blaine,

I think I jinxed myself when I told Mercedes spring semester would feel easier than last semester. I clearly wasn't accounting for Nationals, crazy friends, pre-college procedures, and family time being on top of regular school. I feel like I barely stop rushing, but luckily I have my girls, and you to remind me it's okay to stop and just breathe for a few minutes. Is your semester fairing any better?

Right now we're mostly focused on Nationals, but I can feel the girl drama brewing. I have developed a sense for these things. It's the key to my survival amongst all of them. I am becoming a guru for all relationship and rivalry based drama. Or as Artie would say, "mad skills dealing with that brand of crazy."

School has been easier in some ways, I'll give it that. The football team is still temporarily disbanded for the year, but I imagine it'll be back next year. New players, though. We half expected the hockey players to step up as the next bullies. (They tried to, once. In a rare moment of collaboration between the glee club and the football players, because they needed a half-time show and the Cheerleaders were away for a competition. The football players quickly retaliated and the hockey players went back to ignoring us.) But they've been silent this time. I think Coach anticipated it and did something, because there was a rumor that the hockey players were under scrutiny.

Ah the ups and downs of public school. We could be a soap opera. Or maybe the next Degrassi?

Dramatically yours,

Kurt

…...

"Mail's here." Nick dropped Blaine's mail on the end of his desk.

Blaine glanced up from his book and nodded in thanks, picking up the small pile and sorting through it. He tossed the junk mail in the bin by his feet. Then he looked at the white envelope left.

"Kurt wrote." Blaine smiled.

"Cool. Any good news?" Nick asked.

Blaine opened the envelope, reading through the brief letter.

"He's busy, mostly. School and glee club and family. That kind of stuff." He said.

"At least it isn't bad news." Nick said.

"No." Blaine agreed. "He said there hasn't been any real bullying since the football team got taken down."

"Good." Nick smiled. "That's got to feel surreal for him."

"Yeah." Blaine nodded.

There was a knock on the door, and both boys looked up curiously. Most of the Warblers just knocked once and then came in.

"Expecting someone?" Blaine asked.

"Nope." Nick shook his head.

"I'll get it." Blaine said.

He set down the letter and got up to answer the door. When he opened it, his curiosity turned to surprise.

"Cooper?" He asked.

"Surprise, little brother." Cooper grinned. "Miss me?"

"Shut up, of course." Blaine smiled, opening his arms and accepting a hug.

"Nick." Cooper fist bumped the younger boy.

"Hey, Coop. What brings you into our little gated community?" Nick asked.

"Thought I'd spring my little brother for an hour or so for coffee and all that." Cooper said, putting a hand on Blaine's shoulder. "What do you say, Squirt? Got time for a break?"

"Yeah, sure." Blaine nodded.

"Great. I'll have him back before curfew." Cooper said.

"Good, cause I totally left my shot gun and polishing kit back home." Nick chuckled.

Cooper laughed, and Blaine shook his head, grabbing his phone and wallet.

"After you." Blaine said.

…...

"So, not that I don't like seeing you, or anything." Blaine said. "But why are you here, Coop? And don't try and tell me Westerville just has pleasant coffee."

"Well, it does, but you're right." Cooper shrugged. "I'm here for more than just coffee."

Blaine nodded, taking a drink of coffee.

"I had tea with mom the other afternoon, and when I was at the house I noticed a distinct lack of things in what I thought was still your room. Did you downsize or did something happen?" Cooper asked.

"I'm...living in Nick's guest house during breaks." Blaine admitted. "He's even offered it to me for the summer."

"B, what happened?" Cooper asked.

Blaine went quiet for a moment, looking at his coffee.

"Apparently, dad's been a lot less trusting than I thought. I was stupid to think he might actually be coming around." He said softly. "He's been monitoring my phone and my emails."

"He what?" Cooper looked incredulous.

"Yeah." Blaine nodded. "And I've got this...pen pal. Kurt. He goes to school in Lima. We met through the Ohio Buddy Program. He's really great, Coop. We've become close. Best friends, even. But because it was a pen pal program, I managed to keep it from them."

"Okay." Cooper nodded.

"I didn't want to send any letters from the house, because mom would definitely start asking questions. So I had Nick write to him and say I wouldn't be able to write for a couple weeks, while all the worst of the drama was going on. It was fine, for the first half. But I missed writing to him. I missed hearing from him. Nick suggested I email a letter to him and he'd print it out and mail it to Kurt for me. I thought it was a pretty simple idea, couldn't hurt, right?" Blaine paused.

"Oh." Cooper said.

"Dad intercepted the email and suddenly he was asking all these questions. He thought I was keeping some secret boyfriend or something. He wanted to know how long I'd known him, and where he lived, and what he planned for his future. Most of it I didn't tell him. I just said we were pen pals for school. He wanted me to stop writing. He started talking about fixing me up with a Crawford girl and convincing me to keep my head down. Mom wasn't even arguing with him about it. She just gave a little half nod any time he looked to her for back up. So I packed what I could and called Nick." Blaine said.

"And he just let you leave?" Cooper asked.

"I called Nick at two in the morning." Blaine said.

"Ah." Cooper nodded. "And I'm guessing this means you haven't been home since...?"

"Mid-November." Blaine finished. "I've been at Nick's for all of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's."

"I'm sorry. Why didn't you call me?" Cooper asked.

"I knew you were still busy working, and I didn't want to pull you from that. You've earned your success, you deserve the chances you're getting. I wasn't in a life or death thing, and Nick's family has honestly been great. I'll owe them greatly for the kindness they've shown me." Blaine said.

"You still should have called me." Cooper said.

"You'd have come even if I'd told you not to." Blaine shrugged. "I figured you'd learn eventually."

"Do you need anything?" Cooper asked.

"I'm good for now." Blaine smiled. "But I'll let you know. I've kind of been expecting something like this to happen at some point. I've been transferring funds to an account not under his name. As far as school, so far he's still making payments."

"If he stops, tell me, I'll pick them up." Cooper said.

"Coop." Blaine protested.

"I have enough money." Cooper waved it off. "You're my brother. I'm not going to let you change schools on your senior year just because of our family's drama."

"Thank you, Coop." Blaine said.

"It's just my heart growing three sizes or something." Cooper smirked.

"So tell me about work." Blaine said.

Cooper gave a wink and launched into his stories about working on set, and his trailer, and the antics between his coworkers.

…...

Kurt,

Happy to be a reminder to breathe. It might be an automated function, but sometimes a manual override is necessary.

My semester is fairing about the same as all of them. The classes are challenging, but I'm smart enough to surround myself with smart people who can explain the things I may not completely understand. The Warblers are in full Nationals swing, well, mostly. We've got a few things between now and then that demand a small portion of our attention. Luckily, we have a solid repertoire of songs we can safely perform with little rehearsal time.

I will not pretend to be a guru of anything, but remain impressed by anyone who can handle large sums of drama. Dalton isn't completely exempt from drama. (You put this many boys in one gated school, you're going to have drama.) But most of it is handled in constructive ways. We aren't told to intervene, so much as offer to be neutral third parties, or step in and forcibly separate a squabble and take them to the dean's office. There haven't been many cases of the latter, thankfully.

One of the nice things about boys, psychologically, is that once two fighters break eye contact, it's much easier to calm them down. With girls, they're more likely to claw through you to get to the source of their rage. Not as easy to calm down. I seem to retain odd bits of trivia from my Freshman psychology class.

I'm glad to hear things seem to be clearing up in the bullying front. I know it's going to feel a little odd. Like you're waiting for the other shoe to drop. And I sincerely hope there is no other shoe. You deserve to feel safe in the environment you're growing up in. You shouldn't have to seek out safe places. Safe places should be available wherever you are.

My brother surprised me with a quick visit. He'd been to see our mother and noticed my room looking...barer than he's accustomed to. I told him the truth about what happened. He's offered his support, which I appreciate, but I want him to stay focused on work. He's earned his growing fame. I'm good where I am, with plenty of support. But I've promised to keep him more in the loop from now on.

Thank you for being part of that support. I appreciate it more than I can say.

Gratefully yours,

Blaine