Happy Wednesday, lovelies.

Once again thank you for all the great comments you've left on the last chapter. My heart is warm. I'm so happy to be back.

Thanks to Christine for being amazing and patient, and the perfect beta for me.

This chapter is a bit longer than the previous ones. I hope you'll enjoy it!

Sometimes, when Blaine stayed at the flowershop after closing hours, he would hide in the backroom, get amongst the flowers, close his eyes and take a deep, deep breath. He would keep the lights off, let the leaves brush against his cheek, and just stand there, pretending he was in a faraway jungle, somewhere so remote nothing could reach him.

It wasn't that he hated his life – far from it, really. Up until his brother had gotten sick, he had loved it, had probably failed to appreciate how beautiful it was for its simplicity and uneventfulness. He missed complaining about the silly things, like traffic or weather. He would have given anything to take himself and Cooper back to those days.

Annie had left over an hour ago already, but Blaine had stayed behind to finish fixing a few orders for the next day. It would be a crazy day already, since Annie had to be by herself the whole day. He always felt guilty leaving her alone, but when it came to his priorities nowadays, the flowershop was not first place.

He was tired – always was, lately – and all he wanted was to get back to his apartment and slip into bed. Unfortunately, his day wasn't quite over.

Just as he tied the last ribbon on the last bouquet, Blaine heard his phone ping with a text message. It said "I'm right outside!"

With an exhausted sigh, he picked a small bouquet he had put together earlier and closed the backroom for the night. He checked all the lights were off before he exited the shop. He fabricated a smile for the man waiting outside for him.

"Hey Josh!" He said, with an enthusiasm that wasn't as real as he wanted it to be. "Let me just close here, and I'll be ready to go! How are you?"

"I'm good, thanks," Josh said, a nice smile on his handsome face. Blonde hair fell on his face in a way that was carefully planned to make it look like he didn't care. "You?"

"Oh, me too. It's been a long day, but... here, I'm ready to go now," Blaine said as he pocketed his keys. He then extended the small bouquet to Josh. "These are for you."

"Oh," Josh blinked at him, his smile faltering a bit. It took a few seconds for him to grab them, a bit awkwardly. "Thank you. They're pretty."

Blaine bit his lip. He knew some guys didn't like to be given flowers on a date, but he was a hopeless romantic at heart, still wishing he would find one who would accept them happily, instead of holding them like they had no idea what they were for. "Sorry," he murmured, as they started walking down the block. "I love flowers, as you can probably guess."

"It's okay, I like them," Josh lied.

Blaine wanted to be upset about the lie, but he didn't have it in him, when he was pretending to be on this date because he really wanted to. Dating was the last thing he needed at the moment, and yet, at least twice a week he found himself sitting in front of some random guy at a nice restaurant, knowing he wasn't the one but putting in the effort anyway, and all because it made Cooper happy.

Blaine would marry any of those guys without a second thought if it made Cooper happy.

Cooper's favorite thing and main entertainment source lately was listening to Blaine talk about the dates he went on. He liked it even more if he got to pick the guy out, convinced he was some sort of heavenly matchmaker, when in truth, he usually picked the worst possible candidates.

"I just want you to find the love of your life, is that too much to ask?" He would say when Blaine said he wanted to take a break from dating. "You were really looking forward to meeting someone nice and settling down when all this shit happened. Just because I'm sick, it doesn't mean you are the one who stops living."

Except it did.

But still, despite being exhausted, week after week Blaine went on the dates Cooper arranged for him, all because he loved seeing the smile on his brother's face, loved to get teased by him, loved the sparkle in his eye. It made him look like his old self. It made him look healthy. Blaine would date every night of the week if it was necessary.

They went to a lovely restaurant – one near the flowershop that Blaine kept choosing out of convenience when his dates let him pick – and shared a great dinner, and an even better bottle of wine that Blaine would probably regret in the morning. They chatted, or tried to, when the conversation didn't become stilted. Blaine wasn't even halfway through his salad by the time he realized they had nothing in common, and by the time the entreé arrived, he was ready for the whole thing to be over.

They parted right outside the restaurant, without even a kiss goodbye. Blaine watched him walk away for a moment, standing there wondering if all his dates would ever feel like such an obligation. This wasn't the way to find the love of his life.

He glanced into the restaurant for a moment, and saw that Josh had left the flowers at their table.

Blaine walked towards the subway stop by himself.

The next morning, Blaine walked into the hospital before seven, holding the largest cup of black coffee he had been able to find, plus green tea for Cooper. He said hello to the nurses as he walked down the hallway towards his room, glancing quickly at room 206 to see if Kurt was there, but the door was closed. He hoped his father had woken up since yesterday – the poor guy had looked crushed.

Nurse Judith was with Cooper when he entered the room. She was changing his IV and smiling down at him, while he looked up at her with the ghost of his very own charming grin.

"Oh look, my baby brother is here!" He exclaimed happily. "Blaine, tell Judith she has to go out with me when I'm finally free from this prison."

"Judith, you don't have to do anything you don't want to do," Blaine replied as he placed the tea on Cooper's nightstand. "Don't let him bully you into saying yes."

Judith laughed. "He almost had me."

"Injustice! Betrayal!" Cooper said theatrically."Chivalry is dead!"

"You trying to pick up the nurses forced to give you sponge baths isn't chivalry, it's creepy," Blaine said, smirking down at his brother. "They have to suffer enough, Coop."

"Betrayal," Cooper whispered under his breath, as Judith laughed again and left the room.

"Have your tea and shut up," Blaine said, chuckling. He sat on the chair next to Cooper's bed and took a long sip from his own coffee. "How are you today?"

"I'm okay," Cooper said. "How about you? You look tired."

"I didn't get enough sleep last night," Blaine said, and immediately regretted his choice of words when Cooper's face lit up. "Not like that!"

"Oh sure, try to play coy now," Cooper teased. "Tell me about him!"

"It was a shitty date, I didn't go home with him," Blaine replied, as he drank the rest of his coffee. Damn, he would need another cup. "We had dinner and then he went home, and I went home. We didn't even kiss."

"Sorry, little brother," Cooper murmured, reaching for his own cup. Blaine leaned over and handed it to him. "I thought maybe he would be the one."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "The random guy I met at the gym? I'm surprised he even went out with me in the first place. We hadn't talked more than two minutes before last night."

"We'll find someone better," Cooper promised him. He drank his tea for a little while, before he asked: "You're seeing my doctor today, aren't you?"

"Yup, she told me to look for her today, so I should check if she's around later," Blaine said, glancing at the clock. It was still too early.

Then they proceeded to their morning ritual – while Cooper drank his tea, Blaine got his phone out of his pocket and read him the news. Cooper wasn't interested in economics, or even sports. He wanted to know all about show biz. He laid back against his pillow, closed his eyes and hummed in response to all the latest gossip about Kim Kardashian, Taylor Swift, and his personal favorite, Matthew McConaughey. He made Blaine read him the box office reports and the list of top ten Broadway shows of the week. He listened to everything avidly, as if there wasn't anything that could be more interesting to him. And there wasn't – Cooper's dream of stardom had spanned at least two decades.

"The first thing I'm going to do when I get cured..." he said often, "will be auditioning for the next Martin Scorcese film."

Blaine always smiled and said he would check all the audition calls in case something came up for him.

It was a huge dream, but once that enclosed another one, a more precious one: that there would be a day when Cooper was healthy again.

A while later, Blaine stepped outside the room to call Annie and check everything was going well at the flowershop that morning. He then walked towards the nurses' station to ask about Dr. Morales and see if she was around to talk to him.

"She just had an emergency, so it might be a while," one of the nurses told him. "She told us to let you know she'll come find you in Cooper's room as soon as she's free."

Blaine smiled at the nurses – they all loved him, probably because he kept bringing them flowers. "Thank you, Gretta."

He headed back to Cooper's room, and almost bumped right into Kurt as he turned around a corner.

"Oh, hey!" He said, reaching out to steady him. "Careful there."

Kurt seemed disoriented at first, like he couldn't quite figure out who he was. He looked incredibly tired, black lines under his blue eyes, his mouth a tight line. "Hi, Blaine. Sorry, I didn't see you."

"It's fine, don't worry about it," Blaine replied.

He recognized the tension in Kurt's posture, the way he seemed to carry the world on his shoulders. It was the same he saw every morning when he looked into the mirror, the one he hid away as skillfully as possible so Cooper wouldn't see it.

Blaine noticed the styrofoam cup in Kurt's hand, which meant he had just gotten coffee from the vending machine down the hallway. He cringed. "That has got to be the most disgusting coffee I've ever had."

Kurt took a sip. "It is, but it's the only thing I could find."

"It's going to burn a hole in your stomach," Blaine said, as they began walking towards their rooms. "Why didn't you get one at the cafeteria? It's not the best, but it's better than this garbage."

Kurt looked anxiously at the door to his father's room. "Oh, I... I don't want to go too far away."

Blaine felt a pang of pity. He understood what Kurt was feeling. Sometimes he was terrified of leaving Cooper for too long, of going home and returning the next morning to finding his bed empty. Sometimes he had nightmares about it. But Kurt looked destroyed even after only one day at the hospital, and judging by his father's condition, he would be here for a while longer still. He couldn't break so quickly, or it would completely break him.

He frowned as he considered what Kurt's words meant. "Wait, does that mean you haven't eaten anything? Did anyone pick up food and bring it to you?"

Kurt blinked very slowly, like he was doing his best to understand what Blaine was saying. It was enough to answer his question even before Kurt shrugged. "Oh, no, I... I haven't eaten yet."

"Kurt, that's insane," Blaine said quietly. He didn't want to overstep; after all, this was practically a stranger. But something pushed him to do what he could for this man. "Hey, I haven't eaten today yet, either. I only had some coffee. Why don't we go down to the cafeteria and get something? It'll be better than that toilet water you're trying to stomach," he teased, as Kurt took another sip of his vending machine coffee and almost gagged.

Kurt glanced at the door again. It was obvious he was about to reject Blaine's offer. "Thank you, but..."

"Come with me," Blaine said gently, and laid a hand on the small of Kurt's back.

Evidently, Kurt had no more strength left in him to fight him, because he allowed him to guide him all the way back to the nurses' station.

"Hey Gretta," Blaine called, and she looked up at him curiously. "This is my friend, Kurt. His dad is in 206. He hasn't eaten anything since yesterday, so I'm taking him down to the cafeteria for a bite. If there are any changes with his father while we're gone, would you send someone down to get us?"

The nurse, a middle-aged Black woman with a kind face, smiled at Blaine knowingly. "Of course, Blaine, darling." She checked the time and grabbed her purse from inside a cabinet. "In fact, you know what? It's time for my break. I'll go and sit with your dad for a while," she added, looking at Kurt.

Kurt startled "Oh! No, please, you don't have to..."

"I don't mind," Gretta assured him. She took a book out of her purse. "I'll keep him company while I read my book."

Kurt clearly wanted to protest, but Blaine was quicker.

"Thank you, Gretta, you're my favorite!" He said.

She snorted. "You say that to all the nurses!"

She walked down the hallway and into room 206. Some of the tension left Kurt's shoulders as Blaine guided him towards the elevator, but he still looked wrecked.

"She seemed fond of you," Kurt commented as they went down. He glanced at Blaine, curiosity painting his tired features. "How long have you and your brother been here?"

"Oh, a couple of weeks," Blaine replied. The doors opened on the ground floor and Blaine led him towards the cafeteria in the back of the building. "But we've been coming for Cooper's treatments for a few months now, so we know the nurses well enough."

It looked like Kurt wanted to keep asking questions, but they arrived at their destination. There was a short line at the counter, and soon they were ordering coffee and sandwiches. It seemed Kurt hadn't realized exactly how hungry he was until they were seated at a table and he took a first bite out of his sandwich.

Blaine watched him for a moment. "Is your dad the only family you have in town?"

Kurt swallowed and dabbed at his mouth with a napkin before he answered: "Yeah, it's only ever been the two of us. We're actually from Ohio, and dad was just visiting. Well, I live with my boyfriend, but... uhm. He can't miss work."

Blaine nodded slowly. He knew he didn't have a right to ask questions, but he was curious. It seemed like an awfully heavy load to carry on his own. He should know.

"What about you? Is it just you and your brother?" Kurt asked politely.

"Yes. Our parents passed away when we were young, and our grandma raised us, but she died a few years ago," Blaine looked down at his coffee. "So it's just Coop and me, now."

"It must be nice to have a brother," Kurt commented. "I always wondered what it would have been like."

"Oh, he didn't make it easy growing up," Blaine chuckled a bit. "He was really difficult, very self-centered. He liked to be the center of attention. But he was a great brother when it counted. He always put me first when I needed him."

"Is he older than you?" Kurt asked, as he put his sandwich down to take a sip of coffee. The color was coming back to his face now that he had some food in him.

"Yeah, he's the oldest one by seven years," Blaine explained. "He just turned thirty seven last winter."

"It sounds like he means a lot to you," Kurt murmured, looking at Blaine. "He must be very special."

"I honestly don't know where I would be without him," Blaine shrugged and decided to change the subject. He felt raw and tender, like Kurt was poking at a wound that hadn't completely healed. "Can I ask you what brought your dad here?"

"Heart attack," Kurt said bitterly. "It was very sudden. He was about to go back home to Ohio and then I got a call from the hospital that he was in a coma. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it."

Blaine's hand twitched on the table, eager to offer comfort, to hold onto Kurt's, but he wasn't sure if it would be welcomed, so he fought the instinct. "That sucks. What did his doctor say?"

"That we have to wait," Kurt sighed tiredly. "I don't know how to just sit and wait for my dad to either wake or die. I can't do this."

Kurt hid his face in his hand for a moment, clearly struggling to keep himself together. Blaine leaned a bit closer across the table, and whispered: "Hey. Yes, you can." Kurt peeked at him between his fingers, his eyes misted with tears. "We love them, so we do what it takes, even if all the comfort and help we can offer is sit by their sides and hold their hands. But we don't give up, and we don't despair, okay?"

Kurt gave him a small watery smile. "Okay."

Blaine cleared his throat and looked down, feeling suddenly awkward. They stayed silent for a moment, and Blaine kept his eyes away from him, pretending he didn't see him wipe his tears away.

Kurt finished his sandwich and glanced at the clock once more. "I should get back."

Blaine nodded. "Yeah, I need to wait for Cooper's doctor, so I should head back, too."

They threw their sandwich wrappers and empty coffee cups in the trash and headed back towards the elevators. As they waited, Kurt turned to him. "Why is Cooper here, if you don't mind me asking?"

The word still tasted horribly in his mouth, like something charred and poisonous. "Cancer."

A little gasp escaped out of Kurt's parted lips, and his hand flew to Blaine's forearm, like it was a reflex. He squeezed gently. "I'm sorry."

"He'll beat it," Blaine said, without a second's hesitation. "He's the most stubborn person I know."

Kurt gave him an encouraging smile as the doors of the elevator opened for them. A lot of people piled into it with them, so they got pushed closer and closer together into one of the corners. Blaine pressed the button for their floor and stared at the closed doors until it was time to get out.

They walked in silence down the hallway. They stopped in front of room 206, and Kurt peeked inside, as if checking his father was still there. Gretta saw them and picked up her book, she left the room with a smile and a quick thank you from the boys.

"I have to thank you, too," Kurt murmured before Blaine walked away. "I was seriously going insane before you forced me out of the room, and... thank you. It feels good to not be alone right now."

Blaine gave him a smile. "I should thank you, too. You took my mind off things for a while, too. I'm actually really nervous to have to talk to Cooper's doctor today, and... it was nice to focus on something else for a little while."

Kurt glanced again into the room, and then back at him. "We'll get through this."

Blaine looked right into his eyes: "Yes, we will."

It was mid-afternoon. Cooper had fallen asleep watching a rerun of Friends on TV, and Blaine had lowered the volume (he knew all the episodes by heart, anyway), when Dr. Morales knocked gently on the door.

"Hi, Blaine," she said quietly, as not to wake Cooper up. "Do you have a minute to talk now?"

"Of course," Blaine answered, getting to his feet and following her down the hallway and into her office.

"I'm sorry I've kept you waiting," she said as they took a seat on the couch in the corner instead of at the desk. "It's been a busy morning."

"Don't worry, I understand," Blaine said politely. He placed his hands on his lap, and held them tightly together to keep himself from showing how nervous he was. "So... you wanted to talk to me."

"I did, yes," she turned to grab something from a side table. It was an envelope; she opened it and extracted a few papers. "I got the results from Cooper's last round of chemotherapy."

The sandwich Blaine had eaten earlier with Kurt was trying to crawl its way back up. He swallowed a few times. His mouth was suddenly dry. "And?" He managed to ask.

"It's not great," she admitted gently. "Definitely not what we expected."

Blaine forced himself to remain calm. "And what does that mean? What do we do now?"

Dr. Morales calmly explained what was next for Cooper. She recommended a new round of chemotherapy, a bit more aggressive than the last one. Blaine wasn't a fan of the idea – chemotherapy was brutal, and Cooper had ended up in the hospital because of how badly his body had taken it. But he wasn't a fan of the alternative either.

"I think you and Cooper should talk over the options," she said. "And make a decision. We could start with the new treatment on Monday. But keep in mind he might get a lot worst before he gets better."

Blaine nodded, feeling a bit numb. Maybe a part of him, deep down inside, was hopeful that what the doctor wanted to talk to him about today would be good, that he could take Cooper home, that the cancer was gone. He knew that if there had been good news, she would have talked to both of them, instead of asking him to meet her without his brother.

He walked out of her office, stopped in the middle of the halfway to put himself back together, and then walked into Cooper's room.

Cooper was sleepily staring at the television, and turned his head to smile at him as he approached and dropped down on his usual seat next to him. "Hey, you're back." He sat up slowly, holding up a hand to stop Blaine from helping him. "Did you talk to Dr. Morales?"

Blaine found a smile for him – he always did. "Yeah, I just did. She wanted to talk about your last results."

"And?" Cooper asked. "Should I start looking for an agent? Am I cured?"

There was an ache inside Blaine's chest, echoing through his ribcage with each heartbeat. But he kept his smile on, and said as calmly as he could: "Not yet, but we're on the way. She wants to get a few more chemo sessions in to be sure."

Cooper absently ran his hand down his head, where his luscious hair had once been. "More chemo?" He repeated, frowning.

"She wants to start next Monday, if you agree," Blaine replied. "You'd be staying here until those are done, so she can keep an eye on you."

Cooper sighed, but nodded. "Well, if there's no other option..."

They both knew what the other option was. Neither wanted to go down that path.

"Great," Blaine smiled at him encouragingly. "I'll go let her know, then."

Cooper reached for the remote to turn the volume back on the television, as Blaine walked out of the room. He headed down the hallway, intending to go to the nurses' station so they could call Dr. Morales for him, but he didn't make it as far. Feeling his lungs were failing him, he leaned against the wall, and did his best to get some oxygen into them, but he didn't seem to remember how. He was gasping and getting dizzy, and the ache inside his chest kept spreading, spreading, spreading like Cooper's cancer...

"Blaine?" A soft voice said. He looked up and saw Kurt standing in front of him, watching him with concern. "Are you okay?"

Blaine began to nod, but couldn't bring himself to actually do it. He was exhausted and heartbroken and so, so scared for his brother. He hadn't realized how hopeful he had been today until all his expectations were shot down and destroyed before his own eyes.

"No," he said, and he couldn't remember the last time he had been so honest answering that question. "No, I'm not okay."

Kurt took a step closer, placed his hand on his arm and rubbed it up and down, awkwardly trying to comfort him. When it was obvious Blaine wasn't pulling away, he said: "Alright, I'm going to hold you now, if that's okay with you."

Blaine sunk gratefully into his arms. He didn't allow himself to cry, but he took comfort from the way Kurt's chest moved against his as he breathed. He tried to copy its movements, inhaling and exhaling slowly until the world stopped spinning.

Kurt didn't let go until Blaine stopped shaking – and, oh, when had he even started shaking? He stepped away carefully and looked right into his eyes, frowning. "Better?"

Blaine took one last deep breath and stepped out of the embrace, slightly embarrassed by his breakdown. "Yes, thank you. I'm sorry."

"Don't," Kurt said. He smiled a bit at him. "It was time I returned the favor, don't you think?" Blaine tried to smile back, but he couldn't, not yet, so Kurt asked: "Do you want to tell me what happened?"

"My conversation with Cooper's doctor didn't go as well as I hoped it would," Blaine explained softly. Kurt's hand was still on his arm, a warm pressure that centered him. "His last results weren't good. He needs more chemo."

Kurt looked truly saddened by the news. "I'm so sorry, Blaine. I bet that's really hard on both of you."

Blaine ran a hand down his face and managed to form a sad little smile. "We'll get through this, right?" He said, repeating Kurt's earlier words.

Kurt smiled, a lot more honestly, and squeezed his arm before letting go. "Yes, we will."

Blaine looked into his blue eyes, and believed every word.

There will be a lot more Klaine content from now on, this is just the beginning.

Please let me know what you thought of this chapter!

Sending you love,

L.-