#thatdapperfellow

Home.  It was such a relative word.  The only thing still home about this place was the reason he was here in the first place: he needed to see Blaine with his own eyes and make sure that he was all right.  His parents were so unreliable in keeping him in the loop of what was happening in Blaine’s life, and Coop had lost the connection he once had with his baby brother since he graduated from college.  He needed that back.  He needed Blaine back in his life.  He figured two weeks in Ohio to reconnect was a place to start, if Blaine allowed it.

Cooper moved down the hall, glancing at the family photos, still moments of the ideal family his father so wanted to project.  Stepping into his old room, which Cooper knew was now a guest room; he dropped his bag on the bed and ran his hand through his hair.  He wondered where everyone was.  His parents would be out at work or at one of their many many social events that kept them away so much the house was more like the place where they stored their belongings than a family home, and Blainers was probably out with friends.   Figuring it was his Big Brother Prerogative to snoop in Blaine’s room while Baby Boy was away, he crept down with a grin the hall and opened the door to Blaine’s room.

Only for the smile to slide right off his face.  Blaine’s room was like a blank canvas.  The bed was made, but it had no more personal items than Coop’s old room.  The pictures and posters were gone, along with all the books and knickknacks he knew Blaine had kept on his shelves.  Stepping over to the closet and throwing open the doors, Cooper found the racks and shelves empty.  Blaine was gone.

Cooper whirled around in confusion and anger. Blaine had moved out and his parents didn’t even bother to tell him?!? Where the hell was his brother?

He knew his parents were distant, but he couldn’t believe they would keep this kind of news from him.  The fact that Blaine also never said anything was like a knife in Cooper’s heart.  Clearly, this reunion was WAY overdue.  He needed to fix this.  He didn’t care if Blaine lived elsewhere.  He was actually a little glad Blaine escaped this oppressive house too, but now he needed to find him as soon as possible.  He only had two weeks to make things right between them.  There was no time to lose searching around for Blaine’s new address.

Cooper ran both hands through his hair, allowing himself a moment of frustrations, before taking a deep breath and letting the anxiety out with the exhale.  He’d been worried he was out-of-the-loop in Blaine’s life before.  There were nights he would unashamedly Facebook stalk his brother because it had been so long since they talked and he had to know something about how Blaine was doing.  He would sit at his favorite coffee shop and chuckle whenever Blaine posted a status that ended with the location marker –at The Lima Bean.  Cooper had a running tally in his head, and it seemed like half of Blaine’s posts came from there.

It was a place to start anyway.  Cooper ran back out of the house, not wanting to waste time, and programmed the Lima Bean into the onboard GPS.  The drive was fairly quick and the crowd light at the coffee shot, as it was after lunch but too early for dinner.  Cooper would give it 30 minutes, or three Grande double shot Macchiatos (whichever passed first) before texting Blaine to meet him.  Cooper did not make this hasty trip only to spoil the surprise after one set back. 

Of course after three of those babies, Coop would probably be bouncing off the walls, but he figured it would just make him feel closer to his brother, as he’d undoubtedly be jumping on the furniture on a caffeine high by then.