Blaine sat through dinner quietly, as per usual, listening from time to time to his parents' praising their eldest son while hating them—all three of them—for torturing him. Especially Bruce. He did not think it possible to despise his brother more than he already did. Although it could not actually be labeled hatred so much as envy and jealousy. It's hard to get your parents' attention and approval when you have to measure up to someone like his brother. The prodigal son who was always top of his class and did everything their parents wanted him to do without telling him to. Not like Blaine. Blaine's above average grades and his singing did not impress his parents at all and they were more than disappointed when Blaine left Dalton Academy for a public school like McKinley—especially for Kurt—and they had not wasted one single opportunity to remind him that Bruce had graduated from Dalton as the valedictorian of his promotion. No one stirred such ambivalent feelings out of Blaine but Bruce. He loved and hated his brother at the same time.

Not to say that Bruce was not a good brother to him—he was, there was no questioning that and it made Blaine even that much bitterer. He'd almost always been there for Blaine, always supportive and protective. Bruce was the first person he came out to, the first person to accept him for who he really was. The first person who made it okay for Blaine to be gay. From the moment Bruce left for college though, Blaine was more or less on his own. As the years went by, text messages and emails grew scarce between them, what with Bruce being busier and busier along the years and Blaine leaving to Dalton.

He left the dinner table as soon as he could, excusing himself curtly and retreating back to his bedroom to wallow in his own misery. Mike and Bruce were dating. The news hit him like a slap to the face and still had to sink in properly. Unexpected was not even strong enough a word to describe the relationship that had secretly formed between Mike and his brother. There was next to zero chance for the two of them to meet, it almost felt like fate had purposefully crossed their paths and that thought made Blaine go even more insane. To think that Mike and Bruce were meant to be or some crap like that.

Once again, it seemed Blaine had read all the signs wrong, and that Mike really was acting friendly towards him. Nothing more. They'd grown so close and so fast that Blaine had dared hope something more than friendship could happen between them. So damn stupid of him. Kurt broke things off with him when he realized they worked better as friends and Blaine almost considered going back to Dalton at that point. He had invested so much in his relationship with Kurt that at the time, it felt like he'd lost everything. Mike's support was what eventually made him pull through and stay at McKinley. Mike had cheered him up and helped him in ways no friend had ever done before. He didn't fall for Mike out of nowhere. It wasn't a sudden realization that struck him like lightning. He had first noticed how agile and sensual Mike's body was when he danced. And then the way Mike's face looked infinitely younger when he smiled, the spark in his eyes that made him look playful and teasing—something Blaine absolutely loved about him. It was all those little details that warmed Blaine up to the idea, the beautiful idea of Mike being his boyfriend. He knew it was silly; there was no way Mike would ever feel this way about him, Mike was straight. He was dating Tina. And then Mike wasn't dating anyone for a while—or so Blaine had thought—and they started spending more and more time together, nourishing Blaine's over active imagination with hopes that things could evolve between them. He had been so wrong.

Blaine grunted as he crashed into his bed face first, unable to get the sight of Mike and Bruce hugging out of his head. Soon after leaving the choir room earlier today, he'd gone back to retrieve his vest only to see his best friend hugging his brother in a way that still made Blaine suffer excruciatingly. He wanted to scream his lungs out, get the frustration out of his system completely but knew all too well he would only damage his vocal chords and end up even more exasperated. His cell phone buzzed repeatedly, prompting him to check it. Five text messages, all of them from Mike. He ignored them and threw his phone on one of his pillows.

He suddenly felt his bed dip beside him and a familiar scent invade his senses, telling him his brother had sat down next to him. Awesome. Bruce was the last person he wanted to see right now. In his vulnerable state, anyone could figure out why he was so upset. Blaine didn't move, wiping lightly the rare tears that had escaped and put on his most neutral face, not moving to acknowledge his brother.

"You've been awfully quiet," Bruce pointed out, shaking his shoulder lightly. "Want to tell me what's going on?"

"No," Blaine mumbled into his pillow, feeling too weak and numbed by the pain to move and face his brother. He could not even look his brother in the eye right now anyway.

"Is it because of me and Michael?"

Damn Bruce and his uncanny insight. Blaine wanted to deny it but remained silent, giving Bruce all the answer he needed. Besides, Blaine's storming off earlier was clear indication enough that he had not taken the news very well.

"Look, Blaine, I know how…weird this might seem," Bruce started to say, heaving a tired sigh before continuing, "I mean, Michael is one of your closest friends from what I've gathered, and I'm his teacher now, which makes things even more complicated, I'm aware of that. But Michael is graduating soon so…I hope it's not too much to ask of you to keep this a secret? It wouldn't do too good for my resume, you know."

So Bruce didn't suspect a thing about Blaine's feelings for Mike, he learned with great relief. But Blaine didn't like the idea of having to protect their relationship when he didn't like it in the first place. Mike was one of his closest friends though, as Bruce pointed out, and this was the least Blaine could do as a friend. He rolled onto his back, looking up at his brother who was currently giving him the honest to God puppy eyes. How dared he.

"Why didn't you tell me? About you and Mike?" Blaine asked him, the question having now gnawed at him for hours. Why didn't Bruce tell him he was seeing someone? Blaine could've known about this a lot sooner and not make a fool out of himself in front of all the glee club—who, of course, had loved Bruce and even gotten past the fact that Mr. Schue was gone for a while.

"Our relationship was mostly long distance, and I didn't want to say anything before knowing it could go somewhere," Bruce answered matter-of-factly before lying down next to him. Bruce's answer made so much sense Blaine felt like an idiot asking the question in the first place. It irritated him how his conversations with Bruce somehow always ended up like this. Blaine wasn't exactly an idiot, but Bruce always managed to make him look like one.

"Fine, Bruce, I won't reveal your dirty little secret," Blaine conceded half-heartedly, earning a little nudge from his brother. He could not deny this to his brother. "How long are you going to be at McKinley? And why McKinley in the first place? Why not Dalton?"

"I wanted to start fresh, somewhere I didn't know anyone," Bruce replied, smiling softly at him. "Guess that didn't work out. Besides, can you imagine working alongside your old teachers from high school? I can't."

"I figured you'd love it, actually," Blaine craned his neck to the side to face Bruce. "Mrs. Vanderhill kept asking me how you were doing every week."

Bruce let out a bark of laughter, free and joyful, the way Blaine remembered Bruce doing so often before, at a time when everything was simple and drama free.

"Ah, good old Mrs. Vanderhill," Bruce shook his head, a grin plastered on his face. "Does she still do that thing with her hair?"

"You mean that thing when she eats strands of her own hair?"

"Oh come on, she doesn't actually eat her hair, she just…puts it in her mouth," Bruce chuckled some more and this time Blaine joined in. As their laughter died down, silence fell between them instead and Blaine didn't know how to break it. He didn't have to, Bruce did.

"I really like him, Blaine," Bruce said, gaze fixed on the ceiling. His brother's admission made Blaine feel worse and guilty about the whole thing. Blaine wished so badly for his brother's relationship with Mike to come to an end that he'd forgotten his own feelings weren't the only ones at stake here. Bruce was Mike's boyfriend, not him. Blaine had no right to feel so possessive of Mike, did he? They were just friends. And for all he knew, Mike was very happy with Bruce. Bruce sure seemed happy, if the goofy smile he had on his face while telling Blaine his last statement was any indication.

"I'm happy for you," Blaine told Bruce, half-lying, half-sincere.

"Thanks, little brother," Bruce beamed at him, apparently not aware at all of the traitorous thoughts that were roaming Blaine's mind. How easy it could be to destroy them, just by telling the principal about the forbidden relationship. How he had already pictured five ways in which Mike broke up with Bruce to be with him or how he had imagined Bruce's crushed face when Blaine and Mike got together. Bruce had no idea. When did Blaine become such a great actor? As he snapped back to reality, to the way Bruce's too blue eyes were boring into his, Blaine felt terrible for being such a bad brother.

"No problem," Blaine replied, faking a smile as best as he could.

I wish it was me though, he omitted to say.

tbc

Here's the second chapter ! Hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think :)