As always,
THEMoDePo: Oops, sorry I made you cry! Well, not really, as it had been the whole purpose of Cooper's death anyway, so... ;) Well, if you loved Sebastian's friendship and Blaine being a badass you're going to love this chapter! Thank you so much, sweetie!
Verseau87: so glad to see you here, sweetie! I'm sorry about getting you so tense! ;) Thank you, hun!
Darrinia: Cariñín! I'm glad you're still hooked up with the story, even if it's taking so long... Yes, I know Blaine really needs to mourn his brother's loss, let's hope he has the chance soon! Besitos, preciosa!
Mildlifecrissis: I know, Sam is going to hate so much that he can't walk to keep Blaine in check... Poor Blaine doesn't even know what to feel or how to act because he feels so lost and angry right now... And yeah, he's being more than a little reckless, I agree. You're right, maybe he needs for Mike to sit with him like he did for him when Tina died (we'll see!). About allying with those people... well, they need to survive, don't they? Whatever it takes, I guess. On a personal note, thank you so much for your words and your understanding. You don't know how much they meant to me when I read them, so thanks ;) Really, you're amazing! :)
Blamsturbation: I'm going to answer the whole review anyway ;) Sorry about the crying, but well, you could surely expect it :) You don't know how happy it makes me to read that you still love this story so much, in spite of the late updates and the struggle it involves! Thank you soooooooo much for your kind words! :)
A/N: Finally! As usual lately, sorry for the delay :( But hey, it's sooooooo long you're going to have to forgive me!
Well, I have really no idea how to proceed after this chapter! I think the time has come when I need to start walking towards the end of this fic, both because I think it has given everything it had to give now and because I want to get rid of it so badly! :) The thing is I have an ending in my head already... Which of course I have to completely make up because the actual show is still going (and after the last episode, maybe they should be thinking about ending it too, you know).
The thing is the ending, as most endings of action of Scifi stories, will probably be a bit disappointing. They always are, after all the action. But for now I haven't come up with anything better, and I will try to do my very best. Hope you can forgive me ;)
That doesn't mean the next chapter will be the last. But the end is coming soon. Just so you know ;)
CHAPTER 33
The anger Blaine felt when he saw that man –one of the men who had kidnapped him and Sam the day before, he immediately realized–, going down the stairs while pointing a gun at Sebastian's head, was so big he doubted he had ever felt more furious. After what those people had done, after all the pain they had caused them –especially him–, they still had the guts to trick them. And they had surely made a mistake picking his best friend to do it.
"Ok, everyone carefully leave your guns on the floor and kick them away from yourselves" the man said.
Everyone rushed to obey, not wanting to risk losing Sebastian too –that man was holding him around the neck so strongly that the tall boy could hardly breathe, and the gun pointing at his temple would surely fulfill his task if that man decided to pull the trigger.
Except for Blaine. Blaine, who was so angry he couldn't even think. Whose desire to kill those men was starting to cloud his mind. For whom seeing his best friend being threatened like that was just the last straw.
"You son of a bitch!" Blaine murmured as he pressed the barrel of his gun more strongly against the Major's forehead again. "You tricked us!"
"I recommend you to lower your weapon now, sonny" the man holding Sebastian said in a sardonic tone once they reached the last step of the staircase. "Unless you want to see your friend with a bullet in his head"
"We let you in!" Blaine shouted at the Major, ignoring the other man. It was true, they hadn't trusted him that much, but they still had let him in and hadn't expected for him to deceive them like that. It just made Blaine feel more and more disgusted at the human race, or what was left of it, with each passing minute. And he doubted he would ever have faith in it again. "Tell your henchman to let go of my friend or I'll kill you right now!"
"You're not in the position to make any demands, sonny" the shooter threatened while the grip on Sebastian's neck visibly strengthened.
"Let go of him!" Blaine yelled in rage, as his gun turned to the man in a threatening way, but Blaine was not an idiot and he knew he couldn't risk a shot from that distance –he could easily hit Sebastian instead.
"You have three seconds to let go of that gun"
"Let him go!" Blaine yelled again, resisting to the idea of them becoming the prisoners of that people again, not wanting to give away the only weapon they still had.
"One…" the man started counting.
"How do I know you're not going to kill him anyway?" Blaine screamed in a desperate rage, voicing one of his biggest fears: if he let go of the gun, they would all be at those men's mercy, and they had already shown how evil they were.
"Two…" the man continued, ignoring his question, with a wicked smirk that showed how much he was enjoying the moment.
"Blaine…" Sam tried to warn his boyfriend from his place on the floor, implicitly pleading him to obey, and only then Blaine reacted and finally understood he didn't have another option if he didn't want to lose Sebastian too.
"Alright, alright" Blaine exclaimed with all the pain in his heart as he lowered the gun and carefully left it on the floor in surrender. "But please, don't hurt him"
"Of course he won't hurt him" the major intervened, trying to sound conciliatory even as he walked to pick the gun Blaine had just given up in his own hand, as he didn't need to pretend he was defenseless anymore. "Jim, make sure to keep that boy safe as long as everyone behaves"
"Sure, Major" Jim agreed even if the tone of his voice belied how disappointed he was at the resolution and the grip around Sebastian's neck didn't lose a bit of its strength.
"I'm sorry I had to betray your trust" the major said, turning to Blaine again, since he could sense he kind of was the leader of the group. "But as you will understand, we couldn't trust you so easily after what you did, right?"
"What we did?" Blaine repeated in a disbelieving tone, and he seemed about to jump on that man –even forgetting about the two weapons that could easily end up his life at any moment– until Sam put an end to it again.
"Blaine! Stop!" he called on him –once again cursing his inability to move when he was surely needed at Blaine's side to comfort him and to keep him in check– hoping his boyfriend would listen to him even if he was getting more and more scared by the second at Blaine's reckless attitude.
"Yeah, you better listen to him, Blaine" Jim intervened in a sarcastic tone. "I didn't come here to kill anyone, but I won't hesitate to do it, if I have to"
"You won't have to" Sam answered in his place, in a pleading tone as he looked at him. "He will behave from now on"
"But just so we're sure, go and stand there next to your friends" the Major ordered in the most friendly tone he could muster trying to avoid the confrontation and making sure not to have that angry young man too near in case he was unable to keep restricting himself any longer. "We don't want any accidents"
Blaine was about to protest again until he heard a rumbling of clothes behind him and turned to see Sam trying to get on his feet even if the pain in his face easily belied how much he was hurting. Blaine knew he was the reason Sam felt he needed to be on his feet, to comfort him or even restrain him if it came to that, and immediately felt guilty that he had put him in that position. Not wanting for him to hurt more than necessary, Blaine rushed to him and put Sam's arm around his shoulders so he could use him as a support as he finally came to stand only on his healthy leg. And just the way Sam's gentle fingers closed around his shoulder in silent support –and more than a bit of warning– made Blaine calm down, even if slightly.
"You okay?" Blaine asked in a whisper when the wince in Sam's face failed to disappear after a minute, but his face immediately relaxed at his boyfriend's question.
"I am now" Sam answered as he squeezed Blaine's shoulder and let more of his weight rest on the shorter boy so he would believe he really needed him to stand and wouldn't think to move away from him again, even if it felt like a dirty trick. "Please, just stay here next to me, I need you"
Blaine looked intently at his boyfriend for a moment: he could see Sam was trying to refrain his need to kiss his cheek or his temple to comfort him like he usually did, as he didn't want to make the mistake of letting those men know about their feelings again –even if Sam was sure that man would end up recognizing Blaine from the day before, if he hadn't done it yet–; he could also the worry in Sam's green eyes, the absolute fear that Blaine would end up doing something stupid and he wouldn't be able to stop him. And that's exactly what Blaine felt like doing: jumping at that man holding Sebastian and fight for the gun at least until Sebastian was out of his grasp. He knew that the Major also had a gun now, and he quite probably would shoot at him if he did that. But by then at least Sebastian would be safe and he wouldn't have to go through the unbearable pain of losing someone he loved again.
But he couldn't do it. He didn't want that kind of pain on Sam either, and that's what would happen if he got himself killed right in front of him. He could feel himself losing his mind, dying to move, needing to cry and shout and break things at the excruciating pain in his heart that he could even physically feel in his chest and that it was making it difficult even to breathe normally. He felt as if it almost didn't matter what happened to him as long as he didn't lose anybody else. But it mattered. He knew how much it mattered to Sam, if only by the fear in his eyes and the way his hand was not just resting on his shoulder but holding onto it, half for comfort, half to keep him there. If only for Sam, Blaine knew he couldn't just lose the will to live. Soon he would need to confront his pain, his guilt and his grief. And then he would need to survive. And he would do it only for Sam. So he only nodded back at him, with a silent promise to stay put for the moment, and reciprocated the almost invisible smile Sam gave him in response.
"I'm sorry I had to trick you, but I knew it was the only way you would let me talk" the Major broke the silence again once he was sure Blaine wasn't a direct danger anymore, as the injured boy holding onto him seemed to have a calming effect over him somehow. "But I wasn't lying: we are offering you a safe place to stay"
"Safe?" Puck repeated with a sarcastic snort. "I have to disagree on that"
"That's why we need you" the major answered, trying to sound convincing and not threatening, even if they were pointing their weapons at them. "You seem to know what you are doing. And you guys need us too, you know? We have resources: food, weapons, warm houses… And you know as well as I do that all that is just as important to survive"
Everybody fell in silence for a moment, not really knowing what to say. The two guns on those men's hands –one pointing at Sebastian, the other one not directly on anyone but ready to do it if needed– made them doubt they could really give an honest opinion about the offer. And as much as it hurt them… they knew that man was right. Not having to travel, or worry about what they were going to eat or how cold was it going to get that night, being surrounded by more people… It all sounded too tempting. Like it almost was too good to be true.
But on the other hand… What those people did to keep themselves safe… And the fact that they had been the cause of Cooper's death… Accepting it would be the worst betrayal towards his brother, the one that had lead them and kept them safe until then. Judging by the anger and the disbelief in Blaine's face, he was never going to be able to forgive them. So staying there would surely imply separating from him and, most probably, Sam too, as he was surely not going to leave Blaine behind.
The man seemed to sense their hesitation, and tried again, focusing more on the people who looked easier to convince and avoiding Blaine's gaze at all costs.
"We just need to rebuild the wall and make it stronger… You can help us with that. And then we can all forgive and forget"
"Forgive?" Blaine asked with a humorless laugh, unable to keep silent any longer as that man implied they needed to be forgiven.
"Well, you came in here, destroyed our home and killed half of us, after all" the major protested, still trying to sound conciliatory but not wanting to leave any room for doubt about what his position was about what had happened. "It's not going to be easy to convince what's left of my people to give you guys a chance after what you did, but I will convince them, they will listen to me"
"We came here because you kidnapped one of us" Blaine retorted, the anger clearly returning to him in spite of the reassuring squeeze in his shoulder coming from Sam. "Don't try to feign we started this war"
"You came here for one of the prisoners?" the Major asked in surprise, as he had thought those youngsters had just assaulted the place in search of food or shelter.
"Yes, we brought that blond one yesterday" Jim intervened, pointing at Sam with his head. "So I guess you were able to free him, right?"
"You bet we did" Blaine answered in a proud tone.
"And wait… you look familiar" Jim continued, looking intently at Blaine for the first time and smiling with recognition. "Aren't you the other one we tried to take but was slowing us down because of some injury?"
"Yes" Blaine answered, his blood boiling at what a good time that horrible man seemed to be having at his expense. "The one your friend hit in the head and left unconscious in the open, at the walkers' mercy"
"And how are you even here?" Jim asked, almost in shock, considering that boy should be dead, either from the blow or at the hands of the walkers.
"I came for him" Blaine proudly answered, pointing at Sam with a movement of his head, knowing there was no sense in trying to hide their relationship anymore, knowing that man was well aware of it after what happened the day before.
"Amazing" the Major exclaimed in amazement. "That's exactly the kind of people we want at our side"
"Well, you're never going to have me" Blaine retorted in disgust, making sure to speak only for himself because he wasn't going to impose his opinion and wouldn't force anyone to side him on that if they decided to join those people. He could understand their offer was quite tempting and he wouldn't oppose if anyone wanted to stay with them –even if he would be terribly disappointed at them. "I'm never going to side with monsters like you"
"We are not the monsters you need to confront, sonny" the Major replied in a paternal tone. "We can fight the real enemy together"
"There is not just one enemy" Blaine added, and the fact he was keeping his voice low didn't make it less scary. "And I'd rather die than fighting next to someone like you"
"We can arrange that" Jim intervened, moving his gun away from Sebastian's temple for the first time to point it directly at Blaine, even from the distance.
A few of the youngster gasped in fear, and Sam rushed to push Blaine slightly behind him to protect him from any possible bullet in an instinctive reaction. And that's how Blaine found himself having to take a step backwards to regain his balance after Sam's push and from his new position he was able to see that Marley, who had been next to him but was now in front of him, seemed to have forgotten she had a gun on the waistband of her jeans, that nobody had noticed until then because it was at her back.
Blaine contemplated just picking it up and threaten the intruders, but he knew it was still two against one and Sebastian was still at the mercy of one of them. He wasn't going to do it just yet, but it was nice to know the chance was there. He just needed to wait for the opportune moment.
"Jim, calm down" the Major immediately ordered, and they could see how much power he had over him –and they supposed everyone else– when Jim immediately relaxed and returned the barrel of his gun towards Sebastian's temple. "We came here in peace, remember?"
"I'm sorry, Major" the man apologized.
"Look, Blaine. It's Blaine, right?" the Major asked, trying to look friendly towards who by now he was sure was the leader of the group, knowing he only needed to convince him and the other ones would just follow. At least it was how it worked in his own community, so he didn't expect it to be different. "I apologize for what my men did to you and your friend"
"And what about all the people you caught before us, who knows how many there were? Are you going to apologize to them too?" Blaine sarcastically asked.
"I know it might seem wrong… but what we did is not that different from what you did"
"What the hell?" Sam intervened before he could stop himself, thinking in that woman that had given her life for him.
"You killed a lot of people today"
"We were only trying to defend ourselves!" Sam practically yelled, and this time it was Blaine the one to hold onto him to calm him down.
"So were we" the Major calmly answered, leaving Sam speechless with his words because he couldn't say they were entirely wrong. "We did what we had to do to survive. We killed to survive, yeah. Just as you did"
"It's not the same" Mike added. "We were only defending ourselves against people attacking us. We've never used innocent people for our benefit"
"Ok, I hear you" the Major relented. "We can work on that. We will find other ways if that makes you feel uncomfortable"
"Uncomfortable?" Blaine repeated with a sarcastic snort. "Uncomfortable you say?"
"Ok, so what do you want?" the Major asked, starting to lose his patience. "Let's negotiate"
"We won't negotiate anything as long as my friend has a gun against his temple" Blaine spat as he turned his gaze towards Sebastian, who tried to look calm so as not to send his friend into a rage that could put him in danger again.
"It's okay, Blaine" Sebastian was able to say over the strong grip that man was keeping on his neck.
"No, it's not okay" Blaine contradicted him, his anger getting stronger again at the unfair treatment his friend was receiving. "I refuse to keep talking while he's being threatened like that"
"I'm not going to let go of him when I positively know I can't trust you" Jim answered, obviously not as diplomatic as his leader.
"That's right. You can't trust us, same as we can't trust you. It's never going to work, so I suggest you to go straight back to where you came from" Blaine said in such a threatening tone that for a moment Sam believed those men were going to obey –he would probably have in their place.
"I'm going to say it again: you're not in the position to give us any orders, sonny" the Major answered after a few seconds of surprised silence.
"Count again, Major" Blaine retorted in full sarcasm at his paternalism. "There are a few more of us than you"
"But we've got the weapons" Jim intervened.
"We can still fight for them, you know?" Blaine threatened, even if it was just a bluff: he didn't intend to put anyone else in danger.
"My people are just waiting outside, at the rooftops, to shoot at you as soon as I tell them to do it" the Major explained, all pretence of being nice forgotten at that boy's stubbornness and continuous refusal to collaborate.
"So you tricked us again" Blaine answered without a hint of surprise.
"I'm getting tired of this game. If you won't join us the easy way, then you will do it the hard way, I don't care"
"You can't trust people to collaborate with you under threat"
"You wanna try?" the Major asked, wanting to intimidate the other one, even if the effect it elicited was exactly the opposite.
"Do it. Try" Blaine dared him, even taking a step forwards so he wouldn't be half hidden behind Sam and Marley anymore. "See if you can make me do what you want"
"Blaine, stop" Sam immediately ordered, confused at Blaine's odd behavior and scared it would come a time when he wouldn't be able to stop him anymore.
"No, I won't stop. You know what they did" Blaine desperately tried to make his boyfriend understand his pain, his inability to stay still, looking intently at him with shiny eyes full of tears he refused to shed. "I'm not going to join them under any circumstance"
"If you won't help us then you will be used as a bait" the Major threatened, but Blaine was well beyond the line of being afraid of anything.
"I'd rather do that that cooperate with murderers like you" Blaine spat at him, only noticing how much he had started to shake when Sam held onto him more strongly in an attempt to stop it.
"The rest of you agree with him?" the major asked, looking at everyone else. But any doubt they might have had until then immediately disappeared under the threat of what they were going to do to Blaine. Whatever happened, they would all face it together. "Ok, so then all of you get going: you're our prisoners now"
"That was your whole purpose from the beginning, wasn't it?" Blaine asked, as he hadn't believed those man's kind words for even a second.
"Only after you had shared all your knowledge and ideas with us, yes" the Major admitted with a wicked grin, causing so much disgust in Blaine with his lack of humanness that he was starting to feel nauseous. "But unfortunately that it's not going to happen, so we can stop pretending now" the Major continued as he grabbed Trent's shoulder –as he was the one closer to him– and roughly pushed him towards the door. "You really thought we were going to forgive you after what you all did?"
Everyone stayed rooted to their places, not knowing how to proceed: those men, with their guns pointed at them, were ordering them to move, probably to take them where Sam had been held prisoner the night before. Not moving would imply for them to be killed; but obeying would end up in them being used as shields and dying anyway, while helping those monsters survive. And even if they didn't dare to hope too much, somehow they were waiting for something to happen; they were expecting Blaine to do something, as he surely didn't seem willing to obey.
"I said start moving!" the Major angrily yelled when he saw the lack of response to his orders, but again everybody turned to Blaine to know how to proceed.
"I'm not moving from here" Blaine surprisingly answered in a stubborn tone.
"Move" the Major murmured in obvious rage as his gun moved to point directly at Blaine, even from the distance, but Blaine only shook his head in negation as an answer. "Move or I'll kill you right now!"
Sam could see that man getting more furious by the second, and it scared him not knowing if he was serious about his threats. He could perfectly understand his boyfriend: after everything that had happened, he didn't want to surrender, especially considering they were going to kill them later anyway. But he couldn't let him do it: if they were made prisoners, they would still have a little time to think about how to escape; if he was shot in the head right there and then, it was over.
"Blaine, come on" Sam begged him to move as he grabbed Blaine's forearm and tried to push him, but Blaine was much more stubborn than that and Sam was too unstable on his feet to give much of a fight.
"I'm not giving them that satisfaction if they're going to kill us anyway" Blaine protested, extricating his arm from Sam's grip in which looked like an angry gesture –even if what he was trying to do was to free himself for what he was going to do next.
"The Major told you to move!" Jim yelled from the other side of the room, coming a couple of steps closer to the group of friends even if he was practically dragging Sebastian with him.
"Make me!" Blaine confronted him, trying to bring that man to his limit even if the others flinched with fear and confusion.
"Ok, if you won't care about yourself, maybe you will care about your friend" the man said as he once again glued the barrel of his gun to Sebastian's forehead in a threatening way. "Move right now or I'll kill him right in front of your eyes"
"You're not going to waste a good bait like that" Blaine retorted in what he hoped was a confident tone even if he could feel his voice starting to shake. Yeah, he had an strategy, but he didn't want to put Sebastian in more danger than he already was.
"One" the man started counting again, playing that game he seemed to like so much.
"Blaine…" Sebastian begged, surprised Blaine would endanger his life like that, and it was very hard for Blaine to close his ears to his friend desperate plea.
Blaine knew he didn't have any time to lose, or they would lose Sebastian and that was something he was not willing to allow. Very slowly, and taking advantage of the fact he was still partially behind Marley, he drove his hand to the gun on her waistband and closed his fingers around them in a strong grip.
"Two…" the man continued, to which Sebastian closed his eyes in a desperate attempt to isolate himself from the terror that scene was causing.
Blaine took the gun out of Marley's jeans in one swift and calculated move just when Jim's eyes turned to the prey trembling in his arms to make sure the gun was placed in the exact point to kill him instantly, as he definitely was willing to kill him without any kind of remorse.
"Three" he finished with a satisfied grin, obviously glad that Blaine had refused to obey and he had the chance to kill.
But before he could even think to pull the trigger, he was shocked to see Blaine had place himself in front of him in a couple of strikes in the brief moment his eyes had lost sight of him. The cold of the gun pressing between his eyebrows paralyzed him for a second, but he still had time to react and tried again to shoot. Unfortunately for him, Blaine noticed his movement and beat him to it.
Jim never felt a thing as Blaine's bullet entered his brain and blood splashed all around him, including Sebastian's shocked faced. The thud of his body as he fell to the floor resounded around the room almost as much as the shot had done. And then there was silence as everyone turned to look at Blaine in shock.
"Now you leave the gun on the floor, Major" Blaine sardonically said as he turned around, his arms stretched in front of him to point his still fuming gun towards the other man.
The Major seemed to come out of his stupor when Blaine spoke and tried to lift his forgotten gun to defend himself but it was too late: the others had reacted too and they were starting to retrieve theirs to also point it at him. And in the end he knew he didn't have any other alternative than to leave his at the floor and raise his arms in surrender.
"Seb, you okay?" Blaine asked while starting to walk slowly and menacingly towards the Major.
"Yeah" Sebastian answered with a gulp after massaging his sore throat for a couple of seconds, trying to diminish the tightness of it and clam himself enough so his heart would stop beating as if it was about to burst.
"I'm sorry it had to be like that, I didn't know what else to do" Blaine apologized, this time turning around to look apologetically at his friend for a second, knowing all the others were keeping the Major at bay too.
"It's okay" Sebastian immediately diminished the importance of it, because Blaine had only been trying to save him, even if he had scared the life out of him. "You saved my life"
"I think the tables have changed now" Blaine said as he came to stand in front of the Major, who by then seemed to be very scared at the turn of events and the seemingly fearless young man in front of him. He had really underestimated those young'uns, hadn't he?
"Please, just listen to me, we can still make it work" the man answered, begging for his life.
"You said you wanted to make us your prisoners to use us only a minute ago"
"It was just a way to make you react, I wasn't going to do it"
"You never do anything wrong, right?" Blaine said, looking intently and defiantly at him. "You always have an excuse. Yet just yesterday your men hit me and left me to die in the woods"
"I already apologized for that" the Major reminded him, hoping it would make a difference, but the anger and the underlying pain in Blaine's eyes made him doubt he was going to be that lucky.
"They took my boyfriend to use him as a bait for those walkers, same as you did with that poor woman and who know how many more" Blaine continued, ignoring the Major's attempts to convince him, almost as if he really needed to enumerate all the reasons that had brought him to hate him that much if he didn't want to go crazy. "I almost lost him that way"
"We can work that out" the Major tried again, but the intensity in Blaine's gaze made him stop, not wanting to anger him any further.
"My brother is dead because of you" Blaine continued with the same steady tone even if silent tears were making their way down his cheeks without him even noticing. "And nothing you say now is going to return him to me"
Sam sighed with sadness as he heard his boyfriend struggle with his sorrow like that. Then more than ever he wished he could just walk to him and envelop him in a strong embrace, like he always did when the shorter boy was in need of some comfort. He was dying to squeeze him strongly to his chest while his lips kissed the side of his face, softly whispering next to his ear how everything was going to be alright. Although this time it wasn't going to be alright. This time the worst imaginable thing had happened and no embrace or sweet gesture were going to give Cooper back to Blaine. And he doubted Blaine would even accept the embrace while the Major was still there and they hadn't decided yet what to do with him.
Although Sam didn't think there was going to be a decision, at least not from anyone other than Blaine. His boyfriend seemed to know what he wanted to do with that man, whatever it was, and Sam doubted anyone was going to question him or stop him from doing whatever the hell he wanted, after how much he had suffered. And Sam couldn't care less about that man's fate, obviously. He just hoped Blaine didn't have to regret his actions for the rest of his life.
"I don't know how that happened, but I'm so sorry about that, you have to believe me" the Major begged, not even thinking about his self-respect if that gave him the chance to survive, whatever the conditions.
"And now you dare to come here and lie to us and threaten my best friend?" Blaine continued, almost as if he was speaking to himself. "You've screwed with the wrong people, you bastard"
"Blaine" Sam called him, wanting him to look at him so Blaine could read in his eyes how much he loved him and understood him, and how afraid he was of this new attitude of his, but Blaine didn't even give him the chance and continued looking intently at the Major.
"I can't be hold responsible for everything those men did" the Major defended himself.
"Oh, so they're not your people anymore?" Blaine retorted with a humorless snort. "They would do anything you told them to, you said so yourself. You orchestrated all this horror"
"Please, no. You're good people, I can tell, you are not going to kill a defenseless man" the man begged, not even trying to find more excuses but looking for some compassion.
"I'm not going to kill you" Blaine answered, to which Sam sighed in relief. "You're right, I can't possibly kill an unarmed man in cold blood"
"Thank God" the man cried in relief, daring to put his hand on Blaine's shoulder in a grateful gesture. "Thank you, my boy, thank you"
Just the touch of that man's filthy hand was enough to make Blaine's blood boil. He didn't want his gratitude, he didn't feel the need to be the bigger man. Just his touch was enough to remind Blaine that, even if he was not going to kill him, he wanted him to pay. He wanted him to suffer, just as Cooper had done.
"Take off your clothes" Blaine said in the coldest tone Sam had ever heard in him while angrily slapping the man's hand away from him.
"What?"
"Take off anything that it has that stinky odor in it"
"You can't…" the Major tried to protest, knowing what Blaine was implying when he ordered him the get rid of anything that had walker's blood and smell in it: that he was going to be left outside without any kind of protection.
"Do it or I will kill you myself even if I don't want to, and you know my hand won't shake" Blaine spat at him, angrily pressing the gun in the man's forehead.
Everyone seemed quite surprised at the events unfolding in front of them, because Blaine had always been the most considerate and compassionate person they had ever met and he was now implying he was going to get that man killed, even if he was not going to do it himself. But they couldn't bring themselves to stop him, because what where they supposed to do with that man anyway? Make him their prisoner so he would become another mouth to feed and a constant reminder for Blaine of what he had lost? To let him go and risk for him to get his people ready and outsmart them again?
There really wasn't any other possibility than to kill him, whatever the way they chose. And if having him eaten by those monsters after all the people who had suffered that same fate at his hands, including Cooper, could make Blaine feel better… so be it.
"Please, they're going to eat me alive" the man begged, his own eyes filling with desperate tears once he understood Blaine was not going to change his mind.
"Tell that to my brother" Blaine answered, his face getting so close in a threatening manner to that man's that he could smell his filthy breath. "And now take off your clothes unless you want me to put a different end to this"
The man hesitantly obeyed, breaking into pathetic sobs that did nothing to break Blaine's resolution as he held his gun in front of him, until he was left in only his underwear, the only items that hadn't been stained with walker's blood.
"Please, Blaine" the man implored once again while being pushed towards the door by Puck and Blaine, and Sam could have sworn he had seen a tiny flicker of hesitation in his lover's eyes, even if it was gone as quickly as it came. "I'll do anything you want"
"I want you to die" Blaine admitted as Jake opened the door for them. "And now I advise you to run" he added as he pushed the man outside and closed the door after him.
There was an uncomfortable silence amongst the youngsters, only broken by the desperate pounding of the Major on the closed door and his terrified pleading to let him in again. Of course no one moved a muscle to help him, knowing that getting rid of him was what they needed to do, but listening to a man begging for his life was surely not pleasant.
They were only slightly surprised when all the whole uproar stopped all of a sudden, and some of them moved to the windows to see what was happening: of course the man had finally understood they were not going to help them and, when he realized he was attracting the walkers with all the noise, he simply decided to run and try to make an escape.
But he was only one man, and he didn't have any kind of weapon with him. And even if he was faster than the walkers, they kept appearing from everywhere and it didn't take them long to surround him until he had no way to escape.
Without exception, everyone who was looking through the window winced at the first bite and at the terrifying screams it elicited on the victim. Screams that seemed to go on and on for a long time, long after they stopped looking. But they refused to feel sorry for him, because that's what he had done to a lot of people before.
No one seemed to know what to do, looking at each other with sympathy and confusion and disgust at what had just happen. They all looked at Blaine, wanting to see how he was, hoping he would take the lead on how to proceed from then on. But what they didn't expect him to do was to resolutely open the door and walk outside as if it wasn't the most dangerous thing he could do.
"Blaine!" Sam yelled as soon as he saw what was happening, trying to stop him with his voice since he couldn't do it with his hands, but Blaine ignored him and continued walking decidedly until he was passed the house's porch, well in the view of any possible shooter still hiding in the rooftops.
"He's dead, you hear me?" Blaine shouted at the top of his lungs as he looked upwards even if he couldn't directly see anyone, hoping any person who had been left behind would hear his words and know what was going to happen to them if they tried to confront him. "You cowards, your leader is dead, there is nothing left for you to do here but fly!"
Sam winced as he tried to walk towards the door, not caring about the pain it was causing him if that meant getting to the boy he loved and stopping him from killing himself, either at the hands of the shooters or at the walkers' hunger. But even if he ignored the pain, it was impossible he was going to get Blaine in time before something happened to him, and he seemed to be well beyond himself at the moment to trust him to do the most reasonable thing.
"For God's sake, get him inside!" Sam pleaded at the astounded friends, who still had to move a muscle, and fortunately it was enough to get Sebastian and Mike out of his stupor so they could obey and run behind the upset young man.
"You'll get what you deserve one way or another, you bastards!" Blaine continued yelling, hoping to discourage them of trying to fight them now that their leader was dead, even if he wasn't aware of the danger he was putting himself in.
And he was in danger, indeed. Not only was out there in the open, at the hands of any possible shooter who hadn't totally lost the courage to fight –and the fact they hadn't shot at him yet just showed everyone how right the Major had been about those people being lost without him–, but his shouting was attracting the walkers that couldn't reach the Major's body because it was buried under dozens of them. It was a matter of time that Blaine would end up being a victim of one of those two perils, and his friends weren't going to permit it.
"Blaine!" Sebastian tried to call him from the porch without being too loud, so he wouldn't attract any more walkers, but Blaine was too gone out of his mind to even acknowledge he had heard him.
"You're all going to end up just like him!" Blaine screamed at the top of his lungs.
Sebastian didn't think twice and this time didn't even try to convince his friend: he just ran to him and put his arms around him from behind with the intention of pulling him towards the house. What he hadn't been expecting, though, was the strength with which Blaine was going to fight against him.
"Let go of me!" Blaine screamed with rage, furiously trying to disentangle himself from those arms that were trying to move him.
"Blaine, it's me, Seb" Sebastian whispered to him in a calming voice, wondering if Blaine was even aware of who has holding him or he thought he was fighting for his life. "I've got you. Now let's go"
Sebastian's voice was enough to put an end to his struggles, but he still didn't move from where he was standing. It wasn't until a bullet ricocheted right at their feet that Blaine understood the peril they were in.
"Blaine!" Sam desperately called him from the house's door, his voice full of fear at what seemed about to happen, and only when Blaine raised his confused eyes towards him, as if getting out of a trance thanks to his voice, that Sam could see he wasn't even aware of what was happening.
Alerted by the shot, Mike didn't wait to see if Blaine would react or they could convince him: he just ran towards the two friends and helped Sebastian in pulling Blaine towards the house. This time, though, Blaine didn't resist anymore and let himself be pulled as fast as possible, finally understanding the danger they were in when he felt the walkers gurgling noise way closer than a few seconds before.
Sebastian and Mike ran with him in between them, not giving him the chance to escape, and only when they were at the door they let go of him and into Sam's arms, that immediately closed around his smaller frame in a relieved embrace that Blaine was too petrified to reciprocate.
"Get inside, come on" Sebastian warned them with a final and careful push to the couple so he could safely close the door behind him, which he did just as the fist walker reached the porch of the house.
"You okay?" Sam asked after breaking the embrace, his heart still racing with fear, and cupping Blaine's cheeks so he couldn't avoid his gaze.
But Blaine never answered. Instead he just disentangled himself from Sam's grip and ran.
"Blaine!" Sam yelled after him, terrified that he was going to put himself in danger again before he had the chance to stop him, but he was momentarily relieved when he saw Blaine opening a couple of doors, as if looking for something, and disappearing after the third one.
"He just needs a moment" Sebastian said with a comforting hand on Sam's shoulders, meaning to defend his best friend and his current odd behavior and reassure Sam at the same time.
"You're right" Sam answered with a sigh, willing his heart to return to a normal pace after being close to having to watch Blaine being shot or eaten alive right in front of his eyes. "I'll go see if he needs me, though"
It took a long time for Sam to reach the room in which Blaine had disappeared due to his more than obvious limp, but no one tried to stop him because they could see how determined he was to get there and how much those two needed each other. They were more than a bit worried about how Blaine was going to cope with his brother's loss and the stunt he had just performed –and which he hadn't seem to be aware of– just proved them right. They just hoped Sam would be able to help him. If someone could do it, that was definitely him.
Sam was about to knock on the door, but he realized that in his hurry, Blaine hadn't even bothered to close it. Sam was surprised it was a bathroom the place Blaine had chosen to hide in, but the sound of retching and the way Blaine was doubled over in front of the toilet showed Sam what was really happening.
Without a word, Sam walked the rest of the way separating them and rested a hand on Blaine's back as the latter continued retching and coughing until there was nothing else in his stomach. Sam's eyes filled with tears at his boyfriend's pain, the obvious turmoil and guilt inside of him, and wondered if this time he would be able to make it better. He was starting to doubt it, after all.
"Feeling better?" Sam asked in a soft voice when Blaine finally dared to straighten his body, his face read and spent after the vomiting.
"Yeah" Blaine answered as he walked towards the washbasin to clean his face and gargle some water to get rid of the awful taste in his mouth. "I'm sorry you had to see me like this"
"Don't be silly, we've all been sick before" Sam dismissed Blaine's apology as he walked closer to him, hoping Blaine wouldn't reject his touch this time.
"No, I meant… outside" Blaine corrected him with only a thread of voice.
"You're safe now and that's all that matters" Sam made light of the situation again even if he perfectly knew what Blaine meant, and instead he just put his arms around him again and hoped against hope that Blaine would accept his embrace.
"How could I do that?" Blaine asked, more at himself than at Sam, and even if his arms remained at each side of his body, at least he let his head rest on Sam's shoulder.
"You did what needed to be done" Sam answered, squeezing Blaine more strongly to him as he avoided saying the entire truth: that yes, Blaine had done what was necessary killing those two men; but it had scared the hell out of Sam to see him like that.
"I'm a monster" Blaine whispered as he buried his face in Sam's shoulder as if he was trying to disappear. "Just like them"
"No, Blaine" Sam answered with a kiss to the top of Blaine's head, knowing that it was crucial to make him understand he still loved him to no end and that his opinion of him hadn't changed one bit. "You wouldn't be feeling like this if you were"
But they didn't have the time to discuss it any longer as some blows that they knew very well started hitting the front wall of the house, and when they raised their heads to look at each other, they could see in each other's eyes the same panic they knew was reflected in their own.
"We need to get out of here" Mike announced as he moved to rest his back against the front door to keep it closed just in case those walkers managed to open it. "We're getting surrounded by walkers in this very moment"
"Not again" Blaine said as he closed his eyes with force for a second, as if that could stop it from becoming true, but he only needed the squeeze of Sam's hand around his to make him react and get him into action: Sam still depended on him and he was not going to fail him the same way he had failed Cooper.
Blaine took advantage of the fact that his hand and Sam's were connected to throw his boyfriend's arm around his shoulders so he could use him as a crutch again and help him back to the living room, where all the others had turned impossibly pale at the prospect of ending the same way Cooper had done.
"We need to get out of here" Blaine resolutely said as they arrived to the living room again, making all the eyes in the room turn to him in an instant. "This town is not safe"
"But how?" Puck asked, hating himself for putting even more pressure in the already upset boy, especially considering he was in charge of keeping Sam safe again. "We can use the truck to escape, but how can we reach it?"
"We'll do what the Major did" Blaine said, almost breaking down when he realized he could have saved Cooper's life if he had thought about that before; but there was no turning back and they didn't have any time to lose, so he hurried to explain the idea to his eager friends. "We have to blend into them, and we need to used their blood to do that"
Their pale skin turned to a greenish tone at the thought of having to smear those creatures' repulsive blood and smell against their own body, but they knew Blaine was right: it was the only way they could pass amongst so many of them.
"And the people?" Marley asked.
"We will have to be careful, but I don't think we need to be worried about them" Blaine explained. "Now that they don't have a leader, I pretty much doubt they will still be there on the rooftops, waiting for us. They will be hiding or escaping themselves"
"You're probably right" Mike agreed with a nod.
"Wait here" Blaine whispered to Sam's ear, with an implicit promise to be back, before resting a gentle kiss to his cheek and leaving his side, to which Sam could only sigh in frustration as he once again had to see his boyfriend take charge of the situation –and even if it was comforting to see him acting more like himself, he hoped that he could just stand aside and let others take care of everything for once. "We need to let a few of them inside here. I think we will have enough with four of five of them"
"Won't that be dangerous?" Trent asked when Blaine resolutely walked to the door.
"Probably" Blaine admitted as he positioned himself next to the door. "But we don't have an alternative, do we?"
Trent sadly shook his head as he and some of the others also made their way to the door to help Blaine in whatever crazy plan he seemed to have already made.
"Ok, Sugar, Marley and Jake, you're in charge of the door" he quickly began explaining his idea. "You will open it just a crack so only one walker can pass it through. I'll be right here, next to the door, and kill them in an instant, so you can close the door as soon as it falls, and Sebastian and Trent will drag the body inside. We'll repeat the procedure as many times as we need. Does everybody agree?"
Everyone nodded at him, because as dangerous as it looked, the plan seemed to make enough sense.
"Puck, you and Mike better watch the door too, in case they push too strongly and those guys can't close it quickly enough"
All the mentioned kids –everyone who wasn't hurt or taking care if the injured– took their positions under Blaine's guidance and breathed deeply to encourage themselves. Sam breathed deeply too as he got to watch the scene from the distance, refusing to sit down even when Brittany walked to him to push him to an armchair. He hated being injured and he hated even more having to watch while everybody fought for their lives; while Blaine struggled to keep everyone alive. If something happened to him… But no, he couldn't let himself get lost in those kind of negative thoughts: Blaine knew how to fight more than anyone and his plan, even if dangerous, was brilliant.
After Blaine nodded encouragingly at her, Sugar tried to open the door slightly. Of course that was impossible, and as soon as the walkers met no resistance, they pushed the door more strongly, making three of those monsters enter. Marley and Jake hurried to push with her and, even if they put a stop to their advances, they were still not able to close the door.
Blaine had been ready for the first walker and he quickly stabbed his machete in its skull in a skilled move. He hadn't been expecting for them to enter so fast, but he still recovered quickly enough to be able to kill the second one too. But even his skills were not enough for the third one that quickly went for Blaine's shoulder –to which Sam could only wince at what seemed about to happen–, but fortunately Sebastian had been close enough to help him and killed the monster before he could do any damage.
With Puck and Mike's help, the others could finally close the door before endangering Blaine's and Sebastian's lives any longer, and everybody sighed in relief that they seemed to be in one piece.
"You okay?" Sebastian asked with a hand to the back ofBlaine's neck, needing to make sure he hadn't been bitten before he was able to stop it.
"Yeah, it didn't get me" Blaine immediately reassured him, also turning to look at Sam and nod at him to let him know he was ok. "Ok, let's get the injured ones ready first. How's Kitty?"
"She's waking up, but she won't possibly be able to walk on her own" Unique, the one who had been taking care of her, answered.
"Ok then, Sam, Brittany and Santana, I need you to get ready"
Everyone obeyed, as usual, and it didn't take more than another opening of the door to have enough material to cover all of them. The odor and the disgust amongst them were nauseating, but they refused to complain because smelling bad was the last of their problems.
"For it to work we have to be completely silent" Blaine advised the others as they were getting ready to leave, after packing some food, meds and clothes they had found in the house. "If they hear us talk they'll know we're not one of them"
"And we should try moving like them" Mike added. "No running. It's bad enough that some of us will need to be helped, we need to walk slowly and heavily to pass by them without being acknowledged"
"I'll help Sam" Blaine immediately offered, because he was not going to delegate that job on anyone else.
"We both will" Sebastian intervened before Blaine could even begin to protest. "It will be easier for him if he is supported at both sides. Right, Sam?"
"Sure" Sam rushed to answer, willing to do anything that would make it easier on his boyfriend.
"I will help Santana if she gets tired" Brittany added, as Santana wasn't hurt that badly but her ribs had been badly bruised.
"And Unique and I will help Kitty" Puck said, glad for the small stature of the former cheerio as she was going to need a lot of help.
"Then it's settled" Blaine finished as he took his place under Sam's arm once again. "I say the sooner, the better"
They decided to use the back door as the backyard wasn't that crowded to begin their path –there were so many walkers at the porch that they would have fallen on them as soon as they opened the door, right as they had done before–, and as Blaine and Mike had suggested, no one said a word and they tried to be slow even if their hearts were beating so loudly they were sure the walkers would end up hearing them.
When the first walker came to stand right in front of Trent, who was walking on the front, everyone held their breaths and silently prayed that their plan would be successful or he was a goner. The walker didn't move from his side for a second, as if he was looking intently at him and trying to judge if he was a prey or not, but in the end it continued walking, much to everyone's relief. Their plan seemed to be working.
The fact it was working didn't make it any less scary, though, and Blaine's arm closed more closely around Sam's waist when a walker came dangerously close to the latter before also moving away. Sam had to fight against his urges to whisper they would be alright, as it was too risky, but he hoped Blaine would understand by the squeeze of Sam's fingers in his shoulder.
The extra yards that involved going around the house were taking its toll in the injured ones, especially Sam, who had an injury on his leg and was getting easily tired, and Kitty, who was only holding on by sheer willpower and Puck's and Unique's support after the wound he had received in her head.
They doubted they had ever been more scared before. There they were, completely surrounded by walkers, knowing that one bad move could be fatal to the entire group. Every now and then, one of those creatures would stop next to one of them, doubtful, analyzing, but in the end they always continued walking towards the house. But that didn't stop them from panicking anytime something like that happened.
Blaine thought he was going to cry with relief, though, when he noticed they were leaving most of the walkers behind. Of course those stupid creatures didn't have any reason to leave the fort, as they knew there were still a lot of people inside. And since most of the walkers were still pounding in the house the group had just left, the others were attracted there by all the noise. For once, it seemed like things were going well. They would be out of there in no time.
Trying to be as silent as possible, Jake opened the back of the truck and helped his brother to lift Kitty inside. Santana was helped too, with Brittany getting right behind here. And they were quickly followed by Unique, Sugar, Jake, and Trent since Puck wanted to drive again.
Blaine was about to help Sam inside when a noise behind him caught his attention. He knew he shouldn't be surprised, as the fact that most of the walkers were now far away from then didn't mean that there couldn't be a few stray ones wandering more closely.
But something, maybe a feeling he couldn't explain, made him turn around and what he saw there made his heart stop beating: because standing there was Cooper, silently looking at him. He was missing most of the flesh around his middle, even some in his face, and his eyes were yellow and vacant but… it was him.
"Coop" Blaine whispered, low enough so as not to attract the attention of the other walkers, but it surely seemed to attract his brother, who walked closer to him.
"What…?" Sam began to ask when he felt Blaine leaving his side, and the panic that had invaded his heart when Blaine had defied those shooters before was nothing compared to the one he was feeling now as he saw his boyfriend walking voluntarily towards a walker –his brother's corpse nonetheless. "Blaine, come back here"
"Coop?" Blaine asked as his brother approached him tentatively.
What if…? They had never been around a walker that had been a loved one before. What if they still had some memory? What if there was something of his brother still in that body? Cooper wasn't acting as any other walker, was he? Any other walker would be running towards him to eat him, and Cooper was just shyly walking towards him. Maybe… maybe he had recognized him in some way?
"Blaine, he's going to attack you!" Sam tried to warn him without yelling, terrified that the sound of his voice or his moves if he tried to grab Blaine would completely belie their state to the walker –because he was sure that was what was keeping Cooper from attacking, the fact he wasn't sure Blaine was a living thing yet because of the blood and the smell in his clothes. "Move away or kill him"
But Blaine didn't listen. He just stayed rooted to his place, watching as his brother covered the rest of the distance between them. Blaine held his gaze and tried to find something in his eyes that told him that his brother was still there. That he was not completely gone. That he had not completely lost him.
"Blaine, come on" Sam desperately insisted as he slowly moved towards the brothers in case Blaine continued ignoring him.
"It's me, Coop" Blaine said with a broken voice as he moved his hand in front of him with the intention of touching his brother's face. "It's your squirt"
Nothing could have prepared Blaine for what happened next: his voice finally took the walker in front of him –not his brother, but a walker– out of any doubt that he was alive, and he launched at him with the intention of biting his shoulder, as of course there was nothing of Cooper inside that body anymore and he didn't recognize the person in front of him. The walker made a terrifying noise just before jumping on Blaine, who had been caught completely unaware after really believing his brother was recognizing him. But it hadn't: he could feel his odor on him as its open mouth came dangerously close to his own flesh without him being capable of reacting. And it broke his heart that he was going to die at the hands of what once had been his brother, after said brother had given his life in vain to save him.
He only felt the touch of that walker's fingers in his arm as he tried to immobilize him to bite him for a second before the familiar sound of breaking bones replaced the gurgling noise, and Blaine raised his gaze to see that it had been Sam embedding his knife on Cooper's skull the one to put an end to the attack before it was too late.
"You ok?" Sam desperately needed as he positioned himself in front of Blaine to check for himself that he hadn't been beaten.
But Blaine didn't have eyes for anything else than his brother's corpse lying on the cold hard ground, right in front of him. And finally his defenses broke and the breakdown he had been postponing for so long finally couldn't be stopped anymore as he let himself fall to his knees while heart-wrenching but silent sobs starting erupting from his chest.
"Coop" he whispered as he let his head fall on his brother's chest to cry, not minding that he was getting even more stained with his blood.
"Blaine" Sam said, unsure of what to do. Would Blaine ever be able to forgive him after what he had done? "Blaine, I'm sorry, I didn't want to do it but… he was going to bite you"
Blaine didn't acknowledge he had even heard Sam, or perhaps he was so angry he didn't even want to talk to him. The thing is he continued crying on his brother's chest, getting more and more desperate with each passing minute now that he had the chance to mourn him he hadn't had until then.
Sam started crying with him, both because he was afraid Blaine would never forgive him for killing his brother –or what was left of him– and because he couldn't stand seeing him in such pain. Blaine had suffered enough as it was, he didn't need to see his brother's corpse in that state, nor he needed to watch his boyfriend embedding his knife in its skull. Even if he knew Blaine was strong –stronger than anyone else–, that was too much, even for him.
Sam slowly kneeled next to Blaine –under the watchful eye of Sebastian, Mike and Puck that got their guns ready in case they needed to protect the couple, even if no other walkers seemed to be close enough to acknowledge their living status yet– and rested a gentle hand on his back, glad that at least he wasn't refusing the contact.
"Please, forgive me, Blaine" Sam implored, his own voice breaking at the scene and at the possibility of losing the love of his life. "It was not him anymore"
"I know" Blaine answered as he raised his upper body to find Sam's gaze and let him know he didn't blame him for anything before breaking into sobs again. "He's gone, Sam"
"I know" Sam answered as he started crying too and embraced Blaine with all his forces, only slightly relieved when Blaine finally reciprocated the embrace. "I know, love"
They lost track of time of how much time they spent like that, deeply encased in each other's arms, sharing their pain and their tears as the body of the man that had given their life for theirs lay lifeless just before them. It was probably not more than a couple of minutes, but the pain was so intense and the relief of still having each other so real, that it felt like an eternity to them.
"I'm sorry" Sam still apologized when he felt Blaine was starting to calm down.
"No, it's… it's better this way" Blaine answered, even breaking the embrace to be able to look at his lover's face so he could see he was being honest. "Now he can rest in peace"
"Yeah" Sam agreed with a sad smile and a kiss to Blaine's temple, marveled, not for the first time, at Blaine's amazing resilience.
"He looks like him again, doesn't he?" Blaine suddenly asked as his hand moved to tenderly caress Cooper's hair.
Sam also looked at the body in front of him, and he felt he was going to be sick by the sight of it: he was missing so many chunks of flesh, and there was so much blood covering him, that it was impossible that he could look as Cooper had done. Even his open and very yellow eyes were keeping Sam from seeing him as anything more than a walker. But of course he wasn't going to tell Blaine that, if seeing his brother in that corpse helped him in any way.
"Yes" Sam answered as he gently closed Cooper's eyes so it would help create the illusion he was resting. "He is finally peaceful"
Blaine started crying again, even if he didn't sound as desperate as he had done a moment before. He sounded sad, full of grief… but there was an understanding in him now, as if he was more ready to let go now. And even if Blaine had been close to being beaten, Sam was glad that he had had the chance to see his brother a last time and replace the last image he had of him with the peaceful scene in front of him. Maybe that would help him move on.
"Coop…" Blaine whispered as he took his brother's hand in his for the last time, thinking of all the times in his life that it had been his brother holding his hand to make him feel safe, to take care of him or just so Blaine wouldn't feel lonely. Because Cooper had been that kind of a hero to Blaine.
"I love you, little brother. More than you could ever imagine. Please, never forget it"
Those had been his last words before giving up his life to save his, and still he had been the one reassuring Blaine instead of the other way around. Because Blaine was the person he had loved the most in the world and he had done whatever it took to keep him safe.
"I love you too, Cooper" Blaine whispered as he bent down to kiss his forehead. "And I will never forget it, I promise"
Sam put his arm around Blaine's body to attract him to his side in a side embrace meant to let him know he was not alone and that he was still loved to no end. Blaine nodded at him, acknowledging Sam's love that way, and carefully took the watch still hanging from Cooper's wrist, that watch Blaine had given him himself when he was just a little kid and that Cooper had treasured so much. It was the only thing he could keep from him, and Blaine promised himself that watch was always going to be near him.
"Come on, babe" Sam gently encouraged him as he dried the still present tears in Blaine's cheeks, just before standing up and offering a hand to his boyfriend. "We need to let go"
Blaine just nodded and obeyed, letting himself be pulled to his feet and directly to Sam's warm arms that were pushing him towards the truck. And when he saw Puck and Mike finding a couple of shovels to dig a grave, he knew that at least his brother would have the chance to rest in peace.
And that thought, combined with Sam's arms so strongly embracing him, comforted him.