Issey stayed for the after show meet and greet because it was their last night in the city and instead of going back to the hotel she and Chris were going back to his place again. He had brought up, and she had agreed that they could probably leave with a better memory there than him hearing her tell Darren she loved him.

During the greet she perched on the edge of a sofa watching the girl's reactions to the Boys of Glee. They all cried when they got to Chris. He would hug them and call them honey and the younger ones would hug him quickly and rush away to cry, the older ones would hang on for what seemed like a beat or two too long before starting to sniffle and cry in front of him. She tried to watch them with the other guys but her eye kept tracking back to Darren. He charmed them easily, had them laughing and at ease right away. The look in his eye gave the impression that each was the only girl he'd want to be talking to and he'd been waiting all night for her to show up and take him away from all these 'fans'. He was a master at this, it went beyond flirting. As awe inspiring as this was to witness it made Issey wonder how much of that he'd used with her.

When the last of the fans had been escorted out Chord asked everyone if they wanted to go out and celebrate their last night at home. Most said they would love to go but neither Darren nor Issey answered.

Chord yelled across the room, "Darren what about you and Issey? You guys ready to come up for air and be social for a change?"

Darren looked helplessly at Is, hoping she'd have an answer, which she did. "He'll have to check with Mia, she's in town."

Everyone who'd heard her in the fairly loud room went silent and looked from Darren to Is and back. Finally Darren spoke up. "I've decided to try to keep my relationship with Mia. She came out so we could talk things through."

Before everyone had the chance to become even more uncomfortable Issey added, "And I think it's a good idea, so there's no reason for things to get weird or for anyone to tiptoe around us."

"Hold onto your boys, ladies, she's making her way through the group." Ashley added partially under her breath.

Lea's head spun, "That was rude, I'm sure this wasn't easy for either of them."

"We'll see how you feel about it when she wakes up next to Cory."

Chris stood next to Issey, "Enough Ash. I love you but enough. Okay, might as well get this out there and be done with it since it's apparently dirty laundry night, Issey and I are seeing each other. You can all pick your jaws up off the floor, yes, you heard me correctly. This has all been very challenging for us and I think I speak for all of us when I ask that you just give us a little time to figure things out for ourselves before you start making your assumptions or asking a million questions. The Cliff Notes version goes like this, I've been falling for her since I met her but didn't tell her until recently. Yes it was surprise to me to feel like this about a woman, I don't know if this makes me bi or gay or straight or anything but a guy who wants to be with this girl. We've decided to try seeing each other and see what happens, Darren and Mia decided their relationship is worth working on. We're all still friends, and we really would appreciate your support. Now I think that's the most I've ever talked about my personal life so I'm done. Thank you for the invite Chord but Issey and I are going to my place to have a little alone time."

"Come out for one drink, it's our last night at home. One drink and then you guys can go home." Lea seemed fairly invested in everyone getting together.

Chris looked at Is and she shrugged, "Why not?"

Chord turned to Darren, "What about you?"

"Thanks guys but like I said Mia's here so I'm probably just gonna…"

"Bring her. I mean, if she wants to come. Bring her." Issey told him. "We might as well all be adults about this already."

That is how it came to be that Issey was on a bar stool next to Mia matching her shot for shot, both of them singing loudly along with the music thumping through the speaker near them.

Issey had seen Mia at the bar on her own, trying to get the bartender to pay attention. She went over and grabbed the stool next to her, "This guy takes forever to pour a drink."

Mia seemed grateful for someone to talk to, or maybe she was just always this friendly, "Agreed, I've been watching him make the same drink for 5 minutes. He must be new. I'm thinking about giving up."

Issey shook her head, "Never give up, I don't know about you, but tonight, I need a drink." And with that she put her two fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly. Most of the bar turned to look at her. "Sorry to interrupt Sweet Pea but we're just DYING of thirst down here. Any chance you could make your way down here and spend a little time with my girl and I?"

The bartender shuffled down and filled their order quickly while Issey and Mia flirted with him shamelessly, hoping to ensure faster service for themselves next time. When they had their drinks they turned to face the crowd. Mia bit her straw as she scanned the crowd then leaned into Issey, "So how come YOU needed a drink tonight?"

Issey shrugged a little, "Meeting you. Hoping you don't hate me."

Mia frowned a little, "Why would I hate…oh, you must be Isabelle."

"Guilty. I don't know what Darren's said to you but I had no idea that he was in a relationship or I never would have…"

Mia downed her drink and caught the bartenders eye, ordering them both another. "He told me. I don't hate you, I don't even know you. He also told me you're the one who convinced him to bring me tonight."

"Yeah, well, I figured if you two are going to stay together and I'm going to stay with the tour it made more sense for us to just meet rather than trying to avoid each other as if we had something to hide."

After that they stopped talking about Darren, didn't mention Chris, and just sat drinking and chatting like any two women in a bar. Turned out they shared a sense of humor (heavily sarcastic) and both had a strong desire to protect the ones they loved from people with bad intentions.

Mia draped an arm around Issey's shoulder and shouted in her ear, "I'm really glad we did this tonight. I like you. You're ok."

Issey shouted back, "Eh, I could have done without it. You're too pretty in person."

Mia barked a laugh and kissed Issey on the cheek. They may have done more than a few shots. "Maybe we should ditch the guys and just date each other."

"Or at least dance together!" Issey took Mia by the hand and the two hopped up on a side bar and began bump and grind against one another. The guys were catcalling and before they knew it Heather and Naya were up there with them. To say that they had the attention of nearly every guy in the place was an understatement. It was fun for a bit but Issey caught sight of Chris, back in his leather pants, and having added a black button down shirt instead of the tee he'd worn earlier. He was leaning against the bar, hip cocked, arms crossed in front of him.

She slipped off the bar and made her way over to him, bumping his hip with her own. "Hey you. Having fun?"

He put one arm around her shoulders and pulled her into him. "Have I told you today that you're perfect?"

"Wow you've been drinking."

"Not that much. I'm just so proud of how you faced everything head on today. You're amazing."

She melted against him, "Let's get out of here."

"You want to make the goodbye rounds or just sneak out."

"Sneak out, but I should say bye to Mia."

"Your new best friend," he added an eyeroll, "okay, let's go."

They went to the bar but Mia had jumped down too and was now dancing with Darren. Chris gave Issey a look and said, "You can text her later or something, c'mon."

"No, it's fine." She went over to them and tapped Mia's shoulder. Mia turned and smiled widely at her. Issey gave her a half hug and shouted in her ear, "Taking my man home. Come hang out on my bus tomorrow if you want while we move."

Mia gave her a thumbs up and she turned to go but Darren pulled her back, hugging her goodbye. As he did he told her, "Thank you for making this easier on her."

She just nodded and took Chris's hand to leave. Just this simple move made her heart skip a beat. It felt right to be his, to be leaving with him, to be able to reach out and know he'd reach back. His hand felt large in her tiny one, strong and protective.

In the back of the taxi she laid against him, his arm around her. "So I go to the bathroom and come back to find you doing shots with Darren's girlfriend, how exactly does that happen?"

"I'm frequently in the position where I have to spend a lot of time with people that it's easy to have awkward relationships with. I just take the bull by the horns and go in there, I find that if you just go talk to people and ignore the reason you shouldn't get along, soon enough you'll find you get along pretty well."

"Like you did with Lea."

She smiled, "Right. And like I'm gonna have to do with Ashley."

He nuzzled against her temple, "I'll talk to Ash, don't worry about her."

"I appreciate that Love but she basically called me a whore in front of everyone today and as a professional I can't allow that. I have to deal with her."

"Ohh that had a kind of sexy 'called into the principal's office'sound to it." He kissed the soft skin behind her ear.

Chris shut the front door and was immediately pushed against it. In the complete darkness it was finally time to act on all the fantasies she'd had about him and those leather pants. She kept her body close so he wouldn't move away and took the opportunity to slowly run her hands everywhere, across his shoulders, down the sides of his torso, loving the way his body cut in to waist and slim hips, moving closer still to slide around to cup the curve of his backside and kiss his mouth at the same time. He allowed it for a bit but then turned the tables, lifting her and carrying her easily to the nearby sideboard. Setting her on it he slid his hands under her hair, tugging lightly before caressing the back of her neck with a gentle thumb stroke. She took his face in her hands and traced his lips with a fingertip.

"Let's go upstairs." She didn't know why she was whispering but it felt right.