Can't You Hear the Roaring Fire?

September 22, 2001

the only thing i own in this story is my lil bean Kade

dats it

sorry! i'm realllyyyyy lagging on my schedule but finals week is CRAZY

-

Cooper woke up with a giant smile on his face. He jumped out of bed and even did a little dance. Skipping to the bathroom, brushing his teeth was exiting to him. Pointing and winking at himself in the mirror while doing a little spin just topped it all off.

Strutting into the kitchen, he pulled out every recipe he had in an old book and on the internet. He made a complete mess of the kitchen, but nothing could dull his shine.

Blaine woke up to the smell of food. Stretching and yawning, he closes his ASL textbook. He had stayed up all night studying, for he was bound and determined to get it down. After putting in his hearing aids, he made his way to the kitchen.

"You're suspiciously happy..." Blaine mumbled while
he signed "you're" and "happy."

Cooper just nodded, and held out a plate full of eggs, bacon, sausage, french toast, pancakes, and muffins.

"You're gonna make me fat!" Blaine laughed as he signed the few words he knew. Being able to sign while he talked boosted his confidence more than he ever thought it would. It made him feel like he was accomplishing something in his life, especially since he had lost his job.

Copper rolled his eyes, and pulled out his Cooper Captions.

GUESS WHO CAME TO THE RUSTIC ROOF LAST NIGHT?

"Who?" Blaine asked while taking a bite of sausage.

KURT

The younger Anderson choked on the poor sausage, with his eyes wide. "What?"

THAT'S NOT EVEN THE BEST PART

Cooper smiled brightly as he scribbled down the name of the boy he was starting to fall for.

KADE CAME TOO. AND WE FLIRTED ALL. NIGHT.

Blaine smiled. It wasn't often that Cooper actually was interested in someone. "That's..." He stopped to remember the sign, "Great. That's great. But what About Kurt?"

"Oh," Cooper mumbled, "Kinda forgot him for a second, oops."

HE JUST SAT IN A CORNER BY HIMSELF. DON'T WORY, HE WASN'T WITH ANOTHER GUY OR ANYTHING.

Blaine looked down. It wasn't like they were even dating, anyway.

Cooper noticed the change in behavior of his little brother. He stopped cooking, and sat across from him. "Hey...I'm sure you two will get..." He bit his lip as he tried to sign, "together."

Blaine smiled a little and showed him.

"Thank's for trying to learn. It means a lot."

Cooper smiled brightly, and pulled out his whiteboard.

ANYTIME LIL BRO. ANYTIME.

-

Kade woke up with a massive hangover. He clutched his head and groaned softly. Blinking his eyes, he noticed aspirin and a glass of water on the nightstand. He grabbed the medicine quickly and downed it in seconds.

Throwing his feet off the bed, the whole night came back to him. He went out with Kurt, and went to a bar with a strange name. He flirted with Cooper, and this fact made the small boy smile. The last piece of the puzzle came to light when he remembered he crashed at his best friend's house afterwards cause it was closer to the damn bar.

In the room across the hallway, Kurt sat up straight in bed, staring at the wall as he had done all night. His phone was open, waiting for another text from the anonymous number. His eyes were dark and drowsy, yet he did not sleep. Staring endlessly at the wall, he was silent and still.

Kade walked in, completely oblivious. He jumped on the bed smiling as bright as the sun. Laying on the pillowcase, he sighed happily.

"Cooper Anderson is so charming! Is his younger brother that charming, because I doubt any human in the world is as charming as the older Anderson. He's just so, I don't know how to describe it. He's a man."

When Kurt's bed bounced from the other boy plopping on it, the pale boy payed no mind. He was aware that his best friend was rambling, but quite frankly, he wasn't paying attention.

He had spent years trying to fly under the radar and hide the past, only to find out that somebody knew. The only person who knew anything was the boy next to him.

"He's just so handsome, and mysterious, and-"

"Kade?" Kurt interrupted.

"Yeah?" The freckled boy sat up straighter to gaze at his friend.

"Have you ever told anybody about..."

"It?"

"Yeah."

Kade's face darkened, "You really think I'd do that?"

"Well, I don't know!" Kurt sighed and handed him his phone. "While you were flirting last night, some jackass harassed me! I don't know what this means! No one knows about that night. Only you and me."

As he scrolled through the texts, Kade forgot everything that happened with him and Cooper the night before. "Damn...I wonder why they're doing this.."

"Because they wanna ruin my life!" Kurt puts his face in his hands. "Kade, this can seriously destroy everything that I've built. I-I'll loose everything!"

"That won't happen," Kade assures. Kurt just shakes his head,

"You can't be sure. I just...Don't know what to do anymore. I'm afraid to even leave the apartment!"

"How about I stay with you for a while? Like this buddy system. No one's getting to you, okay?"

Kurt looked up at Kade and smiled a little weakly, "I can't ask you to do that. You have your own life, own job-"

"Oh please, I'm a damn writer for a newspaper. I can work from your couch. All I require is pizza." The boy laid his head on his best friend's shoulder and squeezed his hand. "I'm here for you."

Kurt relaxed slightly and sighed, going back to staring at his off-while wall.