Prompt Post #7
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Cooper knew he could be self-absorbed at times. Enough people had pointed it out to him by now that he took it as fact. He had a tendency to talk about himself and his accomplishments a lot, and some people - usually jealous coworkers who hadn't had a their break, or people stuck in boring jobs, like accounting (shudder) - had accused him of having a bloated ego. Cooper, meanwhile, thought his ego was exactly the size it needed to be given his particular talents and success, and if he was a little self-absorbed, could anyone really blame him?
People could call him self-absorbed all they wanted but, damn it, he wasn't selfish, and he was a good brother.
Cooper and Blaine didn't rejoin the rest of the family in the dining room, nor did they show up in the living room when it was time for the afternoon game. Instead they spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in Blaine's room, where they would both be sleeping tonight, since every other room was occupied by guests. Cooper only went downstairs once to fix a couple of sandwiches and grab two desserts for them. While he worked on the sandwiches, his father entered the kitchen, coming to a halt in the doorway when he saw his son. Through the open door Cooper could hear laughter and talking and the clinking of glass.
'Is he okay?' his father asked quietly, brow creased in worry.
'Not really,' Cooper replied coolly as he finished the sandwiches and set them on a tray. 'Why don't you ask your dear mom for help? I'm sure she knows the number of a doctor that could make him all better.'
Cooper didn't give his father a chance to respond before leaving the kitchen, clutching the stocked tray rather more tightly than necessary.
They spent the time watching old movies on Blaine's laptop, playing made-up card games, and Cooper insisted that they also finish their work on West Side Story that they had started the previous night. Even though he got Blaine smiling again soon enough, there was a lingering sadness around him all night, and he went to bed early. As Cooper watched his features finally relax into peaceful sleep, he felt bad for having made his brother spend Thanksgiving cooped up in his room, but neither of them had particularly wanted to go back downstairs either. Cooper felt unspeakably angry that apparently this was the Thanksgiving weekend Blaine had to look forward to, if he didn't want to be called sick and a freak by people who were supposed to care for him.
Cooper had always been a protective older brother. He supposed it had started way back when his mother had been pregnant, with how his nine-year-old self would sometimes reprimand her for working too hard and not taking good enough care of herself. However, it was the moment when he first held his newborn sister in his arms, and looking into her tiny eyes, that Cooper knew there was nothing he wouldn't do for her.
When 'Amber' became 'Blaine' and 'sister' became 'brother' that didn't change. On the contrary, in a strange way Cooper felt an increased sense of responsibility towards his brother that he hadn't felt towards his sister. Not that they weren't ultimately the same person, of course, or that Blaine needed “rescuing” of any sort. In fact Cooper was sure that the reason Blaine was still standing today had little to with Cooper and everything to do with the fact that Blaine was a damned strong kid. His relationship to Blaine had become less throw-myself-under-a-bus and beat-up-anyone-that-so-much-as-looks-at-you-wrong, and more about the quieter moments. Things that Cooper did without blinking, but that he, in the back of his mind, was aware meant so much more to Blaine than most people could ever understand. It was in switching the name and pronouns and never messing up. It was in helping Blaine look at binders and packers online. It was in giving advice whenever he could. It was in casually referring to Blaine as his brother. It was in making Blaine feel like it was okay to not bind his chest when he was around Cooper. It was in offering a supportive hug at the right time.
And - if he needed to - it was in giving their father a piece of his mind, because Blaine never would.
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'Cooper, I--'
'You need to choose,' Cooper told him flatly.
'What?'
'It's them or us. Either you tell them to stuff it and go home tomorrow, or I'm taking Blaine away for the weekend.'
'Don't you think that's a bit extreme, son?' his father said reasonably, clearly trying to regain control and be the parent.
Cooper looked his father straight in the eye and kept his voice even as he responded. 'Are you really asking me that right now? After what happened at dinner?'
'They don't know what they're saying,' his father argued with the air of a man who has grasping at straws and knew it. 'You know what my family is like. We always knew they didn't approve.'
'Then perhaps you shouldn't have invited them here,' Cooper replied simply. He turned to leave, having said his piece.
'It's not that easy. I can't just-- They're family.'
Cooper turned slowly back around and regarded the man before him for a long moment. They were the same height, but somehow his father appeared so much smaller than him tonight.
'We're your family. Blaine and me and Mom. Not these people.' Cooper paused. 'Did you know that he's been worrying about how to tell his boyfriend the truth? All this,' Cooper made a vague gesture with his hand. 'Isn't helping. Like I said; them or us.'
His father made a series of flustered noises, none quite making it into words. He was clearly caught between two opposing instincts, trying to decide who to favor. His children? Or the mother and the family to which he had always been always such a bitter disappointment?
Cooper didn't think it should have been that difficult of a question. He shook his head and made a noise of disbelief.
'Great. Call us when you make up your mind.'
*
Blaine was shaken awake early the next morning. He blinked confusedly against the light from the night lamp, which was the only source of light in the room as it was still dark outside, as far as Blaine could tell.
'Coop?' he groaned groggily. 'What time is it?'
'Five thirty,' Cooper informed him, sounding like he had been up for hours. 'Come on, get up. You can sleep in the car if you want, but I want to get going now, so we don't cause a scene.'
Blaine sat up quickly, watching as Cooper made quick work of packing a bag of Blaine's things. 'What are you talking about? We're leaving? Where?'
'Wherever,' Cooper shrugged. He threw clean clothes at Blaine. 'Come on, get dressed. Chop chop. I'm officially kidnapping you.'
'Coop,' Blaine said seriously, which seemed to do the trick of calming Cooper's somewhat manic behavior and their eyes met. 'Thank you.'
*
The car (their father's because, as Cooper said, fuck him) ended up taking them two hours away to Columbus, which wasn't terribly exotic perhaps, but Blaine appreciated the gesture more than he could express. Besides, Cooper was right. Right now anywhere was better than home. And as trips went, it wasn't actually a bad one. Since moving to Lima shortly after his fifteenth birthday, Blaine had visited his home town regularly, since it was where his therapist and endocrinologist were, but he never actually went there and stayed for longer than his appointments required. Despite some of the things he had gone through here, it was still his home town and seeing the place again, really seeing it, visiting all their old haunts, parks and coffee houses, was not altogether unwelcome.
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On Saturday they took a bit of a different approach and lounged around town, window shopping and taking turns approaching the managers of all the cafes and coffeehouses that had a piano and asking if they could play a few songs. At first they made it a sport to see who could earn the most tips, but when it was clear that Blaine was winning, Cooper suggested that they play together from now on, which made Blaine tease him mercilessly for the rest of the day, calling him a sore loser.
'Best Thanksgiving ever,' Blaine grinned as they got back to their hotel room on Saturday night. 'Thanks for doing this.'
'No problem, Squirt, I've had fun as well.' Blaine grimaced at the nickname. 'Hey, if you get to call me a sore loser all day, I get to call you Squirt. It's only fair. And for the record, I totally let you win.'
Blaine snickered, moving to throw himself on the bed. 'You so didn't. I could see you getting desperate by the third round.'
'Hey, I'm not an actor for nothing, you know,' Cooper pointed out, following suit and claiming the other bed.
They were both quiet for a few minutes as an entire day of running around town finally caught up with them and exhaustion hit.
'Coop?'
'Hm?'
'Remember when I came out to you? You didn't even blink. You were just like “Cool, so what's your name? Next topic.” I was so nervous before telling you, but I think we spent all of five minutes on it, before you started talking about my performance in the school talent show.'
'Well, it was flawed,' Cooper responded casually. 'I thought you could use a few pointers.'
'Yes, well, my point is that it wasn't a big deal to you. I guess I'm just sort of wondering why that was.'
'Why? Did you want it to be a big deal?'
'No, and that's my point. I want it to not matter, but it does anyway and--' Blaine's phone rang, cutting him off. 'That's sort of where I was going,' Blaine explained, showing the photo and the name on the display to Cooper, who nodded in understanding, before accepting the call and lying back comfortably on the bed. 'Hey, Kurt.'
'Hey, yourself,' Kurt greeted in return. 'So we just got back to Lima, and I was wondering if maybe I could come over or something? I miss you.'
'Admit it,' Blaine teased. 'You just wanna come over so you can meet my brother before he goes back home tomorrow.'
'What, no. Not at all. Where would you get that idea? That's silly.' Kurt exclaimed shrilly, before admitting in a small voice, 'Okay, maybe a little bit? But I do actually miss you.'
'It's okay, I get it,' Blaine grinned, turning his head to wink at his brother, but Cooper was too deep in thought to respond to the gesture. 'But we're actually kind of in Columbus right now.'
'You're what?' Kurt exclaimed a lot more convincingly than before. 'What on earth are you doing in Columbus?'
Blaine sighed. 'It's kind of a long story. I'll tell you all about, I promise, but...' Blaine trailed off, looking questioningly at Cooper who was now holding out his hand, gesturing for Blaine to give him the phone, his eyes alight with inspiration. 'But first you get to talk to Cooper on the phone.'
Blaine handed Cooper the phone, mouthing to him What are you doing? but Cooper just mouthed back, Trust me.
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Blaine couldn't hear Kurt's reply, but it was clear from his tone that the answer was yes.
'You've decided to extend your stay in Lima?' Blaine raised his eyebrows at Cooper once the call had ended.
'Sure,' Cooper shrugged. 'Commercial's on hiatus, so I've got time. And I wanna help with your boyfriend problem. I figure if I meet him and get a feel for him, I'll know better how to handle it.'
'What do you mean “handle it”?' Blaine asked cautiously, sitting up properly and looking at Cooper. 'I was just going to, you know, tell him.'
'Okay. How?'
'What do you mean “how”?' Blaine frowned, watching as Cooper, too, sat up and moved to face Blaine, a serious look on his face.
'I mean how. Set the scene for me.'
'It's not a performance, Coop.'
'It kind of is, though,' Cooper argued, but Blaine thought that sounded like almost the exact opposite of what he should be aiming for.
'I don't know, Coop,' Blaine hesitated. 'I was going to just tell him on Monday. I don't wanna drag it out any more.'
'Trust me, Blaine. I know what I'm talking about. You'll thank me later.' Blaine gave a soft sigh of exasperation. 'I want to help, okay? You can wait one more day, can't you?'
*
To Blaine's surprise, Cooper showed up at glee rehearsal on Monday afternoon. When Blaine arrived with Kurt, his brother was already there, deep in conversation with Will Schuester.
'Omigod,' Kurt squealed the moment he saw Cooper. 'You didn't tell me he was coming here.'
'I didn't know,' Blaine replied honestly, though he thought he should have known that Cooper was planning something more than meeting Blaine's boyfriend, when he decided to stick around in Lima.
'Blainey!' Cooper called, motioning them over. 'Look who I ran into.' He indicated Mr. Schue. 'Your director here tells me you're in dire need of professional help with prepping for Sectionals.'
'Well, “dire” is probably a bit extreme, but--' Mr. Schue mumbled awkwardly.
'Never be afraid to ask for help!' Cooper patted the older man on the shoulder, before turning again to Blaine and Kurt. 'So I've decided to offer you all my services for the next two weeks until the competition. See if we can't whip you into shape.' Cooper looked so excited to be here, it was hard to tell if he was doing it more for them or himself.
'Wow, that's-- that's great.' Honestly Blaine didn't know whether to find the prospect more exciting or terrifying. Cooper had always been involved in Blaine's performance life to some extent or another, and it always worked out alright, but Blaine wasn't sure that involving him so directly was the best idea. Mixing family and work seemed like a recipe for disaster, and Blaine loved his brother. He would rather that it stayed that way. The rest of New Directions, though, were firmly in the “excited” camp - Blaine didn't think he had ever seen Kurt so worked up about anything - so he decided to not be a buzzkill and let it be, welcoming Cooper to the group with a smile.
And Blaine had to admit that having Cooper around actually worked wonders for the glee club. One by one or two by two he brought people to the floor to perform for him so he could 'assess their strengths and weaknesses', and Blaine didn't know whether it was because everyone was so intent on impressing Cooper or whether it was the sheer energy that he gave off, but everyone was at the top of their games today. Blaine didn't get to perform ('I already know what your weaknesses are.') but by the end of the lesson he felt more included than ever before as every single person called out a 'Bye, Blaine' or 'See ya, Blaine' before leaving. Who knew that all it took was bringing your semi-famous brother to school?
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'Your brother is amazing,' Kurt exclaimed emphatically the moment they stepped into the room, and he knew they were well out of earshot.
'Mm-hm, and you have a crush,' Blaine teased.
'Don't be jealous,' Kurt reprimanded softly. 'You're still my number-one guy.' He poked the tip of Blaine's nose playfully as though to indicate that he really did mean him.
'Mm, I'd better be,' Blaine asserted, pulling Kurt in for a kiss.
'Besides,' Kurt noted, breaking the kiss and his mouth quivering in a barely contained smile. 'He's way too old for me.'
'You are terrible,' Blaine laughed, starting towards the door and pulling Kurt with him. 'Come on, your man awaits.'
'Do you think it's too much if I ask for an autograph?' Kurt whispered hopefully as they made their way back downstairs. Blaine chuckled.
'If I know Cooper right, you'll ask for one and he'll get you ten.'
When they entered the living room, Cooper was fiddling with the DVD player. 'I thought we'd start with a movie!' he announced, an excited glint in his eyes.
Blaine's mind reeled with the different movies Cooper could possibly have chosen for this occasion, and when Kurt went to the kitchen to collect beverages, Blaine rounded on his brother.
'Tell me you didn't. I mean, not--' Blaine mouthed the next three words. 'Boys Don't Cry? Because while I realize it's a conversation starter, I don't think I can--'
'Dude, relax. I'm not stupid.' Cooper put a calming hand on Blaine's shoulder. 'It's just a random movie. You know, to break the tension. Trust me, I've got it all worked out.'
It was true. The movie was a typical romantic comedy with nothing remarkable about it at all. It wasn't a bad movie, Blaine supposed, but Kurt, for one, was a lot more interested in cuddling and kept getting distracted from the plot of the movie, seemingly trying to figure out the exact shape and feel of Blaine's lips against his. This wasn't far outside their usual movie-watching behavior, but they also usually watched movies in private, and Blaine couldn't help feeling embarrassed that he was cuddling and making out with his boyfriend in front of his brother. Cooper didn't seem to mind though. In fact he kept catching Blaine's eye and smirking at him, and Blaine had a feeling he was in for a brutal round of brotherly teasing later on.
'I don't know which was more exciting,' Cooper commented as the movie ended and the credits began to roll. 'You guys or the movie.'
'Wow, that sounds vaguely creepy,' Blaine chuckled. 'Well done.'
'Well, most of Lima isn't exactly big on gay PDA,' Kurt explained to Cooper. 'So we have to make the most of it when we're in private.' He put a hand on Blaine's knee, smiling at him. He turned back to Cooper, suddenly a bit flustered. 'I hope we didn't make you uncomfortable though. I mean, Blaine told me you were cool with everything, but I guess that's not the same as--'
Cooper held up a hand to stop him. 'Kurt relax, man. Do I seem bothered? I've been to plenty of pride events, even joined the parade once and I may or may not have had an unforgettable experience with a drag queen from Canada.' Blaine grimaced. There was an image he didn't particularly need stuck in his head. 'Trust me, gay is okay in my book.'
'What's it like? The pride thing, I mean,' Kurt hastened to add.
'Oh, you've never been? It's so much fun. It's the most diverse group of people you can imagine coming together in one place and celebrating, just, you know, freedom. You get gay people, straight people, bisexuals, pansexuals, asexuals. Butches, femmes, drag queens, transmen, transwomen, genderqueers...'
Blaine let out a long breath, which he had held, waiting for the moment the word transmen passed Cooper's lips. In hindsight he didn't really know what he had been expecting Kurt to say to such an offhand remark. Now that you mention it, I love transmen and I'd be totally fine with dating one seemed a bit farfetched, and of course what Kurt did say was nothing.
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Blaine laughed, handing Kurt his messenger bag.
'So do you think I passed?' Kurt asked and Blaine frowned in question. 'I'm not stupid. I know today was just as much about him meeting me as it was about me meeting him. He was being all Mr. Protective Brother checking out the boyfriend.'
'I think you passed. As if you'd ever fail at anything.' Blaine smiled, giving Kurt a brief goodbye kiss, before sending him out the door with the usual plea for him to call before bed.
The moment Kurt had left, Cooper was in Blaine's doorway.
'So I think that went well,' he stated confidently.
'Yeah,' Blaine agreed. 'Although you could have been a bit more subtle than So what do you think of Chaz Bono?'
'I was getting desperate, okay?' Cooper exclaimed defensively. 'He wasn't talking, and I wanted at least something on the issue.'
'So what's the ruling then? Any advice?'
'I think he's a keeper.' Cooper nodded. 'But why don't we discuss it over dinner? I'm starving.'
'Sure. Just let me change into something more comfortable. I'm choking in this thing. Be right down.'
'Yep yep.' Cooper turned to leave but stopped on the doorway, lips quirking into a teasing smirk. 'Oh, and Blaine? You two? So adorable.' He made little kissy sounds, ducking out of the room quickly before Blaine could throw a pillow at him.
Blaine snorted to himself as he stood in front of the mirror, making quick work of removing his bow tie, vest and shirt until the binder, that he so loved and hated at the same time, was the only thing left. He tore it off unceremoniously, reveling in the feeling of breathing again. He regarded the binder in his hand for a moment, amazed that one could have so many strong and conflicting feelings about a piece of fabric. He lifted his gaze and watched himself in the mirror, longing for the day when surgery became more than just a distant possibility.
It happened in the space of ten seconds, maybe less, maybe more. Time seemed to at once have slowed down and sped up, as something behind him in the mirror caught Blaine's eye, and he wheeled around to discover Kurt's phone lying on his bed. It must have slipped out of his bag earlier without either of them noticing. At the same time as he was seeing this, he became aware of the sound of someone thundering up the stairs and he knew it was happening seconds before it did, but he just stood frozen in the middle of his bedroom, shirtless and facing the open door, too panicked to even think of covering himself.
'Sorry,' Kurt was breathless as he entered the room. 'I just forgot my ph--'
He stopped short when his eyes fell on Blaine and his unmistakably female-looking chest. Kurt's mouth fell open and for a long moment he simply stood there, staring and completely lost for words.
Blaine wasn't sure how long they stood there, but he became the first one to act as he finally thought to use the binder that was still in his hand to cover himself as well as he could. His voice was panicked and pleading as he spoke. 'Kurt. Oh god, I'm so sorry. I swear, I was going to tell you. I didn't want you to find out like this.'
Blaine started towards his boyfriend, but Kurt recoiled, backing away from him into the wall, and Blaine's heart broke at the look Kurt sent him.
'You-- I never-- How could you-- Eight months, Blaine.'
'I know, I'm sorry,' Blaine repeated, voice breaking. 'I was going to tell you, I swear I was. I was literally going to do it tomorrow.'
It was Blaine's turn to recoil as Kurt practically yelled, 'Tomorrow? What's tomorrow? You should have told me months ago.'
'I'm sorry. Kurt, I'm so sorry,' Blaine pleaded as Kurt tore his eyes away and picked up his phone from the bed. Blaine didn't even recognize the look on Kurt's face as he turned and moved towards the door. 'Wait. Please, Kurt, we can talk about this.'
'I can't. I just-- I can't,' was all Kurt could say and, without even looking back, he ran out, leaving Blaine standing broken and exposed in the middle of the room.
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