If you hurt my brother there is a 100% chance I will come to your house and kill you.
A new day, a new life. Blaine could barely sleep a wink the night before. Fresh from his second tour of the Academy and he could barely contain how excited and terrified he was. Excited for the fresh start. Terrified for reasons ranging from the standard will they like me to the notion that maybe nothing would change. That the promises and policies of the school his brother worked tirelessly towards getting him into mid-semester was full of it. That nothing would change because this was Ohio and how many open minds can you force to stay open by rules that were supposedly unbreakable? Hope won out in the end as he drifted off. And faith and trust in Cooper that things were going to be okay. Because Cooper promised.
The morning, however? Totally different story. His hands were shaking so bad that he couldn’t finish tying his tie. His brand new blazer hung from one hand as he stared up at Cooper who patiently cocked his head to the side and finished the job he couldn’t. Then gripped his shoulder and gently turned him around to face the mirror as he slid the jacket that would soon be the sign he was looking for to be able to heal again. Past the faint scab on his bottom lip and eyebrow that would be gone within a week. Just like the greenish blue mark underneath his eye. A far cry from how it looked in the beginning. Fading hues and reassuring squeezes to his shoulders. All symbols that everything was going to be okay. Like Cooper said.
‘You heard me, right? I wouldn’t be letting this happen if I thought it was going to turn out bad. You gotta trust me. This is gonna be beyond great. Beyond me levels of amazing. You can do this, Squirt. They’re going to love you.’
“Don’tcallmethat,” a mumble and he curled his fingers towards the pressed cuff edges of his sleeve, “What if I don’t fit in? What if they look at me and they think I’m a stereotypical rich kid problem child?” His brows shoved together and lifted above panicked hazel eyes, their colors darkened by anxiety and his voice wobbling.
‘You know that’s your favorite. Don’t roll your eyes. Okay, roll them. Made you smile. Caught you doing it. Just live in the moment, Blaine. How many times have I told you that if you worry too much about the future? You’re going to get forehead wrinkles? Then it’s botox by twenty-five and you’re never going back.’
Cooper’s wide-eyed omen warning was greeted with the first real laughter Blaine felt since the day before when his brother compared the group of boys singing in the gardens to ‘every boy band that ever existed in one ensemble only good’. Steadier fingers finished the last button on his jacket and he turned to face Cooper, stepping back and swinging his arms outwards, fingers fanned from one another.
“Well? What do you think?” His heart pounded in his ears.
‘I think you look ready. Are you?’
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
‘Good. Let’s get you to your first day. Dalton Academy?!” Cooper thumbed over his shoulder towards the exit of Blaine’s room before pressing his palms against one another and rubbing them together. “Here comes Blaine Anderson. Place isn’t even gonna know what hit it.’
( text : blaine ▻ delivered) one year we may be blessed by an easter miracle and he’ll be at some business retreat in the middle of nowhere and we can scrap the formal dinner altogether. ( text : blaine ▻ delivered) justin. timberlake. blaine. the jt! his people are way scarier than your people. ( text : blaine ▻ delivered) i think we’re beyond the karaoke incident of ‘03. my trust has been rebuilt. ( text : blaine ▻ delivered) it’s los angeles. people crash into things all the time. it’s like a right of passage. are you really an actor in hollywood if you haven’t fought a few perfectly placed trees? (the answer is no.) ( text : blaine ▻ delivered) we’ll see. he has to pass the cooper test. ( text : blaine ▻ delivered) hey, blaine. listen. ( text : blaine ▻ delivered)listen. ( text : blaine ▻ delivered)L I S T E N. ( text : blaine ▻ delivered) or read. whatever. ( text : blaine ▻ delivered) as long as you’re happy, then who the hell cares? i’m not dad. i don’t give a crap about the prestige. just the fact you’re safe and happy. dalton. whatever school you’re at now that i totally know the name of but don’t want to say the name of because of those pesky fbi agents in the phone camera… they’re both schools. why the hell would i be disappointed in you making a choice?
( mssg » cooper | sent ) Come on… Please? ( mssg » cooper | sent ) Okay. I’m listening. ( mssg » cooper | sent ) Um. Reading. I’m reading and listening. I promise. ( mssg » cooper | sent ) As strange as that advice was towards the end? Thank you so much. ( mssg » cooper | sent )
I know I don’t really say it a lot and our relationship really isn’t the kind where we have many talks like this..but..I’ve been really scared I might be letting you down. ( mssg » cooper | sent )
Or disappointing you after all that work you helped with to get them to let me in immediately.
( mssg » cooper | sent ) I only want to make sure that you don’t feel like I didn’t appreciate all of your hard work. Because I know what you did. I know a lot of it was your follow up. Your in person pressure. ( mssg » cooper | sent ) I’ll never forget that. I never would have left if it wasn’t for Kurt. He’s been through so much. ( mssg » cooper | sent )
If this can give him one solid good year of school for once in his life? Saying no to that isn’t something I could do, you know?
( text : blaine ▻ delivered) come on, now that we’re bored of the entertainment factor betting on how long it’ll take until dad expresses his disappointment, there has to be some new material. i volunteer as tribute. ( text : blaine ▻ delivered) nda, blaine. i can’t break the sacred fraternity bond of being issued an nda. ( text : blaine ▻ delivered) i suppose three heads are better than one… fine. you’re hired. ( text : blaine ▻ delivered) perfectly fine. my head houses my money maker face, blaine. i protect it at all costs. no need to worry about the old noggin. ( text : blaine ▻ delivered) well, there’s a brief lull in my schedule coming up and i suppose it would be nice to get back to my roots. ground myself, if you will… and i’d get to see this new school and boyfriend of yours as a bonus. ( text : blaine ▻ delivered) i tell you what! how about i give you a masterclass on how to nail an audition? you can film my tape, observe the legend in action and then we’ll drive mom crazy for a few days. deal?
( mssg » cooper | sent ) Come on. Every year, it gets shorter and shorter. Pretty soon we’ll be racing to make the bet before his jaw starts tightening up. You start talking about jail? It might end the game. Cause there’s no way either one of us will get a word out first. ( mssg » cooper | sent ) That’s no fair! What about our sacred fraternal bond, Cooper? I think ours is a lot bigger than your NDA? ( mssg » cooper | sent ) Thank you. I promise I won’t let you down. ( mssg » cooper | sent ) Good. Be more careful, please? I already worry about you enough as is. I don’t need your help making it worse. ( mssg » cooper | sent ) Oh! Yeah! You do. Cooper, you’re going to love him. He’s perfect. As far as the school? It’s okay. Not Dalton. Not close. But it’s okay. ( mssg » cooper | sent ) Coop? Are you sure you aren’t disappointed I transferred? ( mssg » cooper | sent ) A master class in nailing an audition? Sure. You can do that. I’ll help anyway. Besides. Mom secretly loves being driven crazy when you’re in town. Let’s do it.
THE WESTERVILLE HOUSE HADN’T FELT LIKE HOME FOR YEARS.the sunshine of los angeles had called cooper away as soon as he could. he never once regretted abandoning his father’s hopes that he would go to college. he never once regretted leaving ohio behind and never looking back. not until he’d had his mother crying down the phone telling him that his little brother had fallen victim to some disgusting attack. as strained as his relationship with blaine was – mostly completely oblivious on cooper’s side, admittedly – he never wanted to hear that his pesky little brother was hurt in any way. it was how he found himself home after filming a new cut away for his credit rating commercial – he would be lying if he didn’t use the emotion from his home situation as excellent fuel to channel someone with a truly awful credit score. his relationship with his family wasn’t excellent but it also wasn’t horrific. he loved his mother dearly and blaine had become less of an annoying wobbling and infuriating shadow that followed him around. but their father was an utter enigma to cooper. one moment, the man was happy and proud of him – but who wouldn’t be given his commercial success across the entire country? – and the next he was as cold hearted and disappointed as ever.
typically, cooper would have never overstepped his boundaries, but considering he was making his own money and relied on his father for nothing? he’d given him quite the piece of his mind for even thinking about leaving while blaine had gone through something so traumatic. his blood had been boiling at how the man could just shrug off his youngest son like he meant very little, that him being hurt and attacked by pathetic individuals was somehow blaine’s fault. as he left the study, having gotten nowhere with the stubborn old man, he was still fuming. only upon seeing blaine’s face over the back of the couch did his expression soften to something more akin to fondness while he took a deep breath to let go of his frustration. pocketing that extreme anger for a later audition would come in handy and using it all up now on a fruitless mission was a ridiculous notion.
❝ me? i’m fine, squirt. i was playing bad cop in there, ❞ he joked, hopping over the arm of the couch to perch at blaine’s feet while fixing a warm smile on his face. ❝ gave the old man a piece of my mind about how his son is way more important than sitting in a bar and having business meetings. if he can’t see that, then he’s the one you should feel sorry for. ❞ reaching over, cooper lightly ruffled blaine’s hair – always cautious of the injuries his brother had sustained. ❝ i didn’t think you’d be awake. those painkillers? i heard they sell them as sleeping pills on the hollywood black market. ❞ changing the subject for cooper had never been a difficult task. he was a master of improvisation and making anything seem believable, especially after spending a few months twirling a quiznos sign like it read ‘entrance to heaven’ on it at the beginning of his los angeles stint. ❝ did mom go lay down? ❞ cooper asked after a moment of silence. he hadn’t thought of dear pam anderson when he’d went to town arguing with their old man. it probably did nothing for her nerves and cooper really did feel rather bad if she’d had to hear it. ❝ i guess that means we can bust out the old wii. see if you’re still terrible at mario kart, hm? ❞
Worried eyes (one still shadowed by lovely shades of black, purple and green in a crescent shape underneath) watched as Cooper approached the couch. Through the fog of the medicine running through his veins, he hadn’t missed catching a glimpse of anger etched on his brother’s face. Cooper’s eyes were too expressive for that. Too blue and too bright not to miss when they were darker and angrier. Since they were rarely like that. As far as Blaine knew Cooper rarely got mad. Unless he followed him around too much or refused to leave his things alone when they were younger. Other than that? Catching a tiny glimpse of Cooper infuriated? Blaine couldn’t help but feel sorry for anyone on the receiving end of that stare. His expression faltered from curious to a thoughtful pout hidden by the back of the sofa. Then like magic, Cooper was smiling and Blaine made himself comfortable in the position he’d flopped in. Just in time for his brother to land at his feet.
A drugged laugh made his cheek hurt but he couldn’t help it. For some reason, Cooper airborne then knelt in front of him was enough comedic material to make him smile at least. More importantly? More agreeable not to argue that he didn’t look okay like a sober Blaine might have. Instead, he nodded then pulled his shoulders up in a lazy shrug at the news of their father deciding he’d put off his clients long enough. “Probably better he’s not here, Coop. I got you and mom and that’s enough. I stopped disappointed a long time ago,” that last part was a lie. An obvious one at that. Blaine’s smile fading to barely visible, the shift of his posture, and change in the tone of his voice were all dead giveaways.
“They do? M’good for now. I think. I’ve been sleeping way too much.” Tugging the pillow he’d been hugging earlier back onto his lap, Blaine wrapped both arms around it and hugged it gently. The feathery soft weight against the sorest spots offered support and relief until it got too bothersome and he tossed it aside. Cracking another sheepish, cheeky grin as his curls were ruffled–Blaine reached out and rested his palm against his brother’s cheek studying him for a beat like he was the most fascinating thing on the planet (also thanking him with the gesture because words weren’t enough to show Cooper how much staying meant to him and how badly he needed him to just be here) before pulling his hand away and nodding. “Yeah, she did.” The heaviness felt like it was sucked out of the air by a massive vacuum with two words: Mario Kart. “Terrible! I’m only terrible cause you cheat,” huge eyes blazed with sudden accusation. “I’m gonna show you. Also,” insert a breakneck change of direction yet again, “If it isn’t too much trouble? Can you get more orange juice? My mouth feels like a desert most of the time.”
( text : blaine ▻ delivered) or maybe she does. perhaps that would be the drama thanksgiving could use this year. unearthing the mystery of pam anderson. it would look great on my resume, though! experience with prison setting, comfortable behind bars, looks great in an orange jumpsuit. ( text : blaine ▻ delivered) unfortunately, the nda i signed prevents me from giving you any details about possibly or possibly not justin timberlake. ( text : blaine ▻ delivered) as grateful as i am for your assistance, blaine, you don’t understand hollywood quite like my actual assistant does. i’ll run the scandals by her. you’ll have to keep an eye out for my name floating around your school and breaking the internet like a kardashian. ( text : blaine ▻ delivered) last week? it was barely damaged, no need to get all environment protector on me. ( text : blaine ▻ delivered) is this your subtle attempt to get me to come home and spend time with you, squirt? ( text : blaine ▻ delivered) again, nda signed. i can neither confirm nor deny the existence of a pilot that may or may not be filming next month potentially or potentially not on the warner brother’s lot. maybe.
( mssg » cooper | sent ) Can you, please, not get a record for a better acting performance for a role that doesn’t exist. OR! If one does exist. Don’t do it then either. How about you stay arrest free? Thanksgiving conversations are fine the way they are. Mostly. ( mssg » cooper | sent ) Are you serious? What else did maybe Justin Timberlake confess to? You can’t end that story there! ( mssg » cooper | sent ) I might not know Hollywood but I know show choir. Scandal and gossip are part of it’s life blood. Give me a chance before you run it by this assistant of yours? Come on. ( mssg » cooper | sent ) Are you okay? Did you hit your head? That would explain why you considered leaving the scene of another accident. How do you have a license? ( mssg » cooper | sent ) I didn’t mean.. ( mssg » cooper | sent )
Um. Yeah? What if I said it was? Would you? ( mssg » cooper | sent ) I may or may not be wishing you luck then. Let me know if you want to work on your audition with me? I could try to help you run lines? Even if it’s on Skype or whatever.
“….don’tcallmethat.”
“I’ll give you a strong maybe. Okay. Okay! I’m kidding.. I GUESS you’re right.”
⟨ text : blaine ⟩hypothetically, she’ll be fine with it. i know mom. she was probably wild back in the day. ⟨ text : blaine ⟩ i mean it’d make some great conversation over thanksgiving dinner rather than the usual wishing for world peace and being grateful dealio. or a fantastic tale for a game of never have i ever. now, i won’t name drop. but i happen to know some very scandalous details about some of your favourite people because of that game. it’s about time i had my own scandal for the internet blogs. ⟨ text : blaine ⟩ no. i was method acting when i managed to hit a tree. this was an unexpected bonus! ⟨ text : blaine ⟩ everyone wants to know how i broke into the hardest business to crack. you, little brother, are no exception to that rule. currently there is no ghost writer, but i’m working on it. asking the starbucks guy might be a good idea though. i’ll get back to you on that one. ⟨ text : blaine ⟩ you’re missing the point, blaine. people in hollywood don’t order drinks to drink. people in hollywood order drinks to demand the time they deserve. the longer the coffee takes, the more important you look to everyone behind you. ergo, the longer i stay there, the more chance there is of someone wanting to offer me a role in, i don’t know, say, a brand new tv show pilot all about a very handsome man – spoiler, that would be me. ⟨ text : blaine ⟩ now do you get it?
( mssg » cooper | sent ) I don’t think she’s got a rap sheet though! Try not to be the first in the family to get one. That’s not an accomplishment you need, Cooper. ( mssg » cooper | sent ) Who have you sat and played Never Have I Ever with? Please, don’t make up a scandal. Or. If you do? Can you run it by me first? You know? For tips? ( mssg » cooper | sent ) ….You hit a tree? Um? When? ( mssg » cooper | sent ) I’m not? Don’t ask the Starbucks guy! You put enough on his shoulders with a laundry list of a drink order. Ask.. I bet someone from Ohio would love to do that. You know? Get a chance to work with their favorite actor? ( mssg » cooper | sent ) Right, right. How did I not think of that logic? Is this a hypothetical role in a pilot you were offered? Or did that happen? It gets sort of hard to keep track.
⟨ text : blaine ⟩gif. ⟨ text : blaine ⟩she wouldn’t be too thrilled about her most handsome and talented son being behind bars either. or his really good and equally handsome and talented friend frank. ⟨ text : blaine ⟩i went to get in’n’out. then came back. it’s great material for my upcoming audition for the new fast and furious movie. living on the wild side. hit and run. ruining cars left right and center. ⟨ text : blaine ⟩ every successful celebrity has an assistant, blaine. that’s hollywood 101. you can’t expect me to handle my own calendar can you? you don’t mingle with the other stars, you send your assistant to mingle with the other assistants. you’ll be able to read this and other tips in the book i’m getting ghost written. available fall of 2018. maybe. i’ll send you a signed for christmas. ⟨ text : blaine ⟩ of course not. that’s the drink of producers blaine. everyone knows serious actors order a 5 shot venti, 2/5th decaf, ristretto shot, 1 pump vanilla, 1 pump hazelnut, breve, 1 sugar in the raw, with whip, caramel drizzle on top, free poured, 4 pump mocha. and the starbucks queue is a right of passage when starting your day. have you really woken up if you haven’t waited over 30 minutes for your coffee? i think not.
( mssg » cooper | sent )gif. ( mssg » cooper | sent ) I’m pretty sure she’s not going to be very excited if you–or Frank–end up in jail. I could always run it by her in a hypothetical sense? See what she has to say about bailing you out? ( mssg » cooper | sent ) You know. Hypothetically? ( mssg » cooper | sent ) You’re auditioning for the new Fast and Furious? Hang on. You’re method acting your audition for the new Fast and Furious? Coop? Can you please not? ( mssg » cooper | sent ) Wow. How did you know what I always wanted? Who’s doing the writing? Please don’t tell me it’s the Starbucks guy. ( mssg » cooper | sent ) That drink sounds disgusting. You could, I don’t know, always just go for some coffee? Milk, couple of sweetners? Could streamline your day. I’m pretty sure it’s a miracle that you’ve survived this long in Los Angeles if you’re making people wait that long in the morning for coffee.
Blaine sat curled into the corner of the sofa. In the background–he could hear his father and Cooper ‘talking’. His foggy brain couldn’t keep up with their conversation–muffled and far off as it was by distance alone–the warm numb moving through his veins kept his attention moving from the fire dancing inside the fireplace to the television he’d turned down to the point of muting it all together and back towards the sound of their conversation. Barely picking up words now and then, he’d gone to the end closest to the hallway to try and hear better. In spite of his efforts, he had no such luck. Judging by the way his mother abruptly excused herself a half an hour ago? No doubt it was about him and what happened.
A couple of days earlier was still in the hospital and–his father was home for less than that before business called and he planned to leave again. Blaine would be hard pressed to say it was all that bad that his father was leaving in the first place. Because Cooper was suddenly there–out of the blue to Blaine because he had no idea he was coming–to take his place. A much better option considering how his father was taking the entire situation. Unable to tell if he was more angry at the kids who did what they did. Or that Blaine went against his wishes and had asked the boy to make a statement with him that couldn’t be ignored. That they should be proud of who they are. Have the courage to stand up to the stares, face the school together. To say his father was opposed was an understatement.
They wentanyway. The end result was…this.
He waited until there was silence until he heard the clicking of the door to his father’s office and footsteps coming toward the living room. Blaine lift his head and peered over the top of the couch from underneath a mop of loose curls that shadowed some of the cuts and bruises on their way to healing but the worst over his bottom lip and by his eye were the worse when he screwed his face up and pouted thoughtfully trying to ready himself for whatever happened. Seeing his brother–he slumped back down into his spot and his breath left him in one full woosh of deflating air. “I’m sorry, Coop. Are you okay? What did he say to you?”
pianokeysandbowties back up 
