We May Make It Through The War If We Make It Through The Night
"All the soldiers say
'It'll be alright,
we may make it through the war
if we make it through the night.'
All the people, they say:
'What a lovely day, yeah, we won the war.
May have lost a million men, but we've got a million more.'
All the people, they say."
-Portugal. The Man
"Do you want to follow us, or…?" The blonde asks as Cooper turns around, Blaine in his arms, and his heart sinks at her words.
"I ran out of gas," He admits, looking down.
"Ride with us," The brunette chimes in, smiling sadly at him, "Is there anything you need from your car?"
"There's two duffel bags," Cooper says, walking down the hill with them close behind, "And a bag with medical equipment in it, in the back seat. And my gun should be sitting on the center console."
"Got it," The brunette says softly, before running down the hill and toward Cooper's car. Meanwhile, he makes his way down the hill with the other girl, Blaine in his arms. She silently opens the back door or her car for him when they reach it, and he lays Blaine in the back seat before getting in behind him, allowing his head to rest on his lap.
The other girl returns after a moment with their things and throws them in the trunk, the keys to Cooper's car in her hands, then approaches the Blonde, who is still standing in the road. Cooper feels bad for eavesdropping, but he can hear bits of their conversation from the back seat, where the window is rolled down.
"You okay?" The brunette asks, hand on the blonde's shoulder.
"I will be," She replies softly, "I just hope they're not dangerous."
"They're not," The other girl assures, "Just look at them. They need us, Q."
The blonde nods, "I guess. I just hope we're not making a mistake by taking them home with us."
"We're not," She says, smiling a little, "I promise."
"You better be right, Rachel," The blonde says, voice hard, and at that, they make their way back to the car.
The car peels off seconds after the two girls climb inside, and they continue their conversation as if Cooper isn't in the back seat with Blaine, hearing everything as they speed down the dark road. "Our house?" The girl with the dark hair, whose name Cooper assumes is Rachel asks, turning to the blonde.
"Well we don't really have another choice, do we?" The blonde shoots back a little harshly. At that, the car is silent again save for Blaine's ragged breathing, until she speaks up again, voice softer. "Hey… Uhm, I don't think we even got your name…"
"Cooper," He replies softly, his eyes leaving Blaine for a moment to meet hers in the rear-view mirror, "I'm Cooper, and this is Blaine."
"Quinn," The blonde girl replies, "And this is my girlfriend, Rachel."
Cooper envies the fact that Quinn introduces her as her girlfriend for a split second, but immediately pushes the thought away because that's what got you into this situation.
"If you don't mind me asking, Cooper…" Quinn breaks the silence again, "We're not going to have anybody after us, will we?"
He lets his mind wander for a moment to Tim and the rest of the town. There's no doubt in his mind that they've found Mike by now, and he's sure that they're looking for them, but he hopes that they decide not to go too far in the dark. Thankfully, they must have passed Redstone on a back road, because they're almost out of the canyon, and he lets himself hope that they've gone unnoticed. "I think we're okay," He manages out, "If they're looking for us, my car will throw them off… For a little while at least."
Rachel and Quinn share an uneasy glance at one another and Cooper knows that they're both worried – worried that they're being followed and more importantly, worried that he's dangerous. Instead of trying to assure them that everything is okay – because he's sure that will just freak them out more – he keeps his mouth shut and goes back to stroking Blaine's hair.
"Here," Rachel says softly, turning in her seat. She's holding a rag (or part of a shirt) out to Cooper, "I'm not a doctor or anything, but you should put pressure on the wound. Stop the bleeding and all."
Cooper nods in response and does as she says, his heart breaking when his unconscious brother winces at the contact. "Thank you."
"Of course."
As they drive, Cooper recognizes the town that they enter as Carbondale, and wonders where exactly the two girls live, and hopes that it's somewhat out of sight. Thankfully, they turn left and make their way up a long dirt road not long into the drive, and are soon concealed by pine trees and curvy mountain roads. They're pulling up to the large house within five minutes, and when they stop the car, Rachel immediately opens Cooper's door for him to help get Blaine out.
The younger boy groans as they lift him, but his eyes remain shut, and Cooper can only hope that he gets to see them open soon. Once in the kitchen, Quinn makes her way over to a lamp, which she turns on, smiling at Cooper's baffled look, then heads to the table and removes everything from the top of it and signals for them to place the smaller boy in its place. She then sprints back out to the car wordlessly and returns with Cooper's bag full of medical gear.
"Are you sure you can do this?" She asks Rachel in a hushed voice as she passes her, and Cooper realizes that he must have missed a very important part of their conversation outside of the car earlier: the part where they decided that Rachel was going to fix Blaine.
"Woah, wait," Cooper stutters, standing, "I can help."
The girls glance at eachother wordlessly, then Quinn makes her way across the room to place her hand on his shoulder, "With all due respect, you're really freaked out, Cooper. I mean, none of us really know what we're doing here, but Rachel has a little bit of an idea, and I doubt you want to accidentally hurt him while you're trying to help because you're upset."
"With all due respect," Cooper shoots back, "That's my fucking brother on that table. I promised him that I'd keep him safe, and that's exactly what I intend on doing."
"Then keep him safe by letting Rachel work on him," Quinn snaps.
"I worked at a vet's office for a couple of summers, if that makes you feel better," Rachel pipes up, voice soft, "Trust me. Please."
And at that, Cooper sighs and nods, the tears welling in his eyes again. He quickly helps Quinn and Rachel remove Blaine's shirt and almost has to look away at the bloody mess in front of him. Quinn stares for a moment though, and that's when Rachel takes charge, telling them to grab certain things for her – and to be fast.
It isn't until the wound is clean and Rachel mentions something about stitching him up that Cooper finally feels comfortable leaving the room. While she gets to work stitching him, Quinn takes the opportunity to take him out onto the deck and have a talk with him.
"Is this the part where you make sure that I'm not going to kill you?" Cooper asks, turning to look numbly at her once they're both leaning on the railing of the deck.
She laughs a little, "Yeah, basically."
It silent between the two as they stare out at the dark sky, and Cooper understands quickly why the two girls were wary about bringing them here. It's beautiful. He can tell, even in the dark. And it's their sanctuary.
"So… You're not… Are you?" She asks, a little hesitantly.
Cooper laughs, "No. No I won't."
She laughs nervously back, "Okay. Good." And it's quiet again until her curiosity is killing her and she speaks up again. "What happened, exactly?"
And Cooper's heart sinks because he knows he's going to have to decide between telling the truth or not again. On one hand, he can keep it from her, and have a safe place to stay for a while before the truth actually comes out, or he can tell her the truth, and risk getting thrown out now. At least Blaine is stitched up now – he's doing better. Cooper finds himself planning out in his head where they'd go if and when they do get kicked out.
"Stop that," She says, shaking him out of his thoughts.
"Stop what?" Cooper echoes, looking up at her.
"Trying to decide whether or not to tell me the truth," Quinn replies, smirking a little at the look on his face when she says it, "Trust me, I'm more likely to kick you out if you lie to me."
Cooper laughs nervously, "Right."
"So…" She pushes again, "What happened?"
Cooper sighs, running his hand through his hair. "Blaine and I were staying in some small town a few hours away, and it got overrun, so we had to leave. Because we left on such short notice, we didn't have much gas and ran out halfway through Glenwood Canyon. Thankfully," he says the word sarcastically, "This man found us and offered to take us back to some town he was staying at. We didn't really have any other options, so we left with him."
Cooper pauses for a second, trying to figure out a way to word the rest of the story without giving too much about him and Blaine away. "There were a good thirty people still living in the town. It was incredible. But their leader, this guy Mike, was always really fishy, right from the beginning… He ended up overhearing a discussion between Blaine and I about leaving tonight, and wasn't too happy with what he heard, so he flipped out. He shot him."
It silent for a moment as Quinn takes everything in before she speaks, "Where is this town exactly?"
"Close to where you found us," He answers, "It's called Redstone."
"We drove right by there today," Quinn whispers, "You don't think they saw us, do you?"
Cooper shrugs, "I didn't hear anything."
She nods in response, glad, then turns to him again, "So what were you two really arguing about?"
"What?" Cooper asks, hushed.
"You know what," Quinn replies smirking a little, "I'm not stupid. I know someone – no matter how crazy they are – isnt' going to go around shooting people just because they want to leave."
"You caught me," Cooper says nervously, laughing a little.
"So what's the truth?" Quinn asks again, turning to look over her shoulder at Rachel and Blaine in the kitchen.
Cooper follows her gaze and lets his linger on his baby brother – his lover – on the table. He feels his heart breaking for Blaine, and feels the adrenaline pumping through his body at the thought of telling Quinn the truth. He's never said it out loud before – only to Blaine – and the thought actually kind of terrifies him. But then he looks at Quinn again and feels a little safer.
She's kind. She's like you. She's just trying to help. Even if she doesn't understand, she'll respect you for telling the truth, and she'll accept it.
"Blaine…" Cooper breathes, staring inside again, "Blaine means more to me than anything in this world. I'd be lost – hell, I'd probably be dead – without him. I just…" His voice cracks and he trails off.
"You love him," Quinn breaths.
"How did you-"
"I'm good at reading people," She cuts him off, "I could tell from the second we saw you."
Cooper laughs and shakes his head, "And you don't think it's…"
"Fucked up?" She supplies, "No. It's the end of the world, Cooper. If you've managed to find love in all of this shit, I don't care." She glances at Rachel as she says it and Cooper smiles in her direction.
"Like you and Rachel?"
She smiles, "Like me and Rachel." Cooper smiles to himself and stares back out at the night sky, whishing that they had found Rachel and Quinn sooner. "Did you kill him?" She asks, breaking the silence again, though, and pulling him out of his thoughts.
"What?"
"The guy who shot Blaine," Quinn continues, "Did you kill him?"
Cooper knows that this is probably the deciding moment – that if he answers this question right, they'll get to stay, and if he answers it wrong, they'll be out. So he decides to answer it honestly, "Yes."
Quinn is quiet for a moment, staring forward again. "I would have done the same thing," She finally says, turning to look at Cooper again, "If someone did that to Rach, I would have done the same thing. In a heartbeat."
Cooper nods, "I just… God, I should have done it sooner. I swear, if he doesn't make it… I don't-" His voice catches in his throat and he doesn't finish his sentence, but Quinn understands.
"He'll make it," She assures, "I promise. We'll do everything to make sure he does."
"Thank you," Cooper breaths, smiling through his teary eyes.
As if on cue, the sliding glass door opens and Rachel emerges from the house, wiping her hands on a rag. She smiles when Cooper and Quinn look expectantly in her direction. "He's doing okay," She assures, "Just asleep. He lost quite a bit of blood, but I'm thinking he should be up by morning."
Cooper can only nod in response, then swallows the lump in his throat before asking, "Can I see him?"
Rachel and Quinn share a glance, and when the blonde nods in her direction, telling her that everything is okay, Rachel smiles, "Of course. We're going to need you to carry him to the guest bedroom anyway."
Cooper is inside the house in a flash, his heart pounding in his chest at the thought of seeing Blaine, even though it's only been thirty minutes since he went outside with Quinn. The girls trail in close behind him, hands clasped, and watch as he nears his brother, holding his tears back. He reaches forward and brushes Blaine's hand with his own as he leans down to examine him, before turning and smiling at Rachel. "Thank you," He breaths, tears forming, "Really. Thank you."
"Of course," She replies, smiling back.
Cooper gently carries Blaine into the bedroom a few minutes later, and though Quinn and Rachel offer him a bed to sleep in himself, he gets comfy in a chair next to Blaine's bed, insisting that he'll be fine. He can hear when the girls head off to bed together a few minutes later, and he can't help but listen to their hushed conversation on the other side of the wall. "You mean theyre..." Rachel whispers loudly at one point, which initially catches Cooper's attention.
"They are," Quinn whispers back, quieter, "But who are we to judge them? They're happy. And they seem like good people. Or at least Cooper does."
At that, Cooper stops listening and turns his attention back to Blaine. He reaches forward to grab his hand and tries - for the millionth time that night - to hold his tears back. Tries to be strong for his little brother.
"So where are you guys heading to?" Quinn asks over breakfast the next morning. Cooper doesn't get much sleep, but he doesn't turn down the food when the girls knock on his door and offer it in the morning, quickly realizing how hungry he is. Quinn insists that Blaine will be fine alone for a little bit and the three of them find themselves sitting at the kitchen table, eating cereal a few minutes later.
"Aspen," Cooper answers between spoonfuls, "Our parents were there... When everything happened."
"And where were you guys?" Rachel chimes in, curious.
"Ohio," He replies, "Our parents were visiting family here and-"
"No fucking way," Rachel cuts him off mid sentence. Normally, she wouldn't curse, nor would she cut someone off, but she can't help it. "Where in Ohio?"
"Westerville..." Cooper answers cautiously, "Why?"
"I knew it!" She exclaims, "I knew I recognized him from somewhere. Did Blaine go to Dalton?"
The way Rachel says "did" like things will never go back to the way they were before makes Cooper's heart lurch, but he's quickly distracted by the fact that Rachel knows his brother. "He did," He answers, "You know him?"
"Not well, obviously," Rachel says, smiling in Quinn's direction for a moment, "Our show choir competed against his a few times."
"Small world," Cooper replies, smiling back, "Why are you two out here, then?"
"Road trip," Quinn cuts in, joining the conversation again, "Before school started in the fall. We wanted to go out to California."
Cooper is about to say something in response - something along the lines of that's still possible, you know - but he's cut off when he hears someone coughing upstairs and quickly realizes it's Blaine. Within a second, he's standing from his spot at the table and bolting up the stairs, Quinn and Rachel close behind, one of them calling out Cooper, wait, as he makes his way up the steps. He's throwing the bedroom door open loudly and rushing to Blaine's side the second he's in the room, reaching out for his hand. "Blaine?"
The younger boy's eyes flutter open, blinking rapidly due to the brightness of the room, but once they focus on Cooper, he smiles slightly, "C-Coop?"
"Yeah, it's me," Cooper breaths out, and without even thinking about it - because it's become so natural to him - he surges forward and presses a soft kiss to his brothers lips. And his heart almost leaps out of his chest when he pulls away and turns to look at the girls, making sure that it's okay, and he finds two smiling faces looking on from the doorway.