A/N: Well, this is my Valentine's CrissColfer oneshot. It was just a random idea, and, well, I hope you like it :D. Also, I apologise for whatever it's like, most of it has been written late at night, but it makes me giggle, so, yeah :3.
One thing, I'm not overly happy with the ending, but I couldn't think how else to end it, and I wanted to make sure it was out for Tuesday. So, yeah, I apologise for that.
Have an awesome Valentine's Day, be it alone or with someone, make the most of it, because this is the day when you can enjoy all of the fluffy smut that the lonely people, or the people that have too much time and love for their ships – ooh, ooh! Me! – will write. Lots of love for all of you :).
Sadly, guys, I don't own Glee - pft! Story... of... my life! - only an over-active imagination and a love for Klaine.
Play about with the little blue drop-down bar at the bottom if you want to. Thanks, Josie, X.
Tell me about it.
Chris sighed as the hands kneaded in to his shoulder, rubbed away the knots that he seemed to get daily. His head fell back and his eyes closed. Oh, how he loved this. He frowned as the hands stopped moving, opened his eyes and saw the lips he loved kissing just an inch away from his own. Instantly, his eyes closed again and he smiled in to the kiss. As the lips moved softly against his own, gently, delicately. He hummed lightly in to the kiss. Soon, he was pulling away so he could turn around and lean against his chest to pull him in to a more heated kiss. Hands were running through his hair as he nipped at his lip and tugged, smiling again as the lips parted and granted him access. Instantly, there tongues were moulding together, massaging each other's as hands groped one another's body. Chris groaned in the back of his throat.
A knock on the door.
He groaned again, out of frustration this time, and pulled away, still panting, his hands going up to fix his hair as he tried to even out his breathing. He got off of the bed and picked up his shirt from on the floor, pulling it on and hoping it didn't look too crumpled. The man whom he had been kissing made his way in to the lounge to sit on the sofa, quickly flicking on the TV and leaning back in to the cushions. Chris made his way to the door and answered it, smiling as he said "Hey, Amber. What brings you here, honey?"
"Nothing much, just thought I'd stop in to see you. Mind if I come in?" The woman replied, smiling at him.
"No, not at all. We were just about to order take-out if you wanted to join us." Chris told her as they walked in to the lounge.
"Yeah, that'd be cool. Oh, hey, Darren."
"Hey, Amber." Darren replied from the sofa, raising a hand as he turned and smiled at her.
Darren wrapped his arms around Chris' waist and pressed his head at the crook of his neck. "I thought she'd never leave.", he breathed in to his ear, the heat of his breath causing Chris squirm slightly.
Rolling his eyes, Chris said "Quit moaning, you had a nice time, didn't you?", entwining his and Darren's fingers together against his stomach.
"Well, yeah, but I would have had a nicer time if it was just you and me." He mumbled, blowing lightly against Chris' ear, flicking his tongue out at the shell.
Chris sighed, rolling his eyes slightly, "Put your hormones away, Dare; it's late." He sighed again as he could hear Darren pouting. He swiftly turned in the older man's arms, pressing a light kiss to his lips, smiling up at him before snuggling back in to his earlier position, and sighing out of contentment. This was one thing he had always looked forward to in a relationship: having someone to hold him as he fell asleep. It was a comfort to him, being held, and he loved that Darren could be just as affectionate as he could. However, he did wish things like this, just simple holding and cuddling, could be done around people. He didn't want to have to pretend, didn't want to have to lie to the people he cared about. What annoyed him the most was that Hannah could tell, Hannah could always tell these things though. When he had lived at home with his family, his sister had always been able to tell when he had had had a crush, when he'd gotten his first kiss, when he'd had the startings of a relationship with an old flame and had not yet told anyone. It wasn't like he was an open book, quite the opposite when it came to his love life, actually, but Hannah just seemed to be able to read him, no matter how many words of denial he hid behind. But he supposed that that was a good thing, because she was the one he'd been able to confide in, and she was probably the best person he knew to tell a secret and have it kept.
Chris and Hannah had often shared long phone calls on nights when Darren was out talking about how the relationship was going, Hannah gushing, or saying that he was such a girl when it came to relationships, starting the two off in a fit of giggles. Just a few days ago, they had spoken for hours about how Chris couldn't wait until they were able to tell people and be open about their relationship, how they would be able to be together together, and hold hands and walk down the street, and kiss each other good bye when they met for lunch in town, and cuddle together when friends were round. Of course, Hannah had told him that it would happen soon, and that they would be kissing, cuddling and canoodling left, right, and centre.
Hands were scrabbling through hair, groping at skin; lips sucking and teeth biting. "Oh... Darren..." Chris moaned, his hands tugging at Darren's curls, oh, he loved those curls, his head falling deeper in to the pillow.
"God, Chris... you don't know how much it turns me on when you call me Darren..." Darren bit at Chris' neck, sucking at the pale skin and groaning against it. He looked at the already purpling skin, moaning in the back of his throat, and lunged in, smacking his and Chris' lips together in a kiss that was full of teeth. As the two pulled apart for air, their lips ghosting one another's, Darren breathed "Chris, I... I think I... I think I love you."
Chris gasped lightly in the back of his throat. What?, his mind screamed. His eyes widened as he breathed out his mind's thoughts.
"I think... I love you?" There was uncertainty in Darren's voice as he spoke, though not uncertainty towards his feelings, but uncertainty towards Chris' reaction. The two of them had agreed to take it slowly, and now here Darren was telling Chris he loved him after only a month of secret exchanges, hidden looks and down-and-out lies. Darren pulled away from Chris and whispered "I'm sorry.", looking down at his hands that sat in his lap. "I... I shouldn't have said that." He shuffled towards the edge of the bed, about to get off when he felt a lithe hand lock around his wrist.
"No."
"What?"
"Don't. Don't be sorry, you have nothing to be sorry for. It's... it's a human thing to feel the need to express our emotions, and I'm sorry about my reaction, it just shocked me a little. However, please don't expect me to tell you something that I'm not sure of straight away, because I'm not sure if I love you yet, please just let me figure that out in my own time, okay?" Chris had moved his hand so that his fingers were now intertwined with Darren's.
"Of course. I would... I would never expect you to say that, you're not obliged to, not at all. I just... I wanted to..."
Chris gave Darren's hand a light squeeze. "I know you didn't, I was just making sure that you knew that I don't feel that way at the moment." Lifting their intertwined hands up to his lips, he pressed a kiss to each of Darren's knuckles, smiling sweetly at him.
"You're an incredible person, Chris. Sometimes, I swear, you really don't know how special you are."
Chris bit his lip lightly, "Thank you," he whispered. "And you're amazing too, you know that, right?"
Darren smiled at him and leant forward, pressing a light kiss to his forehead.
Dianna sat down on her chair that was between Darren's and Chris', placing a coffee in the cup holder in the arm before she passed each of them one. The two smiled smiled their thanks and began sipping on their drinks. "So, guys, what are your plans for Valentine's day?" She asked randomly, causing Darren to splutter his drink back in to the cup while Chris half-choked on his own as he tried to swallow it. "Are you okay?" The blonde looked back and forth between the two, an expression crossed between humour and concern sitting on her face.
"Yeah, yeah, it just... went down the wrong hole." Chris said, pointing to his throat as he tried to to clear the stinging feeling from it.
"And what about you, honey? Just finding the hilarity in our little Christopher choking?" She winked at Darren as he nodded, putting a fake smirk on his lips (he made sure his smile became sincere when he saw Chris frowning at him over Di's shoulder). "So, you never answered my question: what are you doing on V-Day?"
The two shrugged, Chris saying "I don't know, probably sit at home, watch Star Wars and enjoy a bottle of wine, and I may even buy a rose and put it in the bottle to make the place look romantic and me less of a loner." He was now grinning the grin where he scrunched his nose a little and showed his teeth (Darren had said it was one of his favourites).
Di full out laughed, doubling over and clutching her stomach a little, "Oh, Chris, only you could make being alone on V-Day the most sarky joke ever. However, I do think the rose is a nice, tasteful touch." Di snorted, Darren joining her.
"Oh, that's fine, just laugh at the single person's loneliness; so what are you two doing then, because I happen to know for a fact that you two are both as single as I am?"
Di grinned, saying "Lea and I are gonna' make a night of it and give the Faberry shippers something to enjoy."
Quirking an eyebrow, Darren asked "Which is?"
"A livestream with candles, and roses, and all that lovey dovey shit."
Darren forward to catch Chris' eyes and mouthed 'in denial' to him, smiling, his tongue poking through his front teeth a little as he did. "Ow!", he yelped as Di swatted him over the top of his 'fluffy head', as she liked to call it, seeing Chris giggling to himself.
"So, Mister Criticise-everyone's-loneliness, what are you doing?" Di narrowed her eyes at the dark haired man, a slight smile on her lips.
"I'm delivering roses to all of the lonely hearts out there – current count: Chris and Di." Darren received another hit atop his head from Di, and an empty polystyrene cup in the cheek from Chris as he laughed. "What? You guys asked!" He defended, putting the cup down on the floor.
Later that evening, Chris and Darren were sitting on the couch with a bottle of red on the table, half-filled glasses in their hands, Chris leaning lazily against Darren's side. He leant his head back on to Darren's shoulder and looked up to his boyfriend (could he say they were boyfriends even though their relationship was only existent in Chris' apartment?), a toothy grin on his face. "So, what are we doing on Tuesday?" He asked, raising his eyebrows slightly.
Darren hummed momentarily, then looked down to Chris, "I don't know, what... what do you want to do?"
Shrugging, Chris mumbled "Are we still stuck in here?", staring down in to his glass as he swirled the dark red liquid about in an anti-clockwise motion.
He faltered for a minute before his voice became hard and he asked "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, I don't know, I mean, are we even in a relationship, or are we just friends with benefits?" Chris was now sitting up on the opposite side of the couch and looking Darren directly in the eye. Chris saw the look of hurt that shot across Darren's features; it hurt him saying that, but he had to know.
"I... Chris, why would you say that?"
"Because I'm not sure anymore."
Darren's eyes were rimmed with tears. He couldn't believe Chris was assuming that he was just with him for their make-out sessions. He'd told that man that he freaking loved him, was that not enough? Did he want him to slip a ring on his finger and shout at the top of his lungs?
"I'm sorry." Chris whispered, looking down at his hands that sat in his lap.
"Yeah, me too; I'm sorry I'm not good enough for you." Darren was now openly crying as he stood up and made his way towards the hallway to get his shoes and coat. He couldn't stay with Chris right now, he just needed to be alone, to think things through.
Chris was off of the ouch and following the older man, tears falling down his cheeks, "Darren, where are you going?"
He could hear the tears in Chris' voice – it broke his heart – but he didn't turn around, he didn't want to see what would make him break. "Out. Obviously, this isn't working out at the moment."
"So, now that things are getting harder you're running away?" Darren didn't answer, and he went on to say "I thought you said you loved me! If you loved me you wouldn't be leaving, you'd be sitting down with me so we could talk to try and work this out." Chris' voice had broken within the first few words of his sentence.
"Well, do you want to work it out – is there even anything to work out? – or do want to go and find some guy that'll publicly make out with you whenever you want him to?"
Chris grabbed his hair between his fingers and growled in frustration, "That's not what I want, and you damn well know it! I just want to know whether you're ashamed of me, or whether you're just scared."
Darren still only had one arm in his jacket. He took it out and dropped his coat to the floor, walking closer to Chris. He put a hand on either of Chris' cheeks and looked him straight in the eye, saying "I would never be ashamed of you, Chris, I could never. Chris, you're an extraordinary person, and I honestly don't think it's even possible to be ashamed of you.
"You're right, you know, I am scared. I'm scared that if we go public, people will judge us. I don't want either of our reputations smeared over us. Truth be told, I don't want to hide that I'm with you, but I just... I don't know what to do." He licked his lips, breathing lightly before he leant forward, closed the gap between the two of them and pressed his lips to Chris'. It wasn't a particularly long kiss, there was no tongue, it was just their lips moving in sync to one another's. "I love you, Christopher Paul Colfer! I love you so much, but I just don't know what to do. Please, please help me." His face was wet with tears – his and Chris', he presumed – and his eyes stung from the oncoming wave of them that he couldn't hold back.
"How?" Chris whispered, his eyes meeting Darren's as he felt fear and confusion wash over him.
"Don't give up on me. Please."
Chris nodded lightly and pulled Darren in to his arms when he saw his bottom lip begin to quiver once more, rubbing his hand up and down his back and saying how sorry he was.
Over the week-long build up to Valentine's Day, the two spent a lot of time in Chris' apartment, Chris talking with Darren about what he wanted to do, and just planning for the future. Darren wanted to come out as bisexual, and he wanted to let the world know that Chris Colfer was his boyfriend, and that he was madly in love with him. For now, the two had planned on a quiet Valentine's Day in, but Chris didn't know about Darren's other plans.
'Dress up and meet me downstairs,
D, x'
Chris looked at the light pink piece of paper that was sitting on the table in the hall. He frowned for a moment before picking it up, doing as the card told him to. He saw that in his bedroom Darren had laid out the outfit he had once told Chris was one of his favourites (a black two-piece Giorgio Armani with a skinny black tie and white button-down), with a note saying that he 'just loved him in this suit', and a single red rose sitting on the dresser. He rolled his eyes and smiled, still confused as to why Darren had changed their plans. It wasn't that he was ungrateful – quite the opposite – but he was... curious, yes, he was playfully curious.
When Chris got downstairs fifteen minutes later, he sighed and pressed a hand to his face. "A limo. He got a freaking limo." he said under his breath as he made his way to the chauffeur and took the small red box that was being handed to him. He got in and opened the box, looking to see another light pink piece of paper saying:
'You're sighing right now, probably a little bit confused too, but just sit back and enjoy the ride. Trust me, you're going to love it... I hope.
D, x'
He frowned at the piece of paper and folded it, tucking it in to his inner breast pocket. Staring out of the window, he watched as the limo passed by numerous restaurants and bars that were 'dressed up' for the occasion. They soon stopped, and the door was opened for him, the chauffeur smiling at him and telling him to have a lovely evening, gesturing towards the small lit up building in front of him. Chris said his thanks and walked towards the front of a cosy-looking restaurant that he had never heard of (he couldn't even pronounce the name), and saw the maître d' holding another red box.
"Name?" The tall man asked, looking up from his book to Chris. He then handed him the box, telling him not to open it until he was seated, after Chris had told him his name, and showed him to his table.
It was empty.
Chris frowned but sat down, accepting the menu that was being handed to him. Soon, curiosity got the better of him and he opened the box, the pink paper reading:
'Look to your left.
D, x'
What? Look to his left? Why? He was alone, looking to his left wasn't going to change that. Though his heart knew that Darren wouldn't make him dine alone, so he obeyed and turned, his face going as red as the box sitting in front of him when he saw Darren standing in front of a microphone with a guitar in his hands.
"Christopher Paul Colfer, my Blarren is showing here quite a bit, but I don't care, because you're my boyfriend and I love you very much. Happy Valentine's day." And then Darren was strumming away on the guitar and started to sing.
"Friday night beneath the stars
In a field behind your yard
You and I are painting pictures in the sky.
And sometimes we don't say a thing
Just listen to the crickets sing
Everything I need is right here by my side."
Watching Darren sing, seeing the curly-haired man staring right in to his eyes as he serenaded him made his eyes glass over. Darren was singing him a song – a love song. In a restaurant. In front of at least sixty people. On Valentine's Day. And he'd said that Chris was boyfriend.
"And I know everything about you
I don't wanna live without you.
I'm only up when you're not down
Don't wanna' fly if you're still on the ground
It's like no matter what I do.
Well, you drive me crazy half the time
The other half I'm only trying
To let you know that what I feel is true
And I'm only me when I'm with you."
Chris smiled up at Darren through his teary eyes, feeling his heart hammering in his chest. He hated Darren for doing this to him, for making him feel like he was in a museum, but he also loved him for doing this for him.
"Just two small town boys and no girl
Living in the crazy world
Trying to figure out what is and isn't true.
And I don't try to hide my tears
The secrets, all my deepest fears
Through it all nobody gets me like you do."
He was still trying to hold back the giggles from how fast Darren had had to sing to fit the words in at the beginning of the verse so that they were appropriate for their relationship. As he had watched, Darren had done the thing where he rolled his eyes to the sky slightly, as if he was imagining the words he was about to sing and was reading. Honestly, Chris thought it.
"And you know everything about me
You say that you can't live without me.
I'm only up when you're not down
Don't wanna' fly if you're still on the ground
It's like no matter what I do.
Well, you drive me crazy half the time
The other half I'm only trying
To let you know that what I feel is true
And I'm only me when I'm with you."
Darren was grinning as he sang, his head falling forward slightly as he tried not to laugh. If eh was being honest with himself, he felt a little ridiculous. He was stood in a posh restaurant, in a suit, singing a Taylor Swift song to his boyfriend. In his head, it had seemed less funny, more serious-undying-love romantic sort of thing, but now it was just plain funny. However, he kept his composure until the end of the song, not wanting to spoil it.
"When I'm with anybody else
It's so hard to be myself
And only you can tell.
That I'm only up when you're not down
Don't wanna' fly if you're still on the ground
It's like no matter what I do
Well, you drive me crazy half the time
The other half I'm only trying
To let you know that what I feel is true
And I'm only me
Who I wanna be
Well, I'm only me when I'm with you
With you, oh, yeah."
The entire restaurant erupted with applause when Darren finished, moving towards the edge of the room and passing the guitar to the maître d'. He smiled as people threw compliments at him when he made his way to Chris. When he got there, Chris was on his feet and pulling him in to a passionate kiss, hands on each of his cheeks.
When they had pulled apart, the sounds of cheers, applause, 'awww's and 'why can't you do something like that me?'s filling the air, Chris whispered against Darren's lips "I love you, Darren Everett Criss. Happy Valentine's Day."
Darren smiled before closing the gap between their lips again, stroking his thumb along Chris' cheek bone, feeling the younger man smile in to the kiss. "I love you too."
"I know, you said it earlier to me and the rest of the people here, you big goofball." Chris told him, grinning and pulling away when he heard Darren mutter something about 'Blarren' and 'the thought counting'. "Now, let's sit down and you can tell me about your 'Blarren'."
Chris and Darren stumbled through the door of his apartment laughing, their fingers linked. They made their way in to the lounge, and fell back on to the couch, Darren wrapping an arm around Chris' shoulders. "Tonight was... brilliant. Thank you." Chris told Darren, leaning to press a kiss to his cheek.
"I'm glad you liked it. And, yeah, I'm sorry I'm a big corn dog when it comes to romance."
"Every relationship needs a corny person in it, and I believe you meet the requirements well perfectly. You're hired." He grinned up at his boyfriend as he received a light kiss on his nose. "Now, let's have some cute in the relationship and go and spoon, and talk about our undying love and the need to express it."
Darren laughed and nodded, accepting the hand Chris held out to him as he now stood up in front of him, and letting him lead him in to the bedroom.
As they lay in bed together, Darren realised that tomorrow would be a hectic day full of questions, pictures, and seeing their names and faces splashed across newspapers, magazines and every nook and cranny of the internet. He smiled as Chris snuggled a little deeper in to his arms, and thought that they would worry about that when it came around to it. No matter how many questions and opinions people had, he didn't care, because he wouldn't give this up. No, he was more than contented to be like this for the rest of his life.
Song
I'm Only Me When I'm With You – Taylor Swift.