Autor's Note: Please don't hate me for breaking a long posting hiatus with a chapter that is NOT for Weave Your Magic but for an entirely new story... I WILL get back to WYM, I swear, as soon as my muse agrees to cooperate again.

Anyway, this is my contribution to the Blaine Anderson Big Bang, and it's a Klaine story featuring the Anderbros, Hummelberry and a relationship between Rachel and Cooper. I hope you like it! By all means, let me know :-)

Many many thanks to my incomparable beta VoyageAsia, who whipped this story into shape in more ways than one. A huge thank you goes out as well to MyPopCultureSummer, who provided beautiful art for this story (check it out on my Tumblr account, I'm lilyvandersteen there, too).

Chapter 1: Unwanted Roommate

It all began with Cooper losing his stint on a television programme for having offended a female producer. "And all I said to her was that breast-feeding works wonders after you've given birth to get rid of all the extra pounds you've gained during your pregnancy. How could I have known she wasn't in the family way at all? She looked like she was having twins!"

Pam Anderson patted Cooper's hand comfortingly.

Blaine rolled his eyes but refrained from commenting.

Their father, however, remarked drily, "Well, maybe that will teach you a modicum of discretion and diplomacy. Sometimes it's better NOT to say exactly what goes through your mind. That's a lesson you should have learnt by the age of five at the latest, Cooper. You seem to think that your good looks and your charm will make people forgive you the most outrageous insults."

The rebuke seemed to perplex Cooper, who threw his arms up with the air of a wronged angel and declared that he'd had no intention of insulting anybody. "Why must people be SO sensitive?"

Blaine, whom Cooper had accused of being overly sensitive millions of times, repressed a smile.

I'm glad that for once, Coop is feeling the consequences of being too quick to comment. I'm afraid Father's very optimistic about Coop now having learnt his lesson, though. Coop's head and skin are too thick for this incident to curb his tongue.

Blaine looked up from his brunch plate in horrified disbelief, though, when what Cooper said next sank in.

"So I really want to try my hand at Broadway now, and I thought, what better way to acquaint myself with the New York way of life than to immerse myself in it, morning, noon and night? And I have my very own brother to show me around, too. Well, you might not know too much about New York, squirt, seeing as your nose is always buried in a book. But you cook and you clean, so you'll make an ideal roommate, and I can find my own way around New York, no problem."

Blaine stared at Cooper with undisguised horror. "You're… You're coming to live with me, in New York?"

Please no! My pre-law studies are hard enough to combine with my barista job! I don't need an annoying big brother shooting my concentration with his loud attention-seeking.

Cooper nodded, beaming. "Won't it be wonderful? Just like old times! You must be so lonely, living there all by yourself. I'll cheer you up no end! That's settled then… When you go back to New York for your sophomore year, I'll be right there by your side!"

I'm not lonely. I don't need other people. I like living alone. It's how I was raised, with Mom and Dad barely at home. I've always been by myself, and that's just the way I like it. It keeps me focused on my studies, which I need if I want to take double courses and graduate early.

Blaine looked at his mother and father in a wordless plea for them to dissuade Cooper of this really REALLY bad idea, but they nodded and looked pleased.

"That would be lovely," Pam said. "I've been worried about my little honey bee all alone in New York this year. I know you can look after yourself, sweetie, but you never mention any friends or any parties you go to. You seem so isolated. Cooper will help you with that. He makes friends with everyone, and he'll take you under his wing, won't you, cookie bear?"

Both Blaine and Cooper winced when their mother used their childhood nicknames, but Cooper was quick to plaster his smile on again and promise that he would look after his baby brother to the best of his ability.

Of course, as soon as they were in New York, it proved to be the other way round, as Blaine had feared. Cooper was a terrible slob, leaving take-out cartons and empty soda cans around and never even using a coaster. Blaine had thankfully had the foresight to varnish the dining room table and the coffee table when he arrived in New York the previous year, so they were Cooper-proof already. The other furniture suffered, though, and Blaine had to make it a habit to check for white rings on the wood as soon as he came home from school every day, armed with the hair dryer to limit the damage.

If it had been up to Cooper, he would never have lifted a finger around the house, and Blaine had to threaten him with telling their mother about some of Cooper's exploits from their childhood to get him to help with the dishes and the laundry and the cleaning. "You live here, too, Coop! You can't expect me to do all the work. That's not fair! I already do all the cooking and the grocery shopping. And I have school and a job. You have a lot more time than I do."

"No, I don't!" Cooper protested vehemently. "I'm running here, there and everywhere to audition, all day long, and when I'm not auditioning, I'm training my voice or doing method acting exercises."

Blaine raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Well, right now I'm assigning you the method acting exercise of being a helpful brother. That will be a stretch, I know, but I'm sure you can manage if you really apply yourself."

Blaine handed Cooper a towel. "I'll wash, you dry."

Cooper grumbled "Slave driver!" under his breath, but dutifully reached for the plates that were already in the drying rack.

K&B

It was already November, and Blaine had been quietly despairing of his brother ever getting a job, when on a cold and snowy Friday, Cooper stormed into the apartment yelling "I got the part! I got the part!"

Blaine, who'd been working on an essay at his desk in the living room, looked up, startled. Cooper tugged Blaine off his chair and hugged him, picking him up and swinging him around as though Blaine was a five-year-old. Blaine's reading glasses slipped off his nose, and he shivered as the snow covering Cooper's coat seeped through his sweater.

"Coop, please! Take off your coat and your shoes at the door. You're leaving snow trails all over the floor, and I've only just mopped yesterday!"

"I got the part, squirt!" Cooper repeated.

"Brilliant!" Blaine replied tersely. "Now take off your shoes and leave them on the mat, and take off your coat and hang it up properly. Once that is done, you can tell me all about the part you got."

"Spoilsport!" Cooper grumbled, but he took his shoes and coat off and put them on the mat and the hat rack, as instructed.

Blaine put his reading glasses neatly in their case and turned around to face his brother again. "Okay. Tell me all about it!"

Apparently, Cooper's wild dreams of becoming a big Broadway star were about to become reality, as he had been cast as Nicky Arnstein in a new production of Funny Girl.

"That's wonderful," Blaine enthused. "So who's playing Fanny Brice?

Cooper shrugged. "A complete unknown. Her name is Rachel, and she's still in school. NYADA. Sings well, though. And recognised me from the commercials, so she's a fan. Said her roommate used to have the jingle as his ringtone."

Cooper preened when he said that last bit, and Blaine rolled his eyes. "I can't say much for their taste in ringtones. That jingle was beyond annoying."

Cooper stuck his tongue out at Blaine. "You're just jealous that I'm famous and you're not."

Blaine raised an eyebrow. "Am I really?"

Cooper let out an exasperated huff. "No, you're a cold fish who doesn't even get properly excited when his own brother snags a lead role on Broadway!"

Blaine smiled and tackled Cooper in a hug. "It's amazing, and I'm really happy for you, Coop. Though technically, Fanny Brice is the lead role in Funny Girl, not Arnstein."

Blaine chuckled as Cooper cuffed the back of his head, and went back to his neglected essay.