It's worth mentioning that the song used in this story is not actually an original song. I'll post the details of it at the beginning of the next chapter!

Part 3

Shane was walking to the closet at the end of the hall, head buried in his phone as he tried to make plans with Reed when he encountered the sound. They were supposed to go on a date this weekend, but seeing as how neither boy seemed to actually have free time at the same time, the task was proving more difficult than he initially thought. He was so preoccupied with writing a text that he almost missed the music coming from an open door in the corridor. But when a very familiar voice started singing, he stopped and listened. Shane was surprised to hear his brother singing. Considering that most of Windsor was in the common room preparing for a movie night, or gathering supplies for said night, he wondered what Blaine was up to. But something about the tone of Blaine's voice made him stop just short of the doorway, and he hovered just out of sight from the room to listen more closely.

Blaine was strumming his guitar, playing a soft melody as he sang.

Could you beam me up,

Give me a minute, I don't know what I'd say in it…

Shane didn't recognise the song, but considering his knowledge of music was significantly lesser than his brothers' he wasn't too surprised. Something about Blaine's voice sounded odd, but he couldn't put his finger on it, so put it down to not knowing the song.

I'd probably just stare, happy just to be there, holding your face,

Beam me up…

Blaine stopped playing suddenly and huffed in annoyance, followed by the sound of a piece of paper being scrunched and tossed away. Shane could hear a pencil tapping against his guitar, and took the opportunity to make his presence known.

"You know you're supposed to use the strings to make the music, not the wood, right?" he said sarcastically, leaning against the door frame and grinning at his brother.

"Shane!" Blaine said in surprise, whirling around to look at his brother, "How long have you been standing there?" he looked alarmed.

"Long enough to know something isn't quite right with that song you were just playing. What was it anyway? I haven't heard it before. Although that isn't surprising I guess." Shane asked, sauntering into his brothers' room and flopping down on his bed.

"It's nothing, just something I'm working on for…for Sectionals." Blaine dismissed the question, putting his guitar away and shuffling sheet music together, "What are you doing here anyway? Isn't there a Blade Runner marathon? I thought you'd be busy with that." He tried to deflect the attention away from his music, but Shane saw right through his attempts.

"Oh I am. I was sent to get extra pillows from the closet cause there are more of us than expected. But David still isn't back from seeing Katherine so we aren't starting for another half hour. Now, stop deflecting." Shane raised an eyebrow, "Want to tell me why you're so defensive all of a sudden?"

"I'm not defensive. I'm just not sharing." Blaine quipped, walking over to his desk and fidgeting with the papers there.

Shane sat on the edge of the bed, sensing something was genuinely upsetting his brother and dropped the comedy from his voice, "Blaine, what's wrong? Is it Kurt? He did say you two hadn't been spending much time together lately. You know I'll take your side no matter what. And I will not hesitate to kick his pretty little ass, even if you are the wrong one."

Blaine sighed and turned to face Shane, sitting on the edge of his desk, "It's not Kurt. We're fine. Although I admit I haven't seen him much." He looked up to the ceiling as though searching for his next words. "Did it really sound that bad? I've been working on it for days and that's what I've come up with." He sounded defeated.

Shane considered him for a moment: his tired eyes and the way he rubbed at his fingertips signs of someone who had been playing guitar for hours on end. He thought carefully before he responded, keen to avoid sounding too harsh, "It wasn't bad, per se, just sounded…odd. Like something was missing. Why don't you tell me the song? Maybe if I can listen to the original I could give you some pointers?"

Blaine was avoiding eye contact, which was never a good sign. "Blaine, what's going on? You know you can talk to me." He walked toward his brother who looked at him now, surprised at the genuine concern in his voice. Blaine rolled his eyes and turned away again, picking up the sheet music.

"Stop looking so concerned, it doesn't suit you. It's nothing bad Shane, not like you're thinking anyway. I'm just…having creative issues." Blaine said, waving the paper in the air. He hesitated again, but after a moment hastily shoved them into Shane's hands. "I can't let you listen to the original because this is the original." Blaine walked to the bed, sitting down and resting his elbows on his knees, staring at the floor.

Shane was taken aback for a moment before he began scanning the pages Blaine had thrust at him, "Blaine is this…this is original stuff? Did you write this?" his eyebrows rose slowly as he read the words, impressed at the emotion within them. His brother was usually more Top 40.

"Original yes, but I didn't write it. Someone else did. I'm just supposed to compose for them. I've been asked to write music for this and it's really important and I'm just…stuck." He hung his head and Shane moved to crouch in front of him.

"Hey, you said it yourself - you're just stuck. So let's unstick you." He smiled, gesturing to the papers, "This is pretty good stuff you know, the lyrics I mean. Who wrote it? Maybe they can help solve -"

"No!" Blaine said suddenly, sitting upright, "No, I don't want them to know I'm struggling. It's too important to them."

Shane sighed and sat next to Blaine on the bed, forcing his brother to look at him, "Blaine, this is clearly bothering you. And if it's so important, let me help. Wouldn't you rather ask for help, and do the best you can than crash and burn, and disappoint?" He knew his words were harsh, but that they would hit home.

Blaine held his gaze and for a moment Shane thought he would lash out. But when he spoke his voice was calm and even, "Alright…alright. It's for Dwight. You remember he had a brother - Alan?" Shane nodded. "Well, it's his birthday this week and Dwight wanted to do something special to celebrate it. He came to me with some lyrics and asked if I could make it into a song for him."

"Woah," Shane said slowly, "Talk about pressure."

Blaine laughed quietly, "You have no idea. I really want to help him express his feelings Shane. He's fought through so much and he deserves some happiness. I want to be able to give him that, but I'm so stuck!"

They fell into silence for a moment, both lost in thought before Shane spoke again, "Well, if you want my help I'm gonna need to hear the whole thing aren't I? I can't read sheet music for shit, but I can definitely tell you what sounds good and what sounds…less good."

Shane grinned and Blaine was given yet another example of how amazing his brothers' ability to overcome challenges was; the way he was always willing to face them head on. He smiled back and felt a little relieved to have someone to work with as he picked up his guitar again and began to play the song to Shane, singing along quietly.

Shane listened intently, taking in every word and chord, considering them carefully. He was incredibly impressed by the tenderness his brother used to express the words, and the rhythms he was using fitted well, but still there was just something missing. When Blaine finished Shane remained quiet for a while, contemplating his words.

"I like it." Shane said eventually, but didn't say any more.

Blaine looked concerned, "But..?" he asked, prompting him to continue, "I thought you were going to tell me where I was going wrong."

"I don't think you're doing anything wrong. What I mean is, it's not you who needs to change anything, but maybe we just need to add something." Shane comforted his brother when his expression looked pained, "Leave it with me. I'll have a think during the marathon. Are you going to come along? If the way Reed has said he's been going on is anything to go by, I think Kurt would be happy to see you. Looks like you could use a break too. I know you don't particularly like the movies, but I figured you could just cuddle up with Kurt. Like Reed will with me." He grinned happily as he remembered a night of cuddling lay ahead of him.

Blaine looked guilty at the mention of Kurt, glancing in the general direction of his phone. Shane's smile softened as he spoke again, "Tell you what. I can delay the start for another ten minutes or so. Why don't you jump in the shower and come down in your comfy clothes while I get pillows and your favourite snacks. Oreos and red vines sound good to you?" he nudged Blaine, making him look up.

Blaine nodded in response, "Yeah that sounds good. Thanks, Shane. I just really don't want to disappoint Dwight. Not with this." He stood and headed to the bathroom, "I won't be long."

Shane stood to leave, but stopped when Blaine's head popped back out from the bathroom, "Hey, can you maybe not tell Kurt I'm coming down? I think I'd like to surprise him."

Shane waggled his eyebrows, "Sure. Just remember to wear underwear alright?" Blaine rolled his eyes, made a noise of discontent and closed the bathroom door.

Shane hovered for a moment, deliberating his next actions. Throwing caution to the wind, he bundled up the sheet music and hurried out the room, hoping to catch the boys he needed before the movies started up.

A few hours later, when the boys had taken a break to refill on snacks and drinks and take necessary bathroom breaks, Blaine stood in the kitchen having an intense conversation with his brother. The night had been good so far, and even though Blaine hadn't really paid much attention to the first movie, he had thoroughly enjoyed being wrapped up in Kurt's arms, feeling more relaxed than he had in days. At least he had until he had spoken to Shane.

"You did what?!" he hissed at Shane.

Shane shrugged, looking at Blaine with wide eyes full of innocence, "What? I told you I would help, this is me helping!"

Blaine stared at him incredulously, "No, Shane, you said you would think on it! I took that as meaning you would, you know, think about it and then get back to me!"

"I did! I thought about it, I implemented it, and now I'm getting back to you!" Shane pleaded his case. Becoming increasingly aware of the curious eyes and ears from the rest of the boys in the kitchen, Shane lowered his voice a little, "Look, I figured out what was missing when I was listening to you sing. It needs to be emotional. And that's not me saying your voice doesn't have emotion, it has plenty, but it needs…more of it. Levels of emotion, or something."

Blaine continued to stare, unable to comprehend why his brother would reveal their personal conversation. Shane seemed to read his mind, as when he spoke next he defended his actions, "Hey, you never said I couldn't tell anyone. I know it was personal, and I'm sorry for blabbing, but I honestly believe this is what the song needs." His eyes were soft as he continued, "You said you didn't want to disappoint Dwight, and that you wanted him to know you cared. Then surely the best way to do that is to…include all the people that care about him." Shane gestured behind Blaine, and as he turned he saw the Windsor Warblers hovering in the doorway.

His anger lessened a little as he took in their concerned expressions. Kurt, Wes and David, Reed and the Twins stood together, watching Blaine's conversation with Shane. All of them looked like they wanted to say something although none of them did. Shane continued when no one spoke, "These guys all care about Dwight, and they want to help. I think they're the levels you're missing Blaine." He moved to join the boys, smiling as he stood with them.

"We," Evan said, "We're the levels you're missing." He placed a hand on Shane's shoulder, giving the younger boy a small smile as Ethan nudged him from the other side.

They all looked at Blaine, each one wearing the same expression of hope and love, willing him to let them help. Blaine couldn't resist them any longer. He dropped his arms to his sides and sagged in defeat, sighing as they all broke out into smiles.

"Fine," he started, "Meet me in the music hall tomorrow evening and I'll show you what I've been working on. But not a word to Dwight!" he felt his stomach twist a little in guilt, "I'm not sure how he'll react when he finds out other people know."

They all nodded in agreement and pulled Blaine into a giant group hug, which he pretended to resist only for a moment before he smiled and hugged back. Although his methods may need improving, Shane was right, as usual. These boys cared for each other so much that it was obvious they would want to help when one of them was hurting, and Blaine was a little surprised he hadn't considered the idea himself.

At around 1am, Han flicked through his cameras to complete a final sweep of Windsor before him himself clocked off for the night. His clicks paused on the feed from the common room and he found himself grinning at the screen. The room was stuffed with pillows and Windsor boys alike, all sprawled across the floor and any remotely comfortable surface.

On one end of the main couch, Kurt's head flopped backwards and his legs were stretched out across a bean bag while Blaine, wearing a massive hoodie, curled up against his side. Kurt's fingers were buried in Blaine's hair and Blaine's hand gripped onto the hem of Kurt's pyjama top.

Shane lay on his back at the other end with Reed on top of him, both boys wearing matching checked pyjamas. If anyone else were to be in such a position, Han would be concerned they would squish Shane. But Reed was so small compared to the dancer, and the way Shane's arms wrapped around him protectively suggested that Reed's weight was of no concern to either of them.

On the floor below them Evan and Ethan slept against the same beanbag, their legs tangled together as they stretched out across the floor and even though asleep, they seemed to consciously hold on to each other. Wes and David lay sprawled out across a mountain of pillows surrounded by popcorn (some of which had fallen out of their bowl, most of which had been thrown at them when they wouldn't stop quoting along with the movies). All four of them wore character t-shirts from their favourite comic books.

In the corner, Charlie had commandeered the main armchair and was huddled down under a huge blanket, looking incredibly comfortable despite being in the midst of such madness. Although he would never admit it, Charlie rather enjoyed movie nights in Windsor. Everyone would gather together and enjoy each other's company, and although the madness wasn't absent, it was at least minimised. He wasn't just the prefect of this mad house - he was also part of the family and he cared about the boys and loved their company, especially when he didn't have to push rules on them all. On nights like tonight when he could sit back, relax and laugh along with them made him realise the craziness was worth it when it meant he could be part of the Windsor family.

And on the floor by Charlie, Dwight had snuggled down into an oversized bean bag and clutched onto his pendant as he slept. He had snuck in during the second movie wearing a worn Supernatural shirt, and although he wasn't particularly interested in the plot, he was grateful for the company. Charlie had beckoned him over and gestured to the bean bag, whispering that he had kept it to the side in case Dwight decided to join. "I'm glad you popped in." he had said quietly when Dwight settled by him. Nothing more was said between them for the remainder of the night, but a small smile played on Dwight's lips as he watched over his friends who filled the room before him.

Han chuckled at how ridiculous they all looked, and used his control panel to shut down the giant projector that was still playing in the room. He shut off most of the lights too, careful not to disturb the sleeping pack, and then headed to bed. He may have snuck a screenshot of the camera feed before he left, thinking that the moment was simply too sweet not to remember, but he wasn't going to admit to that any time soon.

Alright, so I admit that maybe that last part wasn't totally relevant to the plot here but I'm an absolute sucker for all my boys cuddling and being cute together even in their sleep. And I kind of wanted an excuse to write in Reed and Shane wearing matching pj's, so sue me.