Glee Fic : A Series of Moments | CrissColfer RPF | PG-13, 1/10
Title : A Series of Moments (or how Chris and Darren finally started to talk to each other)
Author : Jen
Rating : PG-13
Series : Like a Satellite & Chasing Daylight
Warnings : allusion to some naughty stuff, RPF...
Summary : Life is a series of moments. Some last for a moment, some last for a lifetime. These moments change and define us, they stick in our memories for the rest of our lives. Sometimes they are fleeting, seemingly insignificant but the consequences and effect they will have could last forever
Notes : so I apparently can't let go. These are a series of follow ups from the epic saga that began with nasonexyouswine's Gravity Thou Art A Heartless Bitch and ran through our dual narrative fic Like A Satellite & Chasing Daylight (link to part one).
There are ten parts and two "interlude" parts to this, charting what happens after.
For nasonexyouswine, because without her none of this would have ever happened.
After over a year where they haven't been as emotionally close as they're used to, there's a lot to talk about. Once they have sated their desire for the other (which takes a while) they curl up facing each other and so it begins.
~~
"It wasn't that I didn't want it to be you," Darren said, his fingers tracing light patterns over Chris' skin which he is totally allowed to touch now, "it was... He got hell, y'know? He told me that he was getting the odd letter, the odd comment, but afterwards... He got actual death threats, Chris. Right then I knew I'd made the right choice. Because if you'd... If I'd been the reason that you..."
"You think I'd care about what some... idiot says?"
"No, but I'd care about what they'd do. Nathan has some good security and there are some... passionate people out there."
Chris flinched slightly, knowing it all too well.
"And every part of my life was ripped open. Being in Chicago, being away from you? That meant it was just that life. It was just there and the people there. I wanted to keep you out of it because... Because it was important."
"I don't need protecting. I'm hardly fragile."
Darren smirked at the hidden meaning then smiled. "No, but you're private and careful and I needed to respect that. Because if were you, if I stood out there with you? We both know that things... Chicago's not LA. It's easier to hide, be less noticeable. Here you can barely sneeze without someone noticing.
"And I just... I know it's stupid and probably more than a little bit insane, but Sally put rumours of you and me to rest. And then it wasn't her..."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Chris asked.
"What? And have you feel... I don't know? Obligated? Like I was about to put myself through all this and at the end of it? I didn't want you to feel like you had to be with me."
Chris ran his fingertips down Darren's cheekbone and smiled. "I always wanted... If you'd called me like you said..."
"I was going to, I swear it," Darren said quickly. "Only I got Evelyn and there was so much around how good it'd be for my career and on the back of Glee and the Emmy win and everything got taken out of my hands..."
The only way Chris was able to shut Darren up was by kissing him, pushing him over onto the mattress and holding him in place, something neither of them minded. Once Darren had calmed, Chris settled back next to him.
"So you and Sally...?"
"Just friends. Good friends actually. She's... Friends."
"And Nathan?"
"Still a friend. Not sure he's going to want to produce my second album but..."
"So this last year... You never...?" Chris asked hesitantly. His fingers drifted down, under the covers, brushing against Darren's chest and stomach.
"Just you," Darren breathed.
Chris closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.
"It's fine, it doesn't matter," Darren said, misreading his expression. "It's not like I expected you to wait..."
"But I did," Chris interrupted, his eyes flying open. "Jake and I... we never... I never. I... he... Oh god this is weird!" he laughed. "Jake and I never slept together. Well, not like that anyway. I just kept putting it off and the more I did the more I wanted to. And it wasn't until we broke up that I knew why." He tilted his head so he could look at Darren properly. "Because being with Jake felt like I was cheating on you."
"Chris..."
"So there you have it. I have been stupidly in love with you for the last year to the point where, if at any time you'd asked me to take you back, I probably would have done."
Darren had to laugh softly at this, thinking of all the times when he nearly did just that. "But you turned me down. At Aveux. And earlier. You said no."
"I said no at Aveux because you just seemed to blurt it all out. I didn't know you had some grand--"
"Stupid."
"-yes, stupid plan. I just thought... I didn't know. And if I had..."
"But earlier?"
"You kept your word to Ashley. And if you were prepared to do that for a friend, and if I got you to promise me..."
Under the covers Darren found Chris' hands, clasping them in his own. "I swear to you Chris, that I'm done with running scared. I'm in love with you and I want this. I want you. I want everything that's coming our way - all the good and bad moments. I want... I want the forever," he finished quietly.
"Promise?"
"Cross my heart," he said, moving one of Chris' to his chest and placing it there.
~~
"Do you have any food in?" Darren laughed as Chris came down the stairs to join him. "Seriously. I found coffee, Diet Coke, and you need to learn when bread turns because it's not supposed to be..."
The word 'green' wasn't verbalised as Chris quieted him with a kiss. It was a gentle kiss, full of love rather than passion. For a moment they just held each other, breathing slow and even.
"Morning," Darren muttered against Chris' lips.
"Morning," Chris whispered back, his arms wrapping tightly around Darren's neck.
"What?" he asked, sensing that there was something wrong.
"It's nothing," Chris tried to say, pushing up to wrap tightly around him and put his chin on his shoulder.
"Hey."
"It's stupid."
"Tell me."
"I woke up and you were..."
Darren tightened his hold around Chris' waist. "No, OK? Just... no. Never again."
"I know," Chris whispered in his ear. "I know. I really do know but for one second..."
He didn't reply, just held on and he knew that it would take more than one night to fix everything between them.
"So... food?" Darren ventured eventually. "Because I'm not starving for anyone. We could go out for lunch?" If he'd not been holding on as tightly he would have missed the slight tense in Chris' body. Instinctively he knew why. "Or we could order in? Pizza and just... staying in?"
Chris pulled back, an honest smile on his face. "Sounds perfect."
~~
They didn't spend the whole day in bed. They didn't even spend the whole day rediscovering the other. They talked, sometimes about serious stuff that mattered, sometimes about things that didn't. They finally got around to watching one of the Lord of the Rings movies, curled up around each other.
Eventually Darren finally mentioned their dinner reservations; he didn't want to press the matter if Chris was uncomfortable but at the same time he knew that if they screwed that place over they'd probably never be able to go back. And he kinda liked it there.
Chris took a deep breath as if he were steadying his nerves for something but was stilled by Darren pressing a kiss into his hair.
"No one needs to know," he said. "Two friends, catching up. But if you..."
"I'm not ashamed..."
"I know, baby, I know," Darren soothed. "You're just... private. Fiercely private."
Chris laughed. "That's one way to put it. Please don't hate me for it."
"I think it may actually be impossible to hate you, Chris."
"You clearly haven't been to Clovis," he said. "Well, I mean... Oh you know."
"Yeah, I do. And no, I don't hate you."
"Can we just enjoy this? I mean... It's not as if we're going to hide away for the rest of our lives but I don't want it to be now. Just..." He exhaled loudly, settling in more to Darren's arms. "Not today?"
"Not today," Darren agreed, kissing the top of Chris' head again. "But seriously... I need food. Real food. And a change of clothes. Because while I appreciate the slacks I am not wearing your gear for the next few days."
"So what do you suggest?" Chris asked nervously.
"I go back to the hotel, shower, change, meet you at the restaurant. We have dinner, we 'catch up', we get out of here before cabin fever sets in or before someone notices that I'm supposed to be about in LA and yet I've not been seen since I took off from Aveux, hot on the heels of the disappearing Chris Colfer?"
"Fine," Chris growled, knowing that Darren had a point.
"It will be."
~~
Chris arrived first and gave them his name. There was the flash of a we know who you are smile and they showed him to the table...
...where Ashley was waiting.
"Hey there, Boo, looking sweet," she grinned, getting up and hugging him.
"Hey... Ash..." he stammered, slightly confused.
Once they were seated and left alone, Ashley made a show of studying her menu. "Hobbit called me," she said quietly. "Just play along."
"Play along with what?" he asked.
She was annoyingly silent for a few minutes until she looked up and declared with such fake sincerity that Chris nearly burst into laughter. "Darren!" she exclaimed. "Hi, hey, hey... Oh you've got to join us! Can you grab an extra chair?" she asked the waiter who nodded. "Look who it is, Chris! Oh, it's like some mini Glee reunion. We should do more things like this. Hang out. We're all good friends after all."
Chris was barely paying attention, he was too busy staring at Darren as he sat across the table from him. Darren's eyes smiled more than his mouth and Chris had to resist the urge to just lean over the table and have his way with him. Because to set this up? Chris had never loved him more.
~~
After many, many, many (many) arguments Ashley had dropped them off a few blocks away from Chris' house. It was a clear and cool night and they wanted to get some fresh air. So after threats of never speaking to her again they had got their way and were now walking back, hand in hand, letting the night wrap around them.
"Thank you," Chris said quietly.
"For what?"
"For tonight. Calling Ash..."
"Just thought it'd take some of the heat off..."
"I... Thank you," he repeated. "And one day..."
Darren gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "I honestly don't care. Really. I'm not saying that I want to hide away forever, but I'm also not about to push you."
"Why do I get the feeling that I could ask you to... run away and you would?"
"Do I get to run away with you? Because I'm so down with that."
"Dare, I'm serious."
"No, I'm not going to just... roll over and do whatever you want, OK? I promise. I'm going to do whatever I need to in order to make things better for us, and I know there's a lot we need to work through, but if I just let you have your own way then it'll just cause more problems for us later and that doesn't quite fit in with forever."
Chris stopped dead, pulling on Darren's hand to make him stop too. A second pull brought him in closer and their lips met in a gentle kiss.
"I love you," Chris breathed.
"Love you back."
"And it's not just you that needs to fix things."
"You didn't break my heart..."
"No, but I hardly made things easy for you. I know I'm not exactly... ideal boyfriend material."
"Depends on the idea..."
"Shut up. This is important. You can't let me have my own way all the time, Dare. If this... cloak and dagger stuff gets too much then you stop it. You make me listen and you make me stop hiding you away. If I don't make time for you then you stop me doing whatever I'm doing that for some reason I've ranked as more important than you. Deal?"
"Deal," he grinned.
They rounded the last corner and suddenly Chris froze. Years of instinct kicked in and he just knew the car parked outside his house wasn't a neighbour's or a visitor. It was parked outside his house and it bore too many hallmarks of a pap car.
"Wait here," Darren said, dropping Chris' hand. As he silently jogged up the street Chris hissed at him to come back but Darren was set. Chris' privacy meant the world to him, Chris meant the world to Darren - the logic chain was irrefutable. As he got closer to the car he slowed, recognising the plates. Moving to the driver's door he met the occupant as he got out, wrapping him in a hug.
As Chris came to join them, Darren was disentangling himself from the driver and turning to the passenger.
"Dare?" Chris ventured, stopping only when the driver stepped into the street light. Jack grinned at Chris and gave a small wave. "Hey," he said, a little dumbfounded.
"Thought we'd drop by, say hello, check in with our boy," Jack said, waving at Darren whose arms were still wrapped around the petite passenger.
As they pulled apart, but not completely, Chris realised who it was and he fought to control the rising irrational jealousy. Darren walked around the car, his arm around Sally's shoulders, his face alight.
"Chris, meet Sally. Sal, this is..."
"The boy you've been pining over for a year? Yeah, got that," she smiled.
"So what are you...?" Chris asked Jack, trying not to look at the girl he didn't know but for some reason still didn't like.
"Well we figured that Dare wasn't likely to be needing his room for the next couple of nights, and he'd probably want his case," Jack said, lifting the luggage from the back seat.
Chris' eyes flicked back to Sally who was now staring intently at him. She seemed to shift slightly and then Darren removed his arm, grabbing the case from Jack.
"Hey, so while you're here let me... give you... that number you wanted," Darren said lamely, pulling Jack in the direction of the front door.
"He really isn't subtle, is he?" Sally laughed as the boys walked away. "You OK?"
"I'm sorry," Chris said, "I don't know you so I've no right..."
"To be jealous?" she finished. "Why not? I mean, you thought for a long time I was his girlfriend. That after being with you he ran straight back to girls, to this girl. And then I got to be there for the biggest event of his life to date while you kicked your heels here with a man you didn't love because the man you did love was running around my city..."
"OK, point taken."
"I was jealous too, y'know?"
"What?" Chris almost squeaked.
"I was just visiting my flatmate on set and Jack comes over to me and pitches the most insane plan I have ever heard. But then he points at Darren and I just... There's something about him that is so easy to love and the first few dates we went on? I was so scared that I was going to fall in love with him for real.
"Only then he really starts opening up about you and... The way he talks about you, the way he looks when he's even thinking about you? I have never known anyone be so in love and not be with the person they want. So now he has you? That puppy look is going to get worse.
"And I know Jack loves me, I do. And I love him right back. He is the guy I am going to marry, have kids with, but I'm sometimes jealous of you. Of how much Darren loves you and what he did for you. Of everything he's been through and the changes he made to his whole world just to stand in front of you and ask you for a chance.
"You two have something most of us don't even... Look, I'm going to make this real simple. I adore Darren. Aside from Jack he's my closest friend. Hell, because of him I have Jack so I feel I owe him a little. You break his heart, Chris, and I swear on the lives of the kids Jack and I are going to have? I will come down here and break you. Understand?"
Chris looked at her for a second before he grinned and nodded. "I can see why Dare likes you so much."
"Pfft," she mocked. "I'm the reason he can't handle girls any more. He knows he's not going to find anyone better than me."
This made Chris laugh and any last shred of jealousy was gone.
"Is it safe?" Jack called from the door where he and Darren were waiting. "Did someone win?"
"I always win," Sally called back. "Now let's leave our boys and get some dinner."
Chris and Jack passed each other on the driveway, exchanging sly smiles as they did. When they reached their respective partners they exchanged gentle kisses and then one couple climbed into a car in search of food, the other headed inside.
"Just so you know," Chris muttered as Darren pressed him up against the door, reversing the roles from last night, "if we split up I want Sally in the divorce."
"You realise she comes with Jack, right?" Darren said into Chris' neck.
"A price I am willing to pay," he said as Darren lifted him, pulling his legs up to wrap around his hips.
~~
The following lunchtime found Darren browsing some emails, finalising some pre-production publicity with the network. Chris made a light lunch (food deliveries, they had decided, were truly a product of the wonderful times they lived in) and as he put the plate down in front of his boyfriend (oh he was so not going to get tired of calling him that) his phone rang.
"Hi Mom," Darren answered, shooting Chris a grin. "Yeah, thanks..." he said as she launched into her congratulations.
A few seconds later Chris' phone rang shrilly, the caller ID revealing his own mom was calling.
"Hey," Chris said and then stopped suddenly as he heard an unexpected voice on the other end.
"Hello Chris," Cora said. "I guess congratulations are due to you as well."
"We have some very talented boys," Karyn interrupted.
As the mothers gushed over their sons, Chris and Darren locked eyes in horror.
"And to make things better, seems you two have got yourselves sorted out," Cora said, bringing them back into the conversation.
"Mom... how?" Darren stammered.
"Chuck showed me how to do this conference call thing. And I heard Christopher's phone ring when Karyn called him so I know he's there with you."
"Which means that you two have hopefully kissed and made up?" Karyn asked.
"You... You two knew?" Chris exclaimed. "But... how?"
"Christopher," Karyn chided gently. "I am your mother and I know you."
"Just as I know you," Cora added, directed at her own son.
"So. Can we stop worrying?" Karyn asked. "Are things as they should be?"
Chris rolled his eyes and grinned, taking the hand that Darren was holding out for him. He allowed himself to be pulled in closer, standing between Darren's legs. "Yes Mom," he sighed.
"Darren," Karyn said sharply. "You love my boy?"
"With all my heart and soul," Darren said, latching on to Chris' gaze and holding it.
"Good."
"You love my boy?" Cora asked this time.
"In spite of himself, yeah. I do," Chris replied, keeping Darren's gaze.
"Well thank goodness for that," Cora laughed. "Karyn, I think we can stand down."
"Stand down?" Chris asked. "What were you planning to do?"
"Bang your heads together? Lock you in a room? Whatever it took for you two to just get your act together."
The mothers began excitedly discussing plans for the families to spend more time together now that their boys had 'sorted themselves out' but Chris and Darren had stopped listening, exchanging short kisses and gentle touches.
~~
Two days later they were wrapped around each other once more, again unwilling to part but this time for very different reasons.
"I'll call you," Darren said, "the second I get back. And we're going to make this work. I won't let it go any other way, OK?"
"I know, I know."
"I love you."
"So you've said. About twenty times. In the last ten minutes."
"So I really love you."
"And I love you back."
"We're gonna do this. We can totally do this."
"We have a plan," Chris said. "This time we have a plan."
"It's only a few weeks. Just a few weeks and there's Skype and emails and..."
"Are you trying to calm me or you?" Chris laughed, pressing his forehead to Darren's. "Because either way I don't think it's working."
Darren tilted his head a little, pressing a gentle kiss against his lips. His boyfriend's lips. His partner, lover, boyfriend, his everything.
"And we'll be fine, D. We've got this planned to the last degree. We managed a year apart, we can do a few weeks."
Towards the end of the sentence Chris didn't even believe himself and so he laughed, along with Darren, into the kiss. They held on, either kissing or breathing the other until the car horn was sounded outside.
"Jack's impatient," Chris whispered.
"He said he'd give us every last second."
"I..." don't want you to go, please don't leave me again. Stay. Stay with me forever. Let's run away and never look back. "I love you."
Darren stole a final kiss and pushed away with more strength than he knew he had. "Love you back."
He grabbed his bag and walked out of the house, heading down the drive while he still was able because if he stopped he felt he'd stop forever. Handing the bag to Sally he turned to face Chris, the smile on his face tinged with sadness.
"Just a few weeks," he said.
"Just a few weeks," Chris repeated.
"Oh you two are just..." Jack muttered from inside the car before he was silenced, most likely by Sally.
"Go," Chris whispered. "If you miss your flight..."
"That would be bad?" Darren joked.
Chris wrapped his arms around Darren in a final hug; it wouldn't be until Darren was on the plane that he found the front door key that Chris had slipped into his pocket. He turned the piece of metal over and over in his fingers like a talisman all the way to Chicago, dialling Chris' number as soon as they were in the waiting car.
"Thank you," he said as soon as the call connected.
"This distance thing, I am not letting it come between us," Chris replied, all greetings dispensed with. "You promised me you were done running scared? This is me promising... I'm not going to shut you out. I will talk to you and share things with you. Well, I'll try anyway."
Darren laughed, shooting a glance at Jack and Sally who were pressed up against each other.
"I miss you already," Chris sighed. "God that's so pathetic!"
"I miss you too," he replied, "so I guess we can be pathetic together."
"Deal."
Author : Jen
Rating : PG-13
Series : Like a Satellite & Chasing Daylight
Warnings : allusion to some naughty stuff, RPF...
Summary : Life is a series of moments. Some last for a moment, some last for a lifetime. These moments change and define us, they stick in our memories for the rest of our lives. Sometimes they are fleeting, seemingly insignificant but the consequences and effect they will have could last forever
Notes : so I apparently can't let go. These are a series of follow ups from the epic saga that began with nasonexyouswine's Gravity Thou Art A Heartless Bitch and ran through our dual narrative fic Like A Satellite & Chasing Daylight (link to part one).
There are ten parts and two "interlude" parts to this, charting what happens after.
For nasonexyouswine, because without her none of this would have ever happened.
After over a year where they haven't been as emotionally close as they're used to, there's a lot to talk about. Once they have sated their desire for the other (which takes a while) they curl up facing each other and so it begins.
~~
"It wasn't that I didn't want it to be you," Darren said, his fingers tracing light patterns over Chris' skin which he is totally allowed to touch now, "it was... He got hell, y'know? He told me that he was getting the odd letter, the odd comment, but afterwards... He got actual death threats, Chris. Right then I knew I'd made the right choice. Because if you'd... If I'd been the reason that you..."
"You think I'd care about what some... idiot says?"
"No, but I'd care about what they'd do. Nathan has some good security and there are some... passionate people out there."
Chris flinched slightly, knowing it all too well.
"And every part of my life was ripped open. Being in Chicago, being away from you? That meant it was just that life. It was just there and the people there. I wanted to keep you out of it because... Because it was important."
"I don't need protecting. I'm hardly fragile."
Darren smirked at the hidden meaning then smiled. "No, but you're private and careful and I needed to respect that. Because if were you, if I stood out there with you? We both know that things... Chicago's not LA. It's easier to hide, be less noticeable. Here you can barely sneeze without someone noticing.
"And I just... I know it's stupid and probably more than a little bit insane, but Sally put rumours of you and me to rest. And then it wasn't her..."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Chris asked.
"What? And have you feel... I don't know? Obligated? Like I was about to put myself through all this and at the end of it? I didn't want you to feel like you had to be with me."
Chris ran his fingertips down Darren's cheekbone and smiled. "I always wanted... If you'd called me like you said..."
"I was going to, I swear it," Darren said quickly. "Only I got Evelyn and there was so much around how good it'd be for my career and on the back of Glee and the Emmy win and everything got taken out of my hands..."
The only way Chris was able to shut Darren up was by kissing him, pushing him over onto the mattress and holding him in place, something neither of them minded. Once Darren had calmed, Chris settled back next to him.
"So you and Sally...?"
"Just friends. Good friends actually. She's... Friends."
"And Nathan?"
"Still a friend. Not sure he's going to want to produce my second album but..."
"So this last year... You never...?" Chris asked hesitantly. His fingers drifted down, under the covers, brushing against Darren's chest and stomach.
"Just you," Darren breathed.
Chris closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.
"It's fine, it doesn't matter," Darren said, misreading his expression. "It's not like I expected you to wait..."
"But I did," Chris interrupted, his eyes flying open. "Jake and I... we never... I never. I... he... Oh god this is weird!" he laughed. "Jake and I never slept together. Well, not like that anyway. I just kept putting it off and the more I did the more I wanted to. And it wasn't until we broke up that I knew why." He tilted his head so he could look at Darren properly. "Because being with Jake felt like I was cheating on you."
"Chris..."
"So there you have it. I have been stupidly in love with you for the last year to the point where, if at any time you'd asked me to take you back, I probably would have done."
Darren had to laugh softly at this, thinking of all the times when he nearly did just that. "But you turned me down. At Aveux. And earlier. You said no."
"I said no at Aveux because you just seemed to blurt it all out. I didn't know you had some grand--"
"Stupid."
"-yes, stupid plan. I just thought... I didn't know. And if I had..."
"But earlier?"
"You kept your word to Ashley. And if you were prepared to do that for a friend, and if I got you to promise me..."
Under the covers Darren found Chris' hands, clasping them in his own. "I swear to you Chris, that I'm done with running scared. I'm in love with you and I want this. I want you. I want everything that's coming our way - all the good and bad moments. I want... I want the forever," he finished quietly.
"Promise?"
"Cross my heart," he said, moving one of Chris' to his chest and placing it there.
~~
"Do you have any food in?" Darren laughed as Chris came down the stairs to join him. "Seriously. I found coffee, Diet Coke, and you need to learn when bread turns because it's not supposed to be..."
The word 'green' wasn't verbalised as Chris quieted him with a kiss. It was a gentle kiss, full of love rather than passion. For a moment they just held each other, breathing slow and even.
"Morning," Darren muttered against Chris' lips.
"Morning," Chris whispered back, his arms wrapping tightly around Darren's neck.
"What?" he asked, sensing that there was something wrong.
"It's nothing," Chris tried to say, pushing up to wrap tightly around him and put his chin on his shoulder.
"Hey."
"It's stupid."
"Tell me."
"I woke up and you were..."
Darren tightened his hold around Chris' waist. "No, OK? Just... no. Never again."
"I know," Chris whispered in his ear. "I know. I really do know but for one second..."
He didn't reply, just held on and he knew that it would take more than one night to fix everything between them.
"So... food?" Darren ventured eventually. "Because I'm not starving for anyone. We could go out for lunch?" If he'd not been holding on as tightly he would have missed the slight tense in Chris' body. Instinctively he knew why. "Or we could order in? Pizza and just... staying in?"
Chris pulled back, an honest smile on his face. "Sounds perfect."
~~
They didn't spend the whole day in bed. They didn't even spend the whole day rediscovering the other. They talked, sometimes about serious stuff that mattered, sometimes about things that didn't. They finally got around to watching one of the Lord of the Rings movies, curled up around each other.
Eventually Darren finally mentioned their dinner reservations; he didn't want to press the matter if Chris was uncomfortable but at the same time he knew that if they screwed that place over they'd probably never be able to go back. And he kinda liked it there.
Chris took a deep breath as if he were steadying his nerves for something but was stilled by Darren pressing a kiss into his hair.
"No one needs to know," he said. "Two friends, catching up. But if you..."
"I'm not ashamed..."
"I know, baby, I know," Darren soothed. "You're just... private. Fiercely private."
Chris laughed. "That's one way to put it. Please don't hate me for it."
"I think it may actually be impossible to hate you, Chris."
"You clearly haven't been to Clovis," he said. "Well, I mean... Oh you know."
"Yeah, I do. And no, I don't hate you."
"Can we just enjoy this? I mean... It's not as if we're going to hide away for the rest of our lives but I don't want it to be now. Just..." He exhaled loudly, settling in more to Darren's arms. "Not today?"
"Not today," Darren agreed, kissing the top of Chris' head again. "But seriously... I need food. Real food. And a change of clothes. Because while I appreciate the slacks I am not wearing your gear for the next few days."
"So what do you suggest?" Chris asked nervously.
"I go back to the hotel, shower, change, meet you at the restaurant. We have dinner, we 'catch up', we get out of here before cabin fever sets in or before someone notices that I'm supposed to be about in LA and yet I've not been seen since I took off from Aveux, hot on the heels of the disappearing Chris Colfer?"
"Fine," Chris growled, knowing that Darren had a point.
"It will be."
~~
Chris arrived first and gave them his name. There was the flash of a we know who you are smile and they showed him to the table...
...where Ashley was waiting.
"Hey there, Boo, looking sweet," she grinned, getting up and hugging him.
"Hey... Ash..." he stammered, slightly confused.
Once they were seated and left alone, Ashley made a show of studying her menu. "Hobbit called me," she said quietly. "Just play along."
"Play along with what?" he asked.
She was annoyingly silent for a few minutes until she looked up and declared with such fake sincerity that Chris nearly burst into laughter. "Darren!" she exclaimed. "Hi, hey, hey... Oh you've got to join us! Can you grab an extra chair?" she asked the waiter who nodded. "Look who it is, Chris! Oh, it's like some mini Glee reunion. We should do more things like this. Hang out. We're all good friends after all."
Chris was barely paying attention, he was too busy staring at Darren as he sat across the table from him. Darren's eyes smiled more than his mouth and Chris had to resist the urge to just lean over the table and have his way with him. Because to set this up? Chris had never loved him more.
~~
After many, many, many (many) arguments Ashley had dropped them off a few blocks away from Chris' house. It was a clear and cool night and they wanted to get some fresh air. So after threats of never speaking to her again they had got their way and were now walking back, hand in hand, letting the night wrap around them.
"Thank you," Chris said quietly.
"For what?"
"For tonight. Calling Ash..."
"Just thought it'd take some of the heat off..."
"I... Thank you," he repeated. "And one day..."
Darren gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "I honestly don't care. Really. I'm not saying that I want to hide away forever, but I'm also not about to push you."
"Why do I get the feeling that I could ask you to... run away and you would?"
"Do I get to run away with you? Because I'm so down with that."
"Dare, I'm serious."
"No, I'm not going to just... roll over and do whatever you want, OK? I promise. I'm going to do whatever I need to in order to make things better for us, and I know there's a lot we need to work through, but if I just let you have your own way then it'll just cause more problems for us later and that doesn't quite fit in with forever."
Chris stopped dead, pulling on Darren's hand to make him stop too. A second pull brought him in closer and their lips met in a gentle kiss.
"I love you," Chris breathed.
"Love you back."
"And it's not just you that needs to fix things."
"You didn't break my heart..."
"No, but I hardly made things easy for you. I know I'm not exactly... ideal boyfriend material."
"Depends on the idea..."
"Shut up. This is important. You can't let me have my own way all the time, Dare. If this... cloak and dagger stuff gets too much then you stop it. You make me listen and you make me stop hiding you away. If I don't make time for you then you stop me doing whatever I'm doing that for some reason I've ranked as more important than you. Deal?"
"Deal," he grinned.
They rounded the last corner and suddenly Chris froze. Years of instinct kicked in and he just knew the car parked outside his house wasn't a neighbour's or a visitor. It was parked outside his house and it bore too many hallmarks of a pap car.
"Wait here," Darren said, dropping Chris' hand. As he silently jogged up the street Chris hissed at him to come back but Darren was set. Chris' privacy meant the world to him, Chris meant the world to Darren - the logic chain was irrefutable. As he got closer to the car he slowed, recognising the plates. Moving to the driver's door he met the occupant as he got out, wrapping him in a hug.
As Chris came to join them, Darren was disentangling himself from the driver and turning to the passenger.
"Dare?" Chris ventured, stopping only when the driver stepped into the street light. Jack grinned at Chris and gave a small wave. "Hey," he said, a little dumbfounded.
"Thought we'd drop by, say hello, check in with our boy," Jack said, waving at Darren whose arms were still wrapped around the petite passenger.
As they pulled apart, but not completely, Chris realised who it was and he fought to control the rising irrational jealousy. Darren walked around the car, his arm around Sally's shoulders, his face alight.
"Chris, meet Sally. Sal, this is..."
"The boy you've been pining over for a year? Yeah, got that," she smiled.
"So what are you...?" Chris asked Jack, trying not to look at the girl he didn't know but for some reason still didn't like.
"Well we figured that Dare wasn't likely to be needing his room for the next couple of nights, and he'd probably want his case," Jack said, lifting the luggage from the back seat.
Chris' eyes flicked back to Sally who was now staring intently at him. She seemed to shift slightly and then Darren removed his arm, grabbing the case from Jack.
"Hey, so while you're here let me... give you... that number you wanted," Darren said lamely, pulling Jack in the direction of the front door.
"He really isn't subtle, is he?" Sally laughed as the boys walked away. "You OK?"
"I'm sorry," Chris said, "I don't know you so I've no right..."
"To be jealous?" she finished. "Why not? I mean, you thought for a long time I was his girlfriend. That after being with you he ran straight back to girls, to this girl. And then I got to be there for the biggest event of his life to date while you kicked your heels here with a man you didn't love because the man you did love was running around my city..."
"OK, point taken."
"I was jealous too, y'know?"
"What?" Chris almost squeaked.
"I was just visiting my flatmate on set and Jack comes over to me and pitches the most insane plan I have ever heard. But then he points at Darren and I just... There's something about him that is so easy to love and the first few dates we went on? I was so scared that I was going to fall in love with him for real.
"Only then he really starts opening up about you and... The way he talks about you, the way he looks when he's even thinking about you? I have never known anyone be so in love and not be with the person they want. So now he has you? That puppy look is going to get worse.
"And I know Jack loves me, I do. And I love him right back. He is the guy I am going to marry, have kids with, but I'm sometimes jealous of you. Of how much Darren loves you and what he did for you. Of everything he's been through and the changes he made to his whole world just to stand in front of you and ask you for a chance.
"You two have something most of us don't even... Look, I'm going to make this real simple. I adore Darren. Aside from Jack he's my closest friend. Hell, because of him I have Jack so I feel I owe him a little. You break his heart, Chris, and I swear on the lives of the kids Jack and I are going to have? I will come down here and break you. Understand?"
Chris looked at her for a second before he grinned and nodded. "I can see why Dare likes you so much."
"Pfft," she mocked. "I'm the reason he can't handle girls any more. He knows he's not going to find anyone better than me."
This made Chris laugh and any last shred of jealousy was gone.
"Is it safe?" Jack called from the door where he and Darren were waiting. "Did someone win?"
"I always win," Sally called back. "Now let's leave our boys and get some dinner."
Chris and Jack passed each other on the driveway, exchanging sly smiles as they did. When they reached their respective partners they exchanged gentle kisses and then one couple climbed into a car in search of food, the other headed inside.
"Just so you know," Chris muttered as Darren pressed him up against the door, reversing the roles from last night, "if we split up I want Sally in the divorce."
"You realise she comes with Jack, right?" Darren said into Chris' neck.
"A price I am willing to pay," he said as Darren lifted him, pulling his legs up to wrap around his hips.
~~
The following lunchtime found Darren browsing some emails, finalising some pre-production publicity with the network. Chris made a light lunch (food deliveries, they had decided, were truly a product of the wonderful times they lived in) and as he put the plate down in front of his boyfriend (oh he was so not going to get tired of calling him that) his phone rang.
"Hi Mom," Darren answered, shooting Chris a grin. "Yeah, thanks..." he said as she launched into her congratulations.
A few seconds later Chris' phone rang shrilly, the caller ID revealing his own mom was calling.
"Hey," Chris said and then stopped suddenly as he heard an unexpected voice on the other end.
"Hello Chris," Cora said. "I guess congratulations are due to you as well."
"We have some very talented boys," Karyn interrupted.
As the mothers gushed over their sons, Chris and Darren locked eyes in horror.
"And to make things better, seems you two have got yourselves sorted out," Cora said, bringing them back into the conversation.
"Mom... how?" Darren stammered.
"Chuck showed me how to do this conference call thing. And I heard Christopher's phone ring when Karyn called him so I know he's there with you."
"Which means that you two have hopefully kissed and made up?" Karyn asked.
"You... You two knew?" Chris exclaimed. "But... how?"
"Christopher," Karyn chided gently. "I am your mother and I know you."
"Just as I know you," Cora added, directed at her own son.
"So. Can we stop worrying?" Karyn asked. "Are things as they should be?"
Chris rolled his eyes and grinned, taking the hand that Darren was holding out for him. He allowed himself to be pulled in closer, standing between Darren's legs. "Yes Mom," he sighed.
"Darren," Karyn said sharply. "You love my boy?"
"With all my heart and soul," Darren said, latching on to Chris' gaze and holding it.
"Good."
"You love my boy?" Cora asked this time.
"In spite of himself, yeah. I do," Chris replied, keeping Darren's gaze.
"Well thank goodness for that," Cora laughed. "Karyn, I think we can stand down."
"Stand down?" Chris asked. "What were you planning to do?"
"Bang your heads together? Lock you in a room? Whatever it took for you two to just get your act together."
The mothers began excitedly discussing plans for the families to spend more time together now that their boys had 'sorted themselves out' but Chris and Darren had stopped listening, exchanging short kisses and gentle touches.
~~
Two days later they were wrapped around each other once more, again unwilling to part but this time for very different reasons.
"I'll call you," Darren said, "the second I get back. And we're going to make this work. I won't let it go any other way, OK?"
"I know, I know."
"I love you."
"So you've said. About twenty times. In the last ten minutes."
"So I really love you."
"And I love you back."
"We're gonna do this. We can totally do this."
"We have a plan," Chris said. "This time we have a plan."
"It's only a few weeks. Just a few weeks and there's Skype and emails and..."
"Are you trying to calm me or you?" Chris laughed, pressing his forehead to Darren's. "Because either way I don't think it's working."
Darren tilted his head a little, pressing a gentle kiss against his lips. His boyfriend's lips. His partner, lover, boyfriend, his everything.
"And we'll be fine, D. We've got this planned to the last degree. We managed a year apart, we can do a few weeks."
Towards the end of the sentence Chris didn't even believe himself and so he laughed, along with Darren, into the kiss. They held on, either kissing or breathing the other until the car horn was sounded outside.
"Jack's impatient," Chris whispered.
"He said he'd give us every last second."
"I..." don't want you to go, please don't leave me again. Stay. Stay with me forever. Let's run away and never look back. "I love you."
Darren stole a final kiss and pushed away with more strength than he knew he had. "Love you back."
He grabbed his bag and walked out of the house, heading down the drive while he still was able because if he stopped he felt he'd stop forever. Handing the bag to Sally he turned to face Chris, the smile on his face tinged with sadness.
"Just a few weeks," he said.
"Just a few weeks," Chris repeated.
"Oh you two are just..." Jack muttered from inside the car before he was silenced, most likely by Sally.
"Go," Chris whispered. "If you miss your flight..."
"That would be bad?" Darren joked.
Chris wrapped his arms around Darren in a final hug; it wouldn't be until Darren was on the plane that he found the front door key that Chris had slipped into his pocket. He turned the piece of metal over and over in his fingers like a talisman all the way to Chicago, dialling Chris' number as soon as they were in the waiting car.
"Thank you," he said as soon as the call connected.
"This distance thing, I am not letting it come between us," Chris replied, all greetings dispensed with. "You promised me you were done running scared? This is me promising... I'm not going to shut you out. I will talk to you and share things with you. Well, I'll try anyway."
Darren laughed, shooting a glance at Jack and Sally who were pressed up against each other.
"I miss you already," Chris sighed. "God that's so pathetic!"
"I miss you too," he replied, "so I guess we can be pathetic together."
"Deal."