Happy Saturday, darlings.
Thank you, as always, for your support and beautiful comments that never fail to make me smile.
In this chapter (which is very short, sorry!), we return to Cooper. I have to admit I fell a bit in love with him while writing this chapter. I hope you will, too.
Thanks to Christine, my favorite beta :)
Enjoy!
There were so many things Cooper had been, and many that he was. He had been handsome – he missed running his fingers through his thick hair –, athletic, and a huge womanizer. He had been ambitious and fearless, strong and healthy, probably too self-centered for his own good, and, more times than he cared to admit, a really bad brother. Now, he liked to think he was a better brother, even though he sometimes failed. He was also tired, too skinny for his taste, but still as much of a flirt as he had always been. He had charm to spare and smiles in abundance, even if they weren't as bright as they once were. He was witty, and funny, and probably not too humble.
He was also not an idiot.
Cooper remembered the day his parents had brought a newborn Blaine home from the hospital. He was a wrinkled pink thing, too loud and annoying to be adorable. He had taken one look at his new brother and decided he did not like him, jealousy a tiny green monster pushing to grow inside of him. When their parents had died, when Blaine was only eight and Cooper an angsty fifteen year old, he resented him even more. All Blaine did was cry and sulk, and their Grandma coddled him too much. Cooper instead channeled his anger and grief through a rebellious phase that, in the end, didn't last long. Cigarettes were disgusting and he was too pretty for the punk rock look – it scared girls away and it was the opposite of what he wanted.
It wasn't until Blaine was about fourteen and struggling to come to terms with his sexuality that Cooper finally came around and learned how to be a better brother. He still remembered walking home from working at the flowershop with his Grandma and seeing Blaine cross the park, followed by a bunch of kids who kept insulting him and pushing him. He had never seen his brother look so small, so defeated, so broken. He had run across the street and yelled at those assholes until they left his brother alone. And then he took one look at Blaine and realized he had no idea who this boy was. It took only a couple of hours together, sitting in a diner sharing french fries and just talking in a way they had never talked before, for Cooper to regret all the time he spent resenting him for absolutely no reason, because when he gave him the opportunity, Blaine was actually a pretty cool kid, with a good sense of humor, compassionate, sensitive and bright, in a way Cooper himself could never be.
That day, he promised himself to always be in Blaine's corner, and he actually put in the effort to be a bigger part of his brother's life. He had helped him come out to their Grandma, walked him home from school when he heard some boys from his class were bullying him, held him through his first heartbreak and unrequited crush, and then once again after his first breakup. Cooper became the first person Blaine called when something important happened, and vice versa.
Sometimes Cooper hated himself for wasting all those years. He had missed out on so many things.
But now, he was the person who knew Blaine best. One look was enough to know if he was happy or sad, telling the truth or lying.
And today Blaine had lied to him.
He had seen on his face, deep in his whiskey eyes, the anguish and the fear. Blaine had looked so tortured, even if he tried to hide it. He might have been able to fool someone who knew him less, but Cooper could read him like a book.
Something Dr. Morales had told his brother hadn't been good. It wasn't hard to figure out – if the cancer had been gone, they wouldn't have made him go through more chemotherapy. No, the results had been bad. Cooper wasn't healing.
He was scared. He didn't want to die – there were so many things he wanted to do and see and experience, but even more than that, the idea of leaving Blaine behind sent a cold shiver down his spine. If something happened to him, Blaine would not only be completely shattered, but also all alone in this world.
That's why Cooper sent him on all those dates, insisted he meet someone, pushed him to put himself out there. He was still intent on beating this thing, on walking out of this hospital victorious, but in case he didn't...
In case he didn't, he wanted to leave the world knowing Blaine would be okay. He wanted him to find the love of his life, he wanted him to have happiness and a bright future to look forward to. Something that would help him move on. Something that would help him heal.
There was one more thing that Cooper had always been, and still was: stubborn as hell. Not even potential death would stop him from finding someone who might be able to pick up the pieces of Blaine's shredded heart.
Raise your hand if you love the Anderbros.
Since this is such a short chapter, there will be an extra update tomorrow :)
See you then!
L.-