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Blaine is not going to cry. He's a big boy now. He wear big boy underwear and next year he's going to big boy school and his Daddy says that big boys don't cry, so Blaine is not going to cry.
Big brother's are stupid. Blaine hopes he has a smart teacher in kindergarten next year, maybe she can explain to him why big brother's are so stupid.
Stupid Cooper wasn't supposed to leave him alone in the toy store so he can go kiss girls. Kissing is wet and gross. Blaine doesn't understand why Cooper wants to kiss anyone. Especially that girl.
So Blaine is going to do what his preschool teacher told him to do. He's going to find a grown up and tell that grown up that he's lost. And he hopes that the grown up calls the police and Cooper goes to jail for being stupid and losing him. Then his parents will take him to his music classes and to the mall themselves because they won't be able to make Cooper do it anymore.
Blaine looks around through the crowd in the mall, too small to see more than just a sea of knees. He stops in front of a store with suits and tuxedos in the window. His Daddy always says he looks smart in a suit, so maybe someone in that store can help.
Blaine walks into the store and stands on his tip toes so he can see the lady over the counter.
Blaine clears his throat, just like he's seen his Daddy do when he needs someone to help him. The lady behind the counter looks up from her magazine and smiles at Blaine.
"Well hello! Aren't you adorable!"
"Thank you, M'am." Blaine always remembers his manners, which is another reason why he's better than Cooper. "My name is Blaine Anderson, and I'm four years old and my brother lost me. Can you call the police?"
The lady behind the counter coos at Blaine, before walking around the counter and kneeling down to his level.
"Hello Blaine. I'm Kate. Let me see what I can do to help you. What does your brother look like? How old is he?"
"His name is Cooper and he's fourteen and he's tall and his hair is brown."
"Where was the last place you saw Cooper?"
"He left me in the toy store, but then he didn't come back. So I went to look for him, but now I can't find the toy store or Cooper."
Blaine's daddy is going to be so disappointed in him, he's crying even though he's a big boy now.
"Aw, don't cry sweetheart. How about this, I'll call mall security and you can hang out here with me. You can help me put new suits on the mannequins, okay?"
Kate runs behind the counter and grabs some napkins. She wipes the tears off Blaine's little face before taking his hand and leading him around the store.
"Here, I'm going to grab a suit and some pants, you grab me two bow ties, okay? Do you have a favorite color?"
"My favorite color is blue." Blaine sniffs a little, but lights up as he looks around the store.
"Okay Blaine, go find me two blue bowties, okay?"
While Blaine looks around the store for bowties, Kate goes to the counter and picks up the phone.
"Hi, this is Kate calling from Friar Tux? I have a little boy here, he's four years old, he got separated from his older brother. His brother's name is Cooper, he's 14 with dark hair. He's staying here, I'm keeping him occupied, so if you could just send his brother over if you find him. Thank you."
Just as Kate hangs up the phone, Blaine runs over with a hand full of bowties.
"There's so many! I couldn't pick one! Which one do you like?" Kate examines the bowties falling out of Blaine's tiny hands before picking two that she likes.
"These two. Okay, now we need to pick some shoes."
"I need to put these back first." Blaine runs back to wear he got the bowties and climbs onto the step stool against the wall and puts them back as neatly as a four year old can.
It's the most adorable thing Kate has ever seen.
***************
This is an acting exercise. If Cooper ever has to play the part of someone who's lost their child he knows exactly the emotion to tap into.
And if he ever has to play the role of someone who's being sentenced to death row, he'll know that emotion too, because that's what life is going to be like around his house if his parents ever find out he lost Blaine because he went to go eat lunch, and make out, with Jennifer Marcus.
She's Freshman Class President. You don't say no to the freshman class president. The decisions you make now determine your entire high school career. Being popular in middle school means nothing. It's a clean slate and Cooper's going to be the most popular guy in school if he has to kiss every girl to do it. He's fully prepared to kiss every girl.
But none of that will matter if he's grounded until he's eighteen because he lost Blaine.
Maybe, just maybe, his parents will finally get the hint that Cooper is not a babysitter, and he's too irresponsible to be in charge of his baby brother all the time.
If Cooper spins this right, he could send his parents on a guilt trips so big, not only will they stop making him Blaine's de facto parent and chauffeur, but he could leverage this into something bigger. A later curfew. A trip to New York to get legit headshots and not glamour shots from the mall. Cooper still insists that his cheap glamour shots are the reason Justin Timberlake beat him for that spot on the Mickey Mouse Club five years ago. Damn you, Justin Timberlake. Cooper should be the one in N Sync, not you.
He needs to save this emotion, he could use it later. He will admit, losing Blaine has been a wealth of opportunity, he's learning so many new emotions today.
Focus.
Security. Maybe Cooper should talk to security. He'll just make them promise not to call his parents. Blaine wouldn't leave the mall, he's four and a tiny four year old at that.
Cooper is never having children, this is way too work.
Cooper sees the security booth, takes a deep breath. In this scene, he is cool, calm and collected. He's not going to throw himself at their feet begging them not to call his parents. He's an Anderson man, he doesn't do overwhelming emotion unless it's for a scene.
Oh god, don't please don't let them call my parents.
***********************
Blaine is sitting on the counter, eating a cookie while Kate dresses the mannequin.
"And he's always telling me that I'm doing something bad. But I'm not bad, because all my teachers tell me I'm doing things good, and teachers are grown ups and Cooper is a teenager. That's why Cooper is stupid. My Mommy said that teenagers are always stupid and that when I'm a teenager, I'm going to be stupid too. But I don't believe her because I'm already smart. That means when I'm a teenager, I'm going to be even smarter because my brain is going to get bigger. And I'm not going to lose people just so I can kiss girls. And I think I'm a better singer than Cooper."
Kate shakes her head and smiles to herself. She wants to adopt this kid and take him everywhere with her. She just wants to cuddle him and pinch his adorable cheeks. "Really now, you're a better singer? Can you sing something for me?"
"Okay? What do you want me to sing? I know all kinds of songs."
"What's your favorite song to sing?"
"I like to sing N Sync, but only because Cooper hates them."
Kate laughs, "Okay, sing N Sync, then."
Blaine sits his cookie down and takes a sip of water before he starts singing, "You're all I ever wanted, you're all I ever needed, yeah, so tell me what to do now, because I want, you, back. It's hard to say I'm sorry, it's hard to make the things i did undone, a lesson I learned to well for sure..."
This is seriously the cutest thing Kate's ever seen. It's so cute she thinks she's going to cry.
*****************
When Cooper finally finds Blaine, he's standing on a counter in a tuxedo shop, singing N Sync for a crown of thirty people.
His balance is still off. Just because he's only been walking for three years, it's no excuse to be sloppy.
The crowd isn't happy with Cooper when he interrupts Blaine's little concert to take him home.
Cooper isn't happy when he sees that Blaine has $40 in tips. And that some lady bought him a bowtie. And Cooper's really not happy with the dirty looks he gets from the woman behind the counter.
But he takes Blaine to the toy store and buys him a pretzel and that damn N Sync cd, because the good thing about having a four year old brother is that they're easily bribed.