Chapter 25 – "I guess I got a little carried away."

Thursday, July 31 – Friday, August 1, 2008

Chris led Darren up to his bedroom. Closing the door with a soft click, he turned to find his boyfriend crowding against him. Leaning in close, Darren whispered in his ear, "Do you want to see what a kiss-ass I can be?"

"Darren!" Chris hissed. "I told you – we are not having sex in my parents' house!"

"I thought maybe a little ass kissing wouldn't count."

"Dare, you're the one who said everything counts."

"Damn - foiled by my own brilliance."

"Come on," Chris said, laughing, "it's been a long day. Let's get some sleep."

The boys woke up to sunlight streaming through the curtains in Chris's room. Chris yawned and stretched, enjoying the luxury of having been able to sleep in on a weekday. Next to him, Darren stirred sleepily, cuddling closer.

Chris kissed his boyfriend's forehead, then rolled out of bed. "Hey, no, where are you going?" Darren complained, reaching for him.

"You can go back to sleep if you want, Dare. I'm going to go see if Hannah's awake."

Darren murmured something indistinctly, and closed his eyes. Chris leaned over to kiss him once more before heading out to find his sister.

A moment later, Darren was shocked into wakefulness by the sound of two sets of high-pitched squeals. Apparently, Chris and Hannah were excited to see each other.

Darren dragged himself out of bed and wandered down the hall in search of the source of the commotion. He found Chris and his sister holding hands and jumping up and down on her bed, giggling.

Spotting his boyfriend in the doorway, Chris called out, "Hey, Darren. Come meet Hannah."

Never one to be outdone in the bouncing department, Darren hopped up to join the other two on the bed. Chris and Hannah each let go of one hand in order to grab onto Darren, and soon all three of them were jumping up and down, shrieking with glee.

Chris's father cleared his throat loudly from the doorway. "If I have to fix the leg on that bed again, I'm going to make you help me, Christopher."

Chris leapt off the bed and rushed to hug his father. "Sorry, Dad," he said. "Hannah and I just really missed each other."

"So I can see. And hear," Chris's dad said, trying to sound stern, but failing miserably. "I really missed you, too."

Darren hopped down and came to join them. "Sorry about the disturbance, Mr. Colfer," he said. "My mother would insist on telling you that she raised me to have better manners than this when I'm a guest in someone's home. I guess I got a little carried away."

Chris's dad smiled at him warmly and held out a hand for him to shake. "Don't worry about it, Darren. Chris and his sister do this all the time."

Darren shook the proffered hand, as Chris's father added, "And please, call me Tim."

"Thanks, Tim," Darren said, smiling back at him.

Tim turned toward his daughter. "So, birthday girl, what would you like for breakfast?"

"Can I have blueberry pancakes?"

"You got it."

Hannah wanted to spend her birthday at the pool, so after brunch the whole family changed into their swimsuits and headed out to the car. Leaving the air-conditioned house, Darren – used to the mild climate of the Bay Area – was shocked by how hot it was outside. "Wow – it's not even noon yet, and it must be 90 degrees out already. No wonder you wanted to go to the pool."

"It's supposed to go up to a hundred this afternoon," Karyn told him. "But we're used to it. We'll just keep re-applying our sunscreen, and spend the day in the water."

When they reached the public pool, Darren was pleased to discover that it was less crowded than he would have expected. He supposed that a lot of the local families must have their own pools, given the inland heat. He followed the Colfers to a spot in the shade, where they laid out their beach towels and deposited their bags. Then the five of them made their way down to the pool.

They started out in the shallow end, where Hannah happily splashed around, pulling the others into a series of made-up games in the water. After about an hour, Chris's parents decided they were ready to go sit in the shade for a while. The boys continued to play with Hannah, slipping easily from underwater tea parties to shark tag to some sort of sea otter fantasy game that Darren couldn't quite grasp, but enjoyed nonetheless.

Eventually, Hannah asked if they could go on the water slide. Chris said "sure," and the three of them made their way over to the stairs. Compared with slides Darren had been on at Waterworld or Raging Waters, it wasn't particularly impressive – just a two-story climb, with a curving tube that sloped gradually down and emptied into the pool. The good thing about this one, though, was that there wasn't much of a line. In a couple of minutes, they had reached the top.

Hannah sat down at the top of the slide, and Chris positioned himself behind his sister, wrapping his arms around her. The lifeguard held out a hand to stop them. "One at a time on the slide," he said, tapping a metal sign on which the rules were posted.

"My sister has special needs," Chris explained. "Someone has to ride with her."

"Sorry," the lifeguard said. "I can't let you go down together. I'll lose my job if I don't enforce the rules."

Chris sighed, getting to his feet, and pulling Hannah up behind him. "You go on down," he said to Darren. "Hannah and I will meet you at the bottom of the stairs."

"No, that's okay, I'll stay with you guys."

The three of them walked back down the stairs, Chris trying to explain to his sister why they couldn't go down the slide. "I know we've done it lots of times before, but this lifeguard must be new. He doesn't understand that it's okay. We'll just go talk to Mom and she'll get it sorted out."

When she heard what had happened, Karyn went to go speak with the pool manager. Hannah, Chris, and Darren flopped down in the shade with Tim to wait for her.

Karyn returned shortly. "I reminded the manager about the Americans with Disabilities Act, and he said he'd go talk with the new lifeguard right away. Give him a few minutes, and then you can head back down."

When Darren, Chris, and Hannah returned to the top of the slide, the lifeguard greeted them with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, guys. I wasn't trying to be a jerk. I just didn't want to get in trouble with my boss. But he says it's fine for you to ride together."

"Don't worry about it," Chris told him, returning the smile. "I know you were only trying to do your job."

Chris held Hannah in front of him, and the two set off down the twisting slide. Hannah squealed joyfully, and Chris couldn't help but join in. When they reached the bottom, Chris made sure to find his footing immediately, carefully holding on to his sister to keep her head out of the water. Darren followed a moment later, landing near them with a splash and a whoop.

"That was great!" he cried. "Let's do it again!"

After several more trips down the slide, Hannah turned to Darren and asked, "Will you ride with me next time?"

Darren glanced at Chris, silently asking if that would be okay. At Chris's nod, he replied, "I'd love to."

Chris looked on fondly as Darren sat down behind Hannah, carefully cradling her against his chest. The sight of his boyfriend holding his sister protectively in his arms almost brought tears to his eyes.

When he reached the bottom of the slide, Chris found the two of them jumping up and down in the water together. "That was awesome!" Darren exclaimed. "It's so much faster with two people. Will you ride with me again?"

Hannah looked thrilled. "Yeah," she said, grabbing Darren's hand and pulling him toward the side of the pool. "Come on!"

After Darren and Hannah took a second trip down the slide, Chris stepped in and said that it was his turn to ride with his sister. Hannah giggled delightedly as the boys pretended to fight over her before finally agreeing to take turns.

By the end of the afternoon, all three of them were blissfully exhausted. Hannah fell asleep during the car ride home, sitting in the backseat between Chris and Darren. Chris leaned over and whispered to his boyfriend, "Thanks for being so good with her."

"It was my pleasure," Darren answered sincerely. Chris smiled at him affectionately. It meant the world to him to know that it was true.

End Notes: As you may remember from the weekend they spent in San Francisco, once I get the boys away from camp it takes me quite a few chapters before I can bring them back again. There's a lot more fun to be had in Clovis, so stay tuned. And, as always, please review.