Chris ran inside and shut the door to his trailer before finally remembering to breathe. Well… that was something. He and Darren had just finished wrapping up the last scene of the episode "The First Time", and from the moment the director yelled "CUT!", to his currently slumped residence against his locked steel trailer door exactly three minutes later (he powerwalked), neither Chris' mind nor body could even slightly begin to register whatthefuckjusthappened.

Chris tried desperately to control his rapid breathing as he stiffly moved away from the door and began pacing, but as his breaths smoothed out and his brain slowly started working again, it was his heartbeat's turn to over exaggerate itself. What. The. Fuck?

One minute, everything on set was normal; he and Darren were lying on Blaine's bed, and he was the one trying to get Darren to calm his nerves about the scene. One little scene! And it was an innocent scene if taken out of context; without the previous mentions of having sex, it wasn't even an R rated scene, but if anything at all, PG-13 only because of the fact that they were in bed together. Fully clothed, even! So why, why did Chris have to frantically run off the set the second the director released him to hide his sudden hard-on?!

Ok, he knew why. He wasn't blind, after all. Chris had been aware of what Darren could possibly make him feel from the moment he laid eyes on him, back when they were filming "Never Been Kissed". Chris was already aware that he was gay, and that day, he was very much aware that Darren Criss was possibly the sexiest man he had seen in his life. And who could blame him for such thoughts? It became a well-known fact ever since Blaine's first appearance on the show: if you are attracted to men, you are extremely attracted to Darren Criss.

But ever since that first day of working with him, Chris had always respected Darren's sexuality, and actually found that the two of them made great friends. Best friends, even, and never had Chris wanted to damage that relationship, to screw it up with Darren forever. Their friendship was incredibly important to both of them, and for both their sakes, Chris had become accustomed to immediately banning every and all thoughts of how attracted he was to Darren, how amazing it would be if Darren was his, what they could do with each other, to each other—No, he always banned any fantasies or urges from his mind about Darren, sacrificed all the feelings he had for him in order to keep the friendship that he relied on most, the one closest to his heart that he would never do anything to harm…

Until now.

Now, Chris couldn't keep his mind from racing about Darren: the gorgeous outline of his face, those soft-glowing ember eyes seeking into his own, the curve of a shy but loving smile spreading perfectly across his lips, and—oh, his lips, sliding so gently against his own, parting for that incredible tongue to find its way into his mouth and make him moan, make him want more, need more—

"AARRRGGHH!" Chris cried out in frustration, literally banging his head on the trailer wall in a lousy attempt to get those images out of his head. Darren was his friend, for god's sake! THIS WASN'T HOW NORMAL PEOPLE ARE SUPPOSED TO THINK ABOUT THEIR FRIENDS!

And, oh god, Darren knew. Chris could see it in his eyes after their lips parted and both had looked at each other, and Darren knew. He was totally aware of Chris' true feelings towards him now, how could he not be?He could tell by the way Chris had kissed back so quickly, how he'd put everything he had into the passion and the heat that had swirled around them in those short but everlasting moments on that bed. Chris could see the realization hit Darren the second their eyes met after that scene. Oh shit, Darren's face had said, and now Chris needed to stop these thoughts from flowing freely, fight them down to the very back of his mind and quickly, before he either lost his friendship with his co-star or he went insane.

Chris stopped pacing and sat down on the bed, closed his eyes, and breathed. He could still hear his heart thumping madly in his ears, but he ignored it as the minutes passed and was successful in at least slowing his breathing again. He opened his eyes after a few moments and sighed. Finally, after about twenty minutes of pure insanity, it seemed he now regaining control over his own thoughts. Soon his mind allowed the images to be transported to that place in the back of his mind, just like he knew they would eventually, and be stored at least temporarily, but hopefully forever.

As the last of those thoughts were stowed away, Chris realized it was going to be alright. He would eventually have to talk to Darren, but all he had to do was deny any feelings he had shown for him in that scene. He was an incredible actor, after all, and he was sure Darren would believe him. Thank god, he thought. He was not about to lose the most important relationship in his life at the moment, even if it wasn't his ideal type of relationship... But that didn't matter. What mattered was that he and Darren would be ok.

Chris jumped about ten feet at the sudden knock at the door due to the nerves that had apparently not yet calmed down. He shook his head a little bit, cursing at himself for being so skittish, and got up to answer the door. He'd barely turned the handle when Darren flew passed him and into his trailer, leaving Chris staring wide-eyed out the door for a couple of seconds before blinking and closing it. "Yes, come in…" he said sarcastically, as sarcasm came as an automatic defense for him.

"I—uh, sorry." Darren stuttered when Chris turned to him slowly, the shock of Darren's rushed entrance making him temporarily forget about the near-mental breakdown he had had not five minutes earlier. "I just… I need to talk."

Chris stared at him with wide eyes for a moment before motioning for Darren to sit at the chair by his desk, while he sat himself down on his bed and folded his arms. "Ok," he replied in a small voice, eyebrows high as he felt all the fear of Darren finding out about his feelings for him quickly trickling back. Just deny it, Chris reminded himself.

Darren cleared his throat, and Chris realized that the older man looked possibly more nervous than he felt himself. Darren's breath came out shakily and quiet, and Chris had to lean closer to hear every word he said. "I've been thinking through some things…" he began. Chris was sure Darren was going to ask him about Chris' feelings towards him. Chris stayed silent as he watched Darren struggle for the right words, waiting patiently for the dreaded question to come, but it never did.

"Chris, ever since I joined Glee, I've been… lying to you. All of you. About who I really am." Darren looked down at his hands as he twiddled his thumbs in his lap, exhaling slowly and visibly trying not to shake. Chris blinked. What? "I've wanted to tell someone for a long time now, but it never seemed like the right time," Darren continued. "It wasn't just bad timing, though. I felt like… I still feel like… I'm doing something for the world just by holding it in. Like not letting my secret out is actually helping some people and their views… it's complicated."

Now Chris was completely confused. He was sure Darren had figured him out, and was here to call him out about the more-than-friends feelings he'd been having. But Darren wasn't doing that at all! The more he spoke, the less Chris knew what was going on, so he was now listening intently, trying to piece together unknown things in his mind as to figure out what the hell Darren was talking about.

Darren sighed heavily and continued. "The scene that we just shot… That wasn't me being Blaine; that was me. The real me. I just… I didn't really expect what came over me back there, but I also knew that I didn't want it to stop. This thing has been screaming at me in my head for the past few weeks, months even, and I just wanted so badly to let it out… So when the opportunity came, I let it take over. But I've been wanting to tell you about it forever. Chris, I…"

Darren trailed off. Chris' eyes were wide and his jaw went slack as he stared back at Darren, desperately trying to make sense of everything. Was Darren telling him… what he thoughthe was telling him? Was the impossible suddenly becoming a reality? Was Darren telling him that what he thought could never be… could now actually be? But Chris didn't have to ask, because the next second, Darren took in a deep, courageous breath and finally let the truth spill out.

"I'm gay."

The words hung there, suspended in the air between them. Chris felt an internal shock at the words, but his expression didn't change, he just stared right on through. It's like when someone shows up at a hospital to see a loved one, and they can already tell by the doctors' piteous expressions that the loved one isn't there anymore, but their minds can't begin to accept it as the truth until the doctors say it out loud. This is what Chris was feeling, that pang of reality that hits you square to the brain or the heart, in his case both.

Darren's expressions held mixed emotions, his eyes swirling with everything from sheer terror to relief. Chris could read the questions written plainly on his face. This is good, right? It's good that I'm finally being truthful? Oh god, is this bad? Are you mad that I lied for so long? Are you ashamed of me not being who you thought I was? Do you hate me?

The longer the silence drew on, the more terrified Darren became. His lips were slightly parted, his eyebrows up and innocent-looking, his eyes sparkling and frozen in a scared beg, not unlike a puppy pleading for his master to forgive him. He wanted Chris to say something, that was clear, but say what? Chris nearly choked up at the sight of Darren in front of him, horrified of being rejected by his best friend after spilling his heart out to him.

After an eternity, Chris made his decision. When he spoke, his voice was low and came from deep inside his throat, quiet yet still enough to slice through the silence that hung in the air with two simple words.

"Prove it."