[fic] Of Bowties and Brotherhood
Of Bowties and Brotherhood
Glee
Blaine + Cooper
PG
no warnings
Blaine remembers the first time Cooper showed him how to tie a bowtie. Blaine had been struggling through the trials of being pubescent and in middle school and different, and Cooper had just come home for his first Spring Break to a house more stilted, a father more distant, and a brother more timid than usual. It had been just them, at the time, their parents out for some fancy benefit dinner, the house silent save for the quiet drone of appliances.
“Now just loop this end over the loop you just made and-”
“I’m gay,” Blaine blurted out.
Cooper froze. “What?”
“I- um,” Blaine flushed and tried to look away, but Cooper was right there in front of him, standing just a foot away, and there was nowhere else to look. So he swallowed and straightened his spine and met his brother’s gaze. “I like boys,” he said, voice suddenly fierce with a strength he hadn’t known he had.
“You- okay.” Cooper said, clearing his throat. Blaine had never seen his brother at a loss of words before. It was unnerving, the shift of strength- Blaine the one now suddenly so sure, and Cooper left fiddling with the ends of the bowtie in his hands. He was still clinging to it, staring at it like it was the most fascinating thing in the room.
“That’s okay,” Cooper said finally, meeting Blaine eyes and staring at him with a strange sort of softness Blaine couldn’t identify. “That’s- thank you. For telling me. I’m glad you did.”
Blaine had stayed silent, nodded, held back the tears that suddenly stung at his eyes, and managed not to say all the words inside his head (shouldn’t you be yelling at me, and don’t you think I’m a monster, and thank you for still loving me).
“Now, like I said, you just loop this end over the loop you just made, pull it through, and there. You’ve got yourself a bow tie,” Cooper said, voice and hands sure once more as he tugs the bow into place, straightening it out.
Blaine felt a tension he hadn’t realized he was holding fall out of his shoulders. “We’re still good?” He asked hesitantly.
Cooper had just smiled and pat him on the shoulder. “Still good.”
Glee
Blaine + Cooper
PG
no warnings
Blaine remembers the first time Cooper showed him how to tie a bowtie. Blaine had been struggling through the trials of being pubescent and in middle school and different, and Cooper had just come home for his first Spring Break to a house more stilted, a father more distant, and a brother more timid than usual. It had been just them, at the time, their parents out for some fancy benefit dinner, the house silent save for the quiet drone of appliances.
“Now just loop this end over the loop you just made and-”
“I’m gay,” Blaine blurted out.
Cooper froze. “What?”
“I- um,” Blaine flushed and tried to look away, but Cooper was right there in front of him, standing just a foot away, and there was nowhere else to look. So he swallowed and straightened his spine and met his brother’s gaze. “I like boys,” he said, voice suddenly fierce with a strength he hadn’t known he had.
“You- okay.” Cooper said, clearing his throat. Blaine had never seen his brother at a loss of words before. It was unnerving, the shift of strength- Blaine the one now suddenly so sure, and Cooper left fiddling with the ends of the bowtie in his hands. He was still clinging to it, staring at it like it was the most fascinating thing in the room.
“That’s okay,” Cooper said finally, meeting Blaine eyes and staring at him with a strange sort of softness Blaine couldn’t identify. “That’s- thank you. For telling me. I’m glad you did.”
Blaine had stayed silent, nodded, held back the tears that suddenly stung at his eyes, and managed not to say all the words inside his head (shouldn’t you be yelling at me, and don’t you think I’m a monster, and thank you for still loving me).
“Now, like I said, you just loop this end over the loop you just made, pull it through, and there. You’ve got yourself a bow tie,” Cooper said, voice and hands sure once more as he tugs the bow into place, straightening it out.
Blaine felt a tension he hadn’t realized he was holding fall out of his shoulders. “We’re still good?” He asked hesitantly.
Cooper had just smiled and pat him on the shoulder. “Still good.”