Author's Note: Hi everyone! Thanks for reading my story, I'm so excited to see so many people interested in it. Just as a side note, the chapters alternate between Cooper's memories and the actual hospital scene. So chapters 1,3, and 5 are present day and chapters 2 and 4 are some of Cooper's memories (also, the memories will be in italics.) I'm trying to work really hard to get this written as fast as I can because I hate waiting around for stories I'm reading to update. Hope you enjoy! :)

It was the first time their parents had gone out in a long time and Cooper was going to make sure Blaine enjoyed it as much as he did.

"Come on, B. We're going to the park!" he yelled upstairs to his brother as he pulled his sneakers on and grabbed a soccer ball.

"Yaay!" Cooper heard Blaine scream from inside his room.

Blaine's parents had never taken him to the park before; they thought it was a waste of time to run around outside and get dirty while their sons could be at home reading a good book. So Cooper took Blaine to the park as much as he could because really, how do you tell a six year old that he should be reading Ivanhoe instead of running around a soccer field?

Blaine was taking far too long to be getting ready to go to the park. Cooper rolled his eyes as he started up the stairs, hoping he wouldn't find his little brother doing something completely ridiculous.

He was, of course. Cooper stood in the doorway as his six year old brother was struggling to put on a charcoal colored vest over a dark blue dress shirt. He was wearing black dress slacks and matching penny loafers.

"Blaine, we're going to the park, not Sunday brunch," Cooper joked to his little brother as he walked over to Blaine's closet and began searching through it.

After what seemed like years searching through countless vests, bowties, and sweaters, Cooper found what he was looking for.

"Here," he said as he threw a red Buckeyes t-shirt over to him. "This is what you wear to the park. Besides, if you came home with that vest of yours covered in mud, mom would not be happy to find it in the hamper, I can promise you that."

Blaine scrunched his face up as he began undressing himself, neatly folding his vest and putting it on his bed to hang up later.

Cooper continued to search through the closet and came across a tiny pair of jeans. He chuckled to himself and looked over at his brother. Even for a six year old, Blaine was especially small. But this didn't worry Cooper. He knew that once Blaine got into the swing of soccer or maybe even football, he would develop all that muscle mass he needed. Besides, he still had a long time to grow.

"Here ya go, buddy," he said tossing Blaine the jeans and a pair of what appeared to be unworn sneakers.

As Cooper began to walk out of Blaine's room, his little brother called out to him. "Hey Coop, could you tie them for me?" his big eyes looking up at his older brother with excitement.

"Of course B," Cooper said as he began to tie Blaine's sneakers for him. At six years old, Blaine really should have been able to tie his shoes by now, but Cooper was okay with this too. He wanted to keep his little brother young and naïve for as long as he could.

He ruffled Blaine's adorable curls on his head as he got up.

"Come on now, we want to make sure we get home before they do," Cooper advised his brother as Blaine skipped out of his room and down the hallway.

Cooper loaded Blaine into the back of his car, adjusting the booster seat so that Blaine was secure. Cooper smiled to himself, again noticing just how small his brother was.

Technically speaking, Cooper wasn't allowed to drive by himself, but the park was only a few miles away and Cooper couldn't see Blaine's little legs carrying him that far. Besides, what was life without a little risk?

They arrived at the park a little while later, Cooper blasting Matchbox Twenty and Blink 182 the entire way while Blaine was dancing in the backseat. Cooper grabbed his soccer ball as Blaine scampered over to the wide open field.

They spent a few hours kicking the ball around; sometimes Cooper would play goalie while Blaine practiced shooting. Blaine was good, Cooper noticed. Maybe not as good as himself, but he'd definitely get there with some practice.

"Coop! Can I play goalie for a bit?" Blaine asked his brother as Cooper dove, and missed, for a ball that buried itself in the back of the net.

"Sure, buddy. But watch out, my legs are much longer than yours, nothing easy," Cooper teased Blaine as he grabbed the ball and dribbled over towards the penalty line.

Cooper scored easily the first few times; Blaine barely had enough time to even see the ball go flying past him. After a while, Blaine passed the ball to his older brother, saying, "I got the next one." Cooper laughed and kicked the ball to the bottom left corner of the net. Blaine instantly dove for the ball, missed it entirely, and somehow ended up tumbling out of control, leaving him 20 feet away from the net with a bleeding knee.

"Shit," Cooper muttered to himself as he ran over to inspect his little brother, praying the cut on his knee was all that was wrong with him.

"I thought I had it," mumbled Blaine, his big, hazel eyes laced with tears as Cooper began to wipe rocks out of the injured knee.

"Yeah, maybe next time, B. Let's get home and get you cleaned up before your knee gets some weird fungus or something."

Cooper amazed himself as he managed to get Blaine home without getting any blood in his car. Blaine hobbled in the front door as Cooper grabbed the first aid kit from the kitchen.

"Come on up, kiddo." Cooper placed Blaine on the kitchen counter and began to thoroughly inspect his little brother's knee.

The sixteen year old examined the skinned knee, tilting his head and adjusting Blaine's leg before letting out a sigh and saying, "Mmhmm, just as I thought."

"What?" Blaine questioned, looking scared and confused.

"It's your knee," Cooper determined, "It'll have to come off."

"Are you kidding me?" Blaine shrieked at his brother.

"Haha, just kidding bro, it'll be fine. A little bit of Neosporin and one Batman band aid and you'll be all set to go."

However, after really looking at Blaine's knee, Cooper realized that he should pour some peroxide on it first. He started to dab some on a cotton ball and put it on Blaine's knee, but his little brother kept squirming around while he tried to get it on the injured knee.

"B, stop squirming around. I gotta get this stuff on or your knee will need to come off."

"But Coop it really stings," Blaine whined.

"Yeah, I know I know, but you gotta."

"Okay," Blaine replied, disgruntled and slightly anxious.

Cooper managed to get some of the ointment on his brother's knee while Blaine sat there, tears silently falling down his face. After Cooper finished cleaning up Blaine's knee, he put a Batman band aid on it and patted Blaine on the head.

"Wanna go watch reruns of Wishbone?" Cooper asked, hoping to cheer up his little brother.

"Yes yes yes yes yes!" Blaine jumped off the counter, almost creating another accident, and rushed over to the giant couch in the living room, jumping on the biggest pillow.

Cooper walked over and turned the television on then took his seat on the couch next to his little brother. Blaine nuzzled himself under Cooper's arm and wrapped his own arms around Cooper's stomach.

"This was the best day ever, Coop," Blaine told his big brother as he tried to suppress a yawn. "Will you always have time to play with me?"

Cooper strongly considered the fact that Blaine was crazy to think that today was "the best day ever." He had sliced open his knee and had what felt like acid poured over said slice. Cooper just smiled and tousled Blaine's curls.

"Of course, B. I'll always make time to be with you."

"You promise?"

"I promise," Cooper said as he looked down at his little brother who was now starting to fall asleep after a long day.

"Mmmm, I love you, Coop," Blaine mumbled before he started to drift off to sleep.

"I love you too, Blaine."