A Bird's Chirp

Chris stared at the screen of his cellphone for quite a long time. Probably longer than it would be considered healthy, his gut twisting more and more after reading it several times. He honestly didn't know what he was feeling, but it certainly wasn't something pleasant.

He was just so tired of this kind of attitude. People making stuff up, things about his private life, things that only concerned him and whoever he trusted enough to be allowed into his business.

Chris was a breath away from bursting when strong arms hugged his waist and a firm and familiar chest pressed against his back. A soft kiss was placed where his neck met his shoulder and he would have shivered – like he always did – if he wasn't so tense.

"I was waiting for you to come back to bed." A soft and smooth voice said, pulling his body even closer to his own. Chris could feel every muscle of the other's chest moving through his thin black t-shirt and the motion was enough to make him feel calmer. He looked over Chris' shoulder, catching sight of the mobile. "What do you have there? Did something happen?"

Chris took a deep breath, trying to hold back an anxiety attack. "I'm so tired of this, Dare." He chose to be honest, leaning back against Darren and forcing himself to relax.

Darren remained as calm as possible, squeezing Chris in his arms. "Tired of what?"

"This." Chris brought the phone closer to Darren so he could see what was right there. Darren looked at it, innocently unaware of what was about to come his way, then a sharp intake of breath right next to Chris' ear sounded before Darren's voice. "That's bullshit, Chris. Just ignore it."

"I've done that for far too long already and I'm tired." Chris stepped away from Darren's embrace, a tight grip on his cellphone. "How many times have I answered questions similar to this one? Tons! I've shown them how much you mean to me, I've told them I love you! What else do they expect from me?"

"This is just one stupid person, Chris. Not everybody thinks like this. They're not expecting anything from you." Darren kept his distance to give Chris some space to breathe, but the look on his boyfriend's face was tearing his heart apart.

"Of course they do! They were expecting me to invite you to my party. They expect me to be dating Will." Chris looked at his phone's screen once again. "Have you seen this? 'Chris loves Will'. I knew it was a bad idea to hire someone so young."

"It's for your own safety, Chris! You shouldn't regret it if it's best for you." Darren protested and took some steps closer, reaching the mobile phone. "Give me that."

"What are you going to do?" Chris asked, slightly worried, but not showing any resistance of letting Darren take it. "Darren, be careful or they're going to know you used my account."

"Fuck them." Darren murmured and focused on replying in a Chris Colfer-ish way. "It's done." He threw the cellphone towards the sofa, but missed and the thing fell to the floor with a loud thump.

"Darren!" Chris looked at him with wide eyes.

"Let's make a deal, okay?" Darren sighed and ran his hand through his messy hair. "Don't get worked up over this today. You can flip a shit tomorrow if you feel the need to, but not today. Today is all about you knowing how loved and appreciated you are."

"Okay." Chris tried to hold back a smile, his blue eyes sparkling with an innocent something, looking right into Darren's golden irises. "But you'll have to buy me a new cellphone if that one's damaged."

"Consider it your birthday present." Darren smiled one of his goofy and huge smiles and pulled Chris in, kissing him with a loud smack. "Happy birthday, Chris, I love you."

"Thank you, Dare." Chris threw his arms over Darren's shoulder and held him close. "I love you, too."