And so another multi-chapter fic in the Various Shades of Grey universe begins - The swirl lives on!

As previously mentioned, this fic is an AU set in the VSG 'verse. Darren, Chris, Naya and Katie are key players in this fic, but Darren and Katie's relationship is always platonic and no lines are ever crossed in TSMGO. I don't believe it's necessary to be reading VSG to start on this one. However, if you are reading it, you will definitely get some of the tongue and cheek humour non VSG readers might not fully appreciate.

This fic is StarKid inspired, but it will in no way be parallel. I'm a fan of fiction!

I can't forget to give a shout out to my fabulous beta and friend, midlifecrisses. Even though she came down with a bug and her power was out, she managed to get my beta done and make me look smart! I heart you girl, even more than I heart our random conversations (and I really heart those!)

I also have to give a big shout out to gayhighfivesandbowties for turning my random ideas for this fic into "oh my god, you have to write this!" She has graduated from head cheerleader to manager, so I you have any problems she's taking emails. ;-)

I hope you like the first chapter. I feel like this could be a nice long fic but it will be dependent on how it goes over!

Enjoy!

PS - Chapter 38 of VSG will be released next week.

Walks Like a Duck

A loud bang startled Chris out of his not so sound sleep. His eyes popped open and he let out a pained groan when saw the time on his alarm clock. It was too damn early to be this awake on a Saturday. That being said, he was pretty anxious to get his day started; everything he'd been planning for over a year had finally come to fruition.

The smell of bacon and eggs was wafting from the kitchen which meant that Ms. Katie Riley was obviously making him a hearty breakfast for his big day. This was the first time Chris was living away from home and far away from his family. Becoming roommates with Katie was the perfect transition because she was just like home.

The Riley and Colfer families had been close ever since Chris could remember. Katie was only a year older than Chris (well, 10 months, 13 days to be exact) and up until Katie moved to Chicago, the two were inseparable. Chris was devastated when Katie left California to join a musical theatre production company, but she had told Chris that he'd be meeting her there the following year after graduation and she was right.

His last year of college went by like a flash and now he was exactly where Katie said he would be. He smiled and considered himself lucky to have a friend like Katie. She was by far the most selfless and caring person he'd ever met; much more so than himself. They created the perfect harmony together; the perfect balance, complimenting each other's quirks and strengths flawlessly. They were a match made in heaven Katie always used to say.

However, the heavenly match was strictly platonic no matter how much their parents had dreamt otherwise. Both the Colfer and Riley clans had high hopes of the two living happily ever after in holy matrimony. However, when Katie and Chris became of age it was quickly understood that there was not a hope in hell of that ever happening.

Chris Colfer and Katie Riley played for the same team and that meant they would never actually cover the bases together.

Katie was only twelve when she confessed to Chris that she liked girls that way. She was afraid the news would break Chris' heart because up until that point, they never really understood anything but the love they had for each other. And with their parents constantly telling them they'd get married one day, they too had assumed marriage was inevitable. Then Katie had a Sex Ed class at school and it all became much clearer to her.

To break the news to Chris, Katie had packed them a picnic and she and Chris took a blanket to a park in their neighbourhood. Chris remembered Katie acting extremely odd and later he realized it was her nerves. He should have known something was up the moment Katie was at a loss for words; something that rarely happened.

"Katie, why are you acting like a goof? Is this about your period? Because you already told me about that and it doesn't gross me out." Chris knew other boys were freaked out by this dramatic female milestone, but Chris was not bothered in the least.

"No Christopher, this is not about my period." Katie rolled her eyes and let out a dramatic sigh.

"Are you sick?" Chris' eyes widened and they began to fill with tears.

"Chris, stop being so pessimistic." Katie giggled and pulled him into a hug.

"Would you just tell me already and put me out of my misery then." Chris brushed his shirt off after squirming out of her arms.

Katie took a deep breath and stared her best friend in his beautiful bright eyes. "Your eyes are green today. That's weird; they were blue yesterday." Katie was easily distracted.

"Katie!"

"Sorry. Ok, well you know how our parents always say we are going to get married, which is so weird." Katie's face became very worried.

"Yeah." Chris shrugged.

"Well, don't think I can marry you Chris…"

"How come?" Chris asked without much concern.

"Because... uh… well… I think I want to marry a girl when I grow up." Katie searched Chris' face and waited nervously for his reaction.

"So are you gay?" Chris delivered the question just the same as if he was asking Katie if she was hungry.

Her face turned a bright red. "I don't know, I guess I could be. I just know that the when all the girls at school are talking about kissing, boys I'm thinking about kissing girls."

He thought about it for a moment then smiled. "Well, when you do grow up and get married, I will be your sperm donor. Then our parents will still get those adorable grand babies they keep telling us we'd make."

Chris could sense how difficult this conversation was for Katie and he was trying to make easier for her; humour was always his successful fallback.

"Ewwww!" Katie began to giggle.

Chris started to braid Katie's long, thick hair and he thought that the conversation was done.

"So, are you going to marry a girl?" Katie asked playing with a few blades of grass.

"I don't really think so, Katie." Chris' voice became soft and shifted nervously as he confessed without confessing.

"Well you are only eleven; it might be too soon for you to know what want." Katie poked Chris' chest and flashed her dimples.

"You're only twelve and you don't know that much more than I do." Chris was very indignant. He often felt like he was the older of the two and he didn't appreciate her pointing out that he was younger.

Katie smiled and took Chris' hand. "Sometimes I wish you were a girl Chris because I love you so much."

"Sometimes I wish I was a girl too because everyone always thinks I am one when I speak." Chris said completely deadpan, sending Katie into a fit of giggles.

Chris remembered their simplistic coming out conversation ending with both of them laughing until they couldn't breathe. He smiled fondly at the memory then he quickly came back to the present. The present where he was no longer an adolescent; the present where he was now very far from home and quite ready to take on the big bad world.

Today his goals were not as ambitious as tackling the entire world. Today, Chris really just wanted to go explore Chicago and all that it had to offer, but that wasn't happening either. It was his first Saturday in the new city and he would be spending it getting acquainted with the cast members of StarFish Productions, the music theatre production company he'd just joined.

Acting was all Chris ever really wanted to do. Well, he did want to be a comic book store owner up until he was about ten, but his dreams quickly changed when he found his true passion. Chris loved acting plain and simple. After being bullied mercilessly at school, he quickly learned that pretending to be someone you aren't was something he was good at. He was able to put on a brave face, a bright smile and pretend to the world that he was just fine.

"Good morning sleepy head," Katie chimed as she entered Chris' room with a plate of food in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. "How did you sleep?"

"New city, new bed, new life; I'd say I slept like shit." Chris smiled brightly as he took his breakfast from Katie.

"You have no idea how happy I am that you are finally here. You are going to love it so much." Katie clasped her hands together under her chin.

"I'm a little nervous about pulling two jobs though; I don't know how you do it," Chris said biting into a piece of bacon. "Thanks for breakfast."

"You'll be fine. Your hours at the night club will be scaled back until you get your bearings with StarFish. Darren said he was more interested in getting you up to speed on the dinner theatre show than teaching you how to bartend."

To make ends meet, the entire StarFish cast not only performed nightly shows at a nightclub called Stix, but they also waited tables and bartended there. On top of working, they spent countless unpaid hours a week rehearsing and work-shopping. It was a busy life, but everyone involved was committed to making the company successful.

"I'm a little confused here. Who do you guys work for, the club or StarFish?" Chris asked through furrowed brow.

"When we perform at Stix, Mr. Rivera, the club owner, pays StarFish and then we are given a wage by StarFish. But when we are waiting tables or bartending, then Mr. Rivera pays us directly. Basically we have two employers; StarFish Productions and Mr. Rivera."

"Do all of you have second jobs at Stix?"

"Yeah, most of us work for the club at some capacity. Well, except for Naya. Her Daddy is Mr. Rivera and the owner of the club and this apartment building." Katie rolled her eyes. "Naya is a trust fund baby and when she's not performing she's always hanging around the club getting on everyone's nerves. God she's so annoying."

"Getting on everyone's nerves or Katie's nerves?" Chris shot his best friend a knowing look.

"Shut up," Katie giggled. "Trust me; she will annoy the shit out of you too. She's a spoiled little brat who hasn't had to want or need for anything in her life. StarFish is a hobby for her, she doesn't need to work. What's even more annoying is that she thinks she can impress me with material things. It's so annoying."

"Wow, you have just used the word annoying more times the in last twenty seconds than I've used it in the last year. I'm sure she's not that bad Katie and she can't be a littler brat than you are. What are you now, like 5 feet?" Chris had really missed teasing Katie.

"Whose side are you on anyway? And I'm 5'3" thank you very much!" Katie grabbed a pillow and clocked Chris upside his head. "And yes, she is that bad. She bought me dress for waitressing. Who the hell does that?"

"Oh God, not a dress! How dare she?" Chris held his chest clearly mocking Katie.

Katie glared at Chris and left the room only to return a few minutes later holding the dress in question.

"This is the dress she bought me." Katie eyed it distastefully.

"Wow, there isn't much to it is there?" Chris chuckled.

"Is this slutty dress anything I'd every where? I mean really!" Katie was so clearly affected by this woman that she claimed to hate.

"It's not slutty, it's sexy and I think it could be something you'd wear. You do hide that tiny little figure of yours under clothing that doesn't fit you. In fact, I think we need to take you shopping and get you out of your sloppy college phase. Maybe Naya was actually trying to be nice and help you with your fashion crisis." Chris was always too god damned honest for his own good.

"Naya is just trying to get into my pants." Katie huffed looking down at her oversized sweatshirt.

"I'm sure if that happens she will find sensible cotton granny panties." Chris quipped.

"I don't wear granny panties," Katie said quietly looking away from her best friend.

Chris' heart dropped when he saw that Katie was getting emotional. Damn it! He forgot how sensitive she was sometimes.

"Honey, please don't cry. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to shoot my mouth off." Chris hopped out of bed and moved toward Katie.

The corners of her mouth turned up and she wiped the tears off of her cheeks. Her dimples made an appearance when her smile grew.

"You little shit! I see your university tuition was worth it. Those acting classes have really paid off." Chris was impressed.

"Why thank you," Katie said taking a bow. "Can you do me a favour? I have to take a Skype call with Jordan in like two minutes, but my laundry needs to be switched over into the dryer. Can you do that for me please? My clothes are in washer number 3." Katie asked holding out a handful of quarters.

"Yeah, no problem." Chris was pretty sure he remembered where the laundry room was. Katie had given him a tour of the apartment amenities the night before. "Say hi to your brother for me."

Since the laundry room was relatively nearby, Chris didn't bother changing out of his night clothes. He slipped on his flip flops and left their apartment clad in pale blue pajama bottoms and a white t-shirt.

The morning air was already humid. He was told to enjoy the warmth of the summer since come winter; it would be a whole different ball game in Chicago.

Chris peered across the courtyard and decided that he really liked the layout of the complex. It was shaped like a rectangle and every suite was facing the pool in the centre of the complex. All doors opened directly to the outside, similar to that of a motel.

It was a two story building without a main lobby. There were two elevators that you could access near the secure parking lot, but everything was above ground. Ten suites were on one side and nine suites on the other. The gym and the sauna connected one end of the building and the other end was connected by the games/entertainment room. In a covered gazebo near the pool was a hot tub. Chris knew that of the nineteen suites, over three quarters of them were occupied by people he'd be working with at some point.

The swimming pool that was smack dab in the middle looked so very inviting on this warm June morning. The pool must have been the hub during the summer months and Chris wondered how many pool parties they had hosted here?

As Katie had mentioned, Naya's father owned the building and he offered everyone associated with StarFish very reasonable rent for what Chris considered luxury accommodations. They were close to the city centre in a nice part of town and the building was less than four years old. It was safe and somewhat sheltered from the rest of the city, yet extremely central. Mr. Rivera would have nothing less than the best for his only daughter.

Yes, of course Naya lived in the apartment building right along with most everyone else from StarFish. However, her suite was double the square footage of every other suite and her apartment was the only one in the entire complex that was two levels. It was also the only apartment with its own washer and dryer.

Chris could smell fabric softener as he swiped his key-card over the grey square panel outside the laundry room. He pushed the door open after it chimed and he smiled politely at a woman he was sure he'd seen in pictures Katie had emailed to him.

"Hi, I'm Chris, Katie Riley's new roommate." Chris extended his hand to the cheerful looking woman.

"Chris! Oh my god, it's so great to finally meet you! Katie talks about you non-stop." The very energetic, very petite woman said ignoring Chris' extended hand. She pulled him into a big bear hug instead. "My name is Lauren, Lauren Lopez."

Chris laughed nervously. He wasn't used to strangers hanging onto him so tightly. He really liked boundaries and she had just invaded his dance space.

"Listen, I have to run but it was nice meeting you. I'll see you in a few hours at the club for your first workshop." Lauren squeezed Chris' arm before grabbing her basket of clean laundry and leaving.

"See ya." Chris smiled shyly. He felt bad, but he was thankful that she was leaving. He really just wanted to switch Katie's laundry over and get back to the apartment unnoticed.

He let out a labored sigh as he threw Katie's clothes into an empty dryer.

"Either you really hate laundry or you've have something on your mind." A gentle male voice said from behind Chris.

Chris turned around and he went to speak, but he couldn't, before him was quite possibly the most adorable man he'd ever seen, so instead, he giggled nervously like a school girl.

"You are Chris Colfer." He said matter of factly before adjusting his black rimmed glasses and extending his hand. "I'm Darren."

"Darren Criss?" Chris managed to squeak out.

"That's me." His smile was bright as he eyed Chris' attire.

"Does everyone do laundry at this god forsaken hour?" Chris blushed, cursing his decision to stay in his pajamas. "How do you know who I am?"

"Uh, no, this place is usually empty around this time, but I ran out of underwear," Darren said spinning some clean boxers in a circle around his index finger, "and, I know you because Katie showed me a lot of your work." Darren felt his stomach tensing, which was odd because he was rarely nervous when meeting new people.

Chris tried to control himself but his eyes dropped to stare at Darren's crotch. Oh god, he wasn't going commando was he? He quickly made eye contact again only to have his stomach doing somersaults when he noticed how beautiful this freakishly adorable man's eyes were. They were a unique honey brown, almost hazel and they were truly captivating.

Right, Chris had to pull himself together and try to have a conversation like a sane person. This was his new boss after all.

"Forgive me, I'm still a little jet lagged. I forgot that you were the person responsible hiring me. Thank you for taking a chance on someone you never even met." Chris felt the room getting warmer and he wondered if the A/C was broken.

"Don't thank me, thank Katie. She's very persistent and I think she's your biggest fan. We actually had a hiring freeze, but she said how amazing you were and after seeing your work, I had to agree. You are extremely talented and I'm really glad that you are joining us. You are going to add something exceptional to our humble little group." Darren tried not to cringe at himself. He was being way too formal and wordy. What the fuck was his problem?

"Uh… thanks, I just hope I can keep up. Katie told me the schedules you all keep." Chris put the last of Katie's clothes into the dryer and began feeding it quarters.

"I'm sure you will have no problem keeping up." Darren winked in an attempt to be less formal.

Wait, was that too informal? Fuck.

"Ok, well… uh… I guess I'll see you… uh… later." Chris fumbled as he walked backward toward the door. He wasn't normally so clumsy, but holy shit, Katie had raved about this guy like he was a mini-god and she was dead on. No man should be that good looking. Chris opened the door and ungracefully slipped outside.

Chris prayed out loud all the way back to their apartment. "Please let him be gay, please let him be gay, please let him be gay."

"That took you a while, did you get lost?" Katie handed Chris another cup of coffee when he joined her in the kitchen.

Chris didn't acknowledge her question. "Is Darren Criss gay?"

Katie started to laugh so hard she almost spit her coffee. "That, my friend, seems to be the million dollar question."

"Well?" Chris gestured with this free hand impatiently.

"Not in so many words," Katie finally said smirking. She could tell by the look on Chris' face that he had fallen under Darren's spell like so many unsuspecting casualties before him.

"What the hell does that mean?" Chris didn't like this answer one bit.

"It means that although he walks like a duck and talks like a duck, he hasn't been fucked by a duck." Katie was still giggling.

"Katie, I don't have time for your ridiculous riddles." Chris was unsuccessfully trying not to laugh.

"You are right, you don't have time. You need to get into the shower and clean up. We have to leave here in about an hour." Katie pushed Chris toward the washroom.

"Fine, but I'm not done talking about this," Chris grumbled.

"Of course you aren't because you have a big gay crush on Darren Criss and I totally knew you would! I mean, how could you not? He even made my ovaries jump once. What makes it even worse, is that he's that good looking and a genuinely nice guy. Not to mention ridiculously smart and talented. Bottom line: Darren Criss is dreamy." Katie batted her long eyelashes at her best friend, enjoying the banter a little too much.

"I think you have a big straight crush on him," Chris said after Katie finished her fangirl mockery.

"If I was straight, I would have tapped that a long time ago yo'." Katie said in her most gangster voice.

"God I've missed you Katie." Chris smiled and pulled Katie into a hug.

"I've missed you too. Now go shower!" She said kissing his cheek and pushing him into the bathroom.

"Naya! Open the god damned door! You have to wake up!" After many unanswered phone calls, Darren was now pounding on Naya's door.

"Let her sleep, we all need a break today," Abi snarled as she walked by.

"Abi, that's not nice," Darren glared lightly making his point.

Abi shook her head and rolled her eyes in disgust. She was so sick and tired of Queen Naya getting her way all the time.

Abi was the baby of the entire company. Outside of the summer months, she was still attending college full time and had the most grueling schedule of any of them. Joey called her the pocket rocket because she wasn't quite five feet, but the girl quite literally had the energy of a rocket. Not to mention sass for days. Her signature hairstyle was a side ponytail with a headband that changed colour depending on her outfit and mood. Since today she was wearing a shirt with pink and purple writing, either choice would suffice.

"What colour headband should I rock today?" Abi asked holding out two head bands.

"You know I'll always choose pink Abi girl." Darren winked and continued to pound on Naya's door.

"Definitely Team Gay." Abi muttered under her breath as she walked away.

Finally the door creaked open and a very sleepy looking Naya stood propped against it.

"Jesus Christ, Dar. What the hell?" Naya's voice was low and groggy. She pulled her towel tightly around herself; it was obvious she had just hopped out of the shower.

"Why are you so tired? We are leaving in a half an hour and I need you ready if you are carpooling with me." Darren pushed a dripping wet Naya into her apartment.

"I had a late night." Naya smirked.

"Why did you go out with her again? She's only using you." Darren was referring to Naya's girl of the month.

"Because unlike you, I can't go six months without sex." Naya yawned.

"It hasn't been six months." Darren shoved a travel mug full of coffee at his best friend.

"How many months has it been then?" The smirk was still on Naya's face.

Darren's face grew flush. "It's been four months, one week and two days."

"Your right hand must be tired."

"Thankfully I'm an ambidextrous masturbator," Darren retorted. "So, I met Chris Colfer this morning in the laundry room."

Darren was changing the subject and he didn't put much thought into the fact that the topic of masturbating was his segue into the topic of Chris Colfer.

"Is he as perfect as Katie says he is?" Naya was a little envious of Katie's affection for this Chris guy when it was so obvious that she didn't think much of Naya.

Darren's face lit up with a bright smile. "He's pretty perfect."

"Dar? Why do you have that look on your face? The last time you had that look, you entered into a relationship that lasted three years," Naya said pulling a comb through her hair.

"What? You're ridiculous." Darren took off his glasses and began cleaning them with his t-shirt.

"Are you forgetting who you are talking to here? I know all of your secrets."

"It's not a secret that I can appreciate a nice looking man," Darren shrugged.

"How old is he anyway?" Naya knew nothing about this new kid.

"He's a year younger than Katie, so what would make him 22."

"He's a little young for you isn't he old man?" Naya teased.

"Three years is hardly an age difference. And besides, I'm not planning on dating him."

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that. So, tell me, exactly how nice looking is he Darren?" Naya taunted.

"Fuck off Naya and get ready. Meet me by my car in twenty minutes or I'm leaving without you."

Darren was done talking about this. However, if he had answered Naya's question he would have said that Chris was so much more than just good looking, he was stunning. He'd say that when he blushed it was such a lovely contrast to his pale, porcelain looking skin. He'd say that his eyes were a bright green-blue and that his lips were quite possibly the most kissable lips he'd ever seen.

You know, if he had answered Naya's question that is.

"Good work today everybody! Chris, you did amazing for your first day. Katie and Lauren, your duet was flawless. Abi good work on the monologue." Darren clapped his hands as the day came to an end.

"Don't forget the homework," Lauren said pointing to the unopened box on the floor.

"Right, thanks Lauren." Darren grabbed the box off of the floor and placed it on the table next to him. He opened it up and began passing out small notebooks.

"As you all know, Joey, Lauren and I attended another acting seminar last week and they introduced the benefits of journaling. We've all had to do this at some point in our educational careers, I'm sure and it won't be any different than what you have done in the past. Take events from your day and write about how they made you feel. If you want to call it a diary, you can do that too. The main idea is to document your inner most thoughts and feelings to create a bank of raw emotions that you can then draw from and use when performing." Darren didn't realize he was looking only at Chris as he spoke.

"Will we be sharing what we write?" Abi asked with one eyebrow raised. "Because Naya might not want to know how often my inner most thoughts revolve around her falling down the stairs and meeting her ultimate demise."

"You know I can pay people to make you disappear right?" Naya glared at Abi and gave her a distasteful once over.

"Ok, that's enough guys; make love not war," Joey said holding his hands together in the shape of a heart.

"To answer your question Abi, no, that is not the intent of the journal. It's more for personal growth and is meant to be completely private. That is unless you want to use it when we have our monologue workshops. But then it would be your choice to use it." Lauren said smiling at their youngest member.

"Is anyone serving or bartending tonight?" Joey asked the group as they began packing up. He was pretty sure no one was, but with this bunch, things changed on a dime.

"My dad gave everyone the night off." Naya said smiling at Katie as if she was the one who asked the question. "He called in the back-up staff so that we could all be at the barbecue."

There was a local band playing the club that evening which meant their Saturday night improv show was cancelled and any serving shifts were also being taken care of.

Katie had mentioned wanting to have a little welcome party for Chris a while ago and Naya had taken it upon herself to make it happen.

"Excellent! Wet t-shirt contest rematch!" Joey yelled, high fiving Darren who slapped his hand enthusiastically.

"That is both offensive and exceptionally un-gay." Chris mumbled in Katie's ear.

Abi leaned close to Chris. "Don't let his dude-like tendencies fool you; Darren is definitely a purple people eater."

Chris turned back to Katie. "What language is she speaking?"

Katie laughed and high fived Abi; they obviously had some sort of inside joke that Chris was not quite privy to.

"Chris! What's your meat of choice?" Darren called out from across the room.

Chris' face went a deep shade of pink. "Um, Excuse me?"

"For the barbeque. Naya and I are going to stop at the grocery store on our way home. Steak, chicken, fish? " Darren smiled.

"Chicken is fine, thanks." Chris had to look away. God damn those eyes.

"Are you ok?" Katie touched Chris' knee when she saw him looking physically ill.

"I can't fall for a straight guy. Talk me out of this Katie. Tell me how awful he is." Chris stood up and started to follow everyone out of the club to the parking lot.

Katie wouldn't have a chance to say anything. Darren had already caught up to them and he had one arm around Katie and one arm around Chris.

"Chris, you really did great today. To say I'm impressed would be a colossal understatement. You are going to fit in so well with all of us. I just hope we are challenging enough for you." Darren could easily see Chris becoming a fan favourite with their modest little fan base.

"Yeah, Chris has always been a little ahead of his time and one of the most talented people I've ever met. You know he graduated at the top of his class." Katie beamed with pride.

"Ok, you both are going to give me a big head with all this praise." Chris chuckled nervously. The heat from Darren's body was really all he could think about. He smelled like cinnamon and something Chris couldn't pin point.

"Hurry up Darren!" Naya called impatiently; she really didn't like to be kept waiting.

"You better go Dar. You don't want to keep your Highness waiting." Katie said through a sugary sweet smile.

Darren laughed and told them both he'd see them later.

"If you are going to be such a brat Naya, you can drive yourself. I'm not your chauffeur," Darren said buckling himself in.

Naya sent a death glare Darren's way.

"Katie referred to you as 'your Highness' again." Darren started to laugh.

"Why don't you ever tell her how awesome I am?" Naya huffed; how was she ever going to win Katie over if her best friend didn't talk her up.

"You mean how awesome you were fucking some other woman last night?" Darren shot her an amused look.

"You are so judgmental." Naya shook her head in frustration.

"No, I'm not Naya. Katie is a good girl and she is not going to change her mind about you unless you give her reason to." Darren pulled into the grocery store and they both got out of the car.

"I don't really care what she thinks of me anyway." Naya was a terrible liar.

"You grab the meat and I'll grab the salads and I'll meet you in the snack isle." Darren wasn't in the mood to argue with his best friend.

"Don't forget booze; we need lots and lots of booze," Naya grumbled before heading off to the meat section.

"Do I have to go to this barbeque?" Chris flopped down on Katie's bed. He really just wanted to curl up in bed and watch bad reality TV.

"Yes! You are the guest of honor." Katie was rifling through her drawers trying to find her conservative navy blue swim suit.

"You are not wearing that one piece; it's hideous." Chris snatched the suit out of Katie's hand.

"Hey!" Katie tried to protest but it was too late, her swim suit was already being launched clear across the room.

"This one." Chris pulled a red two piece out of her drawer and handed it to her.

"Chris I've never worn that one. I don't wear bikinis." Katie held the suit in her hand like it was infected.

"I spent a lot of money on this suit for you last year and you are going to wear it!" Chris gave Katie quite the look and she knew better than to mess with him.

"Turn around." Katie sulked in defeat.

"It's not like I haven't seen all of your parts before," Chris commented as he faced the opposite way.

Katie stopped speaking and concentrated on getting her not so small chest into the not so big bathing suit top.

"Ok, I'm done," she said in a small voice.

"There you go! Now that's a bathing suit for a pool party." Chris clapped his hands together.

Katie began pulling at the tiny bit of fabric self consciously. She felt like her breasts were going to jump right out of the strapless bikini top.

"Katie, stop hiding that curvy body of yours. It's amazing."

"I don't know about this Chris. You are the only person who has ever really seen my cleavage and I'm cool with that because you have no desire to do anything with it." Katie held her hands over her chest.

Chris turned Katie to look at her reflection in the mirror. "Sweetie, you are gorgeous and it's okay to show that off."

Chris was hell bent on helping his best friend to embrace her beauty. She had long, dark hair that most women would kill for. Of course, more often than not she had it pulled back in pony tail or tied up in a messy bun with a pencil through it.

"I like the way I look Chris; I just don't feel the need to flaunt it like Naya does." Katie cringed as the dig slipped out of her mouth.

"You like her, just admit it." Chris pulled a strapless black and red floral summer dress out of Katie's closet. He ripped the tags off and handed it to Katie. "I see you haven't worn the dress I bought you either." Chris pulled the dress over Katie's head and began fussing with her like a pageant mom.

"I do not like Naya, Christopher, she…" Katie took Chris' hand and led him out of her bedroom and into his room.

"Yeah, yeah, we already established that she annoys you." Chris now had his hands on his hips as he watched his best friend sift through his closet. "No, not that shirt I sweat like a mother fucker in that one." Chris hung up the shirt Katie had been holding.

"Potty mouth much?" Katie pulled three more suitable shirts out of his closet. "Where are the rest of your clothes?"

"My mom is going to send them. What you see here is all I could fit in my two suitcases." Chris took a red plaid shirt from Katie and paired it with a white under shirt. He found his black cargo shorts and he was set for the barbeque.

"You are not swimming are you? " Katie knew he wasn't.

"Not this time." Chris gave Katie a look that told her this was not a discussion for today.

Katie was looking at some of the things around his room; remembering exactly where they were in his old room back in California. She turned to Chris who was now looking himself over in the mirror.

"You look really nice." Katie's smile was genuine as she stared at her best friend. "You really are the prettiest man I've ever seen."

"I see you've changed the subject." Chris' expression was gentle.

"I'm not interested in Naya. She's selfish and spoiled and…"

"Do you find her attractive?" Chris asked, stopping his best friend mid babble.

"Well, it's obvious she's beautiful, but…" Katie's face began to turn a pretty shade of pink.

"Have you ever wondered what it would be like to kiss her?" Chris grinned.

"Chris, stop it. I know what you are doing and I'm not going to confess to liking Naya. Besides, I think Lauren is cute and we have been hanging out a bit lately. Nothing has happened yet, but I think that she's interested."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I feel that Lauren is safe, like the bathing suit you are used to wearing; Naya is like the sexy two piece you have on right now."

"That's quite the analogy, but Chris, I'm never dating Naya. She is caviar and I'm peanut butter and jelly, end of discussion 'K?" Katie's big brown eyes widened and she gave him one of her sweet looks.

"End of discussion for now." Even Chris couldn't fight off those big cow eyes of hers.

"You know, every time I look at you, you are looking at him." Naya took a sip of her margarita as she inspected the meat Darren was barbecuing.

"I'm not looking at Chris, I was..."

"I didn't even say who you looking at." Naya laughed and chugged the rest of her drink. "Fuck, I need to get drunk." Naya was staring intently towards the pool.

"When did they become so cozy?" Naya followed Darren's gaze and saw Lauren and Katie frolicking a little too closely together in the pool. In fact, Lauren was right in the middle of wiping some water off of Katie's cheek.

"I don't know, maybe when Katie decided to wear that hot little bathing suit. What the hell is that all about anyway? I didn't even know she had a rack like that." Naya's glare was so obvious.

Darren looked at Katie's rack and smirked. "Yeah, it's not bad."

"Don't even pretend to be interested in those, Dar. Katie could be topless and it still wouldn't stop you from homing in on Chris. Who by the way keeps looking at you too."

"He does?" Darren sounded a little too eager.

"Yeah, don't get too excited though, I'm sure it's just the mass amounts of hair on your chest that he can't stop gawking at." Naya poked Darren's bare chest and walked back to the make shift bar that Joey was tending.

"Don't take your bad mood out on me, I'm not interested." Darren called out as she walked away from him.

Darren grabbed a plate and began filling it with a generous amount of food. Naya was wrong; he had not been staring at Chris, he was just making sure everyone was having good time and he was merely being aware. Chris seemed a little shy which was of course understandable. He was coming into this large group where everyone knew each other quite well. Just because Darren noticed the younger man check his cell phone about twenty times since he sat down didn't mean anything. The fact that he felt a pang of jealousy when Chris laughed and began responding to text message after text message, also meant diddly squat.

However, the fact that Darren's right and left hand would be getting a work out that night with thoughts of Chris Colfer did mean something.

Jesus Christ.

Darren shook his head hoping to shake out the very impure thoughts he was having about Chris. He grabbed the plate and walked over to where he was sitting.

"Here is your chicken burger, Sir." Darren's eyes met Chris' as he handed him the plate of food.

"Thank you, it all looks delicious." Chris wasn't looking at his plate; he was staring at Darren's washboard stomach.

Darren grinned and sat down in a chair next to Chris. "Katie, can you please watch the BBQ for me?"

"Sure!" Katie pried herself away from Lauren, hopped out of the pool and went to watch over the BBQ.

Darren ignored Lauren's eye daggers.

"You don't want them together either I take it," Chris chuckled.

"I just don't think they are the best fit. I know them both pretty well and I just can't see it working." That was not Darren's motivation for keeping them apart; his loyalty to Naya was second to none.

"Yeah, I don't think Lauren is enough of a challenge for Katie," Chris commented biting into his burger.

"I can't argue with that." Darren smiled before subtly glancing at Chris' lips that he just licked a small dollop of mayonnaise off of.

Chris phone buzzed and he quickly picked it up and read the message and tossed it back down.

"How did you find your first day with all of these clowns?" Darren nodded in the direction of the pool area, trying to ignore the smile that Chris had from looking at his phone.

"As far as first days go, I'd say this one ranked pretty high on the scale. It's quite the eclectic group you have here. I feel a little bit lost, but I'm sure that will pass." Chris stared at his plate to avoid looking into those god forsaken golden eyes.

"Moving to a new city is never easy. I was lost for a few months when I moved from San Francisco. If you want, we could hang out tomorrow? I can show you around your new stomping ground." Darren studied Chris as he ate, watching his mouth a little too closely.

"Yeah, that would be great." Chris glanced at Darren before his phone began buzzing again.

"Did you leave someone special at home?" Darren gestured toward the vibrating phone.

"Well, my family is pretty special," Chris grinned knowing full well that's not what the curly haired man meant.

"So, no long distance relationship?" Darren asked through raised brow.

Chris' eyes met Darren's. "I'm single Darren and have been for a while."

"I can't see how that's possible, you are the whole package. Any guy would be lucky to be with you." Darren let out a soft chuckle as a light blush creeped over his face.

"How do you know I'm gay?" Chris' eyes were dancing as his own cheeks became pink.

"Wishful thinking I guess." Of course Darren knew Chris was gay because Katie had told him, but that reply wouldn't have been nearly as adorable now would it?

Chris' mouth fell open slightly and he wasn't sure where to look, so he continued look into the most striking eyes he'd ever seen. Darren was flirting with him; this gorgeous creature was flirting with him. As nervous as he felt, Chris wanted to stay in this moment just a little while longer.

Darren didn't know what it was about this man that had his heart pounding and his palms sweating. He had such a strong urge to reach and touch his face to see if it was as soft as it looked.

Katie shrieking shook them out of their intense, albeit confusing, moment. Somehow she had created a huge flame and was yelling something about her eyebrows being singed off.

"I should go make sure Katie isn't burning everything, including herself." Darren gently patted Chris' knee twice before he bolted over to the barbecue.

When Chris knew for certain Darren wasn't looking, he held his hand over his heart and inhaled and exhaled slowly. This man had an effect on him and until knew what his story was; Chris needed to gain some control over this potentially disastrous situation.

"Why did you turn it so high?" Darren was laughing as he twisted the gas nozzle back to medium.

"Because Ricther told me to." Katie's bottom lip popped out in an extreme pout as she ran her finger over her eyebrows making sure they were still there.

"Why do you listen to him Katie Kat?" Darren draped his arm around Katie's shoulder and pulled her tight against him.

Katie shrugged and shook her head. Darren was right, she should have known better than to listen to anything Joey said, especially after he'd been drinking.

"I see you were chatting with Chris." Katie bumped her shoulder into Darren's before peering over at her best friend, who was looking rather disheveled. "What were you talking about?"

"Uh, just random stuff." Darren grabbed a fresh beer and drained the entire bottle without coming up for air.

"Dar, are you ok?" Katie's eyes were wide with concern.

"Yeah, I'm great… just… uh… fucking perfect." Darren ran his hands through his mess of curls before he turned to look at Chris. Immediately his face softened into a beautiful expression.

Chris looked up at the same time Darren glanced over at him. They both smiled at the other and Darren ended the short stare off with a wink. If Katie hadn't witnessed the eye fucking first hand, she never would have believed it. She looked from Darren to Chris then back to Darren again.

When Darren was out of earshot she whispered to herself:

"Holy shit, I think we've found Darren's duck."

TBC