a/n: in response to one particularly hurtful review, i have written an epilogue to appease my own heart.
It was strange, Cooper thought, walking that same old path once more. It no longer led home, he knew, but it led somewhere special. He could see here, under the thick blanket of snow, the small shrub where he had found little Blaine, and not too far down the road was the small alleyway where he had found his Kurt. And up further ahead was their old home.
Not their home anymore.
Time had long passed since the days where they had made their little family. Much had changed in that time, but less than what he had initially expected. He had returned to acting, and in a way that was much like coming home.
But at the end of the day, he'd still have his Kurt and his Blaine waiting for him.
And that – that was home.
As expected, that first year after Blaine had moved to New York had been near tortue. None of them liked to reflect on it much, except for how grateful it had made them for what they had together. And when the time came for Kurt to follow on, with his acceptance to NYADA, they all knew they couldn't be separated again.
Cooper moved with them.
Their little home was unconventional, and it was hard to explain. Thankfully, not many people asked – it was odd how grateful they were for their assumptions. Cooper was glad he never had to try to explain it. Some nights he wasn't even sure he understood it himself.
All he knew was that he was never whole without his boys. And the moments he felt truly alive was when he was with them, their hands slipped between his, their legs tangled and their smiles bright.
He had thought they would leave him, but even in the moments they had alone they never wandered far. His boys were a part of him – on the inside.
It was silly to ever think that they would truly leave him.
And on the nights, when Cooper stayed home, tapping away at his computer, doing some of that writing he always promised himself, he hummed that old song that they'd carried in their hearts.
I'll wait for you always.
And he would wait as long as he needed to.
Because they would always come home to him.