"What?" Chris said in his phone, mouthing to Darren that he was going to finish this phonecall in the kitchen.
"We need you for this scene, Chris." Ryan said.
"But you said Darren and I were excused until he is fully recovered." Chris whispered back, glancing over to the livingroom to make sure Darren couldn't hear him.
"I did," Ryan sighed. "but this is an emergency. We need you in this scene and the episode airs by tomorrow." He explained.
"Can't you just replace it by a Finchel face sucking scene?" Chris said bluntly. "That's what you do with all the other Klaine scenes." He didn't like the amount of screen time those two got, but he couldn't leave Darren alone at the apartment.
"This is not the moment to argue about that." Ryan told him. "I need you on set in an hour." He stated.
"I can't." Chris whispered. "I can't leave Darren alone."
Ryan stayed silent for a second before speaking up. "Bring him with you." He said as if it was that simple.
Chris couldn't do that. Darren couldn't go to set and be Darren. He would get too confused and that would not help his head.
"I can't just bring him to the real world." Chris voice got a little louder, but he turned it down as soon as he noticed it.
"I'll tell everyone to stay in character." Ryan said.
"Seriously?" Chris asked. Ryan would get everyone to stay in character? It sounded tempting. Chris was longing for a break. A break from 'Blaine' and a break from 'Kurt'. Sure, working didn't mean that he was getting a break from Kurt, but at least he didn't have to stay in character all the time. Plus, he could get away from Darren and his hearteyes for a while. "I'll see you in an hour." Chris said.
This whole thing was still incredibly confusing for Chris. When Darren was acting, Chris could still deal with his feelings. Darren was being lovey dovey on purpose, they would fall out of character between takes and they would be on a film set.
This was all different. There were no breaks, there were more 'I love you's than usual and there were no people to give directions. Everything was a little too real.
Chris knew this was Darren's subconscious speaking and that was the confusing part. Blaine was a part of Darren just as much as Kurt was a part of Chris, but Chris had caught himself hoping that this guy was Darren with Blaine's name more times than he would like to admit. Every time Chris told himself to not get his hopes up. He knew he would get heartbroken in the end if he didn't. But he was worrying that it might be too late.
An hour later Chris and Darren arrived on set. Chris hoped that Darren wouldn't question the difference in the appearing of 'Mckinley'. Darren hadn't asked anything about the fact that they were in LA instead of Lima and he didn't seem to notice that he knew his way around the 'new' apartment perfectly, so Chris was glad to see that Darren took the Paramount cafeteria for the Mckinley cafeteria without asking any questions.
"Hey guys" The two boys greeted their friends with a smile.
"Hi Kurt, hey Blaine." A few cast members greeted them. Some of them seemed uneasy, others had a smile across their faces. They were obviously pleased to see that Chris and Darren were holding hands.
"How are my two favorite gays?" Mark asked when Darren sat down.
"We are good, Puck." Darren laughed at him. If any other person had said that he would be offended, but Puck, and Mark too for that matter, were was one of the most supportive people in Chris' life. But neither of them would admit that out loud.
"I have to go. I need to do some things for" Chris thought for a moment about an excuse. "school." He finished. "See you later." He said to Darren and kissed his cheek.
Everyone smiled at the tiny display of affection. "Bye." Darren answered and pecked Chris on his lips.
Darren turned his attention to the people at the table. "How are you doing, Blaine?" Jenna asked Darren.
"I'm good." He answered. "My head is getting better, and I can go on lighter pain killers by tomorrow." He explained.
"That's good." Jenna said. Darren sensed the tension in the group.
"Come on guys there's no need to be awkward." Darren told them. "I'm still the same person."
"Of course." Lea answered. She was the only one who didn't go silent at the irony of Darren's comment.
"Seriously guys," Darren laughed. "what did I miss?" He asked.
"Oh, nothing much." Chord said, not knowing whether he should make up a new gossip or not.
"Just the usual." Harry agreed with a nod.
"Come on, how about you, Rachel?" Darren turned to Lea.
Lea looked up. "What about me?" Lea had no idea what Darren was talking about.
"Did your dads find out?" He raised his eyebrows in question at her.
That didn't clear anything up for Lea "Oh ehm," She looked around the table and received a few nods from her friends. "yes?" She said, but it didn't sound convincing.
"Oh, that sucks." Darren said. "Did you get grounded?"
"Yeah, they didn't like it." She said, surprised that the conversation was going pretty smooth, although she didn't know what she was talking about herself. She was impressed by her own pokerface.
"I can imagine that." Darren laughed. His face turned serious again. "How did they find out?"
Crap "They ehm," She paused again and looked around the table once more. But she only received panicked looks from her coworkers. "they- they-" She sputtered, but her sentence wouldn't finish itself.
"Saw the pictures on facebook!" Naya screamed a little too loud. Some guys shot her questioning looks, but they hadn't come up with anything to help Lea.
"Yes." Lea said with wide eyes. She hoped that that was enough for Darren and that they could move on to an other topic.
"There were pictures?" Darren asked in his confused Blaine tone and face.
"There were." Naya confirmed.
"Don't you think Mr. Shue can get in trouble for that?" He asked quietly.
"No, of course not." Lea shook her head. What on earth was Darren talking about? What could Darren think 'they' have done that would get Matt in trouble?
"I don't know." Darren said. "I think it's not legal for a teacher to have parties that involve that much booze with their students." He said thoughtfully.
"Oh." A lot of people at the table said.
"Hey Darren! How are you doing man?" Darren felt a firm pat on his shoulder. He turned around and saw 'Jeff' standing behind him.
There is that name again. Who is Darren and why is everyone calling me that?
"Is everything alright again?" Riker asked him. Darren didn't say anything he just looked at the people around him. "Darren, are you okay?" Riker asked him.
Everyone at the table motioned for him to stop. "What is going on here?" Darren asked furiously. "Is this a joke? I don't get it. Who is this Darren you are all talking about? Did you agree on calling me that when I was out? Is this some kind of inside joke?" Darren fired the questions at his friends. No one knew an answer to any question Darren asked. They just stared blankly at him.