"Time for a road trip, tadpole."

"Quit calling me that, Coop. I'm not a little kid any more. And you were just on the road."

"Doesn't mean I can't do it all over again."

Cooper Anderson had been home little more than two days, and already he was itching to be somewhere else. As a concept, Blaine would never understand why someone would be so anxious to be away from home. But having witnessed a lifetime of his brother's wanderlust, it made perfect sense in the context of Cooper Hubble Anderson.

Blaine was scarcely home from his evening hike when Cooper started dropping hints that he had plans for his little brother. Two hours later, after bouncing from living room to kitchen to wherever Blaine was at the moment, Cooper had yet to take the hint that not only did Blaine consider himself too busy for his brother's shenanigans, but he was also perfectly happy staying close to home.

"I can't just go wandering off. I have a job, Coop."

"So do I, usually."

"A 9-5 job. Sometimes, a 9-to-midnight or beyond job. I can't go on a road trip."

"A mini-road trip then. San Diego, for the weekend. Beaches. Blondes. Clubs. Blondes. The zoo. Blondes."

"I think I got, it, Coop. Lots of things to do."

"We'll head down there as soon as you're done with work Friday, back home at a reasonable hour on Sunday. Time for a little brotherly bonding. OK?"

Blaine looked at him suspiciously. There were a dozen other things he could or even should be doing. He should be online with Juilliard, planning the few remaining segments of his college career. He should be spending more time with a keyboard or his guitar, because he was falling behind on practice hours since moving to L.A. He should be spending time online with Kurt, and hold true to his vow that he would remain positive -- and persistent -- in seeing him before the end of summer.

Instead, he caved, as he often did to his influential older brother. 

****
Cooper knew that Blaine saw him as basically clueless and whim-driven, but he was more in tune with his brother's habits, body language and verbal cues than Blaine had ever given him much credit for.

He knew that while Blaine's painful history ultimately resulted in his transformation into a physically strong man, it also resulted in a carefully hidden thread of emotional vulnerability.

He had followed Blaine's infrequent Facebook posts and noticed a change in tone, always a sign that something was amiss with his little brother. He'd noticed that responses to his text messages with increasingly short, and sometimes terse. It took less than five minutes through the door for him to notice Blaine's slumped posture, dull eyes and and quiet demeanor. 

He either screwed up an exam or there's trouble in paradise -- and he's not in school right now.

Cooper knew full well that the ease that Blaine carried himself with in public -- the relaxed smiles, the childlike enthusiasm -- was often little more than a ruse. The moment the crowds dispersed, or the class was over, when Blaine felt safe to let down his guard, he could coil into himself in retreat. Cooper, despite being gone for much of Blaine's life, knew this almost intuitively. He saw the signs when he walked through the door two days ago, and this weekend, he intended to get to the bottom of it.

****

They arrived at their downtown hotel at a time that Cooper considered absolutely perfect for the start of a late-night bar crawl through the Gaslamp Quarter.

Blaine considered it an equally perfect time to go to sleep, and quickly flopped on to his bed and grabbed the remote control.

Cooper unpacked, changed and refreshed to make sure that his dark hair looked meticulously unkept. He was ready to hit some clubs, and he wasn't taking no for an answer.

"Do you know how many bands are playing right now, right out there?" he said, pointing out the window. "It's Friday, and the night's just getting started. I promise you, whatever you're in the mood for is out there."

"I'm in the mood for sleep," Blaine said, flicking on the TV. 

"What happened to the guy who wanted to see everything? Experience everything?"

"He saw it. Now he wants to sleep."

"Not happening, lil bro. You haven't been here before and I would be derelict in my brotherly duties if I didn't introduce you to San Diego's nightlife," Cooper said, committed to his argument. "Besides, I need a wingman."

"Coop ..." Blaine whined in protest.

"No go, lil bro. Get changed."

Blaine rolled his eyes and peeled himself off the mattress with exaggerated labor. Just to annoy Cooper, he took his own sweet time getting changed into a pair of slim-fit Levis and a striped polo. With a 'you win' smirk, he declared himself fit for duty.

****

A late night became an early morning, but Blaine couldn't find it in himself to sleep past 9, not when his stomach was growling like an old muscle car. Cooper was passed out cold on his bed, and Blaine knew it could be hours before his brother was mobile.

"Screw it. I'm hungry," he said, heading out the door and to the nearest diner. On his way, he passed trendy shops full of kitschy souvenirs. Near the front of one store: A rack of postcard recreations of old time historic photos of San Diego. 

Breakfast could wait a few minutes. He found just the right one, and wrote a quick note over coffee.

Did you know San Diego has the Largest Outdoor Organ In The World? That's information worth knowing, Kurt.  ( :

Love,

B

****

Once Cooper managed to open his eyes, he became a blur of energy, and outlined a day of activities he'd planned.

Blaine would have been content to spend the day by the pool, but Cooper insisted. They would go see the pandas at the zoo, then stroll through the Balboa Park museums ("There's a torture exhibit at the Museum of Man!" he said with inexplicable enthusiasm.), then hurry back to the hotel to get cleaned up before seeing a new play at the Old Globe Theatre. A director that Cooper hoped to work with was directing, and he had purchased tickets in hopes of meeting and cornering him for a few minutes.

Over the course of the day, Cooper stuck to light, jokey topics: The constant state of 74-degree weather in San Diego ("It's an urban legend," he said. "Sometimes it's 75."), the Buckeyes' prospects for the coming college football season, the possibility of bridging from television to film or even stage to up his credibility as a "serious" actor.

He eventually made his way to what he really wanted to talk about: Blaine's well-being and his plans for the future.

Blaine would give him a non-committal answer. "Finish Juilliard. Write music. Perform." Nothing telling, nothing Cooper didn't already know. Nothing about Kurt.

He would try again on Sunday morning, when he took Blaine to brunch at the Hotel del Coronado, a historic beachside resort that had hosted presidents, rock stars and Marilyn Monroe during the filming of Some Like It Hot.

Its Sunday brunch was a lavish institution for locals and tourists alike, spanning a oceanfront rotunda with displays of seafood, carving stations and elaborately constructed desserts, not to mention waiters serving as many margaritas as champagne cocktails.

As the second round of drinks hit the table -- a Bellini for Blaine, a Bloody Mary for Cooper, the older brother decided to make another pass at trying to unlock whatever his younger sibling was keeping carefully sealed inside.

"You're a little quieter than usual," Cooper said. "Getting a little homesick?"

"Define 'home'," Blaine responded cryptically. "Fine. I know what you're getting at. I know I haven't been exactly myself the lately, and I keep going over and over why that is. And I've come to the conclusion that it's because ... I'm happy here."

"You're making absolutely no sense, Blaine."

"I'm happy here in California, and that's a problem because I have a life in New York."

"And a Kurt."

"Yes, and a Kurt. That's my problem, and, I think, Kurt's."

Blaine finally opened up, telling Cooper about shutting down around Kurt, about the letters, about spending half the previous Saturday night pouring his heart out to another man he barely knew. About guilt, and need, and responsibility. 

"And I think Kurt's just as confused as I am."

"Why's that?"

"I shut him out for two weeks. We hardly spoke. Then I sent him my heart."

"Once again Blaine, not making sense."

"A brooch, a pin. From an artist in Laguna. It was a heart. I'm pretty sure that gave him whiplash."

"And you?"

"Me too, a little, I guess. We've been apart before, for nearly a year, and it wasn't nearly as hard as this. We had a couple of rough patches, but nothing like this. I think it's because we both knew we were going to end up together at the end of it. We had a plan. And I keep telling him this is temporary, that it's an opportunity. I tell him that I'm coming home, but I don't think he believes it. And lately, there are times when I don't believe it, either. 

"It's a good fit for me here, Coop. I feel like I've been given a chance to earn something on my own and I've just never felt that before.

"I've been trying to convince him to come out here, even if it's just for a weekend, just to see it. He just wants nothing to do with it. I didn't think it would be so hard to get him to visit me, but he won't even discuss it."

Cooper sat quietly for a moment, then chuckled to himself. Blaine neither expected or wanted that reaction and simply glared.

"Did you ever consider that he's just worried about losing you?" Cooper said. "He's got a life, too, Blaine -- and it's in New York. What happens to him if you stay here? Maybe he thinks that staying there will bring you back to him sooner.  

"Do you love him?"

"Of course."

"You want a future with him?"

"Always."

"Maybe he needs to know that he can have the same future here that he has in New York, or that you two have a future in New York, or wherever. Whatever it is, maybe you need to reassure him of that."

"I moved to New York for him."

"Years ago, Blaine -- where you were able to pursue your interests as well as your heart. What about Kurt?"

Blaine look down at the table, the through the windows toward the beach, then over to the guitarist in the corner -- anywhere but across the table to his brother.

"Shit, Cooper. You're right."

"Of course."

"... for a change. When did you become a relationship guru?"

"Just because I don't apply these magical skills for myself doesn't mean I can't use them for the greater good."

Blaine cracked the biggest grin that Cooper had seen all weekend, and flagged the waiter for another Bellini.

"And people think you're the smart brother," Cooper muttered.

****

Kurt could feel his pulse double-time when he pulled the card out of the mailbox. Back to normal, he thought with relief. Already an old habit, he pulled his phone from his jacket pocket and sent Blaine a text before he'd even made it to the front door.

Largest Outdoor Organ? Please, fill me in. ( ;

He looked at the text. That'll get his attention, he thought, smiling to himself. He was  satisfied that they seemed to be on the right track again. Blaine's postcard signaled that he might be out of his funk, playful and flirtatious once again.

Within moments, his phone rang. Kurt didn't even make time for 'Hello'.

"Do you have WiFi? Switch over to FaceTime," he said.

"Hmmm?"

"I want to show you something."

Blaine switched over to the video conference app and looked into the screen on his phone. Eventually, a figure appeared. Kurt was smoothing down the collar on his jacket, stopping to touch something. 

He pulled his hand away to reveal the silver jigsaw puzzle heart. Blaine beamed. "You're wearing it!"

"I was going to wear it on my sleeve, but ..."

"I wasn't sure you'd like it," Blaine said, sounding sheepish.

"Of course I like it. I love it. I'm wearing it every day -- and you know I never do that," Kurt said, touching his collar and making an imperceptible adjustment to the heart, just as he had a thousand times that day.

"I told you I love it, and I do, Blaine. ... I love you."

"I love you, too, even if I have odd ways of showing it sometimes. I was never good at romance."

"You ooze romance. You do unexpected things, unexpected romantic things. How many people get weekly love letters from their boyfriends? How many people can say that their partner's still trying to sweep them off their feet years after they met? How many, Blaine? Because I can say that, and I treasure it."

Kurt paused, looking straight into the grainy image of his boyfriend with the earnest expression of someone trying to make a life-altering point.

"Just don't serenade me in a Gap store."

Blaine laughed, then face-palmed, and laughed some more, more than he had in weeks.

"Just when I thought you were going soft on me," he said.

"One thing I can promise," Kurt said in an exaggerated stage whisper. "I'll never go soft on you."

Blaine's eyebrows shot up, and he raised his hand to his mouth. "Kurt!" he said a little too loud, then quickly lowered his voice. "Um, as much as I appreciate it, I'm sitting in a coffee shop right now and I think the next table over just heard that."

"Then I'm just getting started ..."

"Oh no you don't, not unless I can be an active and very vocal participant.  How about tonight? Skype?"

"If I must, but I'm kind of enjoying this, Blaine."

"That's exactly what I'm worried about," Blaine said, a hint of a blush creeping across his face. "Eight o'clock? In the mean time, I haven't forgotten your letter."

"I was starting to wonder. I usually get an email after the postcard. Today I got a call -- not that I'm complaining."

"You'll have it soon enough. Every gory detail of my brotherly bonding weekend -- and why I'm convinced Cooper will be the death of me. I just wanted to hear your voice."

"And you got to see me ..."

"And I got to see you. Eight o'clock, my time. Now check your email."

****

TO: Kurt Hummel
FROM: Blaine Anderson
RE: Of enormous organs and Shakespeare in the park

Before he could go any further, Kurt went to pour himself a drink. He was going to  take the time to savor this.