Chapter inspiration: What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger) (Kelly Clarkson)
Blaine arrived home one day, bloody and bruised. His mom was too busy gambling online to notice and he knew his dad was at work, but Blaine really needed someone to comfort him. He felt ready to crack; Blaine walked up to his room and lay down on the bed. Someone knocked on the door and the door opened.
"Blaine, are you okay?" A familiar voice asked and Blaine looked up to see his older brother Cooper standing in the doorway.
"You're home," Blaine whispered, getting up and hugging his brother.
"Yeah, I'm home for the week. What happened to your face, buddy?" Cooper brushed his brother's curls from his forehead and studied his face: a black eye, a bruised cheek, and a bloody lip, as well as many other random cuts. "Come to my room. I'll clean you up." Blaine followed Cooper to his room and sat down on the bed as Cooper gathered supplies from his bathroom.
"Coop, you never come home. Why did you come this time?" Blaine asked.
"I needed to see my little brother. I've missed you so much, Blainers. Now please tell me what happened," Cooper said, sitting on his bed next to Blaine.
"There's this group of guys at school, like five or six of them, and they seem to get their kicks from making my life miserable. The leader is one, his name is Eric. He's more talk than anything else. His best friend is Evan; Evan's the one that hits me. Usually, he just punches or slaps me, but today was different because…Coop, please don't hate me when I tell you this," Blaine swallowed hard and looked at his brother.
"Blaine, there is nothing you can say that will make me love you any less," Cooper consoled, rubbing Blaine's back.
"I-I'm gay, and that's why those jerks beat the shit out of me. I came out to Mom and Dad a week ago and they just stopped talking to me," Blaine whispered, tears threatening to fall.
"Blaine, you can be a woman for all I care. I still love you as my little brother or, in that case, sister." Cooper smiled gently.
"I don't know how everyone at school found out, but they did. The few friends I had just stopped talking to me, and Eric, Evan, and their friends took it upon themselves to abuse me every chance they got. At first, it was the typical 'Hey, Anderson's a fag' and a couple punches or a slap, but then it got worse, and they jumped me and beat me up, telling me to either go back into the closet or get another beating. Eric said that they would kill me if they saw me again," Blaine broke down and sobbed in Cooper's arms. Cooper sat on the bed holding Blaine, but rage was boiling up inside of him.
"You know I've always protected you, Blaine, and I always will if I can," Cooper said, trying to contain his anger. "I love you, little brother."
"I love you too, Coop," Blaine whispered.
"Let's clean you up and then I'll take you to a movie, okay?" Cooper propped Blaine up against his pillows and cleaned his cuts.
"Blaine?" Nicole Anderson called.
"Oh God, she's actually talking to me," Blaine mumbled, and then he cleared his throat. "What is it, Mom?" he called.
"Come down for dinner," she replied shortly.
"Are you coming too?" Blaine looked up at Cooper, who smiled and nodded. When the two boys entered the dining room, Nicole shrieked.
"Sweet Lord Almighty, Cooper, honey, what are you doing here?" she asked, hugging her older son. "I'm sure Blaine told you about his 'condition'. Can you help him?" Blaine looked in disbelief at his mom.
"Mom, Blaine is fine the way he is. There's no need to help him," Cooper said softly.
"Cooper Staton Anderson, don't contradict your mother," Richard Anderson said, walking into the room.
"Can we have a peaceful family dinner for once?" Nicole asked. "Cooper, we're so glad you're home."
"Blaine Everett Anderson, sit down and stop glaring at me and your mother," Richard snapped.
Blaine looked away, the tears coming back. Cooper saw the tears and put an arm around Blaine before turning back to his parents.
"Mom, Dad, I don't know why you two have gone all conservative, but Blaine is just as normal as he ever was. He's still my little brother and your youngest son. I don't see how he's changed in any way since I came home last time," he said. "What is this really all about? Did one of your beloved societies find out about your gay son?" Cooper turned to Nicole, who bit her lip.
"The Parent-Teacher Association didn't want a mother with a gay son," she whispered. "They said Blaine would corrupt the other students. I cared too much about that to even talk to Blaine. I'm sorry, honey." Tears were rolling down Blaine's cheeks now as he embraced his mom.
"Dad, why can't you support Blaine?" Cooper asked his father.
"No son of mine is going to be a swatty nancy-boy," Richard said. "Look at you, Cooper; you were a football star and the senior class president. You could have any of those slutty girls in that bloody school."
"Dad, you don't get it. I didn't care for those girls. I spent a lot of my time trying to protect Blaine from those kids who had nothing better to do than harass him," Cooper retorted. "The reason I was elected; hell, I didn't even want to be class president; they elected me because they said I was the perfect big brother. All those kids who didn't have one to protect them wanted me to be theirs. I figured that being class president would help stop the bullying, but it didn't. I'll let you dwell on that." Cooper took Blaine's arm and led him out of the house.
"Where are we going?" Blaine asked, looking worried.
"Away from here, for now," Cooper replied. "We'll come home later and see how they feel. I did say I'd take you to a movie, so let's go." Blaine smiled and leaned back in the car.
