Hello, everyone.

This site is driving me insane and I would love to set the server on fire, btw. If there's a problem with FF, I also update on AO3, so you can find it there as well. There's a chance I won't be posting here much longer.

Thank you so, so, so much for your comments on the last chapter. I can't believe we're more than halfway through this story already. I'm so grateful for your support and lovely reviews!

And thank you to Christine for being so amazing.

Enjoy!

Cooper was halfway through his breakfast when his bedroom door opened and Blaine walked in, looking tired (as usual). He dropped his jacket and bag on the nearest chair and came over to squeeze his brother's shoulder in greeting.

"Look at this!" Cooper said, as dramatically as he could. He waved a little plastic container in Blaine's face. "Peach jam! Why does it always have to be peach jam?"

"I'm surprised you haven't charmed the person in charge of giving you breakfast yet," Blaine commented, as he went over to the window to check on the flowers. Most of them were still doing okay, so he removed the ones that had begun to wilt and then busied himself changing the water. "Why don't you ask them if they have anything else?"

"I did! They promised they would get me strawberry, at least," Cooper looked down at his toast sadly. "I hate peach jam."

Blaine sighed, too used to his brother's anctics by now. "I'll stop by the grocery store on my way to work later. I'm sure I can get you some other flavor. What do you want?"

Cooper perked up. "Oh, that would be great. Apple. Or raspberry. I would even be okay with some blueberry jam. Just not awful peach."

"Not peach, noted," Blaine repeated.

Cooper watched him as he finished rearranging the flowers. There was something about him this morning... he looked a bit tense, nervous even. If there was one thing the Anderson brothers had in common, it was their incredible ability to hide their feelings whenever they weren't convenient (though Cooper had always been a bit better at it than Blaine, whose eyes were an eternally open door to his soul).

When Blaine finally stopped figeting with the flowers and came to sit next to him, Cooper tilted his head and studied him some more. His tone was serious, the jam frustration completely forgotten, when he asked: "What's going on?"

"Nothing, why would you ask that?" Blaine said, avoiding very carefully looking his brother directly.

Blaine could be so full of shit sometimes.

"Blaine," Cooper said. He pushed his tray aside and shifted until he was sitting sideways, facing his brother. Blaine had no choice but to look at him now. "What is it? Did you talk to Dr. Morales? Is it bad news?"

"No," Blaine replied immediately, reaching for Cooper's hand. He squeezed it tightly. "No, I'm sorry. Nothing's wrong with you, Coop. We're still on for chemo tomorrow."

"Okay," Cooper nodded very slowly. He held on to his brother's hand when Blaine tried to pull away. "Then it has to be something else."

Blaine bit his lip, his whiskey eyes wandering over Cooper's face a little anxiously. "Okay, fine. If I tell you something... will you promise to keep the secret?"

Oh, this had to be juicy. Cooper raised his hand solemnly. "I swear it on my life, even though that doesn't seem to count for much these days."

Blaine pushed him a bit, irritated. "God, you're the worst sometimes. Don't say that."

"Fine! Who would I even tell, anyway?" Cooper said, and when Blaine's eyes went a little wide, he knew. "Oh, this is about Kurt, isn't it?"

"Yes," Blaine admitted. It was delightful to see him so flustered. "He... he kissed me last night."

"What!" Cooper exclaimed, a bit too loudly. His smile grew so big it made his face ache. "That's amazing! Tell me everything!"

"Calm down, psycho," Blaine said, but his words were fondly exasperated. "It's certainly not amazing," he added.

"Because of his boyfriend?" Cooper asked, knowingly. His brother was too good a man to meddle into a relationship. He would never want someone's heartbreak on his conscience.

Blaine lifted his eyebrows a little bit, and leaned in to whisper. "They broke up yesterday, actually. That's why Kurt was upset and forgot to come see you."

Cooper debated doing a happy dance, but realized it was a waste of time – first he needed to hear everything that had happened the previous night and find out how his brother felt about it.

Blaine told him about seeing Kurt upset and offering to take him home (Cooper patted his brother's shoulder in congratulations, and Blaine slapped his hand away claiming it wasn't like that, god, Cooper, get your mind out of the gutter), about his boyfriend leaving with all the furniture, about deciding to stay to cheer Kurt up when it was obvious he needed the company. He told him about how easy it was to talk to him, how quickly they seemed to connect, how natural the conversation flowed between them. He told him about the way Kurt had been looking at him before he moved in to kiss him, the way his eyes seemed to capture the light leaving him breathless.

He told him about stopping Kurt when things got too heated.

"No!" Cooper said, throwing his arms up in frustration. "How could you stop him?"

Blaine ran his hands through his hair, even more frustrated than him. "I'm just... not that kind of guy, Coop. You know me. It felt like taking advantage of him because he was so upset. Or like he was taking advantage of me because I was there. I don't want to be his rebound guy. I don't want it to be a one night only kind of thing..."

Cooper leaned in a bit, anticipation crawling up his spine, and said: "And you don't want it to be a one night only kind of thing because..."

Blaine groaned, stood up and started pacing around the room, mumbling to himself, until he finally stood still, faced Cooper and extended his arms as if he was saying look at me. "Isn't it obvious, Coop?"

"You like him," Cooper said, matter-of-factly.

Blaine's arms fell to his side in defeat. "I think so, yeah."

Cooper still didn't understand why he looked so crestfallen. "And why is that a bad thing? He kissed you."

"Yes, because I was there," Blaine retorted stubbornly. "He would have kissed you if it were you instead of me."

Cooper snorted and then smiled brightly at his brother. "Of course he would have kissed me, that's without question. I may have cancer and a bald spot, but I'm still pretty damn atractive." It looked like Blaine was about to protest, or possibly scold him for yet another cancer joke, so Cooper kept going before he could interrupt him. "But that's not what I meant. Maybe he likes you, too."

"I don't think he's interested, really. I think he just wants to be friends," Blaine shrugged and went back to his seat, where he let himself fall rather unceremoniously. It was very uncharacteristic of him. "And that's fine! I want to be his friend, too. He's a really good guy, so funny and witty and smart. But he's going through something pretty difficult, and I don't want to be a quick distraction. I don't think I would like myself very much if I did that."

"Oh, Squirt," Cooper sighed, enjoying the way Blaine's face filled with rejection at the childhood nickname. "What a perfect, silly, romantic gentleman you are."

"I care about him, okay?" Blaine said, once again looking very, very tired. "I don't want things to be awkward between us, and I don't want to be a reason for him to be even more miserable than he is. His father is in a coma, and his boyfriend dumped him in his hospital room. It's the worst week of his life."

"You know, I never really liked that guy," Cooper commented, leaning back against his pillows, contemplative.

Blaine quirked an eyebrow at him. "And when exactly did you meet his boyfriend?"

Cooper cursed himself. There was no reason to get into trouble with his brother by confessing he left his room sometimes, when he was gone for the night. He didn't need to know he had actually met Kurt's boyfriend. "Oh, I just mean by the things I've heard about him," he said nonchalantly. "What you've told me, what Kurt's told me..."

Blaine seemed suspicious, but, fortunately for Cooper, he was a little preoccupied with his mess of a love life to actually worry about whether his brother was lying to him or not.

Cooper wondered for a moment what Blaine would think if he knew he had stolen his cellphone out of his pocket so he would have an excuse to send Kurt to see him at the flowershop. It was better not to bring it up, he decided.

He allowed Blaine to change the subject, and they talked about everything and nothing at all for a while, before they finally turned the TV on, in search of yet another distraction. Cooper could see that Blaine was still thinking about Kurt, but he didn't comment on it, let him pretend he wasn't thinking about that kiss. His oblivious little brother...

It wasn't until it was almost lunch time and they both began to get hungry that Blaine mentioned Kurt again, when he said he'd promised the three of them could have lunch together.

"I'll go get Kurt and some food and we'll be right back, okay?" Blaine said.

Cooped crossed his arms over his chest, like a petulant child. "Why can't I go with you down to the cafeteria? I'm sick but I can still move."

"You get tired when you're out of bed for too long," Blaine said, as he grabbed his wallet from his bag.

"Of course I get tired," Cooper retorted, because if his brother was stubborn, he could be double stubborn. Two could play at this game. "You don't let me move, I barely get any exercise. By the time they let me go home, you'll have to carry me everywhere like a damn baby."

They bickered back and forth for what felt like an hour – "I don't even remember what the sky looks like anymore, Blaine" "You have a window right here, Coop" – until Blaine had no choice but to give up.

"But we're taking a wheelchair," he said, before Cooper could look too triumphant. "You can walk around the courtyard a bit, but the minute you feel too tired, you get on the wheelchair."

Cooper rolled his eyes, but agreed, happy to be allowed to leave this damn room at last.

Blaine went to fetch a wheelchair, while Cooper rummaged in his drawers for a baseball cap (he was not a fan of people seeing the lack of luscious hair on his head) and when he came back, Cooper sat on it and graciously allowed him to push him out of the room. However, they didn't get very far, because as soon as they began their way down the hallway to go find Kurt, they saw him burst out of his father's room, screaming for a nurse or a doctor.

Cooper's heart skipped a beat, and he reached back to grasp Blaine's hand on the handles of the wheelchair. He could feel his grip tighten on it.

"Blaine, go," Cooper muttered immediately. "Go, go now."

"Are you...?" Blaine began to ask.

"Just go to Kurt!" Cooper exclaimed, his tone filled with urgency.

Oh god, please let his father be okay, Cooper thought, as he sat in the middle of the hallway watching his brother run towards Kurt, placing a hand on his shoulder. Kurt turned around and his face when he saw Blaine... so open and vulnerable, the tears streaking down his face...

Blaine didn't hesitate to pull him into his arms and Kurt went willingly, easily, as if Blaine's arms were the place he needed to be in, where he belonged. And Blaine... oh, Cooper had never seen his brother like this. The way he melted into Kurt, held him as if ready to shield him from the rest of the world. They pulled away as Blaine asked him something, his hands immediately travelling up to cup Kurt's face, and that's when it hit Cooper, when he finally, finally saw it.

Cooper had sent Blaine on so many dates, they both had lost count. After each and every single one of them, Blaine had looked either disappointed, uninterested or simply bitter about the whole thing. Even when he liked one of the guys, the whole thing fizzled out and disappeared in a matter of days, and there were rarely second dates. Cooper had been waiting to see this look on his brother's face since the first date he had set up for him, what felt like a lifetime ago.

As he watched Blaine and Kurt embrace, he realized they had finally found the person they had been looking for forever.

Damn, I love Cooper.

Little announcement: During November, this story will be updated three times a week! New posting days are Tuesdays, Thursdays and, as usual, Saturdays. I finished writing the story I'll be posting after this one, so I thought you might all be happy to get more updates every week :)

That said, I will see you on Tuesday!

Love,

L.-