A/N: Tiny Learren ficlet inspired by a manip I saw recently on the Learren tumblr. Thanks for reading and as always, please let me know what you think and review!
Darren frowned when he heard the knock at his door – it was awfully late for a visitor – but his expression softened when he pressed one eye to the peephole and saw the brunette sticking her tongue out at him, smiling wide.
"Hellooo," Lea said as she stepped in. She waited for him to deadbolt the door again before throwing her arms around him, tilting her head back for a kiss. Darren pressed his lips against hers so swiftly she barely felt it, and she frowned when he stepped back and out of her embrace, turning his head away. "That's not much of a greeting," she pouted. "Hey. What's wrong?"
"It's nothing, I'm just tired," Darren said, still not looking at her.
"Darren, you pride yourself on living on guava juice alone. You're not tired. What's wrong?"
When Darren finally spoke, his voice was quiet. "You and Cory sure had a good time together today."
"What?"
"Everyone saw the video on Twitter but I saw it firsthand." Lea watched as Darren's hand tightened into a fist, his fingers working, the vein in his arm rolling with the movement. "You spent the whole day with him. You barely spoke to me. Am I supposed to think that's nothing?"
"Darren." Lea strode towards him, easing a hand down his arm, shivering at the tension there, and pressing a gentle kiss to the column of his neck. He was still looking away, his whole body taut. "You know why. Ryan and the others would kill us if they knew – "
"It's always about what they think for you, isn't it, Lea?"
"You know it isn't – "
"Yes it is!" Lea jumped as he jerked away from her, spinning abruptly to face her. "It's all about keeping up appearances so that Glee can go on its merry way – "
"Don't you want that?" Lea asked softly.
"I thought what I wanted was you."
Lea's mouth fell open, but no words emerged. Darren watched for a millisecond as her breath wracked her body, then her chocolate eyes were hard. "If you're not sure of that anymore, I'm going to go."
"Lea, no, I'm sorry – " She didn't turn, half-running to the door. "I love you."
That made her stop.
When she turned to face him, there were tears shining in her eyes. "Don't say it if you don't mean it, Darren. Don't say it just to keep me here. I'll never forgive you if that's all this is."
"I love you," he repeated breathlessly. She didn't move, so he crossed the distance between them and squeezed her tight against him, then kissed her forehead gently. "I love you so much. I'm so sorry. It makes me stupid. It makes me jealous, and mean, all because I love you. We don't have to tell anyone. We'll keep up appearances until we don't have to anymore."
He gave her a proper kiss this time when she inclined her head, until both of them were dizzy with lack of oxygen.