AN: Phew *wipes sweat off forehead* Here it is; I've read this one through so many times I am honestly sick of it, which makes it pretty hard for me to know if its any good or not.

Sorry for the slightly longer wait again; I'm now revising for some pretty killer exams, so that's taking a lot of time.

As usual, always appreciate con/crit, and so much gratitude to everyone that's still reading and giving feedback.

'Oof,'

Cooper stumbled backwards as a body collided with his and arms reached around his back to fist in his shirt.

He paused just long enough to send a confused look to Burt, before he realised just what was happening, and hurriedly returned the embrace, holding his little brother tightly to his chest.

His heart broke at the words he heard whispered into his shirt.

'I'm so sorry, I missed you so much… I… I thought you didn't, I thought I'd never see you….I'm so sorry, Coop. Don't leave me, please don't leave me, I'm sorry.'

He choked back his own cry. What could he say? What could he possibly say to make it up to his brother who had been hurt so badly but was so broken down that he was the one apologising.

He clutched him tighter, pressed his face into his soft curls and whispered the only words he could.

'Never. Never again.'

Burt's eyes widened in surprise as Blaine all but launched himself at his brother. He shrugged his shoulder and mouthed, 'I don't know,' as Cooper, clearly just as shocked and confused, looked at him for direction.

He didn't know what to think of the sight of the two brothers hugging in front of him. Blaine was clinging to Cooper like a limpet, crying and whispering into his shirt, and Cooper clearly had a paternal instinct he wasn't aware of, as he cradled Blaine's head to his chest, stroking his hair and whispering right back to him.

Burt wasn't sure why Blaine's reaction was so far from what Cooper had predicted, but as long as Blaine wasn't scared or angry or betrayed as they had feared, was actually happy to see him, then they would just have to go with it. For now Blaine was safe, out of his parents' reach and coming back home. They could work out the details later.

Blaine pushed away from Cooper, rubbing a hand over his face and shaking his head.

'What are you doing here?' He said, staring at his brother as if he had just stepped off a spaceship.

'You were missing,' Cooper replied, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. 'We've been looking for you.'

'You were? But…wait, we?' He stopped, eyes wide, looking back and forth between Burt and Cooper. 'But…how? When?'

Burt stepped forwards, smiling warmly at Blaine, trying to reassure him.

'Cooper came to see us after your dad took you back. He wanted to help us get you back, help us keep you safe.'

'He… You've been trying…' He ran a hand through his hair, looking down at the floor, then back up at Burt, suddenly shy and unsure of himself. He worried his lip between his teeth, and bounced on his feet, muscles almost twitching in anticipation, clearly wanting to do something but holding himself back.

'Can I… would it be okay… I mean, if I…' He stopped again, swallowing loudly.

'Ah jeez, just come 'ere already, kid,' Burt said, stepping forwards and tugging Blaine against him and wrapping his arms around him. Burt chuckled as Blaine let out a sigh and sagged against him, rubbing a warm hand up and down his back.

They stayed that way for a few minutes, until Burt felt the weight in his arms start to increase.

'Hey, you falling asleep there, Buddy?' He said with a smile.

'Hmmm, 's comfy,' Blaine mumbled, attempting to burrow his way through Burt's shirt.

'Okay, let's get you to bed,' he said, shifting Blaine in his arms so he was supported by one arm, tucked tightly against his side.

'I've got his bag,' Cooper called over, offering a quick 'thank you' to the officers before joining Burt as he led a half-asleep Blaine out to the car.

Burt let up a silent thank-you that the officers had accepted Cooper's ID and hadn't questioned his presence. Of course he hoped they didn't make a habit of letting middle-aged men 'collect' homeless kids without even asking who they were, but in this case he was about as thankful as he could get. He didn't think his heart could have taken the let-down of being turned away yet again.

'Woah, careful,' he said as Blaine tripped down the curb, gripping tighter around hid side. Cooper was there a moment later, catching him so that he was supported on either side.

'Wow, you are really sleepy, huh little bro?' He said, eyebrows raised, receiving only a soft murmur in response.

Together they helped slide Blaine into the backseat, but his fingers clasped Cooper's wrist when he tried to pull away. Cooper looked up at Burt for direction.

'I'll drive,' Burt said, reading the implicit question. 'You should stay with him. I think he's got the right idea though; a 5 hour drive right now after we've been on the road half the night is not a great idea. We all need to get a decent sleep in a real bed. Maybe we should go ask in the station where the nearest hotel or B&B is.'

'Already googled it, old man,' Cooper said with a grin, holding his phone out to Burt. Put it in the GPS.'

Burt glared back at Cooper, but took the phone from his outstretched hand, grumbling under his breath about 'youngsters' and 'no respect'.

He punched the address into the GPS then looked over his shoulder, only to find Blaine and Cooper already fast asleep. He smiled to himself, before starting the engine.

He tried to switch off as he drove, let his mind have at least a few moments of rest before he had to start planning for the future, but couldn't stop his mind from running over everything that had happened in the past few weeks again and again, and before he knew it his GPS was announcing his arrival.

He pulled the car to a gentle stop and glanced in his mirror.

He felt more hope at the sight of the two boys sleeping in the backseat than he had in the past few weeks combined.

Blaine was curled on his side, head lying on Cooper's thigh, whose hand was resting protectively in his hair, where it had stroked softly until he too had fallen asleep.

He gently shook Cooper awake and let him know he was going to check-in at reception. It wasn't the most appealing establishment, but as long as they could have a room and a couple of beds they would be happy enough.

Burt paid and collected their key, steadfastly ignoring the raised eyebrow and sleazy grin when he asked for a room for two men and a teenaged boy, and made his way back to the car. He found a concerned-looking Cooper trying to wake Blaine.

He was stroking his hair gently and whispering his name to no effect. He leant forwards to shake Blaine's shoulder lightly.

'Come on Blaine, you gotta get up,' he said a little louder, frowning when yet again he received no response, and shook him more vigorously.

He looked up at Burt, panic evident on his face.

'Burt, he won't…'

'It's ok,' Burt said, despite the awful feeling that flooded his chest and hurriedly flung the car door open, crouching down to peer into the dark.

He reached forward to rest his hand against Blaine's cheek, sighing in relief at the puff of warm air he felt against his fingers.

'It's ok, he's…'

'Whaaa..?'

'Oh, thank God,' Cooper exhaled as Blaine raised his sleep-mussed head ever so slightly, looking around in confusion.

'Wha…where…?'

'It's okay, Squirt,' he said, brushing a stray curl back behind Blaine's ear. 'We're staying at a motel for the night, let you get some rest before we drive home.'

'Cooper?' Blaine frowned and shook his head, rubbing tiredly at his eyes. 'I don't…what?'

Cooper shared another concerned glance with Burt.

'We came to get you from the police station. Don't you remember?'

Blaine's eyebrows drew together in concentration.

'I'm not…I thought I was dreaming,' he whispered.

'Well no dreaming, Squirt. We're here to take you home. But first, we sleep.' He gestured towards the motel and slipped an arm around Blaine's waist to guide him out of the car.

'Come on, I'm far too old to be sitting out in a car all night.'

Blaine frowned slightly and didn't reply, but followed without complaint. He was quiet as they made their way to their room, still leaning slightly into Cooper's side. He paused in the doorway and looked up in confusion.

'Uh, they only had a single room left,' Burt said, eyeing the two boys somewhat nervously. 'I figured I'd just take the chair, if you boys wouldn't mind sharing. That okay, Blaine?'

Blaine looked between Burt and Cooper, then nodded silently, but shrugged off Cooper's arm and stepped away. He picked his bag up from where Burt had laid it at the foot of the bed, and perched on the edge hugging it tightly to his chest.

'Hey, what are you thinking?' Burt said, perching next to him on the bed.

'Just… I dunno, confused, I guess?' Everything's just…' he waved his hand in the air.

'Yeah, I get that,' Burt agreed, hugging him to his side. 'But everything's gonna be a lot more stable for you from now on, I promise. We'll go through it all tomorrow when you've had some sleep and are a bit more with it, but for now you can trust that you have us and you're safe.'

'Hmm,' Blaine hummed contentedly, leaning further into Burt's side.

'We've all been so worried about you, y'know?'

'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…'

'Hey, hey,' Burt cut in. 'That's not what I meant. Just letting you know that we all care about you a lot and we want you safe. Not out on your own in the cold doing God-only-knows-what to get by. You gotta promise us you won't do that again, Blaine. You have any problems you can come to us, okay?'

'I thought…' Blaine said, then stopped, biting at his lip.

'Hey, I said you can talk to me and I meant it. About anything.'

'I thought you didn't want me,' he said quietly, swiping the back of his hand across his eyes. 'You… you let them take me and I thought...'

'Oh Blaine,' Burt said, turning him round so that they were face to face. 'We didn't want to let him take you away, we just didn't have any choice. He was going to call the police if we didn't, but we spent the whole time you were gone trying to see you and get you back.'

'Really?' Blaine said, with such hope in his voice that Burt just wanted to wrap him up in a hug and never let him go again.

'Blaine, you are family to us, okay? We love you and we will do everything we can to keep you safe and happy.'

He pulled Blaine against him and sighed deeply as he felt him cling tightly to his shirt.

They stayed that way until Burt's phone sprang to life in his pocket.

'That'll be Carole or Kurt,' he said with a smile, his hand giving one last protective sweep through Blaine's hair. 'You should get some sleep.' He gave one final hug, before leaving the room to take the call.

'Is he there? What's he saying? Here, let me…'

'It's ringing, Kurt,' Carole said with a laugh, dancing out of the way of his hands as he made a grab for the phone. 'Give it a min…Burt! Hi Sweetie.'

'Man, it's good to hear your voice. How are you all?'

'We're okay. Waiting on tenterhooks. One of us slightly less patiently than others,' she said with a pointed look to Kurt, who was determinedly waving his hands in front of her face, trying to get her attention.

'So, how did it all go?'

'Yeah, about as well as we could have hoped for. They didn't have a problem letting him go with us and he actually seemed genuinely happy to see Cooper.'

'Oh, that's such good news,' she said, giving a thumbs up to Kurt, who wilted down onto the sofa in his relief.

'We've actually booked ourselves into a motel for the day. I don't think me or Cooper are up for the drive home just yet, and Blaine could really use the rest. That okay?'

'Hmmm, oh of course, that makes sense. So when will you be back, do you think?'

'Probably not till late this evening. Depends how long we all sleep for. Maybe 9 or 10?'

'9 or 10? What me to leave some tea for you or will you stop off on the way?'

'What?' Kurt interrupted, suddenly sitting up straight, ears pricked. '9 or 10? In the evening? Why will it take so long? Is something wrong? Carole, what's happening? Why can't they come home now?'

'Put the kid on the phone, for Christ's sake, before he gives himself an aneurysm.'

Carole handed the phone over with a grin and a whispered, 'he's fine, Sweetie, relax.'

'Dad, what's going on? How is he? Is he hurt? Can I speak to him?'

'Slow down, kiddo. Nothing's going on. We're staying over in a motel for a bit so we can all get some sleep, and we'll drive back in the afternoon. Blaine is fine, and he's unhurt. Burt I think you should probably wait till we're back tomorrow to speak to him.'

'But Dad…'

'No arguments. He's had a really long couple of days and he's still pretty out of his. He needs some time to speak to his brother and some rest. You'll see him this evening, it's not that long.'

'Okay. Just…just tell him I missed him, okay?'

'Will do. Now go get some sleep yourself. Don't think I can't tell you've been up all night too.'

'Yeah, I think I might have overdone it on the caffeine.

'You don't say.'

'Here's Carole,' he said with a laugh. 'I love you, Dad. And thank you.'

Cooper sent a quick message to his housemate to update him on the situation, before heading to the bathroom and splashing some water on his face.

He didn't know why he was putting off going to bed. He was tired as hell and looked an absolute mess, but he just… he couldn't. He stood at the bathroom doorway and watched Blaine sleep. He was lying on his front, head turned to the side and arms reaching up to hug around his pillow. He looked so small, so fragile. He was terrified of hurting him.

'Why did you come back?'

Cooper froze. He'd been so lost in his thoughts he hadn't realised that Blaine was awake and looking straight at him

'You left me there. You didn't even like me so why would you come back?' He asked again, eyes so wide and open. He wasn't accusing, Cooper realised, he was just asking a simple, honest question.

Yet Cooper didn't know what to say. He'd known this question was coming, but that didn't make him any more prepared to answer it. He sighed deeply, and sat beside Blaine on the edge of the bed.

'I… I was a selfish kid, Blaine. It was never to do with you. I wanted to get away from Ohio, away from Mom and Dad, and I didn't stop to think about the people I was leaving behind.'

'About me…

'Yes, about you. And I regret that more than anything in my life, Squirt, I really do.'

'But you're back for good, now?' Blaine whispered. 'You left, but you're back. For good? Right?

He looked up at Cooper with such big, pleading eyes, and Cooper knew that he would do everything in his power to protect him.

'I'm back,' he said, pulling him into a tight hug, 'and I'm never leaving you alone again.'

They stayed like that for a few minutes, until Cooper felt Blaine start to sag against him

'Come on, you should really get some sleep. We've got a long drive home tomorrow.'

Blaine drew back, eyes drawn together in confusion.

'H…home? You mean…?

'It took Cooper a moment to understand what he was saying.

'No, no… god no…not back to them, never back to them, okay?'

'Okay,' Blaine said, nodding his head, 'but where…?'

'Well, I… I mean, we …' he broke off, suddenly nervous. 'We were thinking, that…well, maybe… you could stay with me? At least for a bit. See how you like it? Is that… would that be okay?'

'Could I still see Kurt and Burt and…?'

'Of course, Blaine. It would be nothing like before, I promise.'

Blaine looked down, hands playing with a loose thread on the bedspread.

'I think…I'd like that,' he said quietly, looking up shyly beneath his lashes.

'I'd like it too, Squirt,' he said, a wide grin splitting his face. 'Come on, back to sleep.'

'I…I don't like sleeping,' Blaine murmured, so quietly that Cooper had to lean a little closer to hear. 'I get nightma…' He froze suddenly, then pulled away, fast. He looked at Cooper, shocked, like a dear in the headlights.

'I… I…'

'Hey, what's wrong?' Cooper said, reaching out for him, but stopping short when Blaine flinched away.

'It's nothing, I'm fine,' Blaine said, jaw clenched, fingers coming up to rub over his collar-bone.

And all of a sudden, Cooper knew what was wrong, what had changed Blaine's demeanour so suddenly. This was the first time since their reunion that either had acknowledged that had actually happened to set all of this in motion. They had been so focused on their parents, but had not even touched on what else had happened, what Blaine was dealing with.

'Hey, look it's okay. I… I know, okay? Burt told me… what happened. What that man did to you..'

At Blaine's crestfallen expression he reached out to grasp his face between his hands.

'It changes nothing, Blaine. I love you and I came back for you and I'm not going anywhere. You never have to hide anything from me. You don't have anything to be ashamed of. In fact, I am so, so proud of you.'

Blaine reluctantly lay back down, but closed his eyes as Cooper began to stroke gently through his hair.

'He's asleep. For now anyway,' Cooper said, as he joined Burt, leaning against the railings outside their room. 'I thought we were supposed to be getting some sleep too.'

'I don't even think I could sleep if I tried,' Burt said. 'I'm getting pretty used to running on empty these days anyway, to be honest.'

'You should look after yourself. At your…' He stopped in his tracks as Burt turned to look at him, eyebrows raised.

'Go on, say it, I dare ya. Say it and see what happens, kid.'

Cooper clamped his lips tightly shut and shook his head.

'Wise choice.'

They stood in silence, looking out across the street until Cooper finally voiced what had been troubling him.

'I just don't understand. Why doesn't he hate me?'

'I don't know,' Burt sighed. 'I guess we all see things differently.'

'But I was so awful to him, and he just… It's like he barely even remembers.'

'You gotta remember, kid, your parents have treated him pretty awfully over the years. Add to that the bullying and the bashing; his self-confidence must be through the floor, and he'll latch onto anyone that shows him the slightest affection. I think that's partly how he got into that awful situation with that man in the first place. You may not have been a great brother in the past, but for a long time I'm guessing you were the best he had.'

'God, that's so wrong. This is all just so wrong.'

'Yeah, well at least we've got the chance to make it right again. You're doing a real good thing here, Cooper. He's lucky to have you. I mean it,' he said, as Cooper scoffed and shook his head. 'You've got your own life and you're putting it in the back-burner to help out somebody else. Not a lot of people would do that, especially not at your age.'

'Thanks, Burt. It means a lot to hear you say that.'

Blaine leaned against the window. His head was pounding and the cool glass against his forehead cut through the heat and pressure he could feel building behind his eyes.

He could see Burt's concerned gaze constantly flicking onto him in the mirror and could almost feel Cooper's hand twitching by his side, eager to reach over and touch him in some way, but he shrank further against the door instead.

He knew he was being childish, but something in him almost relished the confusion and uncertainty he was putting Cooper through with his distance. When he first saw Cooper at the police station he'd been so out of it, still half-asleep and under the power of those stupid pills he'd taken that he'd felt he was in some sort of dream land. It had been like being 4 years old and handed his favourite teddy-bear, something to latch on to, to help chase the monsters away.

In the cold light or day, or more accurately, the muted light of early evening, he just had a skull-splitting hangover and a brother who'd never cared one ounce for him trying too hard to pretend it was all okay.

The journey passed in much the same way. Blaine sat silently, only nibbling at a sandwich when they stopped for a mid-way break, and before he knew it, they were pulling up outside the Hummel house.

He sat straight up.

'But… I thought I was going to yours,' he said, looking at Cooper. 'Won't mom and dad take me back if they find out I'm here?'

'Yeah, in the long run. But I need to sort a few things out first, find a new place to rent. We should be okay here for a little bit.'

'Oh, okay.'

'That alright, Blaine?' Burt asked. 'Do you not want to stay here?'

'No, no of course not, I just…' He took a deep breath, looking up at the front door.

' 'Cause I can think of someone who's awful eager to see you inside.'

'Yeah,' he said, looking back down at his hands. He climbed out of the car and walked slowly towards the house. He scratched absentmindedly over the scab on his neck. The last time he'd seen Kurt he had all but ignored him, then screamed at him to get out. The time before that he had kissed him. He didn't know what to expect; from Kurt, from himself.

He reached the front door and took a moment to prepare himself. Just as he was reaching up to ring the bell, the door flew open and he was almost knocked to the floor.

AN: What are people's opinions on the telephone convo? Usually I opt to do them one-sided, so you can't hear what the person on the other end of the line is saying, 'cause that's more realistic, as if you're watching the scene unfold, but this one just sort of wrote itself like that. Did it work?