"God, I love you, Geena..." Darren told me. I giggled and moved closer to my boyfriend.

"I love you, too. Great job tonight, babe. You make a perfect Finch," I said, kissing him. We were cuddling on his temporary apartment's bed. He just opened tonight on Broadway for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. And he was exhausted. As always.

"No, I..." he yawned. "I'm not as good as Dan is..."

"Shut up. You were perfect! Your mom and dad and Mia and Char all thought so!"

"I was not. Mia and Charlene are my friends, of course they thought that. And my parents are a little biased, too, don't you think?"

I put my hand over his mouth. "You're amazing. Shut. Up. And sleep."

He nodded and I moved my hand away to peck his lips for a goodnight kiss.

... ... ...
I busied myself with making some brownies for tonight. Darren was due home any minute and I wanted to surprise him with something.

As I was putting them in the oven, he walked into the apartment.

"Fans are so...insane. I love them to death, but, they're crazy!" he told me, kicking his shoes off and shrugging his coat off. "They... Hey, wait... Are you baking?"

"I am!" I bounded out of the kitchen and greeted him with a kiss. "Celebratory brownies! And, uh, would you like to talk about the fans?"

"They bent the metal barricades trying to get closer," he shook his head. "and some girl, uh, she, uhm..."

He was blushing now.

"She what?" I asked, trying to hide a smile, grabbing his shirt and tugging on it slightly.

"She grabbed my...yeah..."

The smile was gone, and so was the color in my face. "Uh...your...your... I... Like, er, your... Walker? I mean... People say it's quite unlikely..."

"Yeah."

"Oh..."

"Security brought me inside right after that. I'm not allowed out after the matinee shows anymore for the remainder of my run."

"That sucks! I'm sorry!"

"Eh, I'll survive. I just don't like how one fan kinda ruins it for the other ones. Y'know?"

"I understand," I kissed him. "I think the brownies are ready."

"YAYYYY! YUM YUM YUM!" he yelled as I raced back to check them.

I did the toothpick check and smiled as it came out clean. "Ready! Except, they should cool...and that will take a good half hour."

"Mmm," Darren mumbled. "so what should we do until then?"

"You should take a nap!"

"I'm not tired!"

I laughed. "Oh, you have to be tired!"

He shrugged. "I'd rather be more productive. I mean, we only have three weeks until I go back out to LA for Glee."

"Damn that G.L.E.E."

"Agreed," he smiled. "Spending too much time with Walker?"

"Ew!" I laughed. I lived in Chicago with our mutual friends, Denise and Meredith. Joe Walker lived really close to us, but he was the friend I loved to hate.

"I know... So...?"

"So what?"

"So, what are we gonna do to kill this half hour?"

I laughed. "Silly boy..."

"Silly?"

"You actually have to ask!"

He just looked at me for a second. He didn't get it and that was probably because he's only gotten about two hours of sleep every night. I kissed him in response and he finally understood.

He smiled into the kiss and pulled me as close as he could.

Geez, he has no time to work out...but these arms are so toned...

"I miss...this...so much..." he told me between kisses. "As soon as seasons three and four done...you're moving in with me in LA, okay?"

I kissed him again. "Yes. Of course, I will!"

Darren laughed and smiled. "Good."
... ... ...

"WHERE ARE YOU?"

"MEREDITH! I AM IN LINE!"

"Oh..." she said through the phone. "We can't see you..."

I sighed and jumped up and down, yelling, "MEREDITH! MEREDITH!"

Soon I was attacked by a girl with curly, insane hair and a big smile. Brian and Joey followed with Dylan, Corey, and Walker close behind.

"How's our baby?"

I looked at Dylan like he had two heads after he said that. "He's...fine. His performance is great. I saw him opening night."

"You get to see him twice? Lucky!" Joey shook his head.

"Actually," Corey corrected. "Geena gets to see Darren three times. Plus, every night!"

"I hate you," Walker told me.

"Love ya, too."

"Oh my God..." a girl said. "You guys are from StarKid!"

"Yes, yes, we are!" Brian beamed.

The girl looked at Corey. "My friend loves you. She's like...insanely in love with your tweets, too. Can I get a picture for her?"

"Sure!"

A few minutes later, we had all given our autographs and taken pictures with her. Her name was Danielle and she had a ticket to the show, with a seat right next to Dylan. She and Brian had seemed to hit it off really well.

My phone buzzed with a text and I pulled it out.

*Hey is everyone else here already?*

I smiled. "Guys, it's Darren!"

"TELL HIM I LOVE HIM!" Meredith yelled.

*Yep. Meredith loves you. A lot.*

"When he texts back, tell him I miss him sooo much!"

"Okay, Brian..."

*Do you wanna come backstage?*

*Sure! ...we picked someone up...her name's Danielle. She's super cool. Oh. Brian misses you soooooooooooooooooooo much.*

"Hey, he asked us to go backstage..." I whispered to Corey. He nodded and told Walker.

*Bring her with you! Tell Mer that I love her and Brian that I will see him soon.*

*Aye aye captain!*

"Hey, Mer, he loves you. Brian, he'll seeya real soon. Danielle? We're going backstage. You can come with, if you want?"

She beamed. "Are you kidding? Of course!"

"Cool!" Brian smiled at her.

We walked to the stage door and I yelled to Neil, the head guard. He let us in after a bit of "who are you all" questions. Finally, we got backstage and I searched the two places I thought he'd be.

"DARREN EVERETT CRISS, GET OUT HERE BEFORE I RIP YOUR PERKY LITTLE BOOBS OFF!" Walker yelled in his special "Umbridge" voice.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! No Umbridges allowed!" I heard him yell. "Hey, guys!"

"DARREN!" Brian had launched himself at him. "I miss you! You have no idea! I have never missed someone more! Oh, by the way, this is Danielle. We met her on the street."

"Yeah, nice, Brian. Thanks. It makes me sound so cool."

"Hey," Darren said, taking my hand and rubbing circles into it with his thumb. "As long as you don't stab me... I think we're good. Agreed?"

"Agreed!"

He let go of my hand to shake with her, but took it again right after.

"So, uh, Darren?"

"Yes?"

Danielle smiled sheepishly. "You and Geena are together?"

I giggled and Darren nodded. "Oh, definitely! We've been together for ages!"

"Ages isn't the right word," Meredith interrupted, rolling her eyes. "More like...forever."

"Not forever, Mer, just..." I did the math in my head. "This is year seven."

Danielle stared in shock. "You... seven?"

I nodded. "Technically, we had a break between sophomore and junior year in college, but that was only for...what? Six months?"

"Well, five and a half," Darren corrected.

"So," Walker said. "Forever."

Before we sat down, Dylan and Brian switched seats, so now I was in between Mer and Brian. Oh joy.

Now, I love them both, don't get me wrong...but Brian was so obviously flirting with Danielle and Meredith was giggling about it to Joey on her other side, but not during the whole thing, just for a little bit.

Right after 'Brotherhood of Man', some people started to leave.

Where in hell are they going? I wondered. Of course they're in front of us...

"They're going to the stage door, yeah?" Meredith asked me.

I rolled my eyes, "Probably."

"That's extremely rude."

"He's not going to sign anything afterwards. He can see them."

And I was right. He didn't come out for the fans. He was really upset that they didn't respect the theatre. We were backstage with him and he hugged onto me.

"I'm sorry, Darr, you deserved the standing ovation. I think they're just insanely excited to meet you," I told him.

"Well, I'm not going out there. It's not because I was offended for myself. I'm offended for the other actors. Beau doesn't deserve this."

"Darren," Joey sighed, putting his hand on his shoulder. "You said we'd have a sing-a-long. Come on, man, there were like five of them that left."

Danielle and Brian were too busy flirting to actually hear Darren and Joey's argument. I laughed along with Corey and Meredith as Dylan made faces at them behind their backs.

"Fine," Darren gave in. "But only if all of you join in. Including Danielle."

"Including me what?"

"Sing-a-long!"
... ... ...

That was a total disaster. It disturbed the peace and the NYPD shut us down. I knew that it was just making Darren upset.

And now we were sitting around backstage, waiting for the fans to go away so we can get out safely.

"So, uh," Danielle was blushing and Brian gave her an encouraging nod. "Brian says I should ask...why did you two break up for those five months?"

I looked to Darren and he shrugged. "Might as well. Brian will tell her anyway, since he's in love with our new friend!"

I laughed as Brian's whole face flushed. "Not funny, Darren!"

Danielle was blushing now, too, very red.

"Okay," I distracted everyone. "Darren and I broke up between sophomore and junior year because... I did something stupid. Super stupid." Darren took my hand now. "And it's all better now, but it was horrible at the time. I...cheated on him. With...one of our friends. It was just kissing, but I know it was still stupid and it hurt the guy I love, but it happened."

"Oh..." Danielle looked down. "I'm sorry to pry, I—"

"No, it's fine. You probably would've found out eventually. And, I know you're wondering. I kissed Jack. And it's not like he asked me. I'm so sorry about everything that happened, but I'm glad that it all worked out and we're all super happy now!"

Darren laughed and kissed my cheek for emphasis. "Super happy's one way to put it..."

"And Jack is happy, too!" Meredith beamed.

Walker rolled his eyes. "Mer has a crush on him."

"No I don't!"

"Yes you do..." Joey told her.

"You guys suck."

"Hell yeah, we do!" Dylan high-fived Corey and I rolled my eyes. "Wait, that sounds dirty..."
... ... ...

"Danielle seems super cool and nice. She's gonna make Brian super happy."

Darren looked at me. "Huh? Yeah, yeah, I guess..."

"Are you okay, dear?"

"I just... I was thinking about the...the Jack thing. I know it was forever ago and it was a stupid mistake."

"Look, Darr, you know I'm sorry. I don't know why I did it and I am so, so, so, so, so, so sorry! That was awhile ago. You forgive me, right?"

"Yes, of course, I forgive you. I've moved on and it's silly for me to think about it. Just...just forget I brought it up. I'm... I'm sorry."

I looked at him. "Don't be. Come on, let's just go to bed."

"I love you. Got it?"

"Got it. I...yeah. I love you, too."

His lips pressed against mine softly. "Marry me."

"Wh—What?"

"Geena Christine Hughes," he mumbled against my lips. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I don't have a ring with me, though. It's back in LA."

"That's... Wait! You have a ring?"

"Yeah. I've wanted to propose for about a year but...Glee and everything is just so busy lately. I just... God, I love you...so much."

I pulled back and looked at him. He's being serious...

"Are you...are you sure? I mean, I don't want you to give everything up for me. I mean, what if you can't get out of Glee and I'm stuck in Chicago without you? What if something happens and I can't go through it without you? What if the distance finally breaks us like everyone thinks? How can we...how can we do this now?"

"Are you... You don't want to marry me?"

"No! Darren, I would love to be your wife! I want to marry you! It's just...the timing."

"So you're saying we can't get married because I live in LA and you live in Chicago?"

I shook my head. "No! No, we even talked about this! I'm gonna come live with you! Remember? We're gonna move in with each other and we're going to get married then! And we're going to have a family and a happily ever after, but not yet."

"Why the fuck not?"

"Because! We're...we're not ready. And I don't want to ru—"

"Seven fucking years. Seven. We're not rushing anything! And don't pull this 'not ready' shit because I know you are. At least, I know you told Meredith you were just waiting for me to pop the question. So why the fuck not?"

"Because!"

"Geena!"

"Darren!"

"You're so frustrating!" he yelled and got up.

"Don't you yell at me, Darren Everett Criss! I'm trying here! I want to be with you! I want to marry you! I want to have kids with you! I want to be the first thing you see when you wake up and the last thing you look at before you go to sleep! I want you to reach out for me when you're half asleep and need someone to cuddle! I want you to be able to say 'This is my wife'! I want to love you forever!"

He was just staring down at me, not sure what to say. He started shaking his head, slowly. "I... Damn."

"I just, I don't want us to, uh," I struggled for the words. "I don't want to break up."

He sank back down onto the couch next to me and took my face in his hands. "I don't think you understand. I love you. I fucking love you. You. And we won't break up. I want to marry you and I don't think we're going to be messed up. I feel like we're going to be more secure with this. Please... Marry me?"

I took a breath in. "On one condition..."

"Yes?"

"Sleep."

He laughed. "Fine. Now I just have one thing to do before I do that."

"What's that?"

He stood us both up and scooped me up in a bridal carry. "Let's go make up!"

"Darren!" I giggled.
... ... ...

"It's your last day..." I mumbled.

"I know... I don't know what I'm gonna do after this!"

"You're going to go back to McKinley and you're going to kiss a boy and wait for Glee to be over. But you're gonna visit Chicago somewhere in between...right?"

"Of course!" he told me, kissing me. We hadn't even gotten out of bed yet. We needed to, though. He needed to hurry his butt up and get to the theatre.

"The show starts in two hours, Darren. Go."

He hugged onto me. "That means I have a whole hour to kill!"

"Darren..."

"Geena..."

I laughed and pushed him off the bed. "My bed. You go to work!"

"Ow!" he stuck his tongue out and got up off the floor. "Two can play at that game!"

He picked me up, slinging me over his shoulder. "Ha!"

"Put me down!"

"Never! I'm going to sing and dance with you over my shoulder today!"

"Darren! No!"

I was laughing too hard for even that to make any sense. He wasn't even paying attention, just carrying me to the kitchen. It always surprised me how strong he was because he was so short and supposedly never worked out.

"Darren!" I whined, beating his back with my fists. "Come on!"

He chuckled and set me onto the counter. "What's for breakfast, dear?"

"It's one in the afternoon. Not breakfast time."

"Did you check your phone this morning? Walker had some big news..."

"No, what'd he say?"

"A certain girl named Danielle O'Hara and a certain boy named Brian Holden were spotted cuddling on the Manor couch last night. Whaddya know? They're living happily ever after!"

"It's not 'happily ever after', Darren. But they're happily together," I smiled. "Do we have any bagels?"

"You just said it's not breakfast time!"

"Bagels are an anytime food!" I was about to get off the counter, but Darren was in front of me, blocking my way. "Move!"

"Make me," he smiled.

I rolled my eyes. "Darren, you move your cute little ass out of the way, okay?"

"Aw, Geena said a bad word! I'm so fucking proud!"

"Move the fuck out of the way!"

"Another one! You're growing up so fast!"

I rolled my eyes and brought him closer to me, kissing him and then pushing him back.

"What's the magic word?" he asked as he boxed me in again.

"Please?"

"Perfect!"

... ... ...
I was on my way to the night performance, his last one. I was upset that it was his last one because him being in New York was a lot better than him being in LA. LA and Chicago are too far away from each other. Way too far away.

I tapped the playbill and ticket against my knee in the taxi.

"You're going to see that Criss guy on Broadway? You a fan?"

"Oh," I laughed. "I'm a big fan all right. I'm his fia— I'm his friend. His best friend."

"Really now?"

"Mhmm, this is actually my third time going."

"Lucky boy, having a good friend like you."

I giggled and looked out the window. "I'm the lucky one."

He finally pulled up by the theatre. I paid him and went to the stage door.

"Neil! Can I come in?" I called over the barricade. The security guard smiled and let me through, the fans yelling about it not being fair.

"Here again, Geena?"

"Yeah, just can't stay away from my adorable Finch!"

"Neither can the fans!" he shook his head.

I laughed, re-thanked him, said my goodbye, and went on search for Darren.

As soon as I found the darn bummy Hobbit, I hugged him tight.

"Break a leg. I should go sit down."

"No, not yet," he begged. "Stay just a bit longer."

"Darr, I love you."

"I love you, too, Geena. It's my last show...this is insane."

"I know I'm so proud of you! I mean...you used to live in a cupboard under some stairs."

He laughed and kissed me. "I know. Now, it's time for me to...do something without really trying, I guess!"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm gonna go sit now."

"Wait!"

"What?"

He pulled me into a big bear hug. I smiled, tears starting to form in my eyes.

"Go kick some ass. And break a leg."
... ... ...

And now we were spending the last night together. He would go back to Glee in the morning, and I would go back to living with my two best friends. But I didn't want to go.

I wanted to keep him with me, and cuddle under blankets to keep warm. I wanted to share kisses and be able to see his smiles and hear his laughs near me.

Damn that G.L.E.E.

"You know what?"

"What?" he asked, nuzzling my neck.

"I don't want this to end. And I'm determined to get myself out to LA ay-sap!"

"I'm so super happy! But you know...right now I live with Joey. So that's going to potentially be awkward when we want alone time."

I shrug. "I'm sure he'd freak out and leave once we start kissing. He does that a lot."

"Does what?"

"Freak out when people around him kiss."

Darren chuckled and brushed hair out of my face. "Yeah..."

"You know what else?"

"Hmmm?"

"You succeeded. On YouTube. On TV. On tour. On Broadway. Everywhere."

"As cheesy as this is...even in your heart?"

"Definitely in my heart." I giggled.

He kissed me, pulling me close.

~~~~~ The End ~~~~~~