Summary: Thirteen CrissColfer moments experienced while Darren Criss films his first thirteen episodes as Blaine Anderson on Glee. Through the highs and lows of Glee, Chris and Darren find each other. Sometimes funny, sometimes angsty, always CrissColfer with a core of friendship and a slow development towards romance.
Spoiler Alert: This chapter takes place during the filming of Glee Episode 2x06 "Never Been Kissed" and includes references to Blaine/Kurt character moments from the show through 2x06. I watched Darren's "Teenage Dream" performance approximately 6,987 times while writing this chapter. Professional research only, of course :)
Disclaimer: This is RPF (real person fiction) primarily about Darren Criss and Chris Colfer. While they are both real, this story obviously isn't. It is a work of fiction. I don't own the Glee characters or the actors who play them but I sure wouldn't mind owning Darren Criss in real life!
Chris jiggled his foot nervously as he sat waiting for Melissa to finish touching up his makeup. He was on location at a beautiful but ancient historic building that was going to serve as Dalton Academy, the all-boys prep school that would be the New Directions' major competition this year. More importantly, he was about to film his first scene with Darren 'freaking Criss, Glee's newest cast member and Kurt's potential love interest. But most notably, Chris was about to start filming with one of the most talented people he'd ever met, on the show or off. Glee has had its fair share of celebrities and musicians over the past year. So far, Chris has met and performed with Kristen Chenowith and Idina Menzel, two of the biggest stars on Broadway. And for god's sake, Britney Spears had paid a visit to the set mere weeks ago! Chris had been excited by meeting these musical idols, but had never experienced butterflies quite like these before. It probably had something to do with the fact that he'd been more than a little obsessed with Darren's previous work, especially his YouTube viral hit "A Very Potter Musical." Darren had been so funny and heartbreaking and amazing in the production not to mention that he'd also been responsible for writing all of the music and lyrics for the show and its sequel. A quick YouTube search of Darren's name had also led Chris to finding a handful of Darren's Disney song covers which were surprisingly good as well. Chris had shook his head in awe when he'd first heard Darren's take on Mulan's "I'll Make a Man Out of You," smiling at Darren's infectious energy and utter sincerity as he'd proclaimed, "what a cool song." It was adorable and just the sort of dorky thing that Chris might have done himself in high school if he'd had half the talent or confidence that Darren had.
Chris and Darren had only met twice thus far, but Chris already felt as if he'd known Darren forever. Their first meeting had taken place during Darren's callback audition when they brought in each of the candidates to read with Chris to test out their "chemistry." Chris quickly learned that chemistry was something Darren had in spades with just about everyone. He'd quickly won over not just Chris, but Ryan, Robert, and Zach as well, and it didn't take them long to decide that the part of Blaine had to be Darren's.
Which led Chris to today. They were about to start filming their first scene together in which Darren would lead Chris' character into the common room of Dalton and break into a performance of "Teenage Dream" with the Warblers, Dalton's all-male acapella glee club.
"Okay hon, you're all set. I think they're ready for you. Break a leg!" Melissa said while giving Chris the once over with her makeup brush before removing the protective drape from Chris' shoulders and straightening the collar of his navy satin trench coat.
Chris smiled and thanked her before taking a deep breath and heading towards the entrance to the common room where he was set to start filming, nearly bumping into Darren as he did so, failing to notice that he'd also just finished getting into costume.
"Whoops, sorry man. First day jitters. You excited to get started?" Darren asked with a slightly lopsided grin, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet slightly as he spoke before stretching his arms and neck like an athlete preparing for a big race.
"Yeah, I'm excited to see what you've got. Nikki told me that your version of Teenage Dream is better than the original. You nervous?" Chris asked, failing to suppress a grin of his own while watching Darren continue to bounce around like a little kid minutes away from a sugar coma.
"Little bit. I'm psyched to start though. Hoping that all the choreography I learned doesn't fly out of my head the second the camera starts up. Got any tips for me, seeing as how you are already amazing at all of this?" Darren asked.
Chris found himself blushing slightly at the compliment. "Hmm, just try to have fun with it, I guess? Just let yourself go and be in the moment. If you are thinking about the performance too much while you do it, it looks fake. You just need to go for it and be yourself. You'll be great."
"Thanks, man," Darren replied with an even wider grin as he gave Chris a friendly pat on the arm. "That's good advice."
"Okay guys, we're about ready to get started," Bradley called out as he walked over to Chris and Darren. "So Darren, I want you to come off confident and flirty with this performance. It needs to seem like Kurt's the only guy in the room and you are performing directly to him. And Chris? This is Kurt's dream. He's at a new school where the glee club is on top and there is a cute boy singing to him flirtatiously. You should aim for curious at first and slowly build up your reactions so that you are giddy by the end of it. We're going to take it from Kurt's line when he opens the door to the common room and then try to film straight through the musical number. We'll have to do coverage later to get all the angles, but for now I'm going to have one camera on the Warblers and one on Kurt to capture his reactions. Let's just try it once and see where we are, okay?"
Chris nodded as he and Darren silently took their marks outside the door to the common room and waited for their cue to enter and begin the scene.
"Alright, quiet on set please. Let's set to 1. Cue background actors and 3-2-1-action," called Bradley watching a monitor behind the camera as the scene began.
Chris took a deep breath to settle the butterflies in his stomach and swung open the door, looking around as Kurt would with wide-eyed wonderment. "Ooh, I stick out like a sore thumb," he said nervously.
Darren looked to him, smiling reassuringly. "Well, next time don't forget your jacket, new kid," he said, reaching up to gently readjust the collar of Chris' jacket. "You'll fit right in." Darren's confident smile widened as he gave Chris an affectionate pat on the shoulder, much as Darren had done only minutes earlier when thanking Chris for the advice. He gave Chris a slight wink, causing warmth to spread through Chris' face which mingled with the tingly sensation Chris could still feel from where Darren had touched him only seconds earlier. Suddenly, the set was filled with the sound of background vocals and with one last look at Chris, Darren began moving towards the group of blue-blazered singers congregating in the center of the room. "Now if you'll excuse me..." Darren trailed off as he turned his full attention to the other Warblers and joined them in song.
"Before you met me, I was alright but things were kind of heavy. You brought me to life, now every February, you'll be my valentine. Valentine."
Darren slowly circled the other Warblers who were providing background support as he began to sing, his deep voice clear and passionate as he sang the opening verse.
"Damn, he's good," thought Chris as the song began. Chris caught the camera zooming in on him as Darren continued to sing and he allowed Kurt to rise to the surface, giving Darren a curious look that didn't quite conceal the small smile creeping up as he watched this new, mysterious and almost painfully handsome boy named Blaine croon Katy Perry.
Darren allowed his eyes to scan the room as he began the opening stanza. The audio playback rendered any need for him to sing live moot, but Darren found himself singing the words softly as he'd been told that doing so would prevent him from appearing as if he was lip syncing on camera. As he closed the first verse by singing "valentine," he remembered what the director had told him about making sure that Blaine performed like there was no one else in the room besides Kurt. His eyes found Chris' and he nodded his head at him as he repeated the word "valentine," feeling a jolt of electricity at the small smile he received in return.
"Let's go all the way tonight, no regrets – just love. We can dance until we die, you and I, we'll be young forever."
Darren's voice effortlessly crescendoed as he built towards the chorus of the song while he carefully swayed in time with the music and the entire Warblers group. He remembered Chris' advice about letting go and being in the moment and allowed himself to be swept up in the euphoria of the song. He gave a cocksure grin that was pure Blaine as he began to sing the chorus.
"You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream, the way you turn me on. I can't sleep. Let's run away and don't ever look back, don't ever look..."
Chris' grin grew wider as he watched Darren throw his whole self into the chorus of the song, clearly feeling and expressing every word as he sang it. Chris gave a startled look as he watched Darren pointing directly at him while singing "you" and felt another flutter in his stomach, grateful for once that he and Kurt were similar in enough ways that his response would seem natural and true to character.
"Let's go all the way tonight, no regrets – just love. We can dance until we die, you and I, we'll be young forever. You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream, the way you turn me on. I can't sleep. Let's run away and don't ever look back, don't ever look.."
Chris watched in awe as Darren repeated the chorus, his body moving in perfect time to the music as he did so. He felt his heart skip a beat as Darren gave a sexy head tilt and knowing smirk as he sang the word "dance."
As he built to singing, "we'll be young forever," Darren's eyes closed as he let go even more, letting Blaine's confidence and bravado wash over him. His eyes flew open as he pointed at Chris while singing "you" leaving no question that Blaine was directing each word at Kurt.
Chris allowed his grin to grow even more as he watched Darren continue to perform, trying hard to focus on reacting as his character would and not to just fawn over the amazing performance in front of him. As Darren sang "teenage dream" for a second time, Chris allowed his eyes to wander around the room in awe, trying to convey what a dream this whole experience felt like for Kurt, who'd spent years being bullied rather than revered for singing girl's songs in the Glee Club.
"Imma get your heart racing in my skin-tight jeans, be your teenage dream tonight," Darren crooned suggestively, turning to the side on cue to show off his body in profile.
Chris felt his cheeks blush as he watched Darren sing. "Damn, I forgot just how dirty this song is," he thought in amusement. Darren and the Warblers turned to the side on cue as if to show off just how dreamy they would look in their skin-tight jeans. Darren's body looked great from any angle but there was something about the knowing wink in his eyes as he shifted to profile that made Chris' jaw drop, causing him to let out an open-mouthed, slightly embarrassed gasp.
The Warblers background melody swelled as they built toward the bridge, and Chris watched in amazement as Darren threw back his head and belted "yeah," his clear voice carrying over the prerecorded track as he threw himself into the note. Darren was gorgeous to look naturally, but there was something about the way he was singing with such reckless abandon and boundless joy that reached deep inside Chris, making him feel giddy with delight just to be sharing this moment with him. Chris found his grin widening so much that his cheeks were starting to hurt.
"You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream, the way you turn me on. I can't sleep. Let's run away and don't ever look back, don't ever look back."
Darren moved his arms emphatically as he sang "don't ever look back" while making sure that his eyes landed on Chris once again. Darren felt a surge of a euphoria as he watched Chris' cheeks flush while he grinned broadly, noticing that Chris' head had started to move back and forth to the beat just a bit as he watched Darren sing.
"My heart stops when you look at me. Just one touch, now baby I believe this is real, so take a chance and don't ever look back, don't ever look back."
Darren threw back his head again as he began to riff on the chorus over the Warblers. He found he couldn't keep his eyes off Chris for long though, returning his gaze to Chris yet again as he sang "look at me," while pointing both his thumbs at himself in a clearly flirtatious overture to Kurt's character. Darren's stomach fluttered unexpectedly at the giddy grin and giggle he received from Chris in return. "God, he's adorable when he laughs," Darren thought to himself as he continued singing.
"Imma get your heart racing in my skin-tight jeans, be your teenage dream tonight. Let you put your hands on me in my skin-tight jeans, be your teenage dream tonight."
Chris startled slightly as he watched Darren deliver the last few lines of the song, dumbfounded at how quickly the scene had seemed to move. He shivered involuntarily as Darren sang the last words directly to Chris, his eyes smoldering slightly as he finally fixed Chris with the full force of his piercing gaze. At this point, Chris barely knew who he was anymore, Chris or Kurt. His feelings were so jumbled up as he watched this amazing boy who'd not only nailed his first take but had reached into Chris and immediately established an emotional connection with the performance. And if he could do that to Chris, the viewers were going to go absolutely nuts for him, of that he had no doubt.
The music came to a conclusion, but Darren found himself still staring at Chris for several beats, unable to break his hypnotic connection with Chris. Finally, it registered to Darren that he still had one more piece of blocking to complete. After a small nod of his head in Chris' direction, he reluctantly turned away from him and began to shake hands and exchange congratulatory pats on the back with the other Warblers. He heard Eric call cut, and his cheeks suddenly flushed crimson as an embarrassing thought came to him. "Oh god, did I just wink at Chris? That was so not in the script." He was mentally berating himself when he suddenly realized that the cast and crew had broken out into spontaneous applause.
Darren turned back around and was startled when he almost bumped headlong into Chris. "Whoa, sorry Chris. You scared me. Whew, man am I glad that first take is over. I was so nervous."
Before Darren could ramble on further, Chris silenced him by placing a warm hand on his shoulder. "Darren, that was... that was amazing. Just unbelievable. God, Nikki wasn't kidding when she said it was better than the original."
Darren dropped his head and rubbed his neck sheepishly. "You...you think so? I didn't mess it up too bad? I mean, you were the amazing one, Chris. You were...you were..." Darren trailed out, trying to come up with the right words to express how he'd felt watching Chris in his element. The chemistry had felt electric and palpable during the number, but Darren wasn't sure how to say that without sounding as if he was saying that watching Chris watch him perform had been a turn-on (which, if Darren was being completely honest, it has been).
"I was...nothing compared to you, trust me," Chris finished. Before he could say more, Eric approached them, beaming widely as he clapped Darren on the back.
"Guys, that was great. Just perfect. Don't change a thing. We're going to adjust the lighting a bit and then we'll do another take, but I just want you to do exactly the same thing, got it?"
Darren and Chris both nodded in unison, exchanging a look. Eric started to walk back towards the cameras before stopping and turning back quickly.
"Oh Darren, that wink at the end of the scene? Was that improv? I didn't remember it in the script."
Darren's face flushed bright red as he began to stutter out a reply. "Umm...sorry, no. I don't think it was in the script...I don't know what I was...I won't..."
Eric cut him off saying, "No, no, no...I liked it. I thought it worked. Let's keep it in."
Darren could feel Chris' eyes on him but studiously avoided direct eye contact by pretending to remove a piece of invisible lint from his immaculate blazer. "Oh, sure...whatever you think works best," he managed, trying to sound as casual as possible given the circumstances.
"So improv on the first day, huh?" Chris remarked teasingly. "Bold choice." Again, Darren flushed red, stammering over his words as he tried to form a coherent response. Chris couldn't help but notice that embarrassed Darren was pretty adorable. And judging from the current color of his cheeks, Chris couldn't help but wonder if maybe he wasn't the only one who had felt the sparks flying as they filmed their first scene together.
As quickly as the thought popped into his head, it was squashed by a nagging voice in the back of Chris' mind that kept repeating, "Darren's straight, you idiot. Whatever that was exactly, it was acting, nothing more nothing less." With a barely imperceptible shake of his head, Chris banished the thought and looked back up at Darren who was holding him with a steady but unreadable gaze. Darren's eyes lingered for a few seconds too many, and suddenly it was Chris, not Darren, doing the blushing. He briefly averted his gaze, turning to walk back towards the entrance to the set serving as Dalton's common room. "Come on, DC. We need to set back to our marks for the next take."
Darren broke into a wide, heart-stopping grin at the familiarity with which Chris had just addressed him. "After you, my dear," he said in a phony English accent, bowing dramatically and waving Chris forward with his hand. "Lead the way." And as Darren followed Chris out the door of the common room, he couldn't help but admire the way that Chris' navy satin trench coat hugged his broad shoulders and lean frame. Darren shut the door behind them in preparation for their next entrance before reaching out to grab Chris' hand as he had earlier while leading him through the halls of Dalton Academy. It was a necessary piece of blocking for the sake of continuity, but it also felt like the most natural thing in the world, onscreen or off. Darren felt a tiny jolt of electricity as Chris' warm hand squeezed his hand gently in response and couldn't help but think, "Man, I love my job."
Up Next in Chapter 2: Forget You (Takes place during the filming of Episode 2x07 "The Substitute") Chris is psyched to be filming with Amber again and Darren feels a little left out and jealous at not having all of Chris' attention. Mild angst ensues.