CHAPTER ONE

Exhilarating….totally and completely high on life. That's how Blaine felt, stepping out of the airport in New York City. It was something he'd wanted to do for years, ever since he realized that Ohio was not the place to be if you wanted to be out, proud and accepted. Here though….here he could be himself. He knew, from visiting Cooper last summer, that New York was it for him. It hadn't taken him too long after graduating from college to realize that he just wasn't happy in his home state, and he knew he needed to make some changes.

Finally out of college with his teaching degree, as well as music and theater classes under his belt, he was moving on and starting his life here. Hopefully, there would be a teaching position to be had, but if not, he'd deal with it. He didn't care if he waited tables, sang for his supper or hung off the back end of a garbage truck for a living…he was staying. He was home. Now all he needed to do was find one….a home. There was no way he could stay with Coop for any length of time. The 3 week visit last time had nearly killed them both. For brothers, they were awfully different. He found it amazing that they could get along so well together, but when forced to share a roof, they became cranky and irritable towards each other almost immediately. First order of business, though, was to find a job. A job meant he could actually PAY for the home he was seeking. He bought a paper out of the metal box in front of the airport and hailed a taxi, giving him Coop's address. Turning to the Jobs section, he pulled a pen out of his backpack and started searching.

LATER THAT WEEK…..

He sat at Coop's small kitchen table and read the paper, circling ads for apartments, asking Coop for advice on this or that neighborhood. The really good ones were circled in red, the next level of acceptability was circled in blue and the ones in yellow…well, those were reserved for the day that nothing else worked out and Coop chased him out with a meat cleaver.

"So how about North Chippendale?" Blaine asked, not looking up from the paper. "Sounds like an…..entertaining…neighborhood if you ask me!" Blaine grinned, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"And it absolutely IS entertaining, little bro, if you consider getting raped and mugged while returning from work on a nightly basis to be 'entertainment' enough for you!"

"Oh…ok, scratch that then…." Blaine said with a look of "YIKES!" on his face. Yep….yellow it is, on that one. "Well, no sense in circling all day. I may as well call a few of these and get started."

"You want me to tag along when you go look at 'em?"

"Um…..if you have time, sure. I don't really even know what I'm looking for, ya know? I don't need much...somewhere to sleep, somewhere to eat, somewhere to shower and maybe hang my clothes up, right?"

"For now, that's all you need. You'll outgrow it fast though, I'm sure. And what about your piano? I thought you said mom was having it shipped up here for you?" Coop asked.

"Dad won't let her. He said I'd made my bed and now I could sleep in it. And did I mention he's not sending THAT either?"

"WHAT? Are you freakin' kidding me?!" Cooper yelled, obviously pissed off.

"Not kidding, so as much as I didn't want to dip into my savings, it looks like I'm going to have to. I hope grandpa won't be disappointed in me. The will clearly stated the money was for important things." Blaine quietly stated.

"You were always his favorite, you know that. It's why he left all of his money to you…ok, I got a few cents here and there, too. And, in my book, having a bed to sleep on is kind of important. " Coop laughed. "In fact, I think ANYthing you chose to spend the money on would be 'important' in his book. He could never deny you anything, Blainers. I'll buy you a bed with my 'few cents' if it'll make you less apprehensive about spending anything, although why you're hoarding it is beyond me."

"A few cents, huh? That was quite a few cents as I recall. In fact, it was enough 'cents' to make dad hyperventilate if I recall correctly."

"Ahhhh, I remember it well. I don't think I've ever seen him that angry, or his face that red. He sputtered out half words and his eyes were so wild. I loved every damn minute of it, ya know?" Coop said, smiling as if it was a fond memory of his childhood.

"You're ate up, man!" Blaine laughed at him. "But in a good way….in an 'I don't know what I'd do without your sorry ass' way for sure!"

Coop was still staring up into the corner of the kitchen as if he was reliving his most prized memory. "Ahhhhh, dad nearly apoplectic…..warms the heart, doesn't it, bro?"

"Ate up, man…..seriously ate up!" Blaine smirked. "But yeah…..it was pretty fun!"

"You suppose he'll ever talk to us again?"

"You care?" Coop questioned him.

"Not in the least….you?"

"Coop…..he wrote me off long ago. He hasn't held a civil conversation with me in 6 years. The will nearly did him in. He's made no effort to disguise the disgust and hatred he has for me since grandpa died. Honestly? I think the ONLY reason he didn't throw me out, bodily, the day I graduated from Dalton was because he still had hopes that he'd get part of the money….in fact, I'm pretty sure he figured it was in the bag, being the only son and all that. Who the hell knew grandpa would yank it around that way? Not me, that's for damn sure!"

"You're right…he was absolutely expecting it. Not that he'd done a damn thing to earn it or deserve it, though….he always treated gramps like shit, ya know? That always bothered me. "

"Agreed. I miss mom, though." Mused Blaine

"She'll call, don't you worry. You know she has her own cell phone, right?"

"What?! Really?" he smile, laughing and shaking his head.

"Yeah….she calls me from work, mostly, but sometimes she'll call from a prepaid cell. Dad would go over the edge if he knew, but she won't give up on us, bro." Coop slung an arm over Blaine's shoulders and pointed to his cell on the table. "You gonna wait on them to call you about the apartments?"

"So, here goes nothin'…." Blaine said, dialing the phone number in the ad. Little did he know it was going to be a long two weeks looking at a bunch of really crappy rentals.