Happy Friday!

I hope this early update brings a little joy to the end of your week.

Thank you so much for the lovely reviews and comments on the last chapter. Please keep them coming!

Thank you to Christine, Queen of Betas, for putting up with me and my grammar mistakes.

Enjoy!

The longest Cooper stayed at the hospital, the hardest it was for him to keep his spirits up, especially once Blaine was gone for the night. All pretense of a smile, all pretense of joking faded away, and there was nothing to keep him from looking reality in the face.

But he needed Blaine to leave the hospital each night. He needed him to have a semblance of a normal life, to work, to date, to have a drink with a friend, to sleep in, to do whatever he wanted to do. He needed him to not build his life around Cooper, because if he did and Cooper failed him, as he often did, then one day Blaine would wake up to notice he had no life at all.

What's the point of being young and healthy if your whole life is going to be consumed by someone else's illness?

There was another thing Cooper hated about being here, and it was the four walls that contained him. He just couldn't stand the look of his room any longer, wanted to get out of bed and stretch his legs, see other people, breathe some fresh air. But Blaine and his doctor didn't want him wandering around, didn't want his immune system compromised right when it was at its most fragile. With the new round of chemotherapy about to start in less than three days, they didn't want to risk anything.

Cooper was sick of being in a tiny glass cage. What if these were his last days? This is not what he wanted them to be like.

He shook his head. He shouldn't be thinking that way. He would get better. For himself, for Blaine.

Still, when Blaine was gone, when the nights seemed to be neverending and the walls of his room seemed to close in on him, Cooper couldn't help being a little naughty, and sometimes he took a little stroll down the hallway.

After Blaine had left for his date with Dylan, Cooper decided he felt well enough to walk for a bit, so he ventured out in the hallway. There was a big window in the waiting room that the nurses usually left open to let the air in, and he liked to stand there and breathe the city in, pretend he was out in the streets, heading out to dinner or to a show, or anywhere, really. Anywhere that wasn't here.

The hospital seemed quieter than usual that night, and hallways were less crowded. Most visitors were gone for the night, and the nurses weren't running from one room to the other. It was unusual, but welcomed, because it allowed Cooper to slip past the nurses' station without being noticed. He knew if Gretta or any of the others caught him, they would tell Blaine he had been wandering around. He didn't want to be treated as a child. He wanted what little independence life could still offer him. It wasn't much, but he was going to take it.

He leaned against the open window once he got to the waiting room. There was no one there, except for a middle aged man, engrossed in a book, who paid no attention to him. Cooper closed his eyes for a moment, and then stared at the sky: it was clear, and he could almost see the stars, for once not covered by the pollution of New York City. He tried to count them. He kept getting lost and starting over.

Everything seemed so infinite from here, but Cooper knew everything had a beginning, and an ending. Sometimes, when Blaine wasn't there to keep him from his darkest thoughts, Cooper thought his ending was closer than he wanted it to be.

He looked back on his life, and he wasn't pleased with what he found – what did he have to show for it? He had been a lousy brother for half of Blaine's life, egocentrical, big-headed. He'd had a handful of relationships he had run away from when they got too real. He'd had acquaintances but never good friends. He'd had ambitions, but rarely dreams.

He had always thought he would have so much more time. But time for what? He had never quite figured out what he wanted. He had stumbled through life without a direction, doing but not thinking. He should have known time could run out at any minute – hadn't he learned anything from his parents' passing? They, too, had run out of time too soon.

Like an echo in his head, Cooper swore he could hear Blaine's voice reprimanding him: why are you giving up before the battle's lost? Blaine had never been one for giving up. He had learned to fight when he was still just a child. And yet, with all that fighting, with all the little battles he had to go through by himself, Blaine still believed there was always a bright side. He still believed in the sheer goodness of people. He believed in a world that was good and kind and better, one that Cooper sometimes couldn't bring himself to imagine.

Blaine believed in him, which was the only reason Cooper kept going.

After standing at the window for a while, Cooper began to feel exhaustion washing over his body. He leaned against an armchair for a moment, taking deep breaths, before he began the walk back to his room, feeling drained and weak. Even a little walk down the hall got him all winded up after being so long in a hospital bed.

He had almost made it to the room when he heard the ping of the elevator and then a soft voice that said: "Cooper?"

He turned around and found Kurt standing there, a large cup of coffee in his hand.

"Oh hey, Kurt. What's up?" He said, doing his best to sound normal and failing spectacularly.

Kurt frowned as he approached him. "Just went down to the cafeteria for some coffee. What are you doing?"

Cooper sighed. There was no way Blaine wouldn't hear about his now. "Just felt like stretching my legs a bit. I'm going back to my room now."

He turned to keep walking but stumbled, and didn't fall to the floor only because Kurt was swift on his feet and caught him. There was real concern on Kurt's blue eyes now.

"Why don't you step into my dad's room for a bit?" He said, pointing at the door in front of them. "You can catch your breath, and then I'll walk you back to your own once you feel better."

Cooper wanted to protest but realized there was no way he would make it to his room by himself now. So he nodded reluctantly and allowed Kurt to drape an arm around his waist and guide him into room 206.

Kurt helped him get to the chair by the window and supported him while Cooper sat down. He then moved to a side table, where there was a pitcher with water, left his coffee there and began pouring a glass. Cooper used that time to try to get his breathing back in check (how the hell did he get so winded just by walking down the hallway? Once upon a time he had been one of those obnoxious people who got up early on a Sunday to go for a very long run), and took a look around the room. It was pretty much an exact copy of his own, except for the lack of flowers and the numerous machines Burt Hummel seemed to be connected to.

"Here," Kurt said, handing him the glass of water.

Cooper took a few sips. "Thank you."

"Are you okay?" Kurt asked him gently.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit out of shape," Cooper joked. "Haven't hit the gym in a few weeks."

A little smile appeared on Kurt's face, but he still looked worried. "Are you supposed to be walking around by yourself?"

Cooper replied, sheepishly. "Not really." He looked up at Kurt. "I just really miss doing anything that doesn't involve me being in a bed... well, there's one thing I wouldn't mind being on a bed for." He winked cheekily.

Genuine laughter burst out of Kurt. "Oh god, your brother was right. You really are incorrigible."

Kurt pulled the chair he kept by the bed closer to where Cooper was sitting, and took a seat, after reaching for his cup of coffee and taking a sip.

"I bet it gets boring being here after a while. I've only been here with my dad for a few days and I'm already going insane," Kurt admitted.

"What does his doctor say?" Cooper asked, glancing at the unmoving man in the bed once more.

"That we have to wait," Kurt said, with a sad frown, looking at the bed too.

"Waiting's the worst," Cooper murmured. Kurt looked at him, understanding in his blue eyes. "Waiting for him to wake up, waiting for chemotherapy, waiting for results, waiting, waiting, waiting..." He tightened his grip on the glass of water. "Illnesses are about waiting. But the waiting has to end at some point."

Kurt's eyes travelled down to his coffee, and Cooper could see his fingers tightening as well. "I'm just scared it's not going to be a happy ending."

Cooper leaned a bit, just enough so he could press his hand to Kurt's knee. He squeezed, hoping to convey as much comfort as possible. "Life doesn't come with a spoiler alert. I wish it did. I wish I could tell you for sure that your dad is going to wake up tomorrow and smile at you and everything will be alright, and back to normal." Kurt hesitated but then placed his hand on Cooper's, and the despair Cooper saw on his face made him turn his hand up and clasp Kurt's firmly. "Just... whatever happens, I want you to know Blaine and I will be here, just right down the hall, whenever you need us. Whether it's for a comforting hug or a little happy dance. Blaine's excellent for both, you know?"

Kurt chuckled a bit, and a few tears slid down his cheeks, taking him by surprise. He wiped them away quickly with his forearm, careful not to spill his coffee.

"You're kind of excellent, too," Kurt said, and Cooper smiled, the first honest smile since Blaine had left.

"I know," Cooper retorted, and Kurt laughed again.

The door opened then, and a guy Cooper had never seen stepped into the room, frowning a bit at them. He was handsome and tall, dressed in a suit that made him look smart. Kurt looked up at the sound and let go of Cooper's hand.

Oh, the boyfriend, then.

"Hey," the stranger said, his eyes going from Kurt to Cooper. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, Coop and I were just talking," Kurt said as he got up to greet him. Cooper smiled up at him. No one but Blaine called him Coop. He liked that Kurt did, too. Kurt grabbed the man's hand and pulled him further into the room. "Come on, let me introduce you. Cooper, this is my boyfriend, Nick. Cooper is down the hall. He and his brother have been keeping me company."

"Nice to meet you," Nick told him politely, and Cooper could see the way he looked at him, the way he immediately noticed his illness, his paleness, the way his shoulders had started to look too skinny through the thin fabric of his shirt.

"Nice to meet you, too." Cooper placed his glass of water on the table and stood up. "Well, now that Kurt is in good hands, I'm going back to my room."

"Oh, wait," Kurt said, coming to his side immediately. "Let me walk you."

"I'm good, I promise," Cooper assured him, finding an honest smile for him. "Resting a bit helped. I can make it to my room just fine."

"But..." Kurt got ready to protest.

"I promise," Cooper repeated and started walking towards the door, but then he turned around. Nick was standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, watching him. Cooper glanced at Kurt. "Could you... Please don't tell Blaine I've been walking around. He worries. You know."

Kurt hesitated, but nodded. "Okay. Just this once I'll keep your secret."

"Thank you." He reached the door. "Goodnight, guys. It was good to meet you, Nick."

Nick replied: "You too." Cooper closed the door, but he hadn't even taken a step away from it when he heard Nick's voice: "Why are you hanging out with random people, Kurt? What if you catch whatever he has?"

Kurt's response came sharp, immediately angry. "What, cancer? I'm pretty sure I won't catch that by holding hands with him. And he's not random people. Both he and his brother have been wonderful. They have kept me from going completely insane. You barely texted me this morning before you got to work, what do you care who I hang out with?"

Cooper knew he should walk away, but he couldn't help it, and pressed his ear to the door.

"Kurt, I'm sorry, okay? I know I should be here more, but..."

"You have work," Kurt interrupted him. "That's all you can say lately. Look at my dad, Nick! He's wasting away in a hospital bed! This is the hardest week of my life and you haven't been here to support me at all!"

He knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, but Cooper was curious. Okay, so Nick was a very handsome man, but he really didn't know what else Kurt saw in him. There was no warmth, no caring. From what he could hear, Nick hadn't been the perfect boyfriend.

He really wanted to hear whatever Nick was starting to reply, but he saw Judith, one of the nurses, coming his way, and he didn't want to get caught, so he made his way back to his room before she saw him.

He got back into his bed, tired and ready to fall right to sleep. As his eyes started to drop, his last thought was that Kurt would make so much more sense with Blaine than with that guy.

Thank you so much for reading!

Have the best weekend ever, and I'll see you all on Wednesday again.

Love,

L.-