"Cooper give it back!" Demanded a five-year-old Blaine chasing his older brother cooper around the downstairs, after he'd stolen his bow tie. Cooper at age 11 had nothing better to do on a snow day than tease his little brother. It was 'too snowy out to go outside' their mother had said. But isn't that what a snow day was about?
"Blaine I'll only give you your bow tie back if you say Cooper is the best! Five times in a row!" Cooper was a very young 11. Blaine on the other hand was a very mature 5. He was already ahead of Cooper in maturity, but right now Blaine just wanted his favorite bow tie back.
"Cooper is the best. Cooper is the best. Cooper is the best. Cooper is the best. Cooper is the best. There! Can I have my bow tie back now?" Blaine asked extending a small hand out to his brother. Cooper dropped the blue and red plaid bowtie into his brother's hand, and then walked away and started up their Play station.
Blaine clipped his bow tie into place on the collar or his light blue and white-stripped dress shirt. He straightened it before he went back over to his brother.
"What are you playing?" Blaine asked taking a seat next to Cooper on the couch.
"Nascar 98. But I don't think you'd like it Blaine."
"Well can we do something I can do too? I'm bored." Cooper paused his game and turned to his brother. He looked Blaine up and down and devised a plan.
"You want to do something fun?" Cooper asked, a devilish grin spread across the older boy's face.
"Yes! That's what I've been trying to tell you!" Blaine was excited to see what his brother had in mind.
"Ok, follow me, and don't tell mom what we're doing. Ok?" Cooper questioned.
"Ok!" Blaine was so excited! His older brother rarely included him. He was always playing video games that Blaine 'wouldn't like'. Now they were going to do something fun!
...
"Um Coop?"
"Yeah Blainers."
"Why are we in the bathroom?"
"Because the fun thing we are going to do is in here!"
"Are you sure? 'Cause I don't think there is anything fun about a bathroom." Cooper took him fathers hair gel and squeezed some into his hand.
"Don't worry Blaine it's nothing bad. I'm just going to put some of this gel in your hair. It will make you look cool! I promise."
Cooper put the whole handful of gel on his brother's unruly hair. Blaine's curls disappeared and in place cooper styled his hair into spike that stood up a good 3 inches. Cooper thought his little brother looked like an idiot.
"Cooper why did you get rid of my curls?" The five year old asked.
"Because, I think this look suits you much better. Don't you think?"
"It's… it's I want my curls back!"
"Not until I get a picture of this." Their mother said from the doorway.
"No mommy! I just want my curls back!" Blaine protested.
"No because you're going to want to remember this when you're older." She said walking off to go fetch the camera.
…
10 years later and the Anderson brothers hadn't changed much. Cooper was still immature and Blaine hadn't grown out of his bow ties. Cooper had come back from college for summer vacation and their mother was being nostalgic and looking through pictures of them when they were children. She was forcing them to look too.
"Oh my goodness. Boys do you remember this. Blaine you were so sad. You thought your curls were gone. It was truly adorable."
"Ugh, I hate when people call my curls adorable. I don't want to be adorable." Blaine said exasperated. All he's ever been called was adorable. He was sick of it. He wanted to be called handsome, or hot. He was sick of the adorable. He got up and went to the bathroom where he found hair gel (probably the same stuff from 10 years earlier) and ran it through his hair. Instead of going to Cooper route and spiking it, he laid his curls flat against his head until his hair was even, save for a few half curls in the front that would just not budge.
Blaine walked back out into the living room expecting to be laughed at. But instead he saw both his mother and his brother smile.
"I like it!" Cooper said giving his little brother a high five.
"Yeah?" Blaine asked.
"Yeah!" Cooper always knew what was best for his little bro, even if he had no idea that he did.