156A/N: Thanks so much to my beta Alice aka darlingwendy!
"Will you stop fussing?" Cooper said, laughing as Blaine straightened his tie for the third time. Blaine frowned at his older brother, who was already reaching up to tug the collar away from his neck.
"I'll stop fussing if you stop fidgeting and messing up your tuxedo! Don't you want to look classy at the altar?"
"Classy? Sure, why not. But not stuffy," Cooper countered. "Besides, I can totally pull of the slightly-messy-and-ruffled-but-still-totally-hot look and you know it." Blaine scowled, knowing his brother was right. As much as he hated to admit it, Cooper's (meticulously created) blown away hair and easy smile already made him look charming. Cooper tugged down his tie even further, but Blaine slapped his hand away before he could unbutton his collar. There had to be a line.
"Aren't you nervous at all?" Blaine asked, instead turning to the mirror and fidgeting with his own suit. He patted his pockets, checking for the ring. After assuring himself that it was still safely in place, he moved on to straightening his handkerchief and flower on his tux jacket. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Cooper watching in the mirror, an amused smile on his face.
"I'm fine," Cooper said as Blaine dropped his hands to his sides. "I'm pretty sure you took the brunt of all the wedding nerves. Besides, it's not like I haven't had a lot of practice," he winked. Blaine rolled his eyes.
"Of course you have," he mumbled to himself, abandoning his work on his jacket and moving over to the table where he left his phone. Sam had been texting him since he'd arrived at the church, commenting on the decorations, on some of the guests, and 'blaine. BLAINE. your aunt mildred's hair. i'm just saying.' But at that moment, there were no new texts. Sam would probably text him again in a few minutes, but he'd been hoping for at least something from Kurt, a good luck about the wedding, or even something about the party he was currently attending for Vogue. Blaine pressed the sleep button on his phone and set it back down on the table.
Cooper sighed behind him. "Look, I know you think I should be doing what you're doing, settling down with the 'love of my life' or whatever." He actually put air quotes around 'love of his life.' Sometimes Blaine really did not understand his brother. "And you know what? I think I really am. Amber is amazing and I love her. We're going to be good together."
He paused, giving Blaine the impression that he was trying to piece his words together carefully. "We're not you and Kurt. We haven't known each other for nine years, we've…experienced other relationships than just each other. Obviously, for me. But we're two different people from you and Kurt, and I really think we're going to work. But just because I didn't find her like you did doesn't mean my feelings aren't real. You and I are different. We find things and people, relationships, in different ways."
Blaine hesitated to respond. "Are you sure you're not rushing things? That you just really want to be in love someone, so you're somehow convincing yourself that…" He trailed off, not wanting to offend his brother, but also wanting to make his thoughts known. "Never mind," he finished quietly, ignoring Cooper's pointed look. It was a look that implied Cooper knew something Blaine didn't, and that made Blaine slightly uncomfortable.
They fell silent then, both Andersons fixing the last touches on their tuxedos - Blaine meticulously straightening his, Cooper casually messing up his own. Cooper opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again.
"You know," he started, smoothing down his jacket, "I kind of always suspected that it would be you and Sam."
Blaine paused in the middle of fiddling with his cufflink. "Be me and Sam…what?"
"Ending up together," Cooper continued casually, ignoring Blaine's gawking. "You suit each other. You support each other. You get each other. I don't think I've ever seen you smile as hard as when you're around him."
"Except for the fact that he's straight and I'm dating Kurt," Blaine said, grasping for words. Was this really coming out of Cooper's mouth? He had to be insane. "Sam's my - my best friend, yes, but he's not - we're not-"
"All I'm saying is," Cooper interrupted, "I think there's a reason he's here with you tonight and Kurt's not. Even if you don't think my wedding is that big of a deal, since I've already had two. That Sam has also attended."
As if on cue, Sam popped his head in the door, preventing Blaine from arguing any further. "Hey guys! It's time!"
Cooper exhaled, a huge smile on his face. "Showtime. Coming, squirt?"
Blaine nodded, a grumbled, "Don't call me that," on his breath. Cooper was already too far ahead to hear, but Sam laughed, grasping Blaine's shoulder. Blaine relaxed under the comforting warmth of his best friend's hand.
"You're gonna be a great best man, you know that, right?" Sam said in Blaine's ear. "I mean, you already have been like two times, but still. You're gonna rock this."
Sam nodded to himself, squeezing Blaine's shoulder before lowering his hand to the center of Blaine's back. Blaine shivered, though he wouldn't admit it. Even after all these years, he still loved how tactile Sam was.
"And hey, maybe third time's the charm, right?"
Sam surveyed the room as he sipped on his second beer of the night. As usual, the room was filled with family and famous friends, people that Cooper had networked with on his way to TV commercial fame. He spotted a group of bridesmaids in purple dresses, giggling and probably already intoxicated with too much champagne, but they were already focused on a similar group of groomsmen across the room, each girl insisting one of their friends should make the first move. The couple of the night was on the dance floor, all other wedding duties finished, and surprisingly (at least to Sam) they only had eyes for each other.
To his left, Blaine slammed down his third gin and tonic on the bar counter. Out of the corner of his eye, Sam saw him gesture to the bartender for another.
"Wanna slow down there, champ?" Sam asked, turning away from the crowd and towards Blaine. Blaine shot him a glare out of the corner of his eye, before accepting the glass from the bartender.
"You're not my mom," Blaine grumbled, making Sam laugh. "It's my brother's third wedding, and probably not his last. I'm allowed to drink, I'm an adult." He pouted as he took a sip. Sam watched with an amused smile. "And don't call me champ, you sound like Cooper."
Sam turned back to the aforementioned groom, Blaine turning with him. Cooper and his bride were still smiling happily at each other, accepting congratulations from their guests. "You know, maybe she's not that bad. Maybe they're good for each other. They look happy."
Blaine contemplated Sam's words. "He…Cooper, no, he needs to like, to have a best friend. He needs to have a best friend, and fall in love with her. That's when he should get married. Not…not this, they're just gonna get divorced, they always do." He sighed, and Sam could tell he'd had one too many, though he wasn't going to insist he stop. He knew that would only end in a fight.
"So…you think you should marry your best friend?" Sam asked instead.
Blaine nodded matter-of-factly. "Absolutely."
Sam smirked at Blaine's drunken words, nudging Blaine. "I thought I was your best friend."
Blaine turned to him with wide eyes. "You are," he insisted, as if Sam were crazy to assume anything else. "You're my best friend forever, Sammy!"
"So you think we should get married?"
Blaine's jaw dropped, as if he just put together the implications of his words. "N-no, I mean, it's not that, I just - I'm supposed to marry Kurt! I love Kurt, Sam, I'm so flattered but-"
Blaine stopped as Sam doubled over, laughter attracting attention from the people around them. "Blaine, it's cool. I get it. My heart will go on." Blaine rolled his eyes as Sam clutched his chest dramatically, laughter still spilling from his mouth.
"That's not nice," Blaine said, leaning back against the bar and taking another sip of champagne. "I'm drunk. That's really not nice."
"I'm sorry," Sam said, quieting his laughter. As he and Blaine looked back out into the crowd, he let his arm drape across the back of Blaine's shoulders, resting on the bar behind them. Blaine instinctively leaned into him, as he had so many times before.
"For the record, I'd totally marry you."
Blaine's mouth tipped up at the corner in a small smile. "We'd be an awesome married couple." He leaned his head against Sam's shoulder, Sam automatically resting his head on top of Blaine's.
"You know, this isn't helping," Blaine said after a few moments, breaking the comfortable silence. Sam lifted his head, looking down at the top of Blaine's gelled hair.
"Helping what?"
"Normally there's at least one girl staring at you across the room like you're God. You just don't notice her because usually you're staring at a different one the same way. But tonight nobody's looking at you like that." Blaine sighed, snuggling further into Sam. "They all think you're my date."
Sam opened his mouth, unsure of what to say. "I…okay." It's not like it wasn't a common occurrence. And Sam didn't care what people thought, as long as it wasn't killing his game. And tonight? It looked like his game was so far dead that it didn't even matter.
"We should dance," he said instead. Blaine looked up at him, setting down his champagne glass.
"Yeah?"
"What could it hurt?" Sam insisted, taking Blaine's hand and pulling him along until they reached an open spot on the dance floor. He immediately pulled Blaine into his arms, holding him in a dancer's pose. Blaine stood close, so close that they were pressed chest to chest. Sam slowly led them in a circle, Blaine's eyes closed as they swayed. Sam pressed his cheek against Blaine's hair, feeling Blaine press his nose into Sam's neck. Maybe it was that he was slightly tipsy, or that Blaine was a cuddly drunk, but Sam swore he could feel Blaine's heartbeat where they were pressed together. For a brief moment, he couldn't imagine being without Blaine's warmth.
Over Blaine's shoulder, he caught Cooper's eye. Across the room, Cooper gave him a wink and a thumbs up. Sam rolled his eyes before leaning in closer to Blaine.
Denials could wait until morning.
In true Cooper fashion, the reception had gone on almost all night. The newly married couple had finally cleared out around three in the morning, leaving the wedding party, especially Blaine, to supervise the cleanup. Sam had stayed around to help, eventually making a coffee run for both him and Blaine to help sober them up. Instead of leaving, like everyone else had, they had chosen to sit on a bench at the park behind the reception hall and watch the sunrise, sitting close to conserve heat.
"So."
"So?"
"I'm going to Paris."
Sam tore his eyes away from the sunrise and focused solely on Blaine. "Paris?" Blaine nodded. "Wow. When?"
"In about a week. And we're gonna be there for about three weeks."
"We?"
"Kurt and me," Blaine answered, taking a sip of his coffee. "It's going to be really nice. We'll get to see the Eiffel tower, and go to a lot of fancy French restaurants and stay in a beautiful hotel - "
"You want to do all that instead of…spending a lot of time in the hotel room?" Sam insinuated, waggling his eyebrows. Blaine adorably scrunched up his face and hid behind his hand as he laughed.
"Well, yeah, I want to do, um…yeah, but he - Kurt has some work stuff. Fashion week or something," Blaine finally admitted. Sam hid a knowing cough behind a sip of coffee. "But it's not that much," Blaine continued, reading Sam's thoughts before Sam even had to say them, "and we'll get to spend plenty of time together. I feel like we've kind of been distant from each other lately. It'll be a great time for us to reconnect."
Sam let the subject drop, instead turning back to the sunrise. Around them, birds chirped their morning songs, and the fish in the pond in front of them began to stir. A gust of cold wind blew by, causing Blaine to pull his coat tighter around him and instinctively lean closer to Sam. Sam shuffled closer, letting his arm drape across the back of the park bench.
"Paris."
"Paris," Blaine repeated, nodding to himself.
"Paris sounds fun," Sam said. "Maybe not a place I would pick, but you're going to have a good time. It's all artsy and stuff. Right up your alley." He felt more than saw Blaine's laughter through the movement in his shoulders where they were pressed against his arm.
"'Artsy'," Blaine scoffed. "And just where would you go for a big vacation like this?"
"Somewhere on this continent for starters," Sam answered immediately, even though he knew Blaine already knew. They had talked about where they would travel if money were limitless, what their choice would be if they only had so many days to live, where they even wanted their honeymoons to be a few times before. And for most of the scenarios, Sam had always pictured Blaine right there with him. "California. Or maybe Texas."
"Texas," Blaine groaned. "What is there to do in Texas besides-"
"Barbecue, rodeos, NASCAR races, and country music," Sam sighed dreamily. He'd never actually been there, but he figured it would be a lot like Tennessee, where he grew up. "We could get you some cowboy boots and go to the gay pride parade in Austin, and then I'll sing you some Kenny Chesney."
Blaine laughed as Sam painted the picture for him. "Wait, I'm going too? When exactly is this?"
"When we get married, of course," Sam winked.
"Oh, I wasn't aware we were getting married, this is all so sudden!"
"What, you don't remember from earlier? You were drunk, I give you that, but you were all, 'You gotta marry your best friend, Sam, you just gotta!'" Sam said, flopping over into Blaine's lap. Blaine groaned, pushing at Sam's shoulder, but Sam didn't relent.
"That was a terrible imitation. I sound nothing like that," Blaine said. Sam laughed, knowing that Blaine was right. He had a real, spot on impression of his best friend that he'd never shown him, but it was nowhere close to the way he had just acted.
Sam sighed, comfortable in Blaine's warm lap. He started humming an old Kenny Chesney tune, one he knew Blaine would recognize from listening to Sam try to learn it on the guitar they were younger, and drew out another groan from Blaine. "Fine," Sam said, conceding, "No Kenny for you. You're just gonna have to go to lame old Paris."
"What a tragedy."
"For three whole weeks."
Blaine paused, letting his fingers push through Sam's hair. Sam closed his eyes in pleasure. "You're going to miss me, aren't you?" Blaine asked.
"Nope. Teddy might, though, I'll probably have to put up with him crying all that time, and - hey, no, don't stop!" he whined as Blaine removed his hand from his hair.
"Of course I'll miss you," Sam said once Blaine resumed stroking his hair, his voice quieter. "Three weeks of an empty apartment, three brunch Sundays without you."
"Don't worry," Blaine said, his voice just as soft, "I'll be back before you know it."
A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Reviews are welcome and loved, and if you came here from Tumblr, please go like and reblog the post for this chapter if you liked it!