It's the day of the Darren Criss concert, and you've planned to meet a few friends at the venue. You take a taxi from your house which isn't far from the venue, but you're still running late. You finally get to the road of the venue, and get out of the cab. You're starving hungry, and see this great looking pizza place right across from the venue, but you can't risk it. Darren is way more important than food.
You don't find your friends, and you're wondering if they even came. You know you'd never miss this for the world, so you go on, just as a single person. The lights are surrounding the stage, and the room itself is pretty crowded by now. You find a way to squeeze into a place that fairly near the front of the stage. You can see everything perfectly. The keyboard is already lying there, emotionless, right next to his elegant guitar. But theres a crucial part missing from the stage. Him. His face. His body. Just his presence. Your heart starts racing at the thought that he's so close to you right now, and very soon, your eyes will be laying upon every inch of him. You're becoming breathless at the thought of it.
The crowd is screaming, and so are you. The air is humid, and everyone is sweating. With the temperature rising, and the excitement building, you feel like the show is about to begin. Your looking up at the stage, straining your neck slightly, wishing for some sign on life. And just then, you see some shadows coming from behind the stage. You start to cheer once more, and before you could finish your call, he's jumped onto the stage, wearing a tight white shirt and some pink framed sunglasses. Your breath has been taken away. The room has erupted in screams and beacons, hands are flying in the air, but your view of him is still great. He continuities to skip around the stage, smiling intently. In some glimpses, you can see him laughing to himself. You start to smile, knowing that no-one else in the whole room can see you. But who cares. This is the happiest you've ever been.
Before you know it, he's picked up he's swung his guitar over his shoulder, and walks towards the centre of the stage before he gently presses his lips against the microphone.
"Hey guys!" He says, his delicious voice drowning out the deafening screams throughout the room as it fills with cheering once more. He talks for a while, and everyone intently listens to every word he says. And then he starts to play. He begins to sing a cover of his that you've listened to a thousand times before. But his voice. It's never sounded this flawless before. And before you start to sing, you just take it all in for a minute. Listening to him hit the notes perfectly, with all of his excitement radiating from the expressions in his soft face. When his excitement hits you, that's it, you're singing the words along with him. You're jumping and dancing through each song, unable to feel the heat taking over you. You're having way too much fun to even notice how thirsty you are.
Half way through the concert, you're already feeling the exhaustion. But as he speaks to you through the microphone, you can see he is too. He takes off his glasses, revealing those piercing eyes of his. His white shirt has started to stick to his skin, as drops of water begin to fall from his brow. He places his left hand back on the neck of his guitar, and begins another song, a bit slower than the last ones. You recognize the guitar line immediately. "Don't You." You know what the lyrics are implying, and before he even starts singing, you're already feeling the heat inside you build. You're standing completely still, as people around you are still jumping for his attention. You can't even move. You favorite line is coming up, but these rich emotions are taking over you.
Kiss
Oh he said it. You can't even smile. You're just longing for him to catch your eye. There's 600 people in this room with you, and every single one of them is wishing for the same thing; him to notice you. Him to sing to you.
There's a thought so, how 'bout this
You're mouthing the words along with him, but you're almost unable to breath. His eyes are searching the audience, and his cheeky smile is flaunting itself.
But oh no. Here he his. He's staring at you. Looking you right into your eyes, and you're looking right back. You'll never blink again.
Let's pretend that both our lips are made of candy.
That line. He sung it just for you. To you. At you. He's smiling at you, and then he raises his head back up to the rest of the audience to complete the verse. He'd picked you, of all people out form the crowd, to sing that beautiful line to. Does this mean something? You'll do anything to get his attention again, but your heart is beating ten to the dozen. You can't move, else you'd collapse on the dance floor.
A few songs later, and Joe Walker joins him on the stage. This night is crazy. Darren is constantly laughing, and seeing those two together makes you incredibly happy. They're real friends, and you just want jump on the stage and party with them. Joe leaves the stage a couple of songs later. Darren looks at you for a few lyrics again, but it's not for as long this time. Did your reaction scare him off the first time? You're feeling the butterflies again, and you're going crazy inside. But he's saying his goodbyes. His thank you's. Before you know it, he's left the stage, just as soon as he came on. That can't be it. That's not enough. You need to see him again. You must. Your vision isn't complete without his body standing in the way of the rest of the world.
You decide stay behind after the concert, near the backdoor, and wait for a while after the show. There's about half of the crowd out here too, and you doubt that anyone is going to budge just for you- one crazy fangirl stood on her own. After just 20 minutes, seeing how many people are waiting too, your hunger takes over you. You've had so much fun, and who can ask the guy for more? As much as you want to see him, you turn back, every now and then glancing over your shoulder at the venue, trying to search for any sign of him, preparing to sprint right back if you do, but nothing. You end up pushing the door of that pizza place you found earlier. Glad to be shielded from the freezing cold.
You're stood behind some really tall guy in a queue. You finally feel comfortable with the temperature, but as the door opens behind you, the breeze bites at your back. The guy in front of you gets his pizza. Just as you start to ask for a meaty pizza, you hear a voice from behind you.
"Hey, sweet choice! You stole my order from me!"
You turn around. Right before you, he's there. He's the same height as you this time, but those eyes, just as piercing as before.
His face doesn't look as sweaty, and he's changed his shirt; it's a dark green colour, with some logo on it. His shoulders are covered by a fleece coat that's wrapped loosely over him. You only catch it out of your peripheral vision. You're too busy looking at those eyes.
But more importantly, how do you respond? Words aren't forming in your brain, let alone your mouth. You smile for a second, to try and break the tension in the atmosphere.
"Well, what's a pizza without the meat?" you laugh. Realizing just seconds later what a stupid response that was. And, slightly vulgar.
"I know right? It just makes everything so delicious!" He says, smiling through every word, gesticulating now to show his enthusiasm. He's obviously as hungry as you are. You laugh again, feeling the tension dying down significantly. He turns to the pizza guy behind the counter, just looking over your shoulder to talk to him, standing on his tip toes so the guy can see him. He asks for two pizzas with the same order as yours. The guy turns back around from the counter and exits out back.
"I'm Darren by the way!" He puts his hand out for you to shake. Your assumptions that he specifically picked you out of the crowd to look at during "Don't You" automatically disappear. But who cares. You're about to touch Darren Criss.
"Yeah, I know! I just went to your show!" you say, grasping his hand, trying to cover the excitement in your words. He moves your palm up and down gently for a few seconds, before releasing your grip. His constant toothy smile has now turned into a little cute gape, as he's taken back by a little bit of shock.
"Oh awesome! Wow! Well, how was I?" He jokes.
"Phenomenal." You replied. Maybe you should've thought about that word before you said it out loud, but he's chuckled at you. It's the sweetest, cutest damn noise you've ever heard.
"Well thank you! That's very kind of you!" He wasn't looking at you this time, more towards the floor, shaking his head in disbelief. With his head still down, he tilts his head to the side slightly, and looks at you again.
"Can I catch your name?" His lips only slightly raised. As if he even needs to ask. But oh wow what a line. You tell him your name, and he straightens his neck back to your eye level. He nods, gently, showing his teeth again. "That's a beauti-" You turn around as the guy behind the pizza counter as he calls for yours and Darren's pizzas. Darren has already finished his sentence but you didn't even get to hear it all. But you know what he said, and your heart has completely melted.
You take the all pizzas, and say thank you to the pizza guy. You turn back to Darren, holding your pizza straight out in front of you, and passing Darren's into both on his hands. He looks down at them.
"And thank you, too" You say to him, pretending like you never lost concentration of his beautiful face.
He realizes that you understand what he just said, and tilts his head very slightly towards his shoulder this time. "Well that's alright" He lets out another toothy smile, and blinks a few times before he speaks again.
"You know, considering we both want to eat the same food, we could just share these together?" He points to the boxes. You're starving, and could keep this whole pizza to yourself; but who needs food? All you want is Darren.
"Yeah, sure!" You chuckle.
"Awesome! Well, you can come backstage with me and Joe if you want? We'll just hang out for a bit."
"Great!" You say, and Darren nods a few more times as he turns around, leading you out towards the door. He grasps the handle, and pulls it towards him. He turns back around to you and looks you in the eyes, smiling, and gesturing you to walk through first. You don't say anything, but you nod sympathetically and walk through. Once you've passed his gaze, your smile becomes almost manic, as if you're about to lose your freaking mind. How could this all be happening? You've just met Darren. He knows your name. And now, you're going to eat pizza together, backstage. Could things get any better?