𝗚𝗟𝗘𝗘 | 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻

𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫

CHAPTER XIV : BIG BROTHER

Quinn was alive, and I couldn't have been happier. She was in a wheelchair, but hey, she was here.
I'm Still Standing — Elton John (Sung By Quinn & Artie)
We applauded Artie and Quinn loudly, so glad that she was happy, or at least cheerful "Here's a lesson for your board, Mr. Schue. Don't text and drive. Ever" Quinn said, making light of her situation "It's the stupidest thing I've ever done. Besides sleeping with Puck. There are a lot of rumors floating around, so let's clear the air. First of all, all my plumbing still works, which is awesome. But my spine was severely compressed in the car accident, which basically means I can't move my feet or legs. But the good thing is that I'm starting t regain feeling, so with a lot of physical therapy, and your prayers, I stand a good chance of a full recovery. So no tears. That means you Tina, and you, Naya" "I love you Quinny" called out to her, after wiping my tears away. She smiled softly back at me before continuing to speak. "Oh, and I apologize for the number. My dance moves aren't as smooth as Artie's yet" "With practice, they will be" Artie said, smiling encouragingly at Quinn "I promise that by the time we go to Nationals, I'll be out of this chair, and dancing on that stage" Quinn said, trying to inspire herself. Everyone clapped for her and I got out of my seat, running over to her. I hugged her tightly, and she wrapped her arms around my waist and pulled me into her lap, making everyone chuckle as I squealed "I'll wheel you to class" She said, putting her hands down on the wheels as I wrapped my arms around her shoulders "Bye, guys!" I called out, waving as Quinn and I wheeled out, laughing.
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"I thought Booty Camp was over" I whispered to Blaine as the entire Glee Club danced together on the auditorium stage "Same," He said, slightly out of breath as he did a spin. I tried to copy him but tripped, making him laugh "Oh, go away," I said, chuckling as well and pushing gently on his arm "Stop! Please, stop!" Sue shouted over the megaphone "This is an embarrassment. Hey, Mercedes. Who are you texting?" "I'm not texting anyone. I'm donating to the Obama campaign" She said unbelievably,
Sue walked over to her, took the phone out of her hand, and threw it across the auditorium "My Droid" "Good news! I booked a tour at the Railroad Museum on Friday, which means we're gonna have an awesome Senior Ditch Day" Finn exclaimed, trolling into the room, unaware of Sue's presence. He looked up from his phone and saw Sue, his smile immediately fading "What is she doing here?" "Hey, Granny Panties! I'm taking over Booty Camp!" She shouted at Finn, she then walked back to the front of the classroom and started yelling- pacing up and down "You're out of shape, you're constantly late, and when you're not too busy texting you're complaining about the choreography you're too lazy to learn!
You're nothing but a coven of tardiness. narcissistic, bloated bags of cellulite who will stab each other in the back at the first glimpse of a solo in a competition hosted by a late-night horror movie host. Well, those days are over"
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Blaine and I walked down the corridor, hand-in-hand but Blaine's mind seem to be somewhere else. I squeezed his hand gently and he looked over at me "You okay? You seem a little preoccupied" I said concernedly "Oh, well, my brother's in town. He's picking me up, taking me out to lunch..." Blaine said dismissively "Blaine, that's exciting! I finally get to meet this mysterious brother of yours, who you refuse to talk about. I'm dying to know what he looks like" I said, opening my locker and pulling out my history book and notes "Oh, trust me, you...you already know what he looks like" Blaine said vaguely "What is he famous or something?" I said closing my locker "Blainie!" A man's voice called, walking towards us "Hey, he calls you Blaine too, just like you and Moriah both call me Nay-Nay" I said, turning to face Blaine and the man who approached us. Blaine chuckled before turning to face his brother "Hey, Coop!" Blaine said, his voice more excited than his face was. They hugged, asking each other how they were and I stared at Blaine's brother, trying to work out who he was. I just didn't recognize him. They pulled away from each other and the brother looked over at me "This, this is your girlfriend?" He asked, holding his hand out to me "Actually, yes, it is. Naya, this is my brother, Cooper Anderson" I accepted Cooper's handshake and smiled warmly at him "It's nice to meet you" He said, shaking my hand "Nice to meet you too" I said, before pulling my hand back to my side. I threw Blaine a confused look, not understanding why I should recognize Cooper "He—He's the guy from the freecreditratingtoday.com commercials" Blaine explained and I nodded my head in understanding "Oh—oh, congratulations! That's a big deal" I said, trying to act like I had seen the commercial "Thank you, yeah, I suppose it is quite a big deal" Cooper said, pretending to be modest but I could tell I had accidentally inflated his ego "Excuse me, I'm sorry to interrupt, but, um..." Sue said, coming up to us and pulling Cooper away "Do you have no idea who he is?" Blaine asked, wrapping an arm around my waist "No, not really. I may have seen that commercial once or twice, but his face just didn't stand out to me, didn't stick in my head—I mean, it didn't have any reason to" I said, shrugging my shoulders. I heard Blaine sigh in relief and I turned to him, pressing a kiss to his cheek "Is he signing her breast?" I asked in shock when I glanced over at Sue and Cooper "Oh, that is gross" Blaine said, looking away from them and burying his head on my shoulder. I chuckled slightly at his reaction as Cooper gestured for us to come with him. Blaine stepped to his brother's side, Cooper putting his arm around his shoulders. I stifled a laugh at just how small he was "My commercial's on hiatus, so I told my agent I was headed back to the heartland to press the flesh and do some character research. Next season's commercials have a lot more intense, gritty character stuff, so I really want to explore my salt-of-the-earth roots" Cooper said, and once again I stifled a laugh, at least now I knew that dramatizes runs the Anderson family. If Blaine and I ever had kids, they would be the most over-dramatic kids ever. Someone walked past us, staring at Cooper intensely "Blaine, your brother's the best-looking man in North America" They said as they walked past. I glared at them as they walked past, they had hurt Blaine's self-esteem and I was not having it "Um, Coop and I are gonna head..." "Excuse me, Gaston, if I could pull you away from these ladies for just a moment; I have something I'd like to ask you," Sue said, pulling Cooper away "Yeah, I mean, that's—that's why I never really talk about my brother," Blaine said, faking a smile. I smiled sympathetically at him and wrapped my arm around his waist, pressing a kiss to the side of his face "You know, for the record, I think you're the best-looking man in North America" "Well, good thing your opinion is the only one that matters then, huh?"Blaine said, chuckling softly.
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Later in the day, we were in Glee club when Sue and Cooper walked in. I felt Blaine tense up slightly beside me and I took his hand, rubbing the back of it comfortingly "Lazy idiots, your leader Will Schuester has informed me that my teaching methods are harsh and too extreme. So I've decided to show you what a real artist looks like and acts like. Ladies and gays, as my gift to you, which you do not deserve, I give you, Strawberry Shorteake's famous brother..." "A-Actually it's my brother" Blaine interjected "...Cooper Anderson" Everyone clapped politely as Cooper walked up. He walked straight to Sue, kissing her directly on the lips and Blaine recoiled beside me, squeezing my hand "Guys, it was just a few years ago that I was sitting in a sad drab room like this with dreams like yours that I thought would never come true. But you know what? They did. So, tomorrow, at Sue's insistence, I will be teaching a Master's class in acting for anyone interested in becoming successful in the business like me" "Has he done anything else besides the commercial?" I whispered to Blaine, Blaine shook his head and I nodded my head slowly. This guy just had a really big ego and it didn't sit right with me "Cooper, we can't thank you enough. This so generous of you to share time and expertise" Mr. Schue praised and I couldn't help the little scoff that escaped my mouth. Expertise? This guy was in one commercial, Blaine and I had been in a Christmas special which all of Ohio saw, much more impressive "Well, it's very clear that the Anderson brothers are very talented, and I'm sure that there were many a family holiday where the two of you maybe did a little duet by the piano?" Rachel said, hinting that she wanted them to sing "Not famous" Blaine said modestly "We were pretty famous around the neighborhood-" Cooper insisted despite
Blaine protests "For—for our dueling Simon LeBon impressions" "Oh, no, no, no, no. Please don't make me do that" Blaine said, glancing down at our joined hands, avoiding his brother's gaze "Oh, no, Blaine you have to" Kurt said from behind us "Come on, Blaine. What do you say?" How about a little Duran Duran? Is that okay?" Cooper asked Mr. Schue quickly. Mr. Schue said it was fine and gestured for Blaine to join him at the front. Blaine's grip on my hand tightened and I leaned closer to him "You don't have to if you don't want to, love" I whispered to him "Come on, get up here" Cooper insisted. Blaine sighed loudly and let go of my hand, agreeing to go and sing with him "Okay, okay" Cooper leaned towards him, attempting to I don't know flick his nose or something but Blaine leaned away awkwardly "You're on, Cooper" Blaine said, taking his cardigan off and placing it on the piano "Oh, the cardigan's coming off" Cooper teased as Blaine rolled up his sleeves "Whoo! Go, Blaine!" I cheered, holding my thumbs up. Blaine smiled appreciatively at me.
Hungry Like The Wolf / Rio — Duran Duran (Sung By Blaine & Cooper)
It became obvious that this song was some sort of competition between the two boys, Cooper even pushed Blaine during t and you could see Blaine's smile fade slightly. At the end of the song, Cooper pulled Blaine closer to him, wrapping his arm around his shoulders and whispering something to him. I saw Blaine's smile fade again and mine did as well, there was something about Cooper that I—I just didn't like.
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"Why did we come to this?" Blaine asked me as we sat down in Cooper's Master
Class "You promised him you would, and then practically begged me into coming with you, even though I want to be a singer," I said, taking a seat beside. Cooper spun around, clapping his hands and cheering "Welcome, guys, to the Cooper Anderson Acting Master class" Cooper said to a round of applause "Buckle your seat belts, kids, buckle your seat belts 'cause I'm about to pour you a tall glass of 'This is how it is'. First thing you're gonna want to know. Don't go to college. It is a waste of time. Number two: Don't go to New York. The theater is lame and Broadway is dead. Real actors do TV and film, which means Hollywood is where it's at. Now let's talk headshots. Always, without fail, turn into a pose. Again. And Again. And one more time" He said, repeatedly pulling poses. I looked around, seeing Rachel and a few others taking notes. I pretended to be listening and taking notes but in reality, I was sitting there doodling, a picture of Cooper with devil horns and a devil tail "What, are you taking notes?" Blaine whispered, looking down at me "No, I'm drawing" I whispered back, showing him my picture. He did a weird little laugh that made the both of us crack up laughing "Yes, that is a dynamic headshot—Blaine, Naya, are you listening?" Cooper said, stopping his talk. Blaine and I calmed down and stopped laughing, nodding our heads at Cooper "Yes, sorry, Coop, continue" Blaine said, covering his mouth with his hand. Cooper frowned slightly before looking away from us and back at the rest of the class "Anyway, what was I saying—oh yes, You just got your first callback. So now you've got your 'sides.' Your foot's in the door. What do you do next? Gotta figure out if is it comedic or is it dramatic. Often, it's hard to tell, right? So do what I do: ask the director. 'Is this scene comedic or dramatic? He will know you're an actor who's not afraid to ask the tough questions, right?" "Why are you writing this down?" Blaine asked Kurt beside him, he was taking notes, not just doodling like me "Okay, what's the key to a dramatic scene" Cooper asked "Finding the emotion" Sam said, and I was surprised he wasn't zoned out like I was. It was one of the reasons we got on so well, we both couldn't concentrate properly during classes "Connecting with your scene partner" Rachel said, waving her hand in the air excitedly "Oh, no, no, and no. The key to a dramatic scene is pointing. When people are emotional, they point their fingers a lot" Cooper said, my jaw dropped at the stupidity of what he was saying "That's not true at all. That's—that's terrible advice" Blaine interrupted, having enough of his brother "Excuse me, guys, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Blaine. Are you an internationally beloved spokesman for the Internet's fastest-growing credit score website?" Cooper asked cockily "No" Someone answered for him "I didn't think so," Cooper said, walking away from Blaine "At least he was on TV for longer than two minutes" I muttered, "What was that, Naya?" Cooper asked, turning back to me "I said, at least he was on TV for longer than two minutes. You see, Cooper, I've only known you for a little while, and before I met you I had no idea who you were, so you can't be 'internationally beloved' if there are people just in America that don't know who you are. Plus, Blaine was Tony in the school musical and he starred in the Lima Christmas Spectacular, which was actually a hit, he's also helped our team win Sectionals and Regionals. So, as far as I'm aware, he's done a lot more in his career as a performer than you have, and he's only 17" I said, crossing my arms. Cooper stared at me in shock, then looked over at Blaine who was smiling appreciatively and sitting up a little straighter in his chair "Wow, you've got her whipped Blaine" Cooper said, brushing off everything I just said and going back to what she was talking about "Thank you" He whispered to me, interlocking our fingers "Any time, babe" I said, squeezing his hand reassuringly. 'Okay, let's focus in. I'm here for you. I don't normally do this but, because your my brother's class, and most of you guys are so nice," He said, throwing a pointed look at me. "I'm gonna give you some Level II stuff." Everyone spoke quietly and excitedly as Cooper grabbed a chair and sat down on it. He also grabbed a briefcase, and placed it down in front of him "The secret to great acting, great acting, ignoring whatever the other actor is doing. Eye contact with a scene partner is incredibly distracting. I try to tune them out entirely. Sometimes I wear earplugs. That way, I don't get distracted by what they're doing, and I can focus on the awesome acting choices I've planned ahead of time. Like eating a roast beef sandwich, right? Other choices I can plan ahead of time: screaming all my lines! Because I'm really intense. And the things I'm feeling are really intense! Because I'm an intense actor! Nicholas Cage, right?!"Cooper said, emphasizing his words loudly. Everyone applauded him, and I stared around in confusion, couldn't they see how awful that advice was? "Alright, guys, I don't want you to go cray-cray, but I brought in "sides..." industry term—from a little show that I auditioned for last week called NCIS," Cooper said, pulling out a few sheets of paper as the class chattered excitedly. Cooper called Blaine, Rachel, Sam, and I up to act out the scene. I was told to lie on the floor and pretend to be dead, whilst the others played the characters in the scene "Now in this scene, Agent Sciuto has just discovered a dead body. Who knows what will unfold? Don't look at each other.
Action" Cooper said, clapping his hands and moving out of the way "Here's what we know. Sergeant Pembroke took a bullet at point-blank range. What we don't know is why he's wearing a dress" Rachel said loudly, pointing at Blaine and not looking at him. "There's a rumor that Sergeant Pembroke was a transvestite." Blaine said, acting like any normal, talented actor would "No, Blaine, say that line again, but this time, point your finger" Cooper said, interrupting the scene "Things are serious; a man in a dress is dead" "I don't really feel like pointing, Coop. Just feels a little stupid" Blaine said, brushing off his brother's crappy advice "Well when a choice feels wrong, it's actually a good sign. It means you're right on the edge, man" "See, I don't know about that. I feel like when a choice-" Cooper interrupted him again, talking over him and you could tell Blaine had reached his breaking point "Coop, you're my brother! Can't you just support me?!" He suddenly shouted "I'm sorry, are you talking to me right Because I can't tell if you're talking to me if you don't point your finger Right? That is lesson number one, guys, right?" The class murmured in agreement and I sat up. reaching out toward Blaine. He looked down at me as I took his hand and then back up at his brother as Cooper placed his hand on his shoulder "Scene, Scene, scene Good work, buddy, Let's go! Whoo! Let's move on to a little acting exercise that I like to call the Emotion Tornado. Get your hands up to the sky-" "Can we go?" He whispered down to me. I nodded my head and he pulled me to my feet. We walked out and as soon as we had left the choir room and turned a corner, he stopped and sighed quietly. I pulled him into my arms and he buried his head into the crook of my neck. He wasn't crying, not like I was when I had that phone call from my mother around the time Mr. Schue proposed, or when I confessed about my mental health. He was quiet as if he was trying to hide the fact that he was crying but I could feel the tears drip onto my shoulder and I held him tighter, trying to offer him the same amount of comfort he had given me on multiple occasions.
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The next day, I walked into the auditorium when I heard music coming from it. I watched discreetly as Blaine sang angrily on the stage.
Fighter — Christina Aguilera (Sung By Blaine)
"You really are an amazing singer," I said, walking up to the stage "Thanks," He said gruffly, flopping down onto the floor. I went and sat down beside him. I poked his arm and he looked up at me "Blaine, talk to me" I said, grabbing his hand and pulling him into a seated position "I'm your girlfriend, I'm here to listen to you, to help you, to comfort you. So tell me what's up" He sighed and fiddled with a loose thread hanging from his sweater "Everything's just always been about him, you know? What role he got, what score did he go on a test, and what commercial he landed? I just—I just want to be noticed for me, not for being Cooper Anderson's little brother. And when you said those things in the Master Class yesterday, it was all I had wanted someone anyone to say, for years and it just made me sad that it was my girlfriend sticking up for me and not my parents, you know? Not that I'm not grateful for you doing that-" "I know you're grateful, don't worry about that" I said, gesturing for him to continue "It just hurts. I wish—I wish so much that Cooper and I could have what you and Moriah have. But we can't, not while he's being an arrogant brat and I'm just being constantly overlooked" "Then tell him that" I said, reaching out to take Blaine's hand "Tell him how you truly feel. Tell him everything you just told me, and hopefully, he'll come around. If not, I don't know, I'll slap him for ya" He chuckled softly and I pulled him into my arms, so his back was pressed against my chest "You're so strong Blaine, I'm so proud of the way you've held up against him your whole life, I'm so proud of you in general. But you need to not be afraid to show your emotions, especially when it's the only way to get him to listen to you" He looked up at me, smiling appreciatively and I leaned down, pressing a kiss to his forehead "I love you Blaine" "I love you too Nay-Nay. And thank you"
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Mr. Schue blew a whistle loudly as he walked onto the auditorium stage for Booty Camp. Everyone gradually stopped chattering and turned to face Mr. Schue as he began to talk "Alright, fair warning: in the glorious history of Booty Camp, this will be the toughest! But first, Quinn's got the floor" Mr. Schue said, giving way to Quinn and the other guy from the God Squad "I invited a friend to join us. You met him on Valentine's Day" Quinm introduced "Teen Jesus" Brittany hollered and he waved warmly at her "He's got a killer voice" Quinn continued happily "Okay, alright" Mr. Schue said amidst the applause "Welcome to the New Directions" "Hey, dude, you have a twig in your hair" Puck said as Joe moved in front of him "Puck" I said, hitting his arm "Don't be a douchebag" Puck held up his hands in surrender and gestured towards Joe's hair again "No, seriously" Puck insisted. Joe felt around in his hair and found the twig, thanking him quietly. Puck turned to me with a cocky smirk on his face "I can be nice sometimes Red Riding Hood" "Coulda fooled me" I said as Puck playfully pushed me "Okay, let's all give our undivided attention to Coach Sue" Mr. Schue said before stepping away "First off, please don't ask me which celebrity is the father of my baby. Please. I will release that information once I've finalized my book and movie deal. Now, it has come to my attention that I have been a tad harsh with some of you. I thought I was being kind. For instance, I said absolutely nothing about the implausible sexual tension between Mercedes and the Kentucky Fried Stripper. Or the sorry fact that you wasted untold millions on a laser show for yourselves just so Sandbags could dance with the night school's Polynesian janitor" "Actually, he was Puerto Rican" Santana interjected "Now, I'll admit I—I behaved badly. I also realized something. I am here for two very important reasons. Number one. Mr.
Schuester needs at least one adult friend.
And number two: I am hoping that the miraculous life growing inside of me can soak up some of your constantly annoying, though admittedly laudable, optimism and decency. Now, I promise to be nicer if you promise to work your talented little butts off until they hand you that first-place trophy in Chicago. All right, sloppy babies, let's take it from the top"
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I popped up behind Blaine's locker, poking a stuffed dog around the edge of his locker door "Hello!" I said, startling him "I'm Margaret Thatcher Dog. My relationship with the Queen was ruff! Look what Finn won you playing skeeball!" "Finn won this?" Blaine asked confusedly, stroking the dog in my hands "Yeah, well Rachel kept making him win stuffed animals for her, and at the end of the day, out of the 14 she had, Finn confiscated this little guy to give to you, and a ginger cat to give to me. I would've won one for you myself, but there was no convincing you in coming with us" I hadn't originally planned on going to the Senior Ditch Day, considering I wasn't a Senior, but Tina was going, as were Rory and Sugar—and Santana practically forced me to come with them, so I did "I would've just brought you guys down" Blaine said sadly, closing his locker and we started to walk off "Look, I get it, family stuff is hard. You said you wished you could have what Lauren and I have, right? Well, you think we don't argue? Well, we do, not so much anymore but when we were younger and my parents were still around we argued a lot more, but then she had to effectively raise me and we became closer, but we still argue. You only get one brother, Blaine. Just like I only get one sister. Don't give up on that" I said, linking my arm through his "He's the one that's leaving. Huge audition, you didn't hear about it?" Blaine said, with a mixture of sadness and frustration in his voice "Actually, he hasn't left yet. He's in the auditorium, hoping that you'll come and talk to him" I said, smiling hopefully at him "I've tried talking to him. Doesn't really work with him" Blaine said gruffly "Maybe talking is not the answer. Maybe you need to show him how you feel in the best, most honest way you know how" I said ominously. I handed him the dog and kissed him on the cheek before skipping off, leaving him to have some alone time with his brother.