Summary: Another day in Sunnydale turns to chaos when Blaine finds an unexpected visitor on the Andersons' door step. But a mysterious new pet isn't all he has to deal with - it's competing with a suddenly inquisitive brother, an exasparating kinda-sorta-crush, and absolutely everybody around him losing their mind.
In conclusion - another day in Sunnydale.

Notes: The story takes place about two weeks after Here Comes The Sun. And to (hopefully) avoid confusion, here a small note: Quinn used to be part of the Scoobie gang but left Sunnydale due to personal reasons. Now on with the story.

Cooper, the Vampire Slayer

All That Glitters, Part I

Blaine took a last look into the mirrror to check his appearance – his hair, especially, was just a horror to manage in the hot climate in Sunnydale, even compared with what he had gotten used to in Ohio. He nodded to himself shortly, picked up his messenger back, and left his room. Walking down the stairs, he could hear Cooper's voice coming from the living room. Curiously, he looked into the living room, where he could see Cooper sitting at their dining table, a laptop and a legal pad in front of him, and he was cursing softly. As Blaine approached, his brother crumpled a piece of paper into a ball and threw it behind him. It wasn't the only one, either. On a first survey, Blaine counted to a dozen paper balls.

With a frown, Blaine stepped to the table.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

Cooper looked up, a bit surprised about the approach. "Welll... I'm trying to work on my next novel."

"Another one from that science fiction series?" Blaine asked, trying not to sound too interested.

"Oh god, no," Cooper said, shuddering. "I need a break from that drama. This is about the female monster hunter and that werewolf tribe."

"Ah, that one," Blaine said, and he was starting to get a bad feeling about what direction this was going in. "The pretty blonde former cheerleader who tried to turn her back to hunting but gets sucked in again... What was her name again?"

"Lucy," Cooper answered. He almost managed to look okay while saying it, but Blaine knew him better than that.

"Right, Lucy," Blaine said, nodding. "Wasn't that Quinn's middle name?"

"No, it wasn't," Cooper snapped, turnin back to his laptop. "It's her first name," he muttered.

"Sorry," Blaine said. "Um... so what's the problem with the story?"

Cooper sighed, throwing up his hands. "It's not working," he said. "The romance, it's just... I can't get it to work. Why would she fall in love with a werewolf? Why would a werewolf stop killing? It's not like it's a rational choice for them, they're just completely wild once per month."

"You don't have to portrait them completely realistically," Blaine said, "maybe these werewolves can learn to control it?"

"They're still killers. I don't know what she'd be seeing in them!"

Blaine's first instinct was to remind him that Quinn hadn't left to date werewolves, but he didn't want to upset Cooper more than was necessary. Instead, he bowed down to pick up one of the rolled up balls. Maybe there was a way he could help... But once he had straightened it out, he looked up at Cooper sceptically.

"Cooper? This is just empty paper."

Cooper looked up at him as if he was very slow at the moment. "Of course it is. You know I'm working on my laptop. Why would I write anything down on paper?"

"So... you just crumple empty sheets? Why?"

Cooper sighed. "Writing 101, Blaine. If you don't get anywhere, you throw around balled up paper sheets. It's what you do. Have you never seen a movie with a writer in it?"

Blaine looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Riiight, that makes sense," he said, deciding not to fight this particular battle. "So if it bothers you so much, then why don't you have her end up with someone else?"

"The romance is integral to the plot," Cooper said, "and what kind of person could I bring in that would be better for her to date?"

"How about another monster hunter? Maybe her ex-boyfriend who taught her everything and whom she left out of circumstances, not because she didn't love him anymore?"

Cooper was quiet for a moment, before he sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Wouldn't work with the story," he said, "and it would take away from the message of her being the empowered one. Besides, I fucking hate love triangles."

"You're a paranormal romance writer, I think love triangles are the basis of your job," Blaine said. "And you have one in the science fiction series... and the vampire series... and the angel series..."

"That doesn't mean I like them," Cooper said.

"You could have her end up on her own. Let her see in the end that the werewolf isn't as good as he pretended to be, let her defeat him and go on with her life with some important lessons learned."

Cooper sighed in even more exasperation. "It's a romance novel, Blaine!"

Now it was Blaine who started to feel uneasy. "Just because it's romance doesn't mean it has to have a happy end," he said. "Anyway, I'll leave you to it. I have a study group."

He turned around and was halfway to the door, when Cooper stopped him.

"Wait. Who's the guy?"

Blaine froze for a second, before he turned around. "Sam," he said, trying to sound as calm as possible. Cooper was just fishing. "We have a literature class together, and there'll be a test soon."

"Not your study group," he said. "Tell me about the guy."

"What guy?" Blaine asked.

"Sit!"

What he should be doing was to wallk out, after all Cooper had no authority over him. Instead, Blaine found himself walking back to the table and sitting down.

"So, the guy. Spill."

"How do you even know there is a guy?" Blaine asked, slightly exasparated.

Cooper rolled his eyes. "I'm a romance writer, Blaine. I have an eye for these things. And you've been sulking for two weeks, not to mention that you've been weird for a few weeks before that. I think it's time we have a talk."

"Do we have to?" Blaine asked.

Cooper's slightly triumphing look turned more serious. "You know you can talk to me about this, right?" he asked. "Look, I know I haven't exactly been a stellar brother to you..."

"You're doing a great job," Blaine said, "you're putting me through college! That's pretty great."

Cooper rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean. I wasn't there for you for a lot of occasions when I know you could have needed my support. I wasn't there when you came out. I didn't help you with our parents when you were in school, I didn't even manage to stand up for you when they cut you off... And that whole Dalton mess..."

"It wasn't a mess, I just changed schools. People do that all the time," Blaaine said.

"I still think you should have stayed there," Cooper said, "I get that it would have been hard for you with all the reminders, but it would have been better for you. It was a great school, and you always sounded so happy when you were talking about the warblers and your friends there. Was it really worth getting away from there and going to that backwater hick town instead?"

Blaine frowned. This wasn't a subject he wanted to talk about ever, but it sounded like his brother had fundamentally misunderstood something. "Cooper... Leaving Dalton wasn't my choice," he said. "It was something the principal agreed on with our parents, said it would keep the scandal small. They basically kicked me out."

"What?" Cooper stared at him as if he'd been hit. "And our parents allowed that?"

Blaine shrugged. "Well, they thought I was an embarrassment, and maybe going back to a 'real' school would teach me to behave."

"Dad said that?" Cooper asked.

"Don't tell me you're surprised."

Cooper looked actually distressed now. "But you hadn't done anything wrong. You hadn't done anything, it was that guy," he said.

Blaine rolled his eyes. This was the part of the conversation he was used to, "I was legal, I knew what I was doing, and I was just as involved as he was."

"He was a teacher!"

Blaine sighed. "We've been over this, Cooper, and I really don't want to talk about it."

"But... don't you think we kind of need to talk about this?" Cooper asked.

"It was seven years ago," Blaine said. "Let it go. Please."

For a moment he thought Cooper would insist, but then he nodded. "Okay, yes, I'm sorry," he said softly, as if he had upset Blaine and was trying to calm him down again. "I don't want to bother you with it. Just... if you do want to talk, you know that I'm here, right? And that I'm on your side?"

Blaine managed a small smile. "I know. Thank you. But I should go now, Sam's waiting."

"We haven't talked about the guy yet," Cooper said.

Blaine sighed. "Cooper, there's not much to tell. Yes, there is a guy, but nothing's going to happen with him, so I don't really see why we need to talk about it."

"Then why are you sulking?" Cooper asked.

"Well... it's nothing, really," Blaine said. At least he had spent the last two weeks trying to tell himself that.

Cooper looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "It's not nothing. It upsets you."

Blaine looked at him in surprise, but eventuallly, he nodded. "It does," he admitted. "Alright, the guy... There's not much to say. We're friends. Close friends, I think. And it's... it's stupid, really. I never even thought about him like this. He's not exactly the kind of person I could see myself with..."

"Why's that?" Cooper asked.

Blaine shrugged. "He's not my usual type," he said. It wasn't exactly true, but if your brother was the slayer, the last thing you would dare to say was that you were well on your way to falling in love with a vampire.

Cooper clearly wasn't convinced, but he didn't insist on the point. "So when did you start thinking of him like this?"

"He... did something that made me believe that he liked me," Blaine said, hoping he could use Cooper's guilt over their previous conversation to get out of providing more details. "It kind of threw me off, actually. As I said, I didn't see him that way. But then I spent a whole day just... obsessing over it. When he kissed me, it just... it kind of opened a floodgate. So I was thinking for hours, do I like him? Do I want to be with him? Is this something I can see myself doing? And it's... I don't know."

"So what conclusion did you come to?" Cooper asked.

Blaine just managed to stop himself from running a hand through his hair, which would have ruined it again. "I... I thought I'd try. You know, being with him. I knew already that I cared about him, and I thought... maybe it could be worth it, to see if it could work."

"I sense a but coming..."

Blaine grinned, although there was little humor in it. "But... when I saw him again, he didn't even let me get to that point, and just told me flat out that he wasn't actually interested. He'd been... upset at the time, and I reminded him of someone... oh, and apparently he sees me as just a kid."

Cooper's eyebrows rose. "Wait, how old did you say he was?"

Blaine sighed. "Can we not?"

"Right, right, sorry," Cooper said. "So... what now?"

"Nothing, as I said. He isn't interested, and I'll just have to get over it. It's okay, though, I'll live. Not much happened, anyway. I'll be fine – nothing hurt but my ego."

"You are going to be fine," Cooper said. "I get it, this must really suck. But... you're going to be okay. And hey, if he can't see you're awesome, then screw him. Well, don't screw him in this case. I mean... you know what I mean, right?"

"I do," Blaine said.

"And besides... sooner or later, you are going to find somebody. And I promise, he will be nothing like you pictured him. But that will make it much better, that will make it real. Maybe he's the last person you ever pictured yourself with. But he'll be right for you, and he'll be worth the wait."

Blaine blinked. This was surprisingly deep for Cooper, and he couldn't help but feel a lump in his throat. His thoughts went to Kurt, who so far actually matched what Cooper said – someone he could have never seen coming, and yet...

But it was pointless. Kurt didn't see him that way. The guys he fell in love with never did. And the ones that fell in love with him... Well, that was a completely different disaster area.

"So... are we good?" Blaine asked.

"We're great," Cooper said, raising his hand. Blaine could just so step back before it reached his hair.

"Don't do that," Blaine said.

"Oh come on," Cooper said, rolling his eyes. "I'm your brother, I'm allowed to mess up your hair."

"You are so not," Blaine said, huffing. "I take it back, you're a horrible brother."

"Keep talking, pip-squeak, and I'll make you actually earn your living around here," Cooper said, winking at him. "Now go, Sam's waiting."

Blaine grinned. "Good luck with your romance," he said, before turning to leave..

As he walked to the door, he noticed to his surprise that he felt calmer than before. For some reason, the conversation had really helped him. This was probably the best thing about Cooper, he always managed to surprise.

Still in thought, Blaine opened the front door – and stopped in his tracks. He looked down, not sure if he was actually seeing what he thought he was seeing. He then decided it couldn't be, so he stepped back, shut the door again, closed his eyes and counted to ten. Afterwards, he looked outside again. The picture hadn't changed. Huge eyes of dark silver looked up at him, surrounded by white, and above them...

Disbelieving, Blaine put out his hand, only to touch soft fur. They eyes closed, and the head moved against his hand. Unsure, Blaine petted the fur.

So, another day in Sunnydale.

Slowly, he turned around, not failing to notice the tapping sound following behind him.

Cooper was just busy crumpling up another piece of paper. "Please tell me you came back to tell me the perfect idea to solve this," he said without looking up.

"A unicorn," Blaine said.

Cooper shook his head. "No, unicorns don't fit in there at all," he said. "Werewolves and unicorns? I don't see it.""

"No... Cooper... Look."

With a sigh, Cooper turned around. When he saw the creature that had followed after Blaine into the room, his eyes widened so far that it was almost a miracle they didn't fall out.

"Blaine? What is that?" he asked.

Blaine looked down to what looked like a foal, not much more than three feet in high, and the silver horn protruding from its forehead.

"Well... I think it's a baby unicorn."

There hadn't been much going on in Sunnydale lately. Of course, there were the usual skirmishes with vampires and the slayer and his little group, but nothing even close to apocalyptic, and nothing that they couldn't handle.

Not that Kurt had been watching them. He really had better things to do with his time. So he might have seen the slayer and his group around a few times, and maybe he had stayed and waited to make sure they didn't get killed. And fine, he may have gotten rid of that one vampire a week ago that had been stalking Blaine and Tina as they were preparing to cast a spell on whatever they'd been hunting at the time (a leprechaun, and where did they even find those things?).

It didn't mean that he cared. And right now, he had just decided to take a walk at night, which he did regularly. Granted, the old duck pond wasn't usually in his path, not since the hag living there had made it clear she didn't particularly appreciate vampire visits... but either way, he was not here because Blaine had walked up to the pond with Santana by his side. And he was definitely not staying close to see what happened just because Blaine had started chanting a summoning to the hag.

Oh, who was he kidding?

Kurt had thought it would make things easier if he kept his distance from Blaine for a while. But so far, it hadn't done anything but turn him into a stalker. Watching Blaine from afar hadn't helped Kurt the least to stop thinking about him. It might even be worse now.

Maybe what he needed was complete distance. He could try to stay away completely. But he couldn't stop worrying. Blaine was so human, so fragile, and this was Sunnydale – probably the most dangerous town on this damn continent. It wasn't as if Kurt hadn't tried, but he couldn't stay here with Blaine roaming the streets of Sunnydale and not be worried. Besides, he had tried getting away before, back when he had gone to Ohio for a few months. That, too, had made the issue even worse. It had been months, and he still sometimes saw that vision when he closed his eyes...

Maybe there was something to be learned there... The more he tried to stay away from this boy, the harder he got pulled back. Maybe resistance was simply futile...

"Will you just stop?!"

Kurt looked up in surprise when he heard Santana shouting. He had zoned out completely, but to his relief, he found the two of them still standing in front of the pond, no hag in sight.

"Can you not shout? We don't want people to notice us," Blaine said, casting an annoyed look at Santana.

"Look, that thing clearly doesn't want to talk. Probably because you messed up the summoning. Anyway, she's not showing. So how about you stop wasting my time and leave the hag-summoning to somebody who actually knows what they're doing?"

"I did not mess up the summon," Blaine said. "It's exactly what Tina wrote down for me. It should work. Maybe she just doesn't want to talk to us..."

"I don't really care either way," Santana said. "I want to get out of this muck. If Tina wants to talk to a hag, tell her to get her own lazy ass here."

"Tina's researching," Blaine said, the frown now clear on his face. Kurt, too, was a bit surprised. He knew that Santana had quite a temper, but she seemed to be in an especially bad mood tonight.

"And whose fault is that?" she snapped back. "Oh right, yours, and your damn pet's."

"This is actually important," Blaine said. "And don't tell me you don't want to know what that's about."

"What I want is to get back to my dorm and spend some time with my damn girlfriend," Santana snapped. "I have better things to do than come here and play your babysitter."

"We need that information," Blaine said, "and Cooper is busy."

"Doing what?"

Blaine paused. Eventually he looked away from Santana. "He just is, okay?" he said.

"Where's your vampire then?" Santana asked. "I haven't seen him in a while. What, little lovers' spat there?"

Blaine's head snapped back at her, and for a moment he stared at her incredulously. Eventually, though he shook his head.

"You know what, Santana? You're right. I don't need you here. You should go and see Brittany. Go, spend time with her. Use every day, every minute you've got left before she gets sick of your attitude and returns home. I imagine that's not gonna take too long."

For a second, Kurt feared that Santana would hit him, judging from how furious she looked at Blaine. Instead, her fist hit the tree to her right, before she turned and left without another word.

It was obvious from the way Blaine's shoulders sagged that he hadn't been so sure on how she'd react, either. But that wasn't what had Kurt concerned. He could easily agree that Santana had an attitude problem, and really needed a reality check sometimes. But it wasn't exactly usual behavior for Blaine to be the one to confront her about it, especially not this aggressively.

Something was going on.

Once more, it was a shout that tore Kurt from his thoughts, and this time, it hit him to the core. It was Blaine, shouting from fright. As Kurt looked up again, he found Blaine pushed against the tree, and – of course – a vampire in front of him, holding him against it. Kurt recognized it as a member of that new coven, the one that had thought they could just invade Kurt's territory, just because he was gone for a few months...

"Look what we have here... the slayer's brother," the vampire said.

"Oh, do me a favor and get a new line," Blaine replied, as if he wasn't bothered by it.

"The boss wants you... He's got plans for you," the vampire said. "Big plans..."

Kurt had been about to attack, but he hesitated. Plans... that could become important.

And Blaine seemed to follow the same train of thought. "What kind of plans?"

"You'll learn soon enough," the vampire said.

"Of course," Blaine said, now sounding quite nonchalant. "I wouldn't assume you'd even be told about it. You don't seem important enough."

"I will be, once I bring you back," the vampire hissed.

"Aaand that's my cue," Kurt said, stepping up behind the vampire. It could hardly turn around, before he tore it away from Blaine and threw it to the ground. It was an especially weak vampire, even for that coven of teenagers. Kurt held out his hand in expectation, not even looking back to Blaine to communicate what he needed. It wasn't necessary either, as the next moment he could feel the stake placed into his hand. A few seconds later, only a heap of dust remained of the vampire.

"So much for that," Kurt said to himself, before he turned around.

He hadn't been prepared to see Blaine so close to him, with his cheeks flushed from the adrenaline, his eyes wide and almost black in the darkness, a smile forming on his face. Kurt wasn't sure who had moved first, but then they were hugging. It was supposed to be short, but Kurt found it really hard to let go, especially when Blaine was holding onto him.

Eventually, it was the boy who stepped back. If Kurt had expected any awkwardness, he was to be disappointed. Blaine looked up at him with happiness and relief shining from his eyes.

"You have the best timing ever," Blaine said.

"Maybe you're just lucky," Kurt replied. "I'm not usually in this area. You know how dangerous Sunnydale is, especially for you, and then you go send away your bodyguard?"

Blaine ducked his head. "You heard that?" he asked.

"Hard not to," Kurt said. "Come on, I'll walk you home, then you can tell me what this was about."

Blaine shrugged. "Santana's been really difficult lately, please don't ask me why. It's really tiring to hear her complain about everything."

For a while, they kept walking in silence, and Kurt felt it slipping into the beginnings of awkwardness. There had to be something they could talk about, so he just tried with the first thing that came to his mind. "So... How have things been?"

A wide grin almost split Blaine's face. "Things have been great," he said. "You won't believe what happened."

"What happened?" Kurt asked. He was relieved at how happy Blaine sounded. It made him hope that whatever awkwardness the kiss and its aftermath might have caused, had passed over in the weeks of their separation. Even if Blaine had been upset, he had gotten over it by now, and if he wasn't interested in anything more... well, then maybe it would be easier for Kurt to keep his distance again.

"I have a pet baby unicorn."

That was probably on the list of the things he would have least expected to hear tonight. "You what?"

Blaine was still grinning, probably bright enough to light up a sun. "I have a pet baby unicorn," he repeated. "Come on, I'll show you!"

Kurt recognized the slayer's home, even though it had been a long time since he had been able to enter it – and even that had been very short-lived. His guilt returned, when he thought back on it, and he hurried to fall back in step with Blaine.

"You're not going to invite me in, are you?" he asked.

Blaine rolled his eyes. "Trust me, I'm not making that mistake again," he said, a strict eyebrow raised as a warning. Kurt's eyes fell to the scars on Blaine's throat. They were tiny, probably hardly visible if one didn't know what to look for, but to Kurt they could have been laser points.

"She's in the garden," Blaine said, "come on."

Kurt followed to the garden, where the shack seemed to have been re-modeled into some sort of stable. He stopped, staring at it in disbelief.

"You can't keep a unicorn in a garden, anybody could see," he said. "Even for Sunnydale, that would be a bit conspicuous..."

"We're hiding her," Blaine said. "She's in here, come on."

Blaine walked to the shed, and as Kurt followed, he could see a white creature stepping closer. It turned out to be what looked like a tiny snow white pony, and on its forehead...

"Um.. Blaine? I hate to break this to you... but that's not a baby unicorn. That's a pony with a cardboard cone strapped to its head."

"You mean a foal, Kurt, a pony is a different things," Blaine said. "Also, shut up and watch."

Blaine knelt down beside the pony – or foal – and started to take off the strapped-on horn. As he removed it, Kurt saw that beneath it, there was another horn – this one not made from cardboard, but of a strong, shining material. He caught himself staring. It was indeed a unicorn. A unicorn foal.

"Where did you find it?" Kurt asked.

"She was on my doorstep," Blaine said, stroking over its fur, as the animal nuzzled closer to him. "No note, nothing."

"Wait, I thought they only let virgins close," Kurt said.

Blaine looked up at him with a frown, although it looked just a bit annoyed. "Apparently not," he said, although his voice was completely controlled. "Come on, let's see if she likes you."

Kurt frowned. "I'm a vampire," he said. "You really think a creature of purity would let me get close enough to touch?"

Blaine shrugged. "She doesn't follow usual rules," he said. "She's very sweet with everyone, even Brittany. And you'll be fine. I like you, she'll like you too."

Still dubious, Kurt knelt down beside the boy and reached out his hand, offering it to the foal. It hesitated for a moment, looking like a cat smelling at someone it didn't know. After another pause, it nuzzled against his hand. Surprised, Kurt stroked its fur. It was soft, like touching cotton wool. The unicorn closed its eyes, as if it was happy.

"A unicorn that accepts vampires? That's unusual."

"She is unusual," Blaine said. "And so are you."

Kurt's eyes widened. If his heart was beating, it would speed up at this. But when he looked up at Blaine, the boy seemed completely calm.

"Where did she come from?" Kurt asked.

Blaine shrugged. "We don't know yet," he said. "Tina has been trying to find any magical signatures, but... it hasn't been going so well. You'd think unicorn hair would work amazingly with magic, but so far we've got nothing. So we decided to just take care of her until things are clearer. That's why we went to see the hag, too. We thought she might know something."

"And you disguise the unicorn... as a fake unicorn?"

Blaine shrugged. "It's perfect. I told people that Cooper needed an inspiration for a unicorn novel. He's eccentric enough that they believe it." He took the straps and put the fake horn back on.

"So, what's her name?" Kurt asked.

Blaine looked up in suspicion. "What made you think she came with a name?"

Kurt looked at him with raised eyebrows. "I know you. Of course you named her."

Blaine hesitated, but then he smiled softly. "Amalthea," he said.

Kurt couldn't help a fond smile. "That's a good name."

Blaine lowered his gaze, as a blush formed in his face. "Don't tell anyone else. They'll just laugh."

"Will they?" Kurt asked.

Blaine's eyes clouded, and Kurt felt his worry rise. His former feeling that something was going on here was returning.

"The thing is... it's not just Santana. Everyone has been really stressed lately," he said. "People are getting annoyed, and short-tempered really quickly. Not sure what's going on there." He shrugged then. "But it's alright, I have Almathea to look after. She's keeping me busy while everybody else is being touchy."

"I believe so," Kurt said, petting the unicorn again. "So she's really yours?"

"She likes me best," Blaine said, "maybe because she saw me first. Anyway I'm taking care of her. I think Cooper is quite happy about it. He likes anything that keeps me off the streets."

"You do have a tendency to get into trouble," Kurt said.

"Oh, not you too," Blaine said, although he was smiling, showing that he took it lightly. "So... what have you been up to? I haven't seen you in a while."

Kurt was taken aback at the question, although he really should have expected it. "I do have other things to do than hang around you guys," he said eventually.

Blaine shrugged. "I wasn't doubting you know how to spend your time. It's just... things got a bit awkward the last time we saw each other. I wouldn't want you to think you'd have to stay away because of that. We're friends, and I don't want that to change. And... we're okay, right?"

Kurt found himself nodding. "Of course we are," he said. "Although I was a bit worried..."

"You don't need to be," Blaine said. "Let's just forget it and move on. We are friends, and that isn't going to change. So you don't need to be hiding in your crypt or whatever it is you've been doing... you can come back out and play again."

"I do have other friends, you know?" Kurt said, although he didn't expect the lie to be taken seriously. He usually stayed away from attachments, seeing how badly those had worked out for him so far.

Blaine looked at him with hesitation before he spoke. "Like Sebastian?"

Kurt's hand clenched on instinct, bunching up a bit of the unicorn's fur and making it retreat. Of course that was where this conversation was going... He should have known. "We're not exactly friends," Kurt said, trying not to glare at the boy.

"So... have you heard from him lately?" Blaine asked. His nonchalance was very well played but Kurt could still see through it.

"No," he said, gritting his teeth. "I haven't heard from him since his last visit here. So no change since the last time you asked."

"Oh, right," Blaine said, stroking through the unicorn's fur. From the sound of his voice, he seemed content with the news, although now Kurt wasn't sure if it was real or an even better act. "Well, can't be helped. I'm sure he'll get in contact with you at some point."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Can't wait for it," he said sarcastically.

"Anyway, what about you? Will we see more of you again?" Blaine asked.

"Yes, sure," Kurt said. "I mean... if you have something to do for me...Something I'd be interested in. I don't actually care about your little missions and hunts and whatever."

"Kurt?"

"Hm?"

"You don't have to do your 'I'm cooler than you' act anymore – at least not with me," Blaine said. "You can pretend all you want, but I know that you care."

Kurt looked at him in disbelief. How did this boy do it all the time, finding the words that would just stun him? "Believe what you want," he said, but the words were anything but convincing.

Blaine shook his head in exasperation, although Kurt thought he could see some fondness in there. "Alright, tough guy, as you wish. Now come help me feed my pet baby unicorn."

"I can't believe we're having to do this," Cooper grumbled, and Blaine could have sworn he saw his brother kick against a fence. "There are no new cases, there's nothing going on at the moment... I don't know what Sue's deal is, why can't we just all mind our own business and meet up again when there's actually something to deal with?"

"Well, there is the unicorn that came out of nowhere," Blaine said.

"It's a baby unicorn. That's not a threat, that's the start of a supernatural petting zoo," Cooper said dismissively.

"I'd like to know where she's from," Blaine said.

"Then go meet up with Tina and see if she found something out already," Cooper said. "No need to drag everybody else into this."

"Why are you so cranky lately?" Blaine asked. "Is this still about the plot of your story? Look, if this part isn't working, then maybe you should just take it out-"

"It's not about the book! It's about Sue – like every other watcher in this goddamn world – believing there is nothing more important in anybody's life than following her every order! All the time it's 'focus on slaying', or 'you're the chosen one', or telling me that I can't have a life. Well, maybe I want one. Has anybody ever thought of that? I get that you have nothing better to do, that it's all some sort of adventure to you, but I'm actually getting a bit tired of this."

Blaine frowned. "You don't have to take this out on me," he said. "You love this, even when you're tired of it. You couldn't stop if you tried."

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Cooper said, rolling his eyes. "Can we just get this over with?"

"Sure," Blaine said. He wasn't sure what was going on lately. He wasn't used to Cooper snapping at him like this, but it had happened more and more. It wasn't just Cooper, though...

When they arrived almost everybody was already waiting in Sue's office. Tina was sitting cross legged on the floor, reading in a heavy-looking tome and ignoring everybody else, but from her expression alone Blaine could tell that she wasn't happy to be here. Sam was busy playing with a hand-held, occasionally looking up to where Santana was sitting in Brittany's lap and glaring at the girls. Sue was dressed in her usual red track suit and yelling at someone on her cell phone. There was no trace of Kurt, but Blaine hadn't really expected to see him. He should be fine with this. They had just established that things were okay between them. Kurt didn't need Blaine to start pining for him. Blaine didn't mean to pine anyway. There was no reason, the kiss must have been an anomaly.

The noise of Sue's phone crashing against the window broke him out of his thought. Wide-eyed, he looked around to see what was going on, but apparently Sue had just found a creative new way to end the call. She then turned around to face everybody else.

"Oh, the slayer himself deigns to grace us with his presence. About time! The world can't wait for you to get over your writers' block, you know?"

"The world was doing just fine," Cooper gritted. "And don't try to distract us, what was that all about? What inspection? Who were you talking to?"

Blaine's eyes widened. This sounded serious... maybe he had gotten a bit too distracted, thinking about Kurt... he should really stop doing that.

Sue showed her best vicious glare, which did not only send shivers down everybody's spine but that Blaine had seen intimidate a minor demon lord. "I'm sorry, it seems the trivialities you keep writing about have climbed off the page, and through your ears in that ridiculously spacious brain cavity of yours, taking root in the last bits of functional gray matter you still have at your disposal. I was obviously talking to the Watchers' council."

"They're not going to send somebody here again, are they?" Santana asked.

"I don't mind," Brittany said with a shrug. "They only look to see if the iron is still in and go."

"Well, I mind them being here," Santana snapped. "You may be fine with them wanting to inspect everything and sit in judgment over everybody else, but I'm sick of them prodding me."

"Actually, this time it's about neither of you ladies," Sue said, "this is all thanks to our dear Slayer's stellar performance during the last few crises."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cooper asked.

"It means that you've neglected your task. If you can't handle your little hobby beside your destiny, then maybe you should check your priorities."

"It's not a hobby, it's my job!" Cooper said.

"Please, I put down more literary value every day by writing in my diary," Sue said. "As far as your slaying goes, the council hasn't been too thrilled with the last reports, and they're considering to send somebody here for an inspection. And don't look at me like that, do you think I want those bumbling morons messing up everything I built?"

Cooper rolled his eyes. "Gee, I sure hope you didn't anger them by insulting them, belittling them, oh and hanging up mid-sentence by smashing the phone against a window. Can't see that having a negative effect at all!"

"Will you all SHUT UP?!"

Everybody turned around when Tina started yelling. She was still sitting on the ground, but she had stopped reading in the book. "I'm trying to read here! If anybody remembers, a unicorn foal turned up out of nowhere, we don't know why, we don't know if its mother is around... but apparently I'm the only person who cares about finding out something about that!"

"I care," Blaine said, his own annoyance growing.

"Sure, Blaine," Tina huffed, "you care about everything. Doesn't change the fact that I don't see you researching with me!"

"Excuse me? I offered, and you literally kicked me out of your room," Blaine said.

"He's right, you're scary when you're researching. I wouldn't even dare to go near your room when you get like that," Sam said. "Is this some PMS thing or-"

"Excuse me?!"

Sam blanched at the twin glare he got from both Tina and Santana, while Brittany seemed to have gotten awfully distracted by a fly sitting on the wall. Blaine just wanted to gently remind Sam to try and be more tactful, when he saw the faery smash the fly with her bare palm.

"What are you doing?" Santana asked.

"It was in my space and I didn't like it," Brittany said, glaring at the spot where the fly had been – ignoring the tiny cracks that had appeared in the wall.

"Well, Santana, I have a suggestion for you," Sue said. "Maybe as a semi-slayer you could actually manage to keep a better grip on your pet and make sure she doesn't destroy my office?"

"That's my girlfriend you're talking about!" Santana snapped.

"I'm sorry, did I miss some miracle that turned her into a real girl?" Sue asked. "As far as I'm concerned, she's a loan from the faery queen – not that we'd asked for it, but I'm not going up against her again."

"Right, cause you were so successful the first time," Cooper said rolling his eyes.

"Um... do we have to be here for this?" Sam asked.

"Good question," Blaine muttered.

"Technically, I don't need any of you here, except Anderson the elder. I don't even know what the rest of you are doing here."

"It's because we're a team," Blaine said. "And the part about the inspection is important to all of us."

"Well, thank you, Mr. Narrator," Santana said, "what would we ever do without you?"

"You don't need to be so mean to everybody," Sam said, "seriously, what is your problem? I really thought once you got a girlfriend you would stop being such a raging bitch, but actually I'm starting to think you're getting worse!"

"Well maybe if you could stop mooning over said girlfriend, I didn't have to!" Santana shouted back.

Brittany looked up, her expression much too happy. "You think he likes me?"

Blaine held his breath, but Santana seemed so taken aback that she didn't even yell at anyone.

"We could have a movie night, all three of us," Brittany added.

Sam now looked completely terrified.

"You know what? I'm done with his."

They all looked to Tina, as she gathered her book in her arms and got up.

"You're wasting not only my time but also all of yours. What are you even doing? We're supposed to save the world, you people have so many talents, and you just don't do a damn thing! I'm sick of you – all of you! Just think what I could get done if I wasn't always weighed down by your ridiculous squabbles? Just... UGH!"

She rushed out of the door, slamming it behind her.

Blaine couldn't help but feel relieved that at least her dramatic exit had ended whatever disaster had started to brew between Santana, Brittany and Sam...

"Well, that was unnecessarily diva," Cooper said, as he looked after her with a frown.

"Speaking of diva," Sue started.

"You know what? I think Tina had the right idea," Cooper said. "Come on, Blaine, we're leaving. And you!" He turned to Sue. "You can call me when you calmed down from whatever ridiculous power trip you're on now."

He was half out the door by the time Blaine had gotten with the program and started following him. He looked back at his friends, seeing that everybody else was getting up, too.

He didn't like it. Things had become so tense between them, when they should work as a team... Maybe they were just spending too much time together, though. It could be good for them if they had some time apart to focus on something else, especially now when things were so quiet apart from the unicorn foal.

At least he hoped so.

Blaine knew that it was dangerous running around Sunnydale at night, at least on his own. But he had to get out, get away from his brother and his so-called friends right now. What he had wanted to do was to stay with Amalthea, just take care of her, and forget what was going on. But there was something going on, which was always a bad sign in Sunnydale, and right now, his brother didn't seem up for the task – whatever it might be. No matter how much Blaine wanted to hide from it, he had taken responsibility here. He couldn't indulge in escapism, he needed to do something. And the first step for that was to find the allies he still had. He hoped whatever had affected his brother and friends hadn't taken hold of Kurt, too.

The closer he got to the cemetery, the more worried he got. He didn't visit Kurt very often at his refuge. The old ground-keeper's house was probably the safest corner there was... but it was still close enough to the rest of the vampires living in the cemetery, and Blaine was aware how dangerous that was for a human. It was the reason he only came here alone during the day. But this was an emergency. He just hoped that he would get to Kurt before any other vampire came across him...

The small cabin was almost in sight when he heard the sounds of a fight, accompanied by hissing that could only come from vampires.

He shouldn't be here. He should turn around, stay with Amalthea and make sure she was safe, not stay here and get killed by vampires...

But there was a shout, and he recognized Kurt's voice.

The thoughts about his unicorn disappeared, as Blaine started to run without another conscious thought. Now, even with his weak human eyes, he could see that Kurt was fighting three other vampires. They had to be young, they were way too slow to deal with Kurt, but it was still three to one. Blaine took hold of one of the stakes he always carried with him on Cooper's insistence. He knew that he wasn't a match for even one young vampire, but he was sure he could help at least with a surprise attack – at least enough for Kurt to finish the fight.

As he approached, he could see Kurt getting a hold of one of the younger vampires. He held the creature close and turned, using the vampire to kick the other two and get them to a safe distance, and then he tore the head of. Blaine flinched at the sound, then watched the vampire crumble to dust. One of the younger vampires turned around and ran, the last lunged at Kurt. There was some fighting, and Blaine hurried to approach. As Kurt held the thing in a lock, Blaine jumped forward and plunged the stake into the creature's heart. There was a scream, and then it too, fell together into a pile of dust.

Blaine looked up, grinning at Kurt. He had hardly done anything, but the fight had worked out really well. But there was something off in the way Kurt looked back at him. Blaine would have expected happiness, or maybe annoyance, or okay, some exasperation... but Kurt looked at him with rage waving off him. On instinct, Blaine stepped back slowly as if from a wild animal.

The next second, Kurt lunged at him, throwing him against the nearest tree, gripping his shoulders and glaring at him.

Blaine gasped, staring at him in terror. Usually, when they were close, he felt drawn to Kurt's eyes, but right now he saw nothing but the vampire fangs.

"What is wrong with you!?" Kurt hissed. "You do NOT come to the cemetery at night, you do NOT interrupt a fight between vampires! Haven't you learned anything in your time here? Do you want to die, is that it? Or do you just enjoy having me or your brother worried sick about you!?"

Blaine stared at him, not quite understanding what was going on. Kurt was glaring at him full of fury, gripping his shoulders so hard that they were hurting... but the words were of concern, not threatening.

"You always do that," Kurt shouted, "do you have any idea how sick of this I am? I was fine before I met you. And now you keep getting yourself into trouble and I have to get you out again. I can't sleep sometimes, thinking what kind of trouble you're in when I wake. But do you care? Of course you don't!"

"Will you calm down?" Blaine asked, trying not to show how scared he was. "And let go, you're hurting me."

"You think this is me hurting you?" Kurt shot back. "You have no idea what I could do to you, have you? How I could make you scream? But you don't care for that either... You run around like you're invincible, and it's pissing me off."

Kurt's claws were starting to protrude, and Blaine knew that they were right now piercing the fabric of his shirt and the skin beneath. The fear was bubbling up inside him, too strong to hide. Kurt was acting so strange, and what would happen if the smell of blood was added?

But as he finally looked up into Kurt's eyes, Blaine noticed something else.

"Be still", he said, and ignoring the anger, the fear and the pain in his shoulders, he reached out with his hand for Kurt's left eye. The vampire moved back, but he couldn't get more distance between them without letting go of Blaine's shoulders, which he seemed incapable of.

There was something white, almost like a sting, coming right through Kurt's lower lid. Blaine pinched his fingers, got hold of it, and then he pulled.

Kurt flinched, but the anger that had been waving off him, started to fade, replaced by confusion.

Now that Blaine knew what to look for, he could see another one piercing through Kurt's upper lip, and as he turned, there was one more in his right hand near his thumb. Blaine used the moment of Kurt's confusion and pulled out those stings as well.

"How do you feel?" he asked softly.

Kurt looked at him in confusion, but slowly, he seemed to get back to reality. "I... I don't know," he said, "I've... I've been so angry... that's why I picked a fight with those morons..."

"You attacked them?" Blaine asked. "I can't believe you call me careless. You realize they're only looking for a good excuse to attack you, right?"

Kurt snorted. "I think I can handle a few of these knuckleheads."

"They outnumber you, Kurt. Even you can't take an infinite number of vampire, even if they're weaker than you," Blaine said. "Do you really have to actively provoke them?"

"I don't usually do that," Kurt said. "I've just felt... strange. It must have been those things, I feel much calmer now. So... what is it?"

Blaine frowned, looking at what he held in his hands. They looked like impossibly thin, white needles. Carefully, he touched his own palm with one of them, but instead of piercing the skin, it just bowed.

"I don't think I've seen something like this before," Kurt said. "What is it?"

But Blaine had seen it before – on his clothes, his hands... Softly, he plucked one of Kurt's hands of his shoulders, and put the thing against his skin. Where on Blaine's hand it had bent, for Kurt it went right into his skin. Even this little was enough for Kurt's muscle to contract, for his whole demeanor to go a bit tense. With a sigh, Blaine pulled it out again and held it in front of his eyes.

"Blaine, what is it?" Kurt asked.

Blaine closed his eyes, leaning back against the tree. "It's hair," he said. His voice sounded as exhausted as he suddenly felt.

"Hair?" Kurt repeated.

"Unicorn hair," Blaine said.

"Are you sure?"

Blaine sighed. "I've seen a lot of it lately," he said, "trust me, I know what it is." He opened his eyes again, to see Kurt frowning at him.

"So... are you saying your baby unicorn has... I don't know, poisoned me with her hair?"

"Not only you," Blaine said. "Everybody. They're all fighting each other... Sue and Cooper, Brittany and Santana... everybody is yelling at each other and fighting. I didn't think about it before... but I think it started when Amalthea appeared."

"Why aren't you affected?" Kurt asked. "The... hair, it doesn't work on you."

"I don't know," Blaine said. "I didn't even know something was wrong with her... I don't understand. Do you... do you think it could be a coincidence?"

Kurt looked at him with an expression very akin to pity. "I don't think there are many coincidences in Sunnydale," he said. "Especially not when supernatural creatures are involved." He hesitated, before he continued. "I'm sorry."

Blaine shook his head. "Don't," he said. "Let's just focus on what we do now."

"Has Tina found out anything about unicorns so far?" Kurt asked.

"I... actually don't know," Blaine said, "she wasn't really cooperative the last time I met her... but let me call her."

As Blaine took out his phone, he noticed that Kurt's other hand still rested against his skin, now softly cupping his upper arm. It was a bit cool, even through the fabric, but he found he didn't mind. It felt comforting.

"She's not answering her phone," Blaine said eventually. "But that happens sometimes, especially if she's engrossed in research."

"You kids and your smart phones," Kurt muttered. "I suggest we do this the old-fashioned way."

"And what would that be – grandpa?" Blaine asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "I suggest we pay Miss Cohen-Chang a little visit."