Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner
A/n: When Lynz's away, Gerard gets to play. Gerard/Darren Criss. This has no explanation. M/M
The day was beautiful. The sun shone brightly and birds flew about chirping merrily. Gerard sat on a bench, coffee in one hand, and stroller in the other. He had taken Bandit to an outdoor shopping center to run around the play area for a few hours. She'd nearly given him a heart attack climbing on dangerous and pricey things in the house. A little fresh air was good for the both of them. Bandit got to run and play with other children, and Gerard had a quiet moment to reflect. It was his turn to play single parent while Lyn-Z was on tour and it was more than he bargained for. Every sniffle, bruise or scrape had him on edge, and both the doctor and his mom had been called within hours. She'd been the one to tell him to take Bandit out to play. He'd been wary to go out in public with her, especially in LA. He'd made her wear a hat, and pulled up his hood over his orange bleached hair and worn his sunglasses. Just in case.
He had a whole half an hour to himself to people watch, and catch up on emails on his iphone before Bandit came running up to him out of breath and face flushed. She hopped up onto the bench next to him, and leaned against his arm.
"Having fun?" He asked, shoving his phone back into his pocket. She grinned, nodding excitedly. "Do you want some water?" He asked again, pulling a water bottle out of his backpack. She nodded again, taking it from him. She took two large gulps before handing it back and running back to the playground. Gerard laughed, stuffing the bottle back in his bag. He decided to give her fifteen more minutes before calling her back to walk around the mall once more. He'd spotted some tops in a store that he wanted to buy for Lyn-Z (so he could wear them later), but hadn't wanted his hyper child tearing through the store. Bandit seemed to have the same idea when she ran over ten minutes later, claiming to be hungry. "You can go down the slide one more time, and then we'll go get a snack." He told her, grinning as she sped off to run through the jungle gym once more.
They stopped at a pretzel stand before starting on a round through the mall. Gerard made a mental note to thank his mom for the suggestion as Bandit sat happily in her stroller while munching on pretzel bites. She was much calmer and happier now that she'd had time to run around. He briefly wondered if Frank had the same problem with his twins and if they should have a play date the next time they came to visit. They were at the middle of the mall, when Gerard heard a guitar playing. Always one for live music, he steered the stroller toward the sound. A short curly haired boy in his mid-twenties was playing the guitar into a microphone with a small amp. The guitar case was open and had a lot of dollar bills in it. The boy had a large smile on his face, and bright pink sunglasses resting on top of his dark curls. A large crowd of girls had formed, squealing loudly and yelling out how much they loved him. If Gerard had to guess, this was not just your average street performer. He looked slightly familiar, but the rock star couldn't exactly place where he'd seen the other boy before. Bandit sat up in her stroller as they neared him, obviously interested in the music. The boy launched into a Disney melody which Bandit whole heartedly approved of. She clapped, kicking her legs in the stroller in glee. Gerard found himself tapping his toes to the song, finding it amusing that the boy didn't change the gender of the song to fit him. The guitarist played with reckless abandon, obviously having the time of his life performing for the small crowd that had formed around him. After finishing his Disney medley, the boy announced his last song, which he claimed the crowd would know. The girls around him started singing along, often singing the words when he forgot them. Gerard had never heard the song before despite it seeming like it was very popular. The mass of girls descended upon the boy after the song was over. They all talked excitedly, getting pictures with him before scuttling off. Gerard ventured closer as the crowd thinned, letting Bandit out of the stroller.
"Go put this in his guitar case." He said, handing a dollar to her. She inched closer, glancing back at her dad for confirmation. After getting a nod, she dropped the dollar in the case then scurried back to her dad.
"Thank you!" The boy smiled, waving at her as he packed up his things.
"Hey man, that was really good." Gerard said, stepping forward to shake the boys hand. "What was the last song from? I've never heard it."
"It's from uh…A Very Potter musical. It's famous on youtube. I wrote most of the lyrics and starred in it in college." The boy answered as he rolled cables up. "Darren, by the way." He added, shaking the older man's hand.
"Gerard." He said back, immediately stuffing his hands in his pockets. "You wrote that song?"
"Yeah, that and the music and lyrics for 'Starship,' our second musical. You can find it online under 'Starkid.' I can't believe you've never heard of it." Darren remarked, getting everything packed up into a small pile.
"Yeah, I've been under a musical rock." Gerard joked, trying to ignore Bandit as she pulled on his jacket sleeves. "You looking for a contract, or something? I happen to be a producer."
"No kidding?" Darren said, stooping to gather the change in his case. Bandit kneeled next to him, looking curious. "Can you get all the quarters?" Darren asked, pointing to his case. She nodded silently, gathering them all up.
"Yeah, I think you're really great." Gerard said, pulling a card out of his wallet. "I'd love to talk get to know you and your music better." Darren straightened, stuffing the bills into his pocket.
"Thanks man." Darren smiled, taking the card. Now that he wasn't moving about, Gerard noticed that Darren was a few inches shorter than him. "I don't know when I'll get back to you. I've been busy taping on Glee."
"You're on Glee?" Gerard was genuinely surprised. One of his band's songs had been on the show, but he'd avoided watching it on his wife's advice.
"Yeah, I play Blaine, Kurt's boyfriend." Darren explained, gathering the quarters from Bandit. "Thank you." Bandit blushed, quickly skirting behind her dad.
"I haven't been watching." Gerard admitted. "My band's song was on the show though."
"Oh, what song?" Darren had just about packed up, and was obviously stalling so he could talk to Gerard.
"SING, by My Chemical Romance." Gerard buckled Bandit back into her stroller. She was started to whine about being tired, and hungry again. It was just about time to get her home for a nap.
"Oh! I know that one. It was one of my favorites to sing on tour." The other boy smiled big, and Gerard felt his stomach do a flip. This was new.
"That's awesome. Listen, it was nice to meet you. I've got to get my kid home for a nap." Gerard said, holding his hand out for a goodbye handshake.
"Yeah, yeah you too." Darren said, giving Gerard's hand a squeeze. "I'll talk with my people and see about a record. I've been wanting to write more of my own stuff."
"Alright, give me a call. See you later!" Gerard called, steering his sleepy daughter back toward his car.
While Bandit napped, Gerard googled 'Starkid,' and 'A Very Potter musical' to find that he had been missing out on something very special. The subject matter being a book near to his heart helped foster the small crush that had formed on Darren. Within moments of searching, he'd found out who Blaine was, his relationship to Kurt, entire episodes of Glee trimmed to just moments between the two characters, and something called "CrissColfer,' which he assumed was like 'Frerard' only with Darren and his co-star. He enjoyed the musical, and then spent the rest of the day watching everything there was to see about Starkid, and Darren Criss. He was a full starkid by the time Bandit woke up from her nap wanting dinner. He sent out an email to his bands mates and his studio people asking them to take a look at Darren and the musical. He even tweeted about it, ensuring that the fan base would be in a tizzy about the boy he'd discovered that day. Bandit had even drawn a picture of Darren, including his guitar case filled with quarters and his signature pink shades. He almost tweeted that too, but decided to just scan it and send it to her mother for praise. Bandit's lullaby that night was "Granger Danger" or what Gerard could remember of it, and both of them went to sleep with Darren on the brain.