A/N: I apologize for the cliffhanger, it wasn't my intention, but the chapter would end up too long otherwise and I refuse to keep up with the Speak Now chapters lenght. Lol never-again. However I'll *try* to update soon.

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Chapter 5: Watch your step

"Basically, you're saying that Darren Criss will be in our apartment at any minute. Darren Criss." Caroline repeated, and Lauren thought that if she made that statement once more, her head would explode.

Lauren directed a glance to her roommate that expressed the phrase she had previously said, and Caroline didn't say anything else.

After the last night's fiasco, she owned Lauren one. In this case, it meant no Darren Criss related questions. It still didn't balance it with abandoning her at midnight in the middle of nowhere; but she knew she'd need to use the rest later.

There was a knock on the door, followed by Caroline's enthusiastic smirk. Lauren rolled her eyes. She was finishing braiding her hair, so she said to Caroline.

"Can you open the door? And please, act like a normal person."

Caroline swallowed her cheeky comeback, and walked to the door; but her smirk didn't completely disappear.

"Hi." Caroline greeted him, offering instantly her hand. "I'm Caroline."

She looked like a pheromonic teenager; and Lauren couldn't help but to giggle quietly from her place on the couch.

"Hi, I'm-"

"Darren, I know."

She obviously couldn't help it. But instead of feeling crept out, Darren pointed at her and looked at Lauren.

"I like her." He said. It was evident he enjoyed meeting a fan.

Darren walked inside of the apartment before Caroline had the chance to invite him in.

"You do realize you're wearing the exact same clothes as last night, right?" Lauren joked instead of greeting him.

"Hey, you're funny on Sundays." Darren said, impressed, as he left his black leather jacket on the couch, next to her. "You should wear last night's outfit all the time, too."

Lauren pretended she didn't hear that. The truth is that she didn't primp herself a lot; she didn't have the intention to impress Darren or anything. So she couldn't tell if that comment was ironic.

"You know, Caroline loves your music." Lauren commented, standing up and walking to the fridge. "Or at least she says so all the time. Do you want something to drink?"

"Yeah, a soda or whatever." Darren replied, occupying the spot Lauren just left. "And for real?" He added, raising an eyebrow and looking at Caroline who was left startruck next to the door.

Life if someone snapped a finger in front of her eyes, Caroline came back from her hypnosis.

"I do. I think it's great and fun." Caroline said, and then grinned. "You know, actually, I can't get Lauren to listen to it, or even watch your video, and it's very frustrating, so you should do something to change that."

Lauren handed a can of Coke to Darren, but he didn't grab it. He devoted himself to look at her, amazed.

"You've never watched it? Or listened to a song? Ever?"

The surprise on his tone was real, like if he couldn't believe there was a person that wasn't obsessed with him. Lauren shrugged. "I guess I just never came across-"

"I'll have to play for you sometime, then." Darren interrupted, and the proud grin made appearance once more.

"I'm sure she'd love that." Caroline added quickly. Lauren, upset about that dialogue, threw the Coke to Darren's chest, who caught it swiftly. "So… I'm going to Nick's room. I'm helping him to study." She explained, grabbing her books from the table.

"You really don't need to go, it's just-" Lauren stuttered, but Caroline wasn't listening.

"Enjoy the movie." Caroline said before closing the door and giving a brief wink that probably only Lauren noticed. It upset her. Why did she have to make it something so much bigger than what it was? And Darren's prideful attitude wasn't helping. She started wondering if that wasn't more than a mistake.

"So, what is your marvelous first lesson?" Darren asked, opening the can with a low click.

Lauren had already chosen The Wedding Singer from the tall pile of movies above her wardrobe. She grabbed the record from the table, and walked to the TV, in front of the couch. While she was putting the DVD on, she explained:

"As your experience is null in this subject, I picked something sorta light-hearted and platitudinous. Something you can handle."

"Please, tell me it's not a romantic comedy." Darren said, shaking his head.

Lauren didn't answer because that'd mean to prove him right.

"It's starring Adam Slander and Drew Barrymore." She said as she hit play, and walked back to the couch.

"Adam Slander." Darren just repeated in disapproval.

"Give him a shot!" Lauren complained. "This is before he started working on bad American stylish comedies."

He tried to add something, but Lauren would shush him every time since the movie started; so he had no option but to pay one hundred percent of attention to it.

Quick résumé: Adam Slander is a frustrated rock star that got humiliatingly dumped in the altar by his girlfriend. He meets Drew Barrymore while she worked as a waitress in a wedding he was performing at, and she makes him help her with her wedding to overcome his depression. Ninety movie-minutes later, he realizes he loves her and flies to Las Vegas to confess, finding out she's in the same plane as him. Then he gathers the courage to surprise her and he sings a –according to Darren- super cheesy song in front of all the passengers. That was the scene in which Darren couldn't keep his mouth shut anymore. It was all pretty lame. Adam Slander's haircut was awful, even for the 90s; and that scene was a little-too-much of everything. If he was honest he'd say he barely enjoyed the movie overall.

So the phrase came casual from his tongue, looking at Lauren who was on the other side of the couch, kind of away from him. "Do you seriously like this-?"

But he cut his words off quickly. Lauren didn't even realize he was talking or looking at her. She was hugging her legs, her chin rested on his knees, and staring at the TV as if she was overly immersed in the film. Her eyes were watery; a tear could slip from them at any minute. The song Grow old with you played as a background, distant from the television, and even Slander's amateur voice seemed to fit. And Darren realized, if the film touched her like that- there had to be something that made it good.

He kept watching the rest as if he hadn't said anything. He also pretended he didn't see Lauren cleaning a tear from her cheek before going to take the DVD.

"So?" Lauren asked, excited, looking at him.

"It was good… and fun…" Darren lied, shifting on the couch, suddenly uncomfortable. "The ending was very… okay."

Lauren rolled her eyes.

"You don't have to do that. You hated it, it's fine." Lauren said, although her tone was suspiciously loud and she had walked to the table. "Now, it's not to kick you out or anything, but I gotta study."

Darren stood up. "Wait, I just need more… knowledge before forming an opinion." He walked next to Lauren, who was assorting her notes. He put a hand over the papers to stop her and have her attention. "Next Sunday? For real this time."

His voice always had that tone of defiance that lured her.

"Okay, next Sunday." She agreed. "But I actually gotta study right now."

She was kicking him out, yes; but they just spent two hours without yelling at each other, which was a notable progress.

"Give me your number." He tried to be casual, but Lauren's expression turned suspicious. "I just want to make sure you won't escape the next week." He added quickly.

She hesitated for a few seconds before cutting a little piece of paper at the bottom of the note, and wrote her number on it. She promised to herself to never give the pleasure to Caroline of knowing she did that.

"Don't pass it around." Lauren warned. His friends were nobody she could trust, and if that paper ended up in the wrong hands, it could turn into a mess she didn't want.

Darren grabbed his jacket, hanging it from his shoulder. When he said goodbye, she replied turning back to look at him; this was a cue Darren couldn't ignore.

She didn't fall into the hidden tramp yet, she was merely testing out the territory and see if she could take a tiny step into it.

And following the same rules, one step can be deadly.

A rain of sweat was covering his body, although he didn't stop until the numbness of certain muscles disabled him from continuing. Wreathed by the satisfying sensation of tiredness after an intense work out, he walked to the lavatory. First he slowly cracked his neck, and put his hand on the place where his scapula met his spine, pressing with his fingertips the sore muscles. He splashed a little of water on his face and hair, and then drank his bottle of water entirely in one sitting.

Darren heard Jim's voice counting numbers over one hundred, which meant there was a push up battle going on. He passed by the room in the exact moment in which Brian's arms failed to hold him one more time, and he hit his chest against the floor. Jim, who was playing the role of a referee, grabbed Joe's hand and raised it in the air, symbolically proclaiming him as the winner. It was no surprise, Brian always lost. The small crowd cheered to Joe, and he grabbed the few bills from the floor, which was his ridiculously tiny prize.

Darren almost felt pity of him for a moment. He was trying to get money for a new bike.

But that moment of vulnerability certainly didn't last long. He'd give the bike back to him, eventually. Joe just had to wait until he could get Lauren to sleep with him, and then everything would be balanced again. It was just a backup to avoid he had everything under his control.

There was nothing to worry about. He had Lauren's number, meanwhile Joe? He hadn't even talked with her. He knew Joe could need only one night to achieve its goal; but that wouldn't work with Lauren.

Darren hung his hand towel from his shoulder and walked out of the gym. First, the fresh wind from outside kind of froze him, but he ignored it. But after giving a few steps to get his bike, a voice called him:

"Hey, Darren."

If she hadn't talked, Darren would've never noticed she was sitting on a bench outside, waiting.

"Devin. Hi." He said, surprised, suddenly stopping walking.

"It's weird seeing you around here again." Devin commented, with her shy, tuneful voice. The wind whipped her hair and her flowered dress, lifting it and showing the pale skin of her thin legs. "I'm glad you're back, though."

"I'm still catching up." Darren said, sending a subtle message.

"Oh. Right." Devin's charismatic smile faded slowly. "Joe didn't tell me you came back. I didn't know until I saw you at Jim's party." She added, excusing the fact she had never talked with him or bothered to inform him that she started dating his old best friend.

Darren didn't buy it. Even if Joe didn't tell her, she would've had to hear something. He ran the towel through his still sweaty face, and deciding his silence was clear enough.

"I've missed you." She finally added, as if that phrase was a breath she held for a long while. The evening was so quiet, it made her voice sound sweeter.

Darren raised his face from the towel when he heard that. Devin looked a bit dreary, her eyes were shining, and he hated it because it made her look prettier.

He sighed, probably louder than what he should've allowed himself.

"Me too. I've been thinking about you a lot lately." He rested his hand on the bench, leaning a bit closer to her. Just a bit, barely visible for the human eye.

"We used to be great together." He couldn't think straight if she used that tone of voice. He made an effort, but he just couldn't. "Joe is great, but it's not the same." She looked at him, bitter, and Darren wished he could just shake that look off her face.

Then he realized she was probably waiting for Joe when he walked out, and suddenly that didn't feel right anymore.

He glanced at the gym, and he saw through the window how Joe was staring directly back at them. There was no way he could hear them, but he didn't look happy at all.

It seemed as if Devin wanted to keep talking, but that wouldn't be smart. Besides, Darren was in no way going to hear her complaining about Joe. No fucking way.

"See you later, Devin." He just said, walking to his motorbike. The girl seemed a bit shocked that he was leaving just like that, but she didn't say anything else.

While he was riding away, he observed through the rearview mirror how Joe kissed Devin, and he snorted. And he wondered if Devin's sadness was genuine or just part of their little game.

The next Sunday, it was When Harry met Sally. Unfortunately for Darren, there wasn't much progress from the last weekend: Lauren shushed him every time he talked, almost cried at some point and his opinion by the end was vague and brief. Darren had to admit that this time her choice of film was truly good and funny; but it felt like a waste of time when it finished and she grabbed her tall pile of notes and books again. Was she serious?

The killer glance she gave him meant she was.

"Fine. I have plans whatsoever." Darren said rolling his eyes.

"Great. I won't ruin them." Lauren wet her lips, sitting down at the table. "Next Sunday?"

Darren smiled from the door. "See you then."

Caroline arrived thirty minutes after her study session finished. She insisted in leaving them alone, despite Lauren said a billion times that Darren wasn't even her friend, and she wouldn't be a third wheel or anything.

"I got a lost phone call from your mom, Lauren." The red-haired informed, walking in the room and leaving her purse on the table, next to her Hamlet copy. "Has she called you?"

Lauren doubted before replying. Then she remembered her phone went out of battery at midday and she forgot to charge it. It was late at night now. She hurried to look for the battery charger, and as soon as the phone turned on, a dozen of lost calls showed up in the screen.

She bit her lip, nervous. Her mom lived all by herself and was the most independent woman she met, so if she needed to contact her at all costs, it was a big deal. Caroline realized this too, so she observed in silence how her friend dialed the number and waited.

"Hi, mom. I just got your calls. Sorry. Is everything okay?"

The woman snorted, "It was, until I decided to get somewhat related to your father." She seemed to notice how badly her words sounded, because she changed her tone as she continued. "Listen, they called me from a hospital today, and said your father had a heart attack. Apparently my number is still on his emergency list, so they contacted me. It seems nobody else is going to show up, so I'm arriving to Detroit now. I called you in the case you wanted me to pick you up, but as you didn't answer…"

"You should've stopped here anyway!" Lauren complained. Her heart was beating fast. Why didn't she charge her phone earlier? Why was that happening today? Why was she so stupid? "How is he? Do you know something?"

"I'm sorry, darling. I don't know." She answered, concerned. "I'll tell you something when I get in the hospital."

"No." Lauren replied, upset. "I want to be there myself. I'll call a taxi and I'll see you there." Lauren made a sign with her eyebrows to Caroline, and she started dialing the taxi station in her phone. "Bye."

She grabbed a purse and got her keys and wallet, quickly; trying to stop the thoughts in her mind. Her grandfather had died from a heart attack; and she remembered it vividly. It surprised her how easily she could replace the image of the old man by her father. The concern was making it hard to breathe, but she fought those sensations and tried to push them aside.

Caroline hung up, and looked at Lauren shaking her head.

"They said they're 40 minutes late." She tried to use a calm tone, but this didn't make it up.

Forty minutes waiting the taxi and forty minutes all the way to Detroit was definitely too much. She had to make it there the sooner she could. She couldn't stand that terrifying picture in her mind for so long. Lauren sighed, and her breathe came out choppy. She didn't want to affront the solution she had in mind, but she couldn't think of another thing, and Caroline, looking at her with a worried face, apparently couldn't either.

She tried to get herself together; knowing that she couldn't cry in the situation she was going to put herself into.

"Caroline, remember how I said you owed me one?" Lauren asked. Caroline nodded, confused; "Can you get me Darren Criss' address?"