Darren doesn't say no when it comes to Chris. He might stumble and babble and grin, but he doesn't know how to refuse Chris anything.
His first day on set, Darren is whizzed through a tour of set and meetings with Ryan (and Lea, unabashedly judgmental and Rachel down to her very core) and Zach running him through difficult choreography and everything is so professional and fast that Darren can hardly breathe or pause to crack a joke. And Darren is always cracking jokes, always.
But then there's a light tap on his shoulder and Darren turns and there are a pair of eyes staring curiously back at him and—oh, bluegreen.
"This is gonna be totally awesome!" Chris kind of exclaims it, all twisty hands and a toothy smile and happy eyes. "Get it, Darren? Totally awesome!"
Darren is a spazzy person, it doesn't take much to get him hyped up and frazzled. But for the first time that day, his head stops spinning a little. Chris stands too close and there are Cheerios running by and Cory knocks over a table full of props nearby. Darren just stands and grins goofily back at his co-star, who he's just met but already loves a little bit.
Unfortunately, his brain clearly hasn't caught up yet, because what he blurts out is less than articulate, "Um."
Chris just squints his eyes and laughs, "Hey relax a little! You're not alone."
And then Chris is being dragged away and there's a makeup girl fussing over Darren's hair, and Darren is this close to saying something about him and his dick not wanting Chris to leave. Luckily, Chris yells a dinner invitation over his shoulder.
By the time Darren manages to say, "Kay!" Chris is already gone, but at the end of the day someone taps Darren's shoulder and when Chris asks if he's still up for dinner, Darren doesn't say no.
Darren quickly learns that the Glee set doesn't get any less chaotic after his first day, but he quickly catches his stride. Eventually the cast stops referring to him as the 'new guy' and he stops tripping over the cables strewn across set. He quickly learns that Ryan could be calling any one of the cast when he says 'Hey lady, come here' and that Naya and Heather are sneaky and takes unattractive photos of Darren napping.
Darren learns a lot about Chris too.
He learns that Chris likes being fed honey nut cheerios, but not frosted flakes. He learns that Chris writes—comedies and tragedies and even romances sometimes. He learns that when one of the bigger guys, like Cory or Mark, move a little too quickly in the corner of Chris' field of vision, Chris startles and flinches just a little bit. He learns that Chris is playful and doesn't mind when Darren runs and tackles him to the ground, and just smirks and actually licks the side of Darren's face when Jenna comments that she could maybe get into gay porn as Darren and Chris wrestle on the floor.
Darren learns that he isn't Chris' type, and that this knowledge makes his stomach squirm unhappily.
When Chris asks Darren to get him a snack from craft services, saying no isn't even an option for Darren.
And when Chris asks Darren to go watch the latest Paranormal Activity movie with him, Darren says yes, even though he is a huge wimp and would really rather go watch Tangled.
The first time they sneak Chris into a club, men paw and grab at him. So when Chris shyly mentions to Darren that he wants to go dance, but doesn't like being mauled by strangers, Darren offers to dance with Chris. He isn't quite sure that he himself can resist pawing at Chris.
Having Chris move against his chest is incredibly sexual, and Darren is hard in his pants in minutes. But Chris is laughing and dancing and hasn't even noticed Darren's boner prodding him in the ass. With his hands resting on Chris' hips, Darren feels just how young Chris is, how new all the people and attention is to the lonely boy that was forced to grow up too fast in Clovis.
And Darren doesn't want to ruin this, so he ignores his erection and shields his friend from the grabby hands around them as they dance.
Dianna makes her way over, handing two shots over to Darren. He tips one easily down his own throat before fingering Chris' hair to tilt his head back onto Darren's shoulder. He pours the shot down Chris' throat, watching the muscle clutch and swallow the clear liquid as the music thuds around them.
When Chris asks Darren if he wants to keep dancing, Darren says yes and finds himself having fun, even if having Chris so close is a constant reminder of just how much closer Darren wants him.
Somewhere between third and fourth season, Chris grows up.
He still pouts and is silly with Darren, but where Chris was previously soft rounded cheeks and boyishness, he is now all hard, attractive lines and sinful curves. And Darren still doesn't know how to say no to Chris.
"I'm gonna go now, okay Darren? See you on set on Monday!" There's an attractive man plastered to Chris' side, and even as Darren says 'okay', he can't help noticing that the man is Chris' type. And Darren isn't.
Chris still asks Darren to bring him snacks from craft services, Darren still says yes.
And then one night Darren is saying yesyesohgodyes as he pushes his cock deep and hard into Chris.
Watching Chris come as Darren pounds into his body is probably the hottest thing Darren's ever seen, because Chris comes with his entire body. His toes curl and his lower back arches, his neck and ears flush and his face scrunches up and his fingers scratch deep red lines into Darren's back. And his muscles clench tight and hot around Darren and just—yes.
Darren barely has the energy to breathe, so he just collapses on top of Chris, after.
He is not really awake when Chris rolls them both onto their sides.
"Hey, hey," mumbles Darren, "Bluegreen. So pretty."
Chris smiles, toothy and happy and sad and tired, with the kind of deep dark honesty that only comes in a warm, comfortable bed early in the morning. "Hey you, too. I love you a lot, okay?"
"Yes. I love you, too." Darren doesn't think that he's ever meant it as much as he does in this moment. Bluegreen is the last thing he sees before his eyes close, and that night Darren's dreams are full of pointy elf-y ears and bluegreen eyes and brown hair and high cheekbones. In Darren's dreams, Chris says yes.
Darren wakes up before Chris. He feels the minutes tick away as he memorizes the lines and curves of Chris' face. He knows every line already, lost his heart in those curves long ago, but Darren likes remembering.
When Chris' eyes flutter open, they stare back at Darren just as curious as that very first time, but familiar and a little like home, now.
"Hey, stay, okay?"
In Darren's dreams, Chris says yes.
But in the cutting light of the morning and the even harsher blip of both their cellphones' notifications, Chris draws away from Darren's arms and rolls off of the bed.
"I can't, Darren." He tugs on his pants and shirt, grabs a hoodie from Darren's closet before looking back. "You know I can't."
Don't, says Darren. Don't pull away from me. Don't let them trick you into thinking that this is a mistake you're not making.
But instead—"Okay. I know, Chris."
One day this will be enough for Chris, Darren knows. When Glee and Struck By Lightning and the books that are writing themselves deep in Chris' soul are done, and Chris is not so filled to the brim, Chris will come back to him, Darren knows.
He knows it in the way Chris is his best friend on set, tackling and tickling and joking. He knows it in the way their onscreen chemistry crackles and electrifies and turned them, Kurt and Blaine, into Klaine, into something big and shifting and magic. He knows it in the way Chris tears himself apart to find it in him to say no to Darren.
He knows it in the way Chris' bluegreen eyes say: Wait for me. Wait for me to come back wait for me to stay wait for me to say yes.
Darren doesn't say no to Chris.
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