Chris was tired, but didn't want to miss a single minute of New York. In the end by late afternoon they decided to wrap up and head out. Darren seemed extra attentive - putting his arm round Chris when he looked cold, grabbing his hand to cross roads, buying him coffee and biscotti when he looked like he was flagging and just generally doing all the chatting so Chris could save his energy for reaquainting himself with the bright lights and atmosphere of the city. Darren was close by his side the whole time and by the time he had his arm over Chris' shoulder and was steering him into a small Italian restaurant, Chris' stomach was swooping and he had an unnamable feeling in his chest.
Dizzily seated in the restaurant Chris felt slightly detached from reality. He looked around, taking in his surroundings. It was a typical evening in New York. The authentic reataurant was filled with a mix of people. There were two couples on quiet tables at the back, a more rowdy group of work colleagues in the middle and a family of four seated near the window. Chris could see two girls, a similar age to him and Darren across the restaurant, deep in conversation. Were they a couple or just friends? Chris wondered. Most people would assume friends, but nobody really knew. What did people think when they saw him and Darren - a couple or just friends?
Chris was snapped back into reality by Darren. "You're quiet. Are you okay Chris?"
No not really. Chris had to pull himself together - he couldn't possibly say he was ' tired' again. Whatever weird things were going on today - Whether they were just in his mind or not, he wanted to at least appear an interesting dinner companion and not some pathetic dork.
"Yeah, fine," he tried to sound bright. "Just admiring the reataurant ...and being a bit nosey," he added, lowering his voice and leaning in slightly.
"Oh I love being nosey too," Darren said quietly, "surreptitiously of course!"
After they ordered dinner, Darren asked, "What shall we do tomorrow? I'm saying 'we' assuming you'd want me to tag along." He winked at Chris. OH god, please don't wink at me.
"Um .." Chris started, suddenly feeling a bit flustered, "um.. I was thinking Central Park maybe. I mean I do want to hit the shops, but I love Cental Park. And hey, of course I'd like for us both to go. How sad would that be, doing all this stuff on my own," he added.
"How long do you think you can stay for? Darren questioned.
"I haven't booked a flight or anything, but I was thinking three days maybe. That should be enough time to recharge my batteries."
"That sounds good. Perhaps you can come and watch my gig tomorrow evening - if you fancy it, of course." Darren looked hopefully into Chris' eyes, hesitating slightly. "I can figure out a good disguise for you to wear if you're worried about being recognised. You know how rumours start."
Chris lowered his voice, "Don't be silly Darren. I'd love to come. I'm not worried about being spotted if you're not . I'd be proud to be seen watching my amazing , talented friend. I don't very often get the chance to come to any of your gigs and I really don't want to hide."
They stopped talking when their food arrived. Chris hadn't realised how hungry he actually was.
"We should so go ice skating at Bryant Park while you're here," Darren commented after a while.
Chris raised his eyebrows. "Oh my god, have you forgotten how useless I am on the ice? I'm surprised they managed to get enough footage to use with our Christmas duet." Chris laughed quietly, "I mean, that's why they had to use that distant shot of you virtually catching me when I had to stop in front of you."
Darren smiled, "Don't worry, I'll help you. And there won't be any choreography to follow - I promise! It'll be fun..and Christmassy too.. although I could make you sing."
"Ha ha. I think I'd rather sit on the sidelines and sing, and watch you skate. In fact that sounds like a good idea. A safer idea."
"You'll be fine. I promise I won't let you fall."
"Don't make promises you can't keep Darren." Chris raised his eybrows again. "I may consider going just so I can say 'I told you so' when you get fed up picking me up of the ice."
"Oh I'm sure I'll be able to persuade you to go." Darren sounded confident.
"You are pretty hard to say 'no' to," Chris admitted. "Your crazy powers of persuasion are legendary. Matched only by my stubborness in not being made to do things I don't want to do."
"Sounds like we make a good pair. I'll have to work on persuading you then."
Chris groaned, "God, shut up! Let's pay the bill. We've got some movie watching to do."
Chris picked out a movie. Darren busied himself making coffee and sorting out a few snacks for movie watching. Chris wandered over to the kitchen and leant against the counter to watch Darren. "You seem different here," Chris remarked before he could stop himself.
"Different?"
"I can't really explain it." He really couldn't. "We know each other so well - heavens we spend enough time together, but we don't usually have the luxury of time. We're always struggling on little sleep.. I don't know - I'm rambling..."
Darren looked at Chris carefully. "I think these few days will do us good. We can hopefully have some fun, after all that's what you're supposed to do when you're young."
"...Well I'm still young." Chris teased.
"Hey! I'm not old!"
"Well you do behave like a big kid sometimes."
"I don't know what you mean." Darren roughed up Chris' hair.
"Childish behaviour!" Chris mumbled as they both headed over to the couch with their suppliies.
"Disney movies are so cool, Darren grinned as they settled down to watch Mulan.
Darren was woken by a face full of hair. He eased his eyes open as he brushed the hair away from his mouth and nose. It took him a minute to register where he was. Oh yes. He and Chris had drifted off to sleep watching Mulan on the couch. The dvd menu was playing in the background, and he was pretty sure they hadn't seen the whole film. One glance at the window told him It was still dark outside - definitely not time to get up yet.
Somehow whilst asleep, Chris had ended up virtually on top of Darren, his head laying on Darren's chest tucked under his chin. Darren glanced down at Chris' face which was turned to the side. His lips slightly apart, purring gently as he breathed in his sleep. He looked absolutely adorable. Their legs were slotted together at the knees, and whilst they often snuggled when watching movies, they certainly hadn't started off in this position. It did however feel oddly comforting. Perhaps he should wake Chris so they could go to to their beds for the last few hours of the night. Probably a good idea thought Darren to himself, but despite that he reached up and pulled the fluffy throw from the back of the couch and covered them both up with it. He ran his fingers through Chris' hair and pulled him closer tightly. With a contented sigh he closed his eyes and drited back off to sleep. Who was he to deny himself a bit of happiness?
Chris and Darren woke up at the same time. Daylight was streaming in through the window. Chris lifted his head off of Darren's chest and looked up at his face. He saw two hazel eyes looking down at him and a warm smile.
"Hey," Darren said softly. "Good morning."
"Mmm,"Chris hummed. After a small pause, "Hi." A confused momentary look. I...um..seem to have been using you as a mattress here." He huffed a small laugh. "Sorry about that." He shifted slightly but Darren's firm grip kept him in place. He was slightly surprised at the action, although definitely not adverse to it.
There had been times in the last couple of years when Chris had dreamt of being held like this. Of being part of a couple, where he could wake up every morning tangled together with the person he loved. And that person would be Darren - the man he'd fallen in love with virtually from the first day they had met. His super duper overly tactile straight best friend. So Chris had learnt to live with his feelings, swept them under the carpet, in order to enjoy their great friendship for what it was - best friends. Somehow Chris managed to deal with his feelings. I mean there was really was no doubt of Darren's sexuality. It was all out there in the public domain - a peril of being in a successful tv show. Not that Darren had been in any relationship since Chris had known him, but it was just a given.
Of course there had been a few times over the length of their friendship when Darren had been inadvertently over affectionate, and Chris had later woken in the night in a hot sweat with a raging erection. Each time he'd had to give himself a sweet release in the privacy of his own bedroom, and then a strict talking to. To risk losing Darren, in whatever form he could have him, was more than Chris could bare to even think about. If they were only destined to be friends, so be it, Chris'd take it.
Chris settled his head back down on Darren's chest and gave a small sigh to himself. He savoured the moment, knowing he needed to take control of the situation before he did or said something stupid. He needed to break the awkwardness, or at least one of them did.
"Shall we go out for breakfast this morning?" he suggested, saying the first thing that came to him.
Luckily that seemed the right thing to say.
"Great idea," Darren enthused. "There's a deli I've been to before near Central Park. I was thinking about it yesterday. You wanted to go to Central Park didn't you. We can then go there after we've had our breakfast."
They both sat up, missing the warmth. As a final action to completely send Chris off kilter, Darren cupped one hand each side of Chris' face gently, "I'm so glad you came to stay," he whispered. Then he was gone, leaping off the couch to turn off the tv and to make some coffee. Oh boy. Chris shuffled off to the shower, his head whirling and his cock twitching. This was going to be a long day.
It was a long shower too.
Chris tried to clear his head. Was Darren behaving differently? Or was Chris just over thinking everything that was happening? Yet nothing really different to usual had happened, it's just that everything felt different. Chris felt disappointed in himself. He'd been so looking forward to a break in his favourite place, and now he was in danger of spoiling it for himself by behaving like a teenager in the first throws of adolescence.
(Thanks for reading x)