Unbeautiful (4/?)
Chapter 4
Darren went back inside the apartment and slumped down against the door, trying to come to terms with all the emotions and thoughts running through his head. Finally picking himself up off the floor, Darren locked the door, went back into his room, and shut the door. Watching Chris sleep, he wondered if what he’d said was true. Finally, he climbed back into bed, but the second he pulled the covers over himself, Chris stirred. “Darren?”
“Hey, go back to sleep.”
“Where did you go?”
“Bryan showed up. He’s gone now.” Chris sighed, relaxing back into Darren’s comfortable grasp. Darren felt his heart jump into his throat at the realization that Chris trusted him enough for this, and he sucked in a breath. Finally, after what seemed like a good hour of Darren thinking, I’m so not staring at Chris right now, Darren carefully unglued himself from Chris, got up, and went into the kitchen. He opened the fridge, looked inside, and sighed. Finally settling on eggs, bacon, toast and orange juice, he made himself and Chris breakfast. Chris emerged from Darren’s bedroom a few seconds after Darren had made Chris’s plate, and he slid the plate over to Chris, getting a fork and setting it next to the plate.
“Thanks.” Darren made his own plate, took it to the kitchen table, and got the two glasses of orange juice from the counter. As Darren ate his breakfast, he thought for a moment just how domestic that morning was in that moment. “Darren?”
“Hmm?”
“What did Bryan want?” Darren’s fork clattered to the table, and he picked it back up, not really wanting to get into it.
“He…he came by to get you back.” Chris stared down at his plate.
“Oh.” Darren sighed a little, and reached over to cover Chris’s hand with his own.
“Chris, you deserve someone better than him.” Chris looked up at Darren. “You’re so…” Darren reached up to cup Chris’s cheek in his hand, and Chris closed his eyes as he leaned into the touch. “You’re just so amazing.” When Chris didn’t move away from the touch, Darren rubbed the back of Chris’s hand with his thumb. “He never deserved you.”
“Okay, now you’re just being redundant.” Darren smiled, and his phone started to play its familiar tone that told him he had a new text. Opening the phone, he read through the message carefully.
From: Lea
To: Darren
Message: Where are you? We’ve been trying to get ahold of you and Chris for hours.
Darren sighed, and typed out his message, rereading it carefully.
From: Darren
To: Lea
Chris isn’t feeling good. Tell Zach we’re taking the day.
“Who was that?”
“Lea. Apparently people have been trying to call us all morning.”
“We had that episode to rehearse for! Shit, we’ve gotta get to set-”
“Chris. Sit. I told her you weren’t feeling good and that we’re gonna take the day.” Chris settled back into his chair and Darren sipped off the top of his orange juice.
“You lied?”
“Well…not really. After what happened-” Darren was cut off by his phone. Picking it up, he saw the reply to his reply on the phone’s screen.
From: Lea
To: Darren
Message: Tell Chris we’re all hoping he gets better. And you have to call Zach. He wants to hear it from you.
After one tense phone call explaining that Chris had a stomach bug and wasn’t feeling up to the rigorous dancing they were putting him through, Darren sat down on the couch with a sigh, setting his phone down with a soft clack on the coffee table.
“Is it wrong for me to feel tired?”
“Not really.” Darren rested his head on Chris’s shoulder, closing his eyes. For a minute, everything was quiet, and Darren listened carefully to Chris’s steady, relaxed breathing.
“Darren?”
“Hmm?”
“Hypothetically, if I were to kiss you, what would your reaction be?” Darren’s heart almost stopped beating for a second or two. Now that it was out there, he knew what was coming.
“Would you?” Darren realized just how stupid that sounded, and he amended, “You know, kiss me.”
“I think I would.” Darren felt his heart pounding erratically in his chest, and he shifted uncomfortably on the couch. Knowing the answer was worse than the question. Darren crossed his legs at his ankles, and blinked a couple times, trying to clear his mind. “Would you?”
“What?”
“Would you kiss me?”
Chapter 5