When The Ship Docks

Chapter 3: When The Ship Docks

Blaine's mornings seemed to be falling into a strict routine: wake up before Rachel, eat breakfast alone, spend an hour or so looking over the waves from the stern for no particular reason. He hadn't been on the boat long, in fact this was the second morning he'd awoken on the boat but he had no intention of breaking the tranquil schedule he'd put in place.

"Hello, Squirt!"

It was then that Blaine realised how long he'd been sat on the bench, engrossed in a book. Three full hours had flew by like it was nothing and still he hadn't shown up. Not that he had made plans with the young man to meet up here or that he had a right to be upset when he didn't show for said fantastical plans that merely existed in the gentleman's head.

"Hello, Coop." Blaine replied with as much enthusiasm as he could muster, and that wasn't much at all. "And don't call me that."

"Why are you in such a foul mood as of recently? You have a fiancée who's clearly obsessed with you and you can write about all the glorious things you'll see when we arrive in New York." Cooper had always been somewhat oblivious to the harshness of Blaine's reality simply because it didn't hinder his own. Though generally the brothers got along fairly we'll considering their age gap, they did have their moments - like all siblings do - when one of them, usually Blaine, Would become irritated by the other.

He did his best to hold back his bitterness. He wanted to say that there was no way their father would be accept it if he pursued writing and knowing how their father could hold a grudge he didn't want to risk it; that to obsess over him was different to loving him and was significantly unhealthy in a relationship; that she was too self obsessed to ever take the time to find joy in the things that he enjoyed instead of just the things she enjoyed; that he thought he was falling for someone else. 'Woah where did that come from?' He thought but quickly brushed it off and spat out a blunt reply to Cooper

"I'm not feeling too well."

"Hm, maybe you ate too much last night," he hummed in thought, "whatever it is, better hope it's cleared up in time for the tour."

"Tour?"

Cooper's eyes seemed to light up with remembrance.
"That's what I came to inform you about actually." He smiled and sat next to Blaine. "At 1:30 sharp we will be going on a tour of the engines with father." Before Blaine could protest or question it, Cooper had gotten up from his seat and strode off to find his fiancée.

A tour of the engines? It never seemed like something his father would be interested in and he was struggling to see what the man's angle was. Maybe he was trying to impress his new acquaintances that he had made in the past two days; he'd heard his father boast about them at dinner the previous night but he hadn't caught any names.

He remained on his bench reading for a few more hours until he had to force himself to go and get ready for their tour. When he reached the suite he shared with Rachel, the sight he had stumbled upon was not something he had ever expected. Upon entry his eyes had settled on Rachel and Finn Hudson sitting on the burgundy chesterfield sofa, both drinking cups of tea.

"Am I intruding, Miss Berry?" He jested with a friendly smile, taking off his coat and hat to hang up by the door.

"Ah! Mr Hudson, this is Mr Anderson," -she jumped to her feet and brought Blaine to join them- "my betrothed." She seemed to hesitate on the last part of his introduction but Blaine easily and quickly brushed it off as he took a seat in the arm chair that matched the sofa.