A/N: Hi everyone! This is a CrissColfer story. If you don't like it, don't read it. Darren and Chris both have reasons to hate the break-up episode. Both of them are struggling to find the right words to say. What happens when they do find the words to say?
Disclaimer: I don't own anything! Just the idea for this story. I don't mean any disrespect towards Darren or Chris! This is just all in good fun.
I hope you enjoy! Please R&R!
They arrived on set a little before dusk. The place was teeming with crew workers lugging around heavy equipment and setting up cameras. They had probably already been there for hours setting up everything. A little farther down, on the opposite side of where they were shooting, a trailer park seemed to have appeared overnight.
Darren, Lea, Cory and Chris were in the car together. The tension was thick in the air, it was going to be an intense night. Nobody had really spoken once the set came into view. Lea was staring out of the window, her head resting on Cory's shoulder. Chris' eyes hadn't left his computer screen the entire car ride, he just typed a few words every so often. Darren decided not to bother any of them. So, he opted for rehearsing his lines in his head. The car dropped them of nearby their temporary trailers.
They got out of the car and one of the on-set assistants showed Darren and Chris their trailer. The assistants told them they had a little time to relax before having to go to makeup and wardrobe. Darren thanked the girl and caught up with Chris who was already walking towards their joined trailer. The younger of the two sighed loudly.
"What's up?" Darren asked.
"The fans will eat this up, us sharing a trailer. Just what we need today..." Chris' voice sounded flat, not even frustrated, just emotionless.
"Thanks a lot, man! I thought I was much more fun as a roommate than that!" The slightly shorter man joked.
"Oh, I didn't mean it like that. You know I didn't, Dare." Chris turned towards Darren as they reached their door. "You're straight, it's different. It just would be nice to have a male friend without everyone assuming..."
Darren cut him off. "Hey, it's fine! I understand that, I do. I mean, I understand you." Darren sighed audibly. "You shouldn't let that get to you."
Chris just smiled at his costar's words as he opened the door. Darren knew the younger actor didn't mean it like that but sometimes it stung. It stung when it seemed that Chris discarded their friendship because of what other people might think. The way Chris would sometimes try to avoid Darren in public places, during press or some public event. It was just a really difficult balance to keep. If they were spotted spending more time together fans always saw something more. If they weren't seen together for a longer while the fans thought they even weren't friends anymore or in some sort of feud. They were friends, good friends. They liked a lot of the same things and just had clicked since day one.
"Are you going to keep standing there or are you coming in?" Chris asked the other actor.
Darren quickly snapped out of his thoughts. He looked up at Chris' face, a sly smile playing on his lips. "So, I'm still allowed in? Well Colfer, I'll make it worth your while."
"Darren! You are not helping the situation saying stuff like that." the younger man hissed in fake annoyance.
"Hey, it's true! I'll be extra funny and enjoyable tonight. Yes, I know it's hard to believe. I'll be more amazing than usual." Darren said as he walked into the trailer with a smug grin on his face.
Chris slapped his shoulder as he walked by. This only made Darren burst out into booming laughter. The scene in the park was going to be hard enough, they needed some joking around at that point in time. Darren plopped down on the cough, sighing contently as he hugged one of the pillows to his chest.
"You are five." Chris deadpanned.
"No, I'm not. I am youthful, I'll stay young forever!" Darren cooed at the blue-eyed man standing in front of him.
Chris' smile dropped slightly at Darren's words. He sat down at the table and opened his computer and started typing again. He didn't meet Darren's eyes as the curly-haired man got up from the couch and took a seat on the opposite side of the table. Darren slowly pushed the laptop closed.
"I didn't save that..." Chris said, defeat in his voice. He didn't really care.
"You didn't type that much... You'll remember." Darren's voice had lost its joking tone and was filled with concern. Chris still didn't meet his eyes, he just stared at the hand on his closed laptop. He opened his mouth to say something but then closed it again. He looked like he was fighting to find what he wanted to say.
"What happened? What did I say that..."
"Dare, it's nothing… It'll sound stupid." Chris suddenly said before the other man could finish.
"Hi, my name is Darren Criss." Darren reached out the hand which had been on Chris' laptop. "I made a musical about Harry Potter, covered Disney songs on Youtube... Chris, you can't sound stupid! Well, you can but not near me. Or at least in comparison you won't sound as stupid."
Chris playfully slapped the outreached hand away. He finally looked up into Darren's amber eyes, which immediately bore into Chris' blue ones. The 22-year-old's gaze was held there, he just couldn't look away when his costar looked at him with those vibrant eyes. They were silent for only a minute or so but the demeanor changed. Darren tensed up because there was something really wrong not just a stupid little problem. Chris was really struggling with something. On impulse the curly-haired actor took the younger actor's hand into his and squeezed lightly. This made Chris comeback from where ever he had been with his thoughts. His eyes slowly fell on their joined hands.
"Chris, I don't want to get all sappy and serious but you can talk to me. I'm a pretty good friend, actually." He squeezed Chris' hand once more.
"I know I can talk to you. That's how you know that I don't like getting sappy and serious. It's just I know there's something wrong but it's just all scrambled in my head." the younger man looked up again, looking for some reassurance.
"Then start at the beginning, what did I say a couple of minutes ago that made you feel uneasy?" Darren's chipper personality took over again.
"Well, you pretty much quoted 'Teenage Dream' which made me think about how tough it's going to be today." Chris shrugged, it wasn't entirely true but it wasn't a lie either.
"That isn't stupid, it's..."
Just as Darren began to speak there was a knock on the door. A familiar voice yelled from the other side of the door.
"Dare, you have to come to the hairdresser's trailer with me! Chris, you have to go to wardrobe first!" It was Lea, she probably didn't want to go alone and Darren's hair took almost as much time as hers. "Come on, Darren! Cory is sleeping and I don't want to go alone."
Darren looked at Chris, the concern still in his eyes. The younger of the two knew that Darren sensed there was more to it than what he had been told. Darren seemed to opt for ignoring Lea but just as he opened his mouth to speak Lea walked in. Chris had quickly opened his laptop and pretended to be working just as she walked into the little living area.
Lea was oblivious to the fact that she had disturbed them. She grabbed Darren's arm as she kissed Chris on the top of his head. "Stop writing, sweetheart. You have to come with us to. We'll drop you of at wardrobe." Lea turned and dragged Darren with her.
Reluctantly Chris closed his laptop and followed after his costars. He was kind of thankful for Lea's interruption. On the other hand, he has almost found the courage to tell Darren what the real problem was. Chris sighed as he saw the word courage in cut out letters before his eyes.
He wasn't as confused as he said he was. He knew what was wrong he just didn't know how to voice it properly. He had escaped Darren's questions for now. Still, he knew that the conversation wasn't over as he met Darren's concerned gaze right before he closed the door to the wardrobe trailer.
"The sun is setting, time to get in place everyone!" The director called through a megaphone as he walked back and forth across the pathway where they were shooting in Battery Park.
Darren had finally gotten away from the hairdresser's trailer after what seemed forever. When he walked outside the sun had set and nighttime had settled in. He was almost certain that each day they tried to put more and more gel into his hair. He wanted his old Warbler hair back, he did miss his Warbler days. He loved being a series regular but McKinley Blaine was a lot different than Dalton Academy Blaine. Darren didn't really like Blaine this season or he didn't like what the writers were doing with his character. He understood they wanted to change things up a bit but this seemed out of character for Blaine. Even if it wasn't out of character, it certainly was out of the blue. Darren didn't really have any say in what Blaine did but he was protective over him nonetheless.
Today was especially difficult, he loved Blaine and Kurt together. He saw his costar standing near a bench, he was talking to Lea. He made his way over to the other actors. Before Darren could say anything to Lea she got pulled away by one of the stage hands. He loved Lea but maybe it was a good thing she got pulled away. This gave them another chance to talk.
"We didn't get the chance to finish our talk." Darren stated as he walked up to Chris.
"Yeah, I know." Chris didn't seem to initiate any other conversation after that.
Darren waited for a couple of minutes before speaking again. "It wasn't stupid, you know."
Chris slowly looked up at the other man. He didn't speak he just looked at Darren. He didn't know what to say, he wanted to talk about everything. He just didn't know how or what it even meant.
"It's hard for me too. This.." He motioned between the two of them. "is the reason this all happened for me. Their relationship is important to me too."
"The fans will be so mad after this episode. Well, probably even sooner." As he spoke he looked over to the people already gathering on the grass.
There must have been someone who had leaked that they would be filming in Battery Park. There already were 20 to 30 people standing on the sidelines watching them. Chris had been very nervous this entire week. He had always wanted some Klaine-drama. Darren sometimes felt a little hurt by that. He knew that it was just more interesting for Chris as an actor. It hurt because it seemed as if Chris didn't want to play opposite of him anymore. But now Chris was really anxious, he was scared of how the fans would react. The blue-eyed man was adored by the fans but sometimes they forgot that they, as actors, didn't really have a say in what happened in the show.
Darren put a hand on the other man's shoulder and squeezed lightly. "Chin up, chump."
A cackle escaped Chris "Very dapper, Darren." A smile remained on Chris' lips.
"I made you laugh though!" Darren's smile stretched broad from ear to ear.
"Yes, you did." The smile remained on Chris' face.
Darren jumped up and punched the air.
"You are crazy. Totally mentally deranged." Chris said as he laughed at Darren who was still jumping around like a maniac. The bad feeling which Chris had had this entire week didn't leave him though. It chewed at his brain and his heart. Darren thought he just was scared of the fans and for now he would he would let Darren think that.
A director's assistant walked over to the two men which made Darren stand still. The man gave them directions on where to walk while they were in the background for Lea's and Cory's scene. They walked back and forth a few times right behind Lea and Cory. They weren't shooting yet, just getting everything down so they could finish as quickly as possible. They were going to shoot all the 'Finchel' scenes first, after that it was Chris' and Darren's turn.