There is at least one more part of Sunday after this; it's an important part so there are a lot of details. Plus Sunday was a very long day for our beloved characters.

Again, no ownership here.

Sunday (Part 2)

Catie's POV

My first thought when I walked through the door was: Holy crap! There are a LOT of people here!" I didn't know how I was going to find Lea, Chris, or Darren. I looked for the ticket booth assuming that they might be near there, but they weren't. I finally saw Chris and I headed over toward him, assuming that Darren and Lea would be there too. I was told that they had gone to the bathroom and that Darren still had everyone's tickets. So I waited with Chris until they came back. I was facing Chris and apparently away from the bathrooms because I didn't see them come up to us. I was laughing at something funny Chris had said when an arm slid around my waist and a voice whispered "what's so funny?" into my ear. I jumped and turned around swatting at his arm. He was smirking a little bit as he started to apologize for having scared me, but when I turned around fully he stopped in his tracks.

His eyes widened and his mouth hung open for about ten seconds before Lea parroted Mary Poppins and said "Close your mouth please, Darren, we are not a codfish." I giggled, as he pulled me in to give him a hug. He finished his apology and added another for staring the way he had. "It's your fault though," he said, and I just gave him a confused look and he went on, "because you look so beautiful of course! I love the way that color looks on you." He blushed and Chris came over to and gave my hand a squeeze as he spun me around. "Even prettier than before," he said, "How did you manage that? I told you he'd be speechless!" He laughed when I blushed and then asked Darren if we could have our tickets before the start of the first act.

He laughed, said he was sorry (man he was saying that a lot today), and handed everyone their tickets. As we headed into the theater I noticed that Darren seemed nervous. I hoped that he wasn't worried that people would see me with them and assume that he and I were "together" when really we were just two friends, who met four days ago, hanging out and doing something we both enjoy.

I realized that there were actually people seating us and I stepped closer to Lea and said that I didn't know my school was so fancy and she laughed. We handed our tickets to the usher and he told us where our seats were. I got nervous when he told us to go to different places. "Wait, Lea, I thought we were all sitting together."

She replied, "No, honey, unfortunately we're not. Chris and I have seats next to each other and– "

"–and the two of us are sitting together," Darren finished. "Is that ok with you? I mean we could always switch things around if you want. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable."

I was sitting with Darren? Alone? Just me and him, without Lea and Chris? Was I uncomfortable? I had to think about that. The obvious answer was yes, but really only because I didn't want him to feel uncomfortable, but seeing as he had blushed when he asked I replied that no, of course it didn't make me feel uncomfortable. His smile when I said that could have lit the whole theater.

I hadn't really heard what the usher had told me about where my seat was and I told Darren as much. He smiled again and grabbed my hand and led me to our seats. My heart sped up even faster than it was already going from when I found out I would be sitting with just Darren for the whole show. I was sure I was blushing; I could feel the heat on my face. He stopped suddenly and I tripped a little. He caught me, and smiled, and he said, "You should really be careful about falling for people quickly and out of the blue. Some people might drop you, or just let you fall."

I knew he was trying to make a joke, but at the same time he seemed so sincere, and we were so close and he was holding me so tightly, like I would disappear if he let me go, that I couldn't come up with a witty retort. So, I replied in a small voice "But you didn't, you caught me."

He looked me straight in the eye and moved his face closer to mine so I wouldn't miss what he was going to say to me and he said, "Of course I didn't, and I never would." He took a breath and asked me if I would have caught him.

I couldn't figure out what was going on. There could be a double meaning in his words, but I wasn't sure what he really meant. Either way the response was the same as I assured him, "I would give every ounce of strength I have not to drop you, and I would never just let you fall."

He stayed, staring at me straight in the eye for a moment longer, and I thought I saw his eyes flash. But then he took my hand again and showed me our seats. We had the two seats closest to the aisle. He took the aisle seat and we both took out our programs.

My heart was still pounding, when I saw my phone light up.

Lea Michelle: Well that was quite an adventure ;)

Me: what? What are you talking about? Ohhh, please tell me you didn't just see that.

Lea Michelle: oh my dear I most certainly did, but don't worry, I thought it was cute and so did Chris. I'm sure he's telling Darren so as we speak… well, text.

Also, turn around.

Me: Well crap!

But I did turn around and when I did I saw Lea and Chris waving at me, I waved back and then turned back around and pretended that I was very interested in my program.

Darren's POV

I made a beeline back toward Chris, practically making Lea have to run to catch up with me. When I got to where he and Catie were I saw that she had her back to me and that she was laughing at something Chris had said to her. It was pretty much the same as the first time I'd seen her laughing and this had become somewhat of a "tradition" for me, and I couldn't resist now that I knew she was finally here! I wrapped my arm around her waist and whispered "what's so funny?" into her ear. Her reaction was never the same, this time she jumped and turned around swatting at my arm. I started to apologize for having scared her, but once she turned around fully and I finally got to see what she was wearing I stopped dead.

My heart went crazy! She looked beautiful, and I couldn't get my body to react nor could I get my brain to work well enough to form coherent words, except for, wow! She wasn't dressed up extremely fancy, it was casual, but dressed up enough for the event we were attending. Stunning, she was stunning, as always. I must have been standing there like an idiot and was finally shaken "awake" when Lea said, "Close your mouth please, Darren, we are not a codfish." I blushed and she giggled at the Mary Poppins reference as I pulled her toward me to give her a hug. I quickly finished apologizing for scaring her and added that I was sorry for having just stood there staring like an idiot. I didn't take all the blame though and I told her that it was her fault though really, because she looked so beautiful and I told her that I loved the way color she was wearing looked on her. I started to blush and Chris came to my rescue, grabbing her hand and making her do a spin. He said something that made her blush and I melted a little, I loved it when she blushed even if it wasn't me causing it this time. Then he turned his attention to me and said, "Darren can we have our tickets any time soon? I'd like to get my seat before the beginning of the first act."

I laughed and handed everyone their tickets. As we headed into the theater I felt more and more nervous. What if she didn't want this to be a date? What if she didn't want to sit alone with me? Oh, God, I should not have just sprung this on her. I hoped that she would want this to be a date as much as I did and that she would enjoy it, but how was I going to bring that up anyway? It's not as if I could just say, "Oh by the way, I was kind of planning this as a date for us so happy first date!" For some CRAZY reason I didn't exactly see that working out too well even if she did want it to be a date too.

She moved forward to say something to Lea and they handed the usher their tickets at the same time. He told Lea where her seat was and then told Catie where hers, well ours, were. She seemed nervous and confused when said that she thought we were all sitting together. Luckily for me Lea was on the ball because I had been too wrapped up in Catie's reaction to answer quickly enough. I finished telling Catie that the plan was that we'd be sitting together hoping that would be too much to spring on her.

She had a strange look on her face. She looked happy, yet apprehensive. But eventually after she'd thought about it – the longest 20 seconds of my life! – she smiled and told me that was fine. I couldn't stop a huge smile from spreading over my face; maybe she did want this to be a date after all!

She looked over at me a little shy and ashamed and told me that she hadn't really paid attention to where the usher had directed her to. I just smiled, grabbed her hand, and led her to our seats. My heart did little flips when I realized that I was holding her hand and that she didn't seem to mind at all, add that to the fact that I would be sitting in such close proximity to her for the whole show and I thought I might burst! I stopped in front of our row and she must not have been paying attention because she tripped a little. I caught her, and smiled. I had decided that I needed to start showing her that I wanted this to be more than just friends hanging out so I said, "You should really be careful about falling for people so quickly and out of the blue. Some people might drop you, or just let you fall."

It was meant to be a joke, but I was being sincere too; although, I wouldn't really mind if she fell for me that quickly. I held onto her tightly and when she said, "But you didn't, you caught me." My brain almost short circuited, I was expecting a witty reply, but her answer was given with awed sincerity. I moved closer to her and stared straight into her eyes, because this was important and the beginning of my showing her how deeply I really cared for her. I said, "Of course I didn't, and I never would." And I meant that. I took a breath and hoped she didn't notice how shaky it was and I asked, "Would you have caught me too?"
I was hoping that she would catch, no pun intended, the double meaning there and when she said, "I would give every ounce of strength I have not to drop you, and I would never just let you fall," my heart skipped a beat. I stood there a moment longer, relishing the feeling of having her firmly in my arms and held tightly against me. I never wanted to let go, but that would have been a little odd because this was only the first date.

We sat down and pulled out our programs. I noticed that our phones lit up at the same time and I didn't have to guess who could be behind that. I looked at my phone and saw a text from Chris.

Mr. Fabulosity: Ok, Prince Charming, THAT was a nice move! I've gotta give you props on that one, did you plan that? Seriously, it
was perfect!
Me: No, Chris, I most certainly did not plan that, but I'm sure it wouldn't have gone nearly as well if I had. We had the most perfect
exchange just now and I think I am the one who fell, not her. Well, fell even more… if that's possible. Haha =D
Mr. Fabulosity: OMG! Darebear! Tell me, tell me, tell me!
Me: I will. But, only if you stop calling me that whenever I say anything that has to do with her.
Mr. Fabulosity: Deal. Now shoot I want to hear this!
Me:
Me - "You should really be careful about falling for people so quickly and out of the blue. Some people might drop you, or just let
you fall."
Her – "But you didn't, you caught me."
Me – "Of course I didn't, and I never would. Would you have caught me too?"
Her – "I would give every ounce of strength I have not to drop you, and I would never just let you fall."

I don't know if she caught the double meaning, but you saw the exchange so I'm pretty sure she must have caught on at least a little
bit to how I am feeling.
Mr. Fabulosity: Oh My GOD! DARREN CRISS! That. Was. Perfect. Good thing you're so good at improv. Seriously though bravo! And I
am showing that to Lea.

She "awwww"ed. Now remember what you're supposed to do next!
Me: Thanks guys! I remember Chris, thanks. And seriously, you're making her more nervous Lea! I can see that it's you she was just
texting and now her head is buried even further into her program!
Mr. Fabulosity: Sorry Darren! She keeps glancing at you. Make a joke about using cell phones in the theater or something, and smile.
Just get her to feel less nervous. I know she really likes you! – The lovely Lea
Me: Will do, thanks Lea. See you both at intermission. I'm putting my phone away now.

I put my phone away and looked to her smiling. "People should really learn to keep their phones off in the theater!" I said and I winked. Her breath caught and then she gave a little laugh and smiled. I could feel and see the tension melt off of her. I was glad Lea had said something about it. I may have been too nervous to have noticed, until it was much worse, and now she seemed more at ease.

She asked me if I had ever seen this show before and I told her I had, she said that I would have to let her know what was going on if she got confused about anything then. I agreed to those terms and we went back to flipping through our programs. I had put my arms on both arm rests knowing that she would reach to her right to put her arm there. She did almost as if it were on cue. She felt my arm there, said a soft sorry, and quickly moved it back to her lap.

I said, "No, I'm sorry, I know better than that, I just wasn't thinking. Please," and I gestured for her to put her arm there. She refused saying that it was fine and that she was comfortable as she was anyway. I grabbed her hand gently and lifted her arm to put it on the armrest. She looked at me and once I looked away she moved her arm away. I looked at her from the corner of my eye and saw her looking back down at her program again, but holding it with only one hand as the other rested gently on her leg. I moved her arm to the armrest again and held her hand while I kept it there a little longer this time. Again I removed my hand and looked away and she removed her arm again!

She was smiling this time, but still not looking at me. She was playing along and would keep playing until I put a stop to it, I knew her well enough by now to be aware of that at least. So I took ahold of her hand again and brought it up to the armrest. This time, though, I had no intention of letting go. I slowly rubbed my thumb on the back of her hand and she looked at me surprised. I just smiled at her, like it was nothing new, even though my heart was pounding inside of my chest.

After about a minute, the lights flickered letting us know the show would start in five minutes. We both let each other's hand go so that we could turn off our cell phones. Then she put her arm back in the armrest and I quickly held her hand again. She smiled and looked at me we made eye contact for a few seconds and then she looked away shyly.

She bit her lip then turned to me, "Dare," she said softly.

"Yes, Cate?" I asked her using my own nickname for her.

"L-lauren wasn't ever actually invited was she? I mean this ticket, for the seat next to you… It was never actually meant for her was it?" I knew I'd been trying to be obvious about it, but I was still caught off guard that she'd put it all together so quickly. At the same time though, I guess I wasn't really THAT surprised, I knew she was incredibly intelligent.

I chuckled a little and said, "Uhh, well, no. You caught me. It was meant for you the whole time. And I specifically planned for us to sit alone. I also kind of planned to take you out for dinner after this, because it's not a good date it if isn't dinner and a show." When I said date her head snapped up and she questioned me with her eyes. I nodded my head, and when I saw her smile I continued hoping I could push my luck a little further. "And, I thought, ya know, since all classes and events on your campus are cancelled because of the incoming storm, you might want to come to my room and we could watch a movie or something?"

She simply said, "Ok," but her smile said it all and we heard a little "WOO! Finally!" behind us and we turned to see Lea and Chris bouncing in their seats. Catie blushed and ducked her head, then she looked at me, smiling and we laughed, both at the situation and our crazy friends.

I looked over at her a few times during the show and she looked at me in awe, like she couldn't believe she was out with me and that I was holding her hand. I'm pretty sure I looked the same way; I felt that way at least. I was sitting here with this amazing girl who I was crazy about, I was holding her hand, and she was treating me like a real person, not "Glee's Darren Criss".

At intermission we went to the lobby to meet up with Lea and Chris. Catie had to use the bathroom so I stayed by the ticket booth so Lea and Chris could find me. They came over and both gave me a huge hug. Chris swatted my arm though and reprimanded me for not putting my arm around her during the show. I thanked him for the advice just as Catie walked over. She muttered a hello and thanked them for making her blush more tonight than she had her entire life before Wednesday. They laughed and said it was their pleasure. I reached for her hand and she gave it to me willingly and gave me another heart-stopping smile. She shivered a bit and I started to give her my jacket, she refused it of course, but when I put it on her shoulders she gave me a small smile and thanked me.

While we were talking I put my arm around her waist and she moved closer to me so that our sides were touching. I had always thought it cliché when people said that they just seemed to fit perfectly together, but we did and I could no longer hold any judgment for those people whatsoever. It was an amazing feeling.

We walked back inside and my arm was still around her waist. I didn't want to let go, but with the seats the way they were I had to. Then I remembered what Chris had said and I put my arm around her shoulders. She immediately rested her head on my shoulder and let out a little sigh. I looked at her and she said, "Darren, thank you so much for this. I really like you, and now I know that you feel the same way. This night has been nothing short of perfect so far, and I have a feeling it can only get better. Again, thank you so, so much. This is the best first date I could have ever even dreamt of." And she laid her head back down.

That was the first time she had acknowledged it as a date and my heart soared. I said it was amazing for me too and thanked her for coming out with me. I told her that I had liked her since I first saw her, but was intimidated by the strength of my feelings and by how quickly they had come. She said that she felt similar, but that she was confident that I would catch her when she fell. Even though she had already fallen and I had already caught her, both figuratively and literally.

She looked at me and sat up, then she pushed something and I heard a click and the armrest went down so we could sit even closer. I thanked God for this new theater-seat technology and that I had found a woman as amazing as the one sitting next to me right now. She snuggled up to me and I don't think I even paid attention to the rest of the show, I just watched her reactions and that was all I needed to keep me entertained.

At one point something happened that struck her as sad and she buried her face in my chest. I kissed the top of her head and said, "It's alright, little katydid."

She nodded her head and said, "Ok Darebear." But she hugged me tight and buried her head further. She picked her head up a little and asked in a small voice, "Dare, if I fell asleep on you would you be upset? And would you wake me up before the ending?"

I said, "Of course, I won't be upset! And yes I will certainly do that for you, beautiful." She smiled and I kissed the top of her head

"Thanks darebear." I wasn't sure if she was thanking me for what I had said or for the kiss or both, but I didn't care. I hated it when Chris called me "darebear," but I loved it every time it came out of her mouth. I liked calling her katydid too, and she seemed to respond positively to it. She didn't end up falling asleep, but she did stay cuddled up to me for the rest of the show.

When the show ended we walked out hand in hand and met Lea and Chris in the lobby. I asked her where she wanted to go for dinner and she said that she didn't care, just that she didn't think we were dressed well enough to go to the Italian restaurant she had showed us on the tour, and that it was way too expensive. She whispered into my ear that, while she knew it was a date, she didn't want me to pay for her dinner; explaining that I had given her so much already. I just looked at her kissed the top of her head and said, "Don't be silly. That's the point of tonight, to make you feel special and like a princess. You won't be paying for a single thing. How about we go to that diner you said you loved? The one on the corner."

She looked at me like she was surprised that I had remembered that. I remembered much more than that, but I didn't point that out right then. I laughed and gave her a little squeeze then I asked Lea and Chris if that was alright with them. They replied that it sounded perfect and we all hopped in my car to drive down the road to the diner.

Lea and Chris got out first and Catie grabbed my hand just before I opened my door.

"Darren, what if people see us out together? I mean I don't mind, I just know that you really try to keep your personal life, well personal and, I'm not gonna lie, I'd kind of prefer not to be stalked by crazy fans while I'm at school. I mean I really don't care, honestly, I just don't want the media to destroy anything we may have before it even really begins."

She was worried that I wouldn't want to have people taking pictures of us in public; she was worried about being a cause for a breach in my privacy. I told her that that meant so much to me, and that I had thought about this. I had decided that I wouldn't hide any relationship I had with her. I would be honest about it, but also say that since I was giving information that I wanted the media to respect her desire not to be bothered while she was still in school. She was treating me like a regular guy, and that meant so much to me, and I wanted her to be treated as a regular young woman too, even if in my eyes she was anything but "regular."

It seemed she was aware of what a relationship with me would mean though and that she had accepted it and I was glad. She smiled and said ok and the rest of the tension I could still see seemed to have left her after that. I hoped that she hadn't been worrying about that the whole time. I got out of the car and opened her door for her. She giggled as she grabbed my hand and we walked into the diner. Once we were seated and our orders were placed I took out my phone and took a picture of the two of us. I showed her as I tweeted the picture with the caption: "How did I ever get so lucky as to have this beautiful young lady agree to go on a date with me tonight?"

She grinned at me when it flashed up on the screen of her phone that I had sent a new tweet. She scooted closer to me, wrapped her arms around my waist and kissed my neck before laying her head on my shoulder. When she did that I realized that we hadn't actually had a real kiss yet that evening. I decided that I'd have to change that.

The four of us talked about anything and everything, including the heart to heart she and Lea had had in the mall earlier that day. She blushed and hid her face as Lea was telling the story. It turned out that Lea had written it all out word for word so she could show it to me later. Only Lea. I was glad she had though, because she was right in what she had told Catie about the way I felt and the reasons I felt that way. Her humility and constant over-self-awareness were just two more things that I loved about her. Woah. That I LOVED about her? That was the first time that I realized I'd used that word to describe how I felt about her. I was falling in love with her, but wasn't it too soon? I mean, they say you can fall for someone in 90 seconds and I had never believed that, but here I was falling more in love every second and I couldn't refute it; nor would I ever have wanted to.

"So," I said, looking down at her head still on my shoulder just before we left the diner, "you still ok with coming to watch a movie with me in my room?"

"Well, you promised me cuddling if I did that, is cuddling still part of the deal? Cuz you know that could be a deal breaker right there." She giggled and before I could respond Lea cut in saying that I was a cuddle monster; that I would never turn down a good cuddle session especially of movies were involved too. She was right of course and so it was that my katydid came up to my hotel room to watch a movie.