"So, how did it go?" Lulu asked immediately as the passenger's door opened.
"Well, uh..."
"You didn't ask him, did you?"
"No, I... I got a little distracted."
"Mia, come on!" Lulu nearly shouted. "Don't you wanna find out the truth?"
"He's not cheating on me, okay?" Mia snorted. She couldn't believe she had to have this conversation all over again.
"I honestly wouldn't be so sure," Lulu said as she started the car.
"What do you mean?"
Lulu sighed. "Look, I think Darren is a great guy and I know how much you love him but... That car. It belongs to Will Sherrod."
Mia puckered her brows. "Will Sherrod? Who's Will Sherrod?"
"Seriously?"
"What?"
"He's Chris Colfer's ex-boyfriend!" Lulu nearly exclaimed. "You know, the one that died."
Mia's mouth dropped open. "Oh, my God."
"What choice do I have, huh?" Chris asked, on the edge of crying. "What does it say about me if I stay after all this?"
"Chris, I —"
"No. I'm going. I could never forgive myself for letting my feelings take control of me like this," Chris answered, still avoiding eye contact with Darren, who just stood there, annoyingly unaware of what was happening.
"So… This… Whatever twisted, confusing thing between us… It's over."
"Wh-What do you mean?" It was like Darren had finally woken up to the situation, his whole being was crying for help.
"Are you serious right now? I was hiding under your bed while you were having sex with your fiancée on the couch in the next room!" Chris exclaimed, now finally meeting Darren's big, scared eyes.
"I mean, what the hell are we doing, Darren?" he asked, letting out an incredulous sneer. "You're getting married to a woman that you clearly love! There's no place for me."
The look on Darren's face was heartbreaking, but Chris knew what he had to do.
"And you know what? I accept that now." He wiped the corner of his eye with his thumb before he continued. "It was stupid of me to think that after all these years you would've finally chosen me like I chose you the minute we met."
Chris sniffed, kicked on his shoes and then, not even glancing back, pushed past the front door. He walked straight to his car, sat on the driver's seat and took a deep breath.
With tears rolling down his cheeks, dropping on the steering wheel and all over his lap, he sat there for a good while. His head was pounding and his heart still beating faster than ever. What had he been thinking? Why had he actually thought that things would be any different this time around?
He felt so stupid, so angry and disappointed. He wanted to stop crying, he wanted to man up and forget about the jerk that was probably already sexting with his girlfriend. He wanted to stop feeling miserable. He wanted to stop feeling sorry for himself. He wanted to stop feeling. Period.
Darren stood in the living room, staring at the closed front door as the reality finally hit him. He had just lost Chris, maybe for good this time. Tears rose in his throat.
With Chris' words echoing in his head, he sat down on the couch and pressed his head against his hands. The previous events kept circling through his mind, making him feel worse one repetition after another.
Suddenly, his cell started buzzing on the wooden table. He picked it up. The caller was Lea. He took a deep breath and lifted the phone in front of his face, then pressing the green button. Soon Lea's face appeared on the screen.
"Hey!" she greeted happily.
"Lea, hi," Darren sighed in response.
"Oh, did-did I call at a bad time?"
Darren was silent for a while. "Yeah, you could say that," he then mumbled.
"Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, everything's… Everything's great."
"Darren, come on. It's me," Lea said. "You can talk to me."
Darren didn't answer.
"Is it about Chris? Did you talk to him?"
Darren startled. "Wh-What do you mean?"
"You know, about being your bestman," Lea chuckled. "At your wedding? Does any of this ring a bell?"
Darren swallowed. The situation was getting way too out of hands.
"Darren?" Lea's voice now sounded worried. "Are you sure everything's okay?"
"Lea, I... " Darren started but then quieted down again.
"He said no, didn't he?"
"Lea…"
"Hey, it's okay. I'm sure he'll still be there! Maybe he just –"
"I never meant to ask him to be my bestman!" Darren suddenly shouted.
It was Lea's turn to be quiet. She looked shocked and Darren had no clue if it was because of his anger or because of his lie.
"Then… Why would you say that?" Lea finally asked after a few minutes of absolute, killing silence.
Darren sighed and, not even able to look her in the eyes, replied, "Because I couldn't tell you what was really going on."
"' What was really going on'? "
"Yeah."
"And what does that mean? You…" Lea's mouth dropped open. "No."
Darren looked at her, feeling her judgment all over the room he was in.
"How could you? I-I mean, what about Mia? She's… You two… She… You're getting married!"
"And you think I don't know that?" Darren said with a sarcastic sneer.
"Then why do it?"
"I don't know, okay!" Darren exclaimed. "It all happened so fast and I just… I got carried away!"
"That's not an excuse to cheat on somebody."
Darren sighed. "I know. It just… With Chris I…"
"With Chris you what?" Suddenly the judgy tone in Lea's voice was gone.
"With him, I felt like myself again. It felt special," Darren said quietly.
Lea smiled briefly. "You know there's a word for that, right?"
"It doesn't matter," Darren snorted. "It's over."
"What happened?"
"I made the same mistake I made five years ago," Darren replied, and it wasn't until he heard those words coming out of his own mouth that he realized what he'd really done.
Lea puckered her eyebrows. "Five years... Wait, was this already a thing when we were still filming Glee?"
"It was never a thing," Darren sighed.
"Why not? I mean, practically the whole world thought you were dating. I think we all did at one point," Lea chuckled nervously. "Was it the enormous amount of attention that stood in the way?"
"Nope, it was me. I stood in the way."
"You? What do you –"
"I was a coward, I couldn't go through with it. And then I lost him," Darren said, shaking his head. "And now, I've lost him again. For good this time."
"D, I'm so sorry," Lea said, sounding like she actually meant it. "Even though I don't stand by your choices, I want you to know that I'm here for you. Always."
Darren smiled mildly. "Thanks."
Chris had been driving around for almost three hours. He was angry and exhausted, and his red eyes were getting tired. He no longer wanted to hurt Darren but definitely wouldn't have minded if someone else had offered to do that for him.
He'd gone through every memory he was able to remember; every conversation, every scene they'd shot together all those years ago, every kiss and most importantly, every time Darren had let him down. Actually, that had only happened twice; first five years ago and then again tonight. It wasn't like Darren to lead people on, yet he still had done it to Chris two times.
He took left and suddenly found himself on a tiny backroad. He had no idea where he was heading but then again, he had no idea where he was, either.
He kept driving, realizing that he was only getting further and further away from the city. But getting further away from the city meant also getting further away from his problems. Further away from Darren.
He stepped on the gas a bit more, trying to outrun his thoughts. He wanted to get rid of the memories from tonight's events, he wanted them gone.
Suddenly, he noticed a biggish animal ahead of him. He screamed as he hit the break, steering the car toward the shoulder of the road. Freaking out, he tried to keep the vehicle steady. He was scared to death; his heart was pounding and his eyes were filled with fear.
Then, he only heard an immense crash before it all went black.