here's the second drabble for this anthology. I know it's taken a while but my muse is quite dormant. Also, many thanks to the wonderful aceftepicw for her encouraging words and beta help.
Drabble two - Bouquet of Roses
Cooper Anderson was content with his life; he was a law student at a prestigious university, he had a budding relationship with his little brother and his pregnant girlfriend was coming along nicely.
After years of awkward salutations and unsatisfactory conversations, time and college had managed to help reconstruct his relationship with Blaine. They were finally acting on all the missing scenes in their lives growing up, confiding in each other.
On that aspect, Cooper would be forever grateful for his brother's fiancée, Rachel. She had stubbornly and quite angrily demanded they sit down and reconcile their differences amicably, or else. Cooper was quite certain Rachel would have had them locked for a month's end if need be.
Cooper didn't necessarily dislike Rachel, in fact, he was grateful for her help in mending his relationship with Blaine, and he couldn't deny how Rachel complimented Blaine, and in turn how Blaine kept her grounded. It was palpable the radiating love they emanated; yet there was something that he couldn't quite accept about her.
Each passing day, ever since Blaine's senior year and the inevitable demise that was Klaine, Cooper saw the way Rachel vigorously brought Blaine back to life, the way she believed and accepted Blaine like no one had done before, supporting and counseling Blaine during his senior year. At some point, Cooper was indignant with the ever-constant presence of the little woman in the Anderson residence, with her persistent singing and line reading for various productions in Ohio.
And slowly but surely, he saw how the pieces fell into place, the jigsaw finally completing itself and he saw Blaine genuinely smile, always at her, always. Cooper saw how Blaine progressed from a barely living, depressive mess to the happy and in love with life guy he used to be, and the inevitability of Blaine's moony eyes that have solely and always been directed at Rachel, and even the dopey, silly smile.
As Cooper stood to present his speech as Best Man, his first thoughts gratefully acknowledged Rachel, yet he couldn't help but slightly resent the woman with dreams bigger than her, as she was the one to piece his brother back together, for always being number one in his brother's life.
In the end, despite his maybe unwarranted jealousy, Rachel Berry, now Rachel Anderson, gave Cooper his brother back, the brother he had been missing for 17 years.
The first words out of Cooper's mouth as he began his speech were, "Thank you, Rachel."
It was the witnessing of his little, baby brother look at Rachel as if she were his entire universe, that Cooper realized that blainchel, as some guy present had dubbed them, were in it for the long run.
That was enough for him.
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